Chapter 30: The Complaint

“Without the progressive tax, you could still clear more land and plant more.”

“Not worth it, not worth it.” Bai Puting shook his head repeatedly. “More land means more expenses. After paying the tax, it’s hard to say if you’ll make a profit or a loss. Besides, with more land, you have to hire laborers. And there’s no place in the house for long-term workers to live.”

“Heh heh,” Yun Suji chuckled. “You’re a sharp calculator! Don’t worry, I’ll definitely look into your problem when I get back, and make sure the diligent don’t lose out!”

“Thank you for your concern, Chief!” Bai Puting nodded repeatedly.

“Where is your younger daughter?”

“She’s in the house. She’s still a little child who doesn’t know any better. I didn’t dare let her come out and disturb you, Chief…”

“Bring her out and let me see.”

Bai Puting wondered why the Chief wanted to see his little daughter—what was there to see in a child who was just over a year old? But since he had said so, he couldn’t refuse. He immediately called out, “Da Niu, bring Er Niu out!”

Da Niu answered and went inside to bring out Er Niu. Yun Suji saw that the child was fair and chubby, wearing a worn, flower-patterned cotton jacket. Her head was shaved in a “peach” style, as was the custom in the countryside for girls until they were eleven or twelve. She was adorable. He took the child in his arms and said, “She’s quite heavy.”

Bai Puting said, “That’s because she’s lucky to be born in such a good place.” He couldn’t help but think of his little son who had died on the road, and tears almost fell from his eyes.

Yun Suji played with the child for a while and asked, “What’s the child’s name?”

“What name would a girl need? We just call her Er Niu.”

“Does her older sister not have a name either?”

“That’s right,” Bai Puting smiled. “A girl’s name can’t be entered into the family genealogy. What’s the use of a name?”

Yun Suji smiled. “Would it be alright if I gave her a name?”

Bai Puting quickly stood up. “Chief, you are honoring me too much. I… I’m just a farmer…”

Yun Suji laughed. “Sit down. Sit down. What’s in a name? I see your older daughter doesn’t have a formal name either. I’ll give them both one: the older daughter will be called Bai Li, and the younger daughter will be called Bai Ya.”

When Han Daoguo heard he was going to name Bai’s daughters, he had already prepared a brush and ink. He still kept the habit of carrying an ink box with him from his days as a shop assistant. Yun Suji took the brush and wrote the two names on a piece of white paper.

Bai Puting had never dreamed that the Chief would actually give both his daughters names. This was truly a case of the ancestral graves emitting auspicious smoke!

He was both happy and regretful—if only his youngest son were still alive! The two girls had taken this good fortune!

He stammered, at a loss for words. It wasn’t until Fan Shier kicked him that he came to his senses and shouted, “Da Niu! Hurry up and kneel down with your sister to thank the Chief!”

Da Niu answered and had just knelt down with her sister when Yun Suji waved his hand. “No, no. The Senate doesn’t go in for that sort of thing. Get up and speak!” He then asked Da Niu how old she was, if she could read, and if she could read the newspaper.

“Thirteen. I can recite the Hundred Family Surnames and the Thousand Character Classic. I can recognize more than half the characters in the newspaper and understand the general meaning.” Da Niu was a little shy. She was already of an age to understand such things. Seeing the Chief bestow a name and ask her questions, she couldn’t help but let her imagination run wild: Has he taken a fancy to me?

“Can you write?”

“I can write a few characters, but my handwriting is ugly…” Da Niu’s face turned red.

“Who taught you to read?”

“The teacher at the winter school.”

“Do you like going to winter school?” Yun Suji asked. Bai’s eldest daughter had the typical face of a Shandong girl, with dark, bright eyes and a tall stature.

“I like it. Winter school is lively, and I can learn things,” Bai Li nodded, stealing a glance at her father.

Yun Suji understood. He asked Bai Puting, “Have you stopped letting your daughter go to winter school?”

Bai Puting was startled. The Chief was like a prophet! He didn’t dare deny it. He smiled apologetically. “How could I not let her! It’s just that there are more people in the winter school this year. Men and women, old and young, all mixed together, laughing and talking. It’s… it’s not very proper—she’s a young lady…”

“What’s not proper about it? I think it’s very good.” Yun Suji said with great emphasis and a very certain tone, “Not just good, but excellent!”

Bai Puting was startled, not knowing what he had said to touch a nerve with the Chief. He quickly said, “Yes, it’s excellent!”

Yun Suji then said to Fan Shier, “You must take the matter of the winter school seriously. If someone is unwilling to learn, you must push them. If a head of household is unwilling to learn themselves and also doesn’t let their family learn, you must educate them properly. I see you were very effective in banning foot-binding.”

Fan Shier nodded repeatedly. “Rest assured, Chief, I will definitely run the village’s winter school well!”

As they were talking, a heart-wrenching scream suddenly came from outside: “Injustice—”

The word “injustice” was cut off abruptly. Yun Suji was startled. Fan Shier and Han Daoguo’s faces turned pale. Fan Shier, who had been all smiles, now had a stiff expression.

