Chapter 61: The Power of Gossip

The day the brick kiln was opened was an exciting day for all the commune members of the Nanxi Brigade.

People of all ages, men and women, came out of their homes and gathered at the foot of the mountain before sunrise, forming a crowd three layers deep, bustling with excitement.

Before the kiln opening, Lin Meiru, armed with fresh gossip, took a commanding position in the middle, asking everyone, “Did you hear about the wicked woman in the neighboring brigade who was arrested for abandoning her newborn daughter?”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s gossip radar was instantly activated.

“Is that true?”

“Lin Meiru, tell us all about it.”

“We all want to hear, where’s the brigade leader’s loudspeaker? Give it to Lin Meiru.”

Winter was the most boring time of the year, there were no other entertainment activities, gossip was the biggest spice in their ordinary lives.

Lin Meiru’s back straightened instantly, “That woman had given birth to six daughters in a row, she had been trying to have a son. This time, everyone in the village said it was a son, the family heard this and tightened their belts, they gave the pregnant woman an egg every day to supplement her nutrition, but who would have thought that she gave birth to another daughter, making a total of seven daughters.”

Everyone sighed.

The idea of having a son to carry on the family line was deeply ingrained, daughters, no matter how good they were, were still burdens, and she had given birth to seven of them.

An elderly woman in the village commented, “That woman must have done something wrong in her previous life, that’s why she couldn’t give birth to a son.”

Someone immediately objected, “Old woman, having a son or not also depends on the man, what if the man’s seed is no good?

“Yes, it’s like planting crops, if you want a pumpkin, you can’t plant radish seeds, can you?”

Hearing these two contrasting voices, Jiang An’an nodded in satisfaction, the effect of the last sketch was indeed good.

She gave her mother an encouraging look.

Lin Meiru became even more smug, she began to boast shamelessly, “I say, what’s wrong with having daughters? Look at my first three daughters, they married well, their husbands are sensible, and they always give us a lot of gifts during the New Year and festivals. And An’an, she’s a Women’s Federation official at such a young age.”

Jiang An’an: “…”

Other commune members: “…”

Fortunately, Lin Meiru remembered her task, she changed the subject, “It’s a pity that there are too few women like me who are so farsighted, that pregnant woman was also cruel, the day after she gave birth, she took advantage of everyone’s absence and threw the baby on the mountain to feed the wolves.”

“There are such cruel mothers in the world?”

“What’s wrong with daughters? They are a life too.”

“That wicked woman deserves to be arrested, the police did a good job.”

The Nanxi Brigade has been well-fed and clothed for years, although some families often mistreat their daughters, they can at least eat and not starve, let alone throw away their children, which is a cruel and ruthless act.

For the sake of the floating red flag, Luo Jiawang would be the first to condemn her, and the commune members’ saliva could drown her.

“In law, abandonment and abuse are serious crimes that will lead to imprisonment. If the baby was really eaten by wolves or frozen to death, that’s intentional homicide, and they will be shot.” Lin Meiru scanned the crowd of women and children, “I heard from Policeman Wu that abusing children is also a crime, and serious cases will also be punished by law.”

Everyone in the village had a few daughters, and the commune members all turned pale.

“I say, you’re all fools, daughters are so caring, you should be nice to them at home, send them to school, and they will work in factories and eat rationed food in the future, won’t they repay their parents? You’re just shortsighted, you only think about selling your daughters for a few yuan in dowry money.”

Her An’an said, it’s useless to preach to the villagers, you have to make them feel like there’s something to gain, something profitable. Because the ideas instilled by their ancestors are hard to change, it’s better to reform the next generation.

If it were anyone else, they would have been scolded to death, but Lin Meiru was a successful woman who had raised four daughters, who in the Nanxi Brigade didn’t envy the Jiang family?

Zhou Yinghuai understood, he took the opportunity to say, “The brick factory will also prioritize women who can read and write for the clerical positions.”

As soon as he said this, the commune members were completely moved.

Especially the unmarried girls, their faces flushed with excitement.

They vaguely sensed that after today, their lives at home might be better. More importantly, they also had the opportunity to learn to be workers, just like Jiang An’an!

Someone regretted it, muttering, “But it’s too late to let my daughter study now…”

“It’s not too late.” Jiang An’an said with a smile, “The young intellectuals can teach everyone to learn, open literacy classes, as long as they can read and count. But in return, everyone can think about what they can use to repay the young intellectuals?”

The commune members fell into deep thought.

Lin Meiru couldn’t stand it anymore, she said directly, “The young intellectuals’ house often leaks, the roof needs to be repaired, and they don’t have enough rice and vegetables…”

The commune members suddenly understood, they actively expressed themselves.

“I’ll ask my husband to fix the roof for the young intellectuals later.”

“My vegetable garden had a bumper harvest this year, I’ll bring a few baskets to the young intellectuals later.”

“The young intellectuals are so crowded together, it’s so uncomfortable, we’ll go up the mountain to cut down trees and expand your dormitory.”

……

The young intellectuals were indeed troubled by these trivial matters, especially as the winter days got colder and colder, they were often woken up by the wind in the middle of the night.

Since she was in charge of the evening party and participated in the construction of the brick factory, Yang Qing had become the leader of the young intellectuals. She bowed to everyone, “Thank you, villagers, don’t worry, we will do our best to teach everyone.”

Seeing this, the commune members’ awkwardness and reluctance disappeared without a trace, they were more and more satisfied with the young intellectuals, feeling like they had found a treasure.

Just then, Accountant Huang shouted into a loudspeaker, “Director Chen and Secretary Yang are here, everyone, give them a warm welcome.”

The commune members clapped their hands and turned their heads to look down the path.

The commune leaders were walking towards them, led by Luo Jiawang, they were about to witness the kiln opening together. Everyone felt a sense of pride, and they were even more grateful for the contributions the young intellectuals had made to the brigade.

“You’re amazing, you’ve led your team very well!” Chen Xingtong didn’t expect the Nanxi Brigade to drop such a bombshell without a sound.

The Red Light Commune brick factory was built by the county, they specially went to the city to learn the skills, it took half a year to build. The Nanxi Brigade, however, was built by a group of young intellectuals, led by a man named Zhou Yinghuai.

Luo Jiawang laughed with his mouth wide open, praising, “It’s all thanks to the young intellectuals, the brigade only provided the site, even the money for the brick kiln experiment was jointly funded by them.”

“Really?” Secretary Yang pushed up his glasses on the bridge of his nose, encouraging them, “You have truly lived up to the meaning of young intellectuals going to the countryside, you have used your passion and knowledge to change the backward and closed-off face of the countryside, you have a lot to offer in this vast expanse of the countryside.”

All the young intellectuals present proudly puffed out their chests.

Not all of them had come to the countryside with passion to build the country, some of them couldn’t find jobs in the city and were forced to be transferred here.

But at this moment, everyone was filled with ambition and enthusiasm.

All of this was thanks to Zhou Yinghuai, the young intellectual!