Chapter 15

“Mei, could you also teach me while you’re studying during summer break? I want to start learning, and maybe later I can figure out how to convince Mom.”

“You’re my older sister, it’s only right that I help you. Starting tomorrow, we’ll study together whenever we have time during the day. At night, we can go out and collect centipedes again. A girl should always have some money in her hands — it’s okay if we don’t use it all, but having money gives you confidence…”

Before Lin Yun could finish speaking, a commotion broke out from the front right side. The crowd, who had been chatting and discussing among themselves, suddenly grew restless and began moving in that direction.

Lin Yun and Lin Yumei held hands, each carrying a small stool, and followed the crowd.

It wasn’t until the noise died down a bit that Lin Yun realized the film projectionist had arrived. She looked in the direction the crowd was facing several times but still couldn’t spot the projectionist.

People around them were saying the projectionist had arrived with the team leader, apparently right after dinner.

Listening to the excited discussions around her, Lin Yun felt like projectionists in this era were practically celebrities, just like modern-day stars.

She even overheard a few aunties joking that it would be great to have a projectionist as a son-in-law.

Someone said a girl from a neighboring commune had married a projectionist, and their team got to watch movies more frequently than others.

Not long after the projectionist arrived, a loud rumbling sound came from the front. Lin Yun wasn’t sure if it was the projector or a generator, but judging by the noise, she seriously doubted whether they’d be able to hear the movie clearly later.

Still, when the sound started, the crowd immediately quieted down, all eyes fixed on the white screen set up in the distance.

Just when Lin Yun thought the movie was about to begin, the team leader stepped forward with a megaphone and began speaking.

Because of the background noise, it was hard to hear what he was saying. Lin Yun picked up a few bits — mostly updates on the current situation and affairs of the commune.

Lin Yun actually found this somewhat interesting, since she didn’t know much about this era. But the crowd clearly wasn’t into it. The longer the team leader spoke, the louder the boos and jeers grew.

The team leader must have realized everyone was losing patience, because he finally put the megaphone down.

Then, words began to appear on the screen. The movie was called “Battle of Triangle Hill (Shangganling)”, and from the opening scenes, Lin Yun could tell it was a revolutionary war film.

Normally, Lin Yun wouldn’t be into this kind of movie, but maybe it was the atmosphere — despite the movie’s lack of polish and basic visuals, she actually got drawn in and even found it kind of good.

When the soldiers encouraged and supported each other on screen, Lin Yun heard sniffles all around her. And when the enemy was defeated in one powerful strike, the audience erupted in cheers. Some even stood up to applaud.

Lin Yumei had told Lin Yun earlier that movies usually came in two parts. The first was a war film like this, and the second would be a martial arts film. Some of the older folks would leave after the first one — the action-packed wuxia films were more popular with the younger crowd.

Sure enough, when Shangganling ended, many elderly people started packing up their stools and heading home. Some stayed, but the crowd was clearly smaller than before.

Now that the crowd had thinned a bit, Lin Yun could finally make out the projectionist up front, switching out the film reels. She even tried to spot if one of them was limping, as people had said, but she still couldn’t see clearly from this distance.

The wait for the second film was a bit long, and Lin Yun started getting impatient — mainly because mosquitoes were out in full force. She was wearing short sleeves and shorts, and already felt like she had several bites on her legs. She wondered if there was any cooling balm left at home to soothe the itch, or if she should buy mosquito coils next time she went to town. Though she wasn’t even sure if the town had any for sale.

Do you need a ration ticket to buy mosquito coils? And were there any towns closer than the last one they went to? That place was way too far — a four or five hour walk even at a fast pace.

Lin Yumei had to call her several times before Lin Yun snapped out of her thoughts. She realized that she had been zoning out a lot lately. Whenever there was nothing going on, her thoughts would drift far away. It made her wonder if she had been away from electronic devices for too long. Back in the day, there was no time for random daydreaming like this — phones took up most of your time. The only time you had to let your imagination run wild was when you were lying in bed making up your own Mary Sue stories before sleep.

“Mei, they’re fighting over there again. Should we go take a look?” Lin Yumei pointed in a direction, and when Lin Yun followed her gaze, sure enough, there was a group of people gathered and shouting.

“Why are they suddenly fighting?” Lin Yun had been here for a while now, but this was the first time she’d seen an actual physical fight. There were occasional disagreements in daily life, but they usually stayed verbal.

“Seems like it’s people from another brigade. Some of our villagers went to their place to watch a movie earlier and got into a fight. Now they’re here to get even, I think. Not sure how it started — I called you as soon as I heard the noise. That’s all I know.

Shunzi’s in there too! And Gangzi was with them earlier — what if he’s involved? I have to go check.” As she spoke, Lin Yumei pulled Lin Yun forward.

Though many older folks had already left, others had moved forward to see what was going on, so there were still a lot of people. Lin Yun was pulled along, squeezing through the crowd, hearing bits and pieces of heated arguments — some she could understand, others she couldn’t.

The closer they got to the center, the louder and more chaotic the noise became. Lin Yun even heard several young guys shouting insults at each other — all in dialect. The surrounding crowd just watched and didn’t step in.

When they got closer, Lin Yun saw that only two people were actually fighting. The rest were just watching and egging them on. On the outer edge, she spotted Lin Yonggang trying to push his way in. She immediately grabbed his arm.

“What are you doing joining in this mess? What if you get hurt? Stay right here.”

Lin Yonggang reflexively tried to shake her off, but stopped when he saw it was his sister. “Sis, I’m not trying to get involved, I just want to watch. I promise I won’t do anything,” he said, trying to move again.

Lin Yun shot him a glare. He sulkily pulled back his foot. “I won’t go. I promise I won’t go. Don’t be so fierce.”