Chapter 54 – Reborn Girl’s Aunt

Old Man Wen was still in a state of confusion when he was notified that his daughter had been arrested for engaging in speculative activities in the county town. His daughter had always abided by the law, and she rarely even went to the county town. Their family didn’t lack for food or basic needs, so why would she engage in such activities?

Moreover, his daughter had gone to Shanghai the previous night, so how could she possibly stay in the county town and get involved in such things? It seemed absurd.

“Comrade, you must be mistaken. My daughter went to Shanghai with my son-in-law and my grandson last night to visit a sick relative. Our family is well-off, and my daughter has no reason to be involved in such illegal activities.” Old Man Wen argued.

“Yes, yes, Comrade, we can all vouch for that. Wen Xin from our village has always been at home. Not only does she rarely go to the county town, but she hardly even goes to the town. She would never do anything illegal.” the village accountant and militia captain chimed in.

“Exactly, besides, Wei Educated Youth’s family is well-off, they send packages twice a month. They have everything they need—food and drinks, they lack nothing.”

Everyone spoke up in support of Old Man Wen. A Revolutionary Committee comrade, who had come to investigate and gather evidence, said: “We will look into all of that, but for now, you need to come with me. After all, the female comrade is adamant that she is Wen Xin. You need to confirm her identity.”

“Okay, okay, that’s only right.” Old Man Wen said, as he motioned for the village accountant and the militia captain to come along.

The three of them hurried to the county town Revolutionary Committee office and saw Wen Yaya, who had been detained by the Revolutionary Committee. Old Man Wen’s face changed. The accountant and the militia captain looked at him with sympathetic eyes.

Though this person was not the brigade leader’s daughter, she was the brigade leader’s granddaughter. It was difficult to choose between the palm and the back of the hand; after all, both were important. What choice could the brigade leader make?

And Wen Yaya really wasn’t a good person. Before she got married, she had pushed her little aunt down the stairs. Now, having been caught doing bad things, she even tried to frame her little aunt. How vile! Thankfully, she had married early and brought trouble to someone else’s family.

When Wen Yaya saw Old Man Wen, her expression darkened, and the look in her eyes was full of pleading.

Wen Yaya had been involved in the black market for two years. She had always been very careful and had never let anything slip, let alone get caught. So, when she was arrested and interrogated, her first instinct was to give Wen Xin’s name.

As soon as she mentioned it, however, Wen Yaya regretted it. But once the arrow was shot, it couldn’t be retrieved. Now, Wen Yaya only hoped that Old Man Wen could cover for her.

The Revolutionary Committee comrade asked Old Man Wen: “She claims her name is Wen Xin. Can you confirm if she’s your daughter?”

Old Man Wen shook his head firmly: “No, she’s not my daughter. She’s my granddaughter, her name is Wen Yaya.”

The Revolutionary Committee comrade’s eyes widened: “Really? Then what’s her relationship with Wen Xin? Are they aunt and niece?”

Old Man Wen wiped his face: “Yes, they are. Wen Xin is my daughter, born to me in my old age. She went to Shanghai just now. You should be able to check the train station records; they left around seven o’clock last night.”

The Revolutionary Committee comrade clicked his tongue twice and said: “Our comrades have already gone to the train station. They’ll be back soon.”

No sooner had he finished speaking than the comrade sent to verify the information at the train station returned. He nodded at the comrade beside Old Man Wen and said: “Xiao He, Wen Xin did indeed go to Shanghai last night.”

Xiao He nodded and addressed Old Man Wen and the others: “Alright, since everything’s been clarified, we can go now. We’ll focus our investigation on Wen Yaya’s case.”

Old Man Wen and the other two sighed and signed their names on Xiao He’s notebook. After they finished signing, the three turned to leave, but at that moment, Wen Yaya ran up to them.

“Grandpa, Grandpa, I know I was wrong! Please save me, please save me!” Wen Yaya’s face was ashen, her face streaked with tears. Only at that moment did she feel afraid. She knew she had broken the law by engaging in speculative activities, but since she had never been caught before, she hadn’t been cautious. She had done everything openly, thinking that, since she wasn’t caught with any goods in hand and had falsely reported Wen Xin’s name, the Wen family would cover for her. The Revolutionary Committee would go to Wen Xin’s room and find nothing, and she would be released, innocent.

