Chapter 33: The Conversation

When he entered the courtyard, he saw that Old Mrs. Cao had already been laid on a door panel. A few people were gathered around her, and a guard was performing CPR. Yun Suji asked, “How is she?”

The guard captain replied, “She’s been revived. That was close!”

“When was she discovered?”

“Just a moment ago,” the guard captain said, still shaken. “There was no sound at all! If you hadn’t said to check on her every hour, she would have been stiff by morning!”

Hearing that she hadn’t died, Fan Shier’s complexion returned to normal.

Yun Suji nodded. Just then, a woman came in and fed Old Mrs. Cao a bowl of ginger soup. Seeing her color return and that she was breathing again, he had her carried to a side room to rest, with two women assigned to watch over her.

Old Mrs. Cao was determined to “fight to the bitter end.” Yun Suji lit a cigarette. He wasn’t too surprised; this was a common practice in the old days: hanging oneself at the enemy’s doorstep to ruin their family. The authorities didn’t care if it was suicide or murder; they would treat whoever’s doorstep the body was found on as the prime suspect. Even if you could eventually clear your name, your family would be ruined.

Even in 20th-century rural China, it wasn’t uncommon for women to storm into their “enemy’s” house and drink pesticide over various disputes. Even trivial matters like arguments with family could trigger suicide among women. In surveys of suicide populations in China, rural women had the highest rate.

This is a move to make Fan Shier, Liu Yuanhu, and their group look bad, Yun Suji thought. He said to the trembling Fan Shier who had followed him in, “Go and call Han Daoguo and Liu Yuanhu. I have some questions for them.”

Fan Shier agreed and was about to leave when Yun Suji stopped him. “Bring Liu Yuanhu’s wife as well.”

Seeing Fan Shier leave in a daze, the guard captain asked, “Chief, should I send someone with him?”

Yun Suji shook his head. “If he runs away, there’s nothing more to ask. It means he has a guilty conscience.” He instructed the guard captain to guard Old Mrs. Cao’s door and not let her out to make a scene.

A short while later, Fan Shier had indeed gathered everyone. Yun Suji had them brought in one by one for questioning. He was very familiar with grassroots work; a few words were enough for him to know if there were any problems and if the cadres were telling the truth.

From his day-long visits and discussions, he concluded that Borang Village had no major problems, but a host of minor ones. To put it in official terms: “the general direction is good.” As for the cadres taking more than their share, making villagers work for them, and their crude and violent behavior, these were not considered major issues at this stage.

Yun Suji believed that the simplest way to judge the administrative ability of grassroots cadres was by two things: the people’s livelihood and infrastructure. Whether the cadres were dedicated and capable could be seen from these two aspects. And in these two respects, Borang Village had done quite well.

The county did provide some financial support for the infrastructure construction of model villages, but the bulk of it still depended on the villagers’ own contributions of labor and materials. If the village cadres did not have a certain degree of appeal and work ability, it would be impossible to achieve all this.

As for banning foot-binding and improving environmental sanitation, while not matters of life and death like food and clothing, they were still tangible issues concerning the people’s livelihood and an important criterion for testing whether cadres were attentive to their work.

Therefore, he didn’t dwell too much on the details of village administration, but focused on getting to the bottom of Old Mrs. Cao’s case. He asked Fan Shier, “I know you came back from Shandong with Yuanlao Lü. You are a tested and veteran naturalized citizen. Give me the bottom line, what is the deal with Old Mrs. Cao’s son’s pension? Old Mrs. Cao insists she never received it. Did she or did she not?”

Fan Shier said, “Chief! I swear to heaven and earth about this pension! We did not embezzle her money. After her son’s accident, Yuanhu did indeed collect the pension and bring it back. It was entered into the village’s public accounts, all recorded in black and white…”

Yun Suji said, “Since the money was collected, why wasn’t it given to her? Why was it put into the village’s public accounts?”

Fan Shier swallowed. Old Mrs. Cao’s pension had long been spent. Fortunately, they had discussed this matter beforehand, and Han Daoguo had found a policy basis for it. So he wasn’t too nervous. “There’s a reason for this. Old Mrs. Cao has no son and no grandchildren—she’s a family without heirs. According to the ‘Civil Affairs Department’ document the county sent us, this is called a ‘childless social security household,’ which is to be supported by the village.” He fumbled for a moment and pulled out a crumpled red-headed document from a cabinet. He said that according to the document, the land of a childless household was to be managed by the village, which would arrange for someone to cultivate it. The pension was to be managed by the village and used for major expenses.

Yun Suji took it and looked. The red-headed document was genuine. The parts about land management and pension management were also true, but on the line about the pension being managed by the village, there was a “may” character. In other words, entrusting it to the village was not a mandatory regulation.

Yun Suji understood perfectly. Fan Shier and his group were “preying on the heirless,” a practice not uncommon even in 21st-century rural China, let alone the 17th-century Ming Dynasty. A single word “may” in a document could be spun into a masterpiece of manipulation. For villagers who were mostly illiterate or semi-literate, how could they understand the subtleties? But this was not the lowest they could sink—at least Fan Shier and his group were exploiting loopholes in the policy, playing word games, showing some “spirit of the law.”