At that moment, a guard ran in, saluted Yun Suji, and leaned in to whisper, “Chief, we caught an old woman trying to climb the wall into the backyard. She says she has an injustice…”

Yun Suji nodded and said in a low voice, “Take her to the village office and keep an eye on her for now. We’ll talk later!”

Fan Shier could no longer sit still. He stood up, his voice trembling, “Chief…”

“It’s alright,” Yun Suji said, standing up. “I see it’s getting late. I’ll spend the night here today. For the evening meal, I think we’ll eat at Old Yang’s house. You go and get busy. I’ll chat with Old Bai a little longer.”

Fan Shier had no choice but to leave with Han Daoguo. Not far from the gate, they saw Liu Yuanhu making frantic gestures at them as if his throat were being cut. Fan Shier spat and said, “What’s the use of these tricks now! You did a fine job watching her!”

Liu Yuanhu looked aggrieved. “The old hag had to go to the latrine. I couldn’t follow her in, could I? Who would have thought that at her age, her legs would still be so nimble! She climbed out of the latrine window!”

Fan Shier was about to curse him again when Han Daoguo intervened. “Forget it, forget it. What’s done is done. Let’s not blame each other. We should think about what to do now!”

Liu Yuanhu, being young, said, “We haven’t done anything to feel guilty about…”

Fan Shier cursed, “Bullshit! You think only murder, arson, and stealing someone’s wife are things to feel guilty about? Old Mrs. Cao is no easy customer! If she spouts a bunch of nonsense to the Chief, we’ll all be carrying our luggage to the CHEKA for tea!”

Only then did Liu Yuanhu become nervous. “Then what do we do? The old woman has been taken to the village office, with four guards watching her. There’s nothing we can do!”

Han Daoguo was calmer. He said, “Don’t panic! What will be will be. What’s done is done, and there’s nothing we can do now but face the music! Let’s talk amongst ourselves first. Chief Yun will definitely question us. Let’s figure out our position and how to answer. We don’t want to panic when he asks and start contradicting each other, saying things we shouldn’t—that would be a disaster!”

While they were conferring, Yun Suji spoke with Bai Puting a little longer about production matters before heading to the village office. He had the guards bring Old Mrs. Cao over for questioning.

The guards brought in an old woman. As soon as she saw Yun Suji, she fell to her knees with a thud and cried out, “Injustice!” Yun Suji quickly said, “Get up, get up. Sit down and speak!”

However, the old woman clearly couldn’t understand his Mandarin and spoke in her native Shandong dialect. Yun Suji couldn’t understand and was already a little displeased. Fortunately, one of the guards understood her and acted as a translator.

From her words, Yun Suji gathered that the old woman’s surname was Cao, and her husband’s was Huang. Her husband’s family had all died in the Dengzhou Rebellion. She had escaped with her son and daughter-in-law and had been settled in this village.

The old woman’s son found farming too unprofitable and had been recruited to work at the county lumber mill. He died in a work accident before the New Year. The County Civil Affairs Department said there would be a pension, but she hadn’t seen a single penny of it to this day.

“…I’m an old woman, without a son, all alone. The village embezzled my pension and even locked me up!” Old Mrs. Cao said through gritted teeth. “Fan Shier, Han Daoguo, and Liu Yuanhu, those three bastards! They have no conscience! They swallowed my pension, an old widow’s money, and even took my land! They said they would cultivate it on my behalf, but they haven’t given me a single grain of rice!”

Yun Suji had long known there was something fishy about the sharecropping, but hearing that even the pension had not been given, his expression changed. The pension provided by the Senate, though not large and a one-time payment for all but the families of fallen soldiers, was a very important social stabilizer. Although the amount in this case was limited, the social impact was extremely negative. In the old world, the credibility of grassroots government agencies was eroded bit by bit in this way.

He became serious and asked, “Is this all true?”

“If I, an old woman, have told a single lie, may I be struck by lightning!” Old Mrs. Cao’s expression was firm and resolute. Yun Suji felt it was unlikely she was lying.

“Fan Shier, Han Daoguo, Liu Yuanhu… they are all rotten to the core,” she continued. “They bully the villagers! Anyone who doesn’t obey them is accused of opposing the Senate, tied up, and beaten with a carrying pole. It’s common for them to be beaten until their skin is broken and their flesh is torn! Last year, they even beat someone to death…”

Hearing this, Yun Suji quickly asked, “Someone was beaten to death?”

Old Mrs. Cao nodded. “After they beat him to death, they just rolled him up in a mat and threw him into the river. It’s truly lawless!”

Yun Suji found it a bit hard to believe, but he knew that lawlessness at the grassroots level could indeed exceed one’s imagination. He quickly asked, “Did this really happen? Who was beaten to death?”

“Old Meng’s son!”

“Old Meng? Which Old Meng?”

“The Old Meng who makes tofu!” Old Mrs. Cao’s voice grew louder. “Old Meng still thinks his son is working in the county. It’s all a lie by Fan Shier and the others! I’ve told him several times, but he won’t believe me!”

Yun Suji was skeptical. How could Old Meng not know about such a major event? It was too incredible. Could it be that Borang Village was really a “fake progressive, truly reactionary” village?