Wen Yaya never imagined Old Man Wen would directly deny her. The Revolutionary Committee would likely go to the Hu family’s house to search soon, and once she was imprisoned, the Hu family would probably take the opportunity to divorce her. The more she thought about it, the more anxious and afraid she became.

Old Man Wen was already at the door when he heard her. He turned around and said: “You make your own choices, and you have to face the consequences. If you dare to do it, you have to own up to it. Yaya, your parents never taught you this, so I’ll teach you today.”

Old Man Wen quickly walked away, and Wen Yaya ran to the door, loudly accusing Old Man Wen and the others of favoritism. Old Man Wen didn’t even stop his pace.

Once outside, the accountant, who was about the same age as Old Man Wen, patted him on the shoulder. All the comfort was unspoken.

Old Man Wen sighed deeply and said to the accountant: “When Yaya was born, Xin Xin was still very young. We paid more attention to our own child, after all, she was born to us in our old age. We never neglected Yaya after she was born. Whatever her aunt had, we made sure she had her share too. But she couldn’t stand on her own. Everything we gave her was soon taken by her mother.”

“I’ve talked to your old sister-in-law and even scolded her, but it didn’t help. Yaya grew up spoiled by her mother. By the time we tried to correct her, it was already too late. Her mother was spreading rumors about us outside, so we just let her go.”

Old Man Wen prided himself on being upright and just. He had four children, none of whom were outstanding but all were kind and honest. Yet, how had it come to this? How had his granddaughter Yaya turned out to be such an anomaly in the next generation?

By now, Old Man Wen felt the pain in his heart as his granddaughter had become an enemy to his daughter. His back, which had always been straight, had now slightly bent.

What could Old Accountant say? Every family has its own troubles: “Old buddy, every generation has its own fate.”

Old Man Wen sighed. The three of them continued walking back.

When they returned to the village, it was already time for lunch. Old Man Wen picked up a stick as thick as his wrist along the way and headed straight to his eldest son’s house.

The family of Old Man Wen’s eldest son was sitting at the table eating. Without saying a word, Old Man Wen swung the stick and struck, startling the three people who were eating.

Li Cuihua jumped back a step and screamed. Old Man Wen’s eldest son was caught off guard and was struck with the stick. The one hitting him was none other than his own father. Old Man Wen’s eldest son didn’t dare to retaliate. He could only dodge, running frantically into the yard.

Wen Hongming, holding his bowl of rice, ran into the kitchen, peering out through the window, occasionally taking a bite of his food.

Mother Wen, who had been waiting at home for Old Man Wen to return for lunch, heard the noise from the eldest son’s house and came out to see what was going on. She never expected that it was Old Man Wen doing the hitting. She hurried over to the eldest son’s house, shouting for Old Man Wen’s second son.

Hearing the commotion, Old Man Wen’s second son also ran toward the noise.

Old Man Wen was still chasing after his eldest son. “Wen Haizhou, Wen Haizhou, I raised you with your mother, even though we were poor back then, I never forgot to teach you. The principles of life—etiquette, integrity, righteousness, conscience, and morality—I made sure you knew them all. So why is it that you can’t teach your own daughter?”

“Look at what you’ve raised! A little girl with such a vicious heart. At fifteen or sixteen, she dared to push her own little aunt down a mountain. I thought she’d realized her mistake, but then she encouraged your wife to marry your aunt off to someone worse than an animal. After all that, your daughter still can’t sit still. She got involved in speculation and was caught, and when she couldn’t say her own name, she reported your aunt’s name instead.”

“What did my daughter ever owe her? Huh? Did my daughter dig up her grave in her past life?” Old Man Wen was shaking with anger.