“Your definition of a childless household is a bit of a stretch. The Cao family still has a daughter-in-law. You must know about the practice of a widow remarrying to support her in-laws,” Yun Suji shook his head. “That’s one thing. Secondly, the pension belongs to Old Mrs. Cao and Gaifeng. Her share should have been given to her.”

Fan Shier had never dreamed that the daughter-in-law should also get a share. Yun Suji’s words made him a little flustered. He quickly said, “Yes, yes, we didn’t interpret the policy correctly.”

“As for the issue of the childless household, I won’t argue with you further,” Yun Suji said. “Gaifeng has already remarried, so the matter of her remarrying to support her in-laws is moot.”

“I will arrange for Gaifeng’s share to be distributed to her tomorrow…”

“You will also distribute Old Mrs. Cao’s money! If you don’t know what ‘may’ means, have Han Daoguo explain it to you,” Yun Suji said with a slight smile, then his expression turned serious. “In addition, the amount of rice the sharecroppers are giving to the social security households is too little. 400 jin per person is only enough for rations,” Yun Suji said slowly. “People also need clothes, and even if they have vegetables from their own land, they still need to buy salt. Some families have small children who need to eat some fish and meat… The sharecroppers are taking too much advantage. The tax benefits alone are immense, don’t you think?”

Fan Shier was startled, knowing his little tricks had been seen through. He quickly said, “Yes, yes.”

“Go and bring Gaifeng here.”

“Yes, I’ll go right away!”

A short while later, Fan Shier brought Gaifeng in. Yun Suji saw she was about twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing a clean, indigo tie-dyed Indian cotton jacket. She was not particularly remarkable in appearance, and though her skin was dark, it was full and lustrous, with a healthy blush. It seemed her life with Liu Yuanhu was not bad.

Yun Suji noticed she had a slight limp. As she entered the room, she first curtsied and said, “Chief,” then lowered her head and said nothing. Yun Suji saw the tear stains at the corners of her eyes and thought to himself, With Old Mrs. Cao’s antics, she can’t have any peace either.

He felt great pity for the hardships she had endured and said in a gentle voice, “Are you Gaifeng?”

“Yes, I am.”

“What is your family name?”

Gaifeng looked up at him, then lowered her head again. “My parents died early, I don’t know my surname. My husband’s surname is Liu.”

“Were you Old Mrs. Cao’s daughter-in-law before?”

At this question, Gaifeng’s body trembled. She said in a low voice, “Yes.”

“How did they treat you?”

Gaifeng kept her head down. Although Yun Suji couldn’t see her expression, he could tell from her slightly trembling shoulders the turmoil within her. After a long pause, he heard her say in a low voice, “I always had a mouthful of rice to eat.”

He then asked, “You are now married to Liu Yuanhu. How does he treat you?”

Gaifeng answered almost immediately, “He treats me well! I want to be with him.” She seemed afraid that Yun Suji would try to reconnect her with her former family and added, “Whether I eat chaff and vegetables or get beaten and scolded, I am willing. Even if he goes to prison, I will bring him food and wait for him to come out!”

Yun Suji now understood completely. What Old Yang’s wife had said was all true. But he was a little strange, why did she mention “going to prison”? He smiled. “Who said he was going to prison?”

“Ever since you came to the village, people have been saying that,” Gaifeng said in a small voice.

“Your husband hasn’t committed any crime. Why would he go to prison?”

Gaifeng looked up at him, then lowered her head again. “He’s a minor official, so he’s bound to make mistakes. He’s also very fierce with the villagers. Village Chief Fan just uses him as a club. If something really happens, everyone will just push him down.”

Yun Suji nodded. “You are very perceptive.”

“I wouldn’t dare.”

“Liu Yuanhu has some problems with his work methods, but he does his job well,” Yun Suji said. “The talk of prison is just a rumor. There’s no such thing.”

“Yes, thank you, my lord…” Tears were already rolling down Gaifeng’s cheeks.

“What’s wrong with your foot? Did Liu Yuanhu spank you?”

Gaifeng shook her head and said indifferently, “This is from before. Four or five bamboo strips were broken on my back while I was lying on a bench. That night, I had to crawl into bed.”

Yun Suji felt great sympathy. “I have already investigated the matter of your ex-husband’s pension. It was wrong for the village to withhold it. It will be distributed tomorrow! By right, you should also have a share…”

Gaifeng shook her head. “I don’t want this money.”

“This is your ex-husband’s pension. You were married to him. It is both reasonable and lawful that you should receive it…”

Gaifeng said resolutely, “I will not touch anything from his family, whether dead or alive. Whoever wants it can have it. I don’t want a single coin.”

Yun Suji nodded to himself. This woman was quite strong-willed. He said, “You may leave. Have Liu Yuanhu come in.”