The team leader glared at Aunt Niu, voice thick with frustration. “You’re lazy every day. One more fuss and I’m docking your work points!” Then he cast a warning look at Song Wei, saying, “And you—stop stirring up trouble.”

Song Wei wisely nodded in agreement, keeping her tone respectful. “Yes, sir.”

Seeing that continuing her complaints might actually cost her work points, Aunt Niu went silent, but not without shooting a venomous look at Song Wei. Muttering under her breath, she turned her attention back to the corn, while Song Wei, unfazed, swiftly resumed her work. The other women around her watched in quiet awe. Song Wei had done the unthinkable—she’d managed to shut Aunt Niu up without breaking a sweat, something they’d all given up on.

Aunt Niu kept mumbling complaints, but no one else engaged. Instead, the older women began gossiping as usual, hands busy but tongues even busier.

“Did you hear about the Lin family?” Aunt Wang began, her voice edged with disapproval. “Yesterday that poor Heidan hauled a whole load of firewood home, and not one person saved him any food! A five-year-old boy starved so bad he looks like a toddler.”

“Absolutely heartless,” muttered Aunt Zhang, shaking her head. “That’s their own flesh and blood grandson, yet they treat him worse than a stray.”

After hearing the name Heidan and what Aunt Wang said, Song Wei was basically certain that she was talking about the little boy from yesterday.

She pretended to be curious and asked, “Is the Lin family from our village? I think I might have seen this little boy; I haven’t seen anyone thinner.”

“Oh, they’re infamous around here!” Aunt Wang eagerly filled her in, sensing an audience.

The Village was mainly populated by three large families: Jiang, Lin, and Wang. The others had settled here during the famine years and were integrated later on when the People’s Commune was established, eventually forming what they now called the Ping’an Brigade.

Heidan was the grandson of Lin Tieniu and his wife, Zhou. Lin Tieniu had four sons and one daughter. The third son, however, was believed to be born under a “cursed star” as both parents faced serious misfortunes during his birth. Superstitious to the core, Zhou consulted a village fortune-teller, who only fueled her suspicions. Though it was risky to even talk about superstition, Aunt Wang leaned in close to fill in Song Wei on the details.

“From the day he was born, they treated Lin Laosan like a cursed animal—good for work, but not deserving of even a full meal,” Aunt Wang explained with a grimace. “They made him work like a mule and always kept him half-starved. Years passed, and his older and younger brothers married, while he was ignored until he finally found himself a wife, Heidan’s mother, whom he bought with two bags of coarse rice.”

Aunt Xiu chimed in, “Her own family practically sold her off since they didn’t care about her. They were a family that valued sons over daughters, so they didn’t think twice when the Lin family offered rice.”

“Then the Lins nearly beat Lin Laosan to death for spending the rice, calling it ‘family property’ even though he’d earned it himself!” Aunt Wang’s face soured. “Poor people, that couple.”

“Both of them worked hard, yet Zhou treated Heidan’s mother terribly. Even when she was pregnant, she’d make her wash clothes in the icy river. And later, when their first child was in her belly, Lin Laosan’s little sister even shoved her, causing a miscarriage. That finally broke him. He stormed to the team leader and the family elders, demanding a split from the family or he’d die at their doorstep.”

Aunt Xiu continued, “They finally let him separate from the family, but with nothing—no money, no dishes, not even a single bowl. The poor couple was forced to start from scratch. At least the team leader was decent enough to arrange a small clay house for them. They fixed it up and worked hard, and for a while, life got a bit better.”

Aunt Wang picked up again, “But then Heidan’s mother fell ill while pregnant, and Lin Laosan died searching for medicine on the mountain. She was so shocked she went into early labor and barely survived herself. Heidan was born but lost his mother soon after. All he had was his half-grown brother. The Lin family wanted to occupy Lin Laosan’s house. Lin Zhen gritted his teeth and took his newborn brother to ask for help from his great grandfather and joined the army. He promised to send some money back every month for the cost of raising his brother. Over the years, he only came back once, when Heidan was a little over one year old, and he left in a hurry after staying for only three days. Heidan was so young at that time that he probably couldn’t remember what his brother looked like at all.

  Unfortunately, the outside world was in chaos, and the Lin family finally snatched the then two-year-old Heidan back after a lot of arguing, and used it to seize the child support that Lin Zhen sent back, but the money did not go to Heidan. “

It’s obvious that the money was embezzled.

Song Wei was stunned. “So they took him back, but don’t even take care of him? How could they be so shameless?”

Aunt Wang smirked, “Shameless is right! Just wait till Lin Zhen returns and sees what they’ve done to his little brother. He’s not one to let things slide.”

After all, when his mother almost had a miscarriage because of the Lin family when she was pregnant with Heidan. That guy dared to run to the Lin family with a kitchen knife to cause trouble.

Having absorbed the family’s tragic history, Song Wei finished up her work.

Find the scorekeeper to record the work points and then leave.

As she headed out, Aunt Niu muttered insults her way, calling her out by name.

Song Wei shouted back, “Aunt Niu, seems you’re falling behind on work again! Slacking off, are we?”

Her voice was loud enough, catching the team leader’s attention as he walked by. Hearing her, he came over, his face darkening.

“Again, Aunt Niu?” he growled. “Can’t you go one day without causing trouble? Do you want to lose work points?”

Song Wei, feigning surprise, picked up one of Aunt Niu’s half-peeled cobs and exclaimed, “Oh, look! These haven’t even been cleaned properly. You’re wasting good kernels, Auntie.”