As the head of the Wen family, Old Man Wen had always been fair. Before his youngest daughter was born, his eldest and second sons had everything they needed, and his eldest daughter never lacked anything either. He often taught his children moral lessons and told them stories. The youngest daughter, born when he was older, had been favored a little, but even with that favor, she hadn’t gone astray. His second and third children hadn’t caused him much worry.

Old Man Wen’s eldest son didn’t know where he had picked up the habit of believing in the idea that men should be in charge outside the home and women should handle the domestic matters. He also insisted that boys should be raised by their fathers, and girls should be raised by their mothers.

He never considered what kind of person his wife was. A good girl had been taught to be both foolish and malicious.

Old Man Wen’s eldest son had been struck several times, his back burning with pain. As he listened to his father’s reasons for hitting him, he felt incredibly wronged. This was something Wen Yaya had done. While he was her father, how was it his fault? Their family had clear roles. His wife was responsible for the daughter’s upbringing, so if anyone deserved to be hit, it should have been her, not him.

Feeling dissatisfied and unable to hold back, his face showed signs of defiance. Old Man Wen’s anger flared up immediately. He raised the stick to strike again, but Old Man Wen’s second son hurried over to stop him, with several men joining him.

Old Man Wen’s second son locked his hands around the eldest son’s shoulders, subtly letting Old Man Wen hit him several times. “Dad, Dad, let’s talk this through. Calm down.”

Old Man Wen panted heavily: “Talk through it? How do we talk through it? When Wen Yaya pushed your Xiao Mei down the mountain, was there a good discussion then? When your black-hearted sister-in-law tried to marry Xiao Mei off to Wei Deming from the next village to cover her own mistakes, was there a good discussion then? Huh? What was the outcome?”

Mother Wen, who had been standing nearby, had already heard the entire story. Seeing Old Man Wen, who was panting heavily and about to collapse, Mother Wen wanted to tear apart Wen Yaya and Li Cuihua’s tongues, but she managed to hold herself back.

Old Man Wen continued: “Wen Haizhou, Wen Haizhou, when you reached the age to marry, you said you’d find your own wife. Not long after, you brought Li Cuihua back. Your mother and I both told you this woman was no good, a troublemaker, and you shouldn’t marry her. But you didn’t listen. You insisted on having her.”

“Fine, your mother and I couldn’t change your mind, so we agreed. What happened? She came into the house, and three days later, she wanted to fight with your mother. She tried to take control of the household, and after your mother stood her ground, she still wasn’t satisfied.”

“Your mother was pregnant with Xiao Xin, and she spread rumors everywhere. She said your mother was shameless, that she wanted to have children with her daughter-in-law, and probably even wanted Xiao Mei to breastfeed the baby!”

“Your mother was so angry that she gave birth prematurely, and couldn’t even produce milk. It was me who had to borrow money to buy millet and rice to make porridge to feed her. From the time Xiao Mei was born until she grew up, your mother and I never let you, Wen Haizhou, spend a single cent on her, did we? Huh?”

“Your daughter was spoiled. When I realized it, didn’t I try to correct her behavior? But your wife went around the village saying I couldn’t stand seeing her daughter doing well. Fine, I’ll stop caring. I’ll only focus on Hongming’s upbringing. Have we mistreated Wen Yaya? Xiao Xin has what she needs, and Yuan Yuan has what she needs. Was she missing anything?”

“If she couldn’t keep her own affairs in order, who’s to blame? Should I and your mother have chewed everything up and spoon-fed it to her? How have we been biased? Huh?”

“Wen Haizhou, I’m telling you this right now: From now on, Wen Yaya is no longer my granddaughter. If anything happens to her, don’t come looking for me.”

Old Man Wen shook off the hands holding him, threw down his stick, and started to walk away. Mother Wen hurried to follow him. “Everyone disperse, go home, go home.”

The onlookers, upon hearing this, also began to leave. The yard was left with only Old Man Wen’s eldest son and second son. The second son, whose relationship with his elder brother had long been strained, tidied up his clothes without saying a word and left.

When the second son returned home, his wife, He Xiulan, asked: “What happened?”

The second son sat back down at the table and continued eating. “Wen Yaya got caught for speculation, and she reported Xiao Mei’s name.”