Chapter 128

Perhaps, as Qiao Wei later thought, it would have been better if she hadn’t promised him that day. As long as people have something to hold onto, they can hold on with all their might.

He found the person he entrusted, felt relieved, and didn’t want to hold on anymore.

The matter was reported to Director Huang, who frowned and inquired about the specifics.

Then he made a decision: no more daily parades. Even if they were enemies of the people, they couldn’t eat the people’s food every day; they had to make them work.

So Meng Zuoyi and the people from the health bureau’s backyard were given brooms, and they swept the streets of the county every day.

This spared them the trouble of going on parades both in the morning and afternoon.

Director Huang stipulated that they were only allowed to parade once a week.

Meng Zuoyi told Qiao Wei, who came to see him, “He’s really worried I might die too.”

He mocked, “Unnecessary. Even if he hung himself, I wouldn’t hang myself.”

It was already November, and the weather was getting cold.

The neighboring Agricultural Bureau sent sweet potatoes to the library.

Director Qiao indeed roasted sweet potatoes with the librarians on the veranda, filling the air with fragrance.

As they roasted, snow unexpectedly started falling. This year’s snow came so early, just in time.

Yan Xiang sat in her mother’s lap and happily finished eating the sweet potatoes.

Listening to uncles and aunts talk about what was happening on the streets, the high school students didn’t attend classes and even burned their textbooks.

Director Qiao stared blankly at the drifting snow for a long time.

When she had stared long enough, she suddenly stood up, put the child aside, and went back to her office.

Everyone exchanged glances.

Qiao Wei tinkered in the office for two hours, concocting a list, and handed it to everyone, saying, “Let’s get moving today and pick out these categories of books.”

Zheng Ai sighed, “Are they really burning them?”

“Doesn’t matter,” Qiao Wei said, “You just pick them out first and get ready.”

It took them several days to pick out the books selected by Qiao Wei. Yan Xiang also exerted a lot of effort.

On New Year’s Day, a group of young men and women suddenly burst into the library, clamoring, “Take out the books, burn the ones that need burning!”

The youngsters were full of vigor, feeling that what they were doing was absolutely right, and no adults dared to stop them, who dared!

Feeling proud, they looked around.

Sure enough, the librarians didn’t dare to stop them, but Qiao Wei did.

“Don’t you dare touch anything!” She stepped forward angrily. “The books in the library are all classified. They are tidied up every day. Let me see who dares to mess with them!”

Her imposing manner made the youngsters shrink back for a moment.

But soon, the leading boy stiffened his neck. “We’re here to inspect. Those that are not good…”

“They’ve already been sorted out!” Qiao Wei interrupted him and waved her hand. “Follow me!”

She turned and walked away. The youngsters hesitated for a moment, then followed her.

Qiao Wei led them to the middle of several bookshelves. “See, the piles in the middle of each shelf have all been sorted out by us. They’ve been sorted out, so you don’t need to bother.”

The leading boy went over to take a look. There were piles of books, each with a note attached: Incorrect Ideology.

The words were written in red ink with a strong critical tone.

The leading boy couldn’t find any faults either, so he nodded in a pretentious manner and praised, “Not bad.”

Turning around, he said, “Let’s, um… move these books out and burn them.”

This time, Qiao Wei didn’t stop them. She just stood there with her arms folded, watching the youngsters grunt and strain as they carried the books out.

Paper and water, they seemed light and insubstantial, but in reality, they were dense and heavy.

The group of youngsters broke into a sweat but didn’t manage to move out much. There were still a lot left inside.

Everyone’s backs couldn’t bear it anymore. A girl said, “Wang Daliang, should we stop now? Shall we burn these first?”

Wang Daliang was the leading boy. His arms were also sore, so he rubbed them and said, “Okay, let’s burn these first.”

Excitement appeared on the faces of the young men and women.

Their favorite part was burning the books!

In the winter wind, Wang Daliang struggled to block the wind and struck a match. Just as he was about to light it, Qiao Wei suddenly stepped forward and shouted, “Stop!”

Wang Daliang was startled, and the match went out. Irritated, he said, “What are you doing, scaring me like that?”

Qiao Wei said, “I should be asking you what you’re doing!”

Wang Daliang glared, “We’re burning books!”

Qiao Wei retorted, “Just like that?”

“Of course! What else?” Wang Daliang’s tone was provocative, and secretly, he somewhat hoped that this formidable female librarian would step forward to stop them. Ha, that way, it would prove she was a reactionary, and they could denounce her! Parade against her!

Little did he know, Qiao Wei pointed at him and sternly criticized, “How many years has New China been established? How many years have the Chinese people had enough to eat? And you want to throw away the Party’s fine tradition of hard work and plain living, thrift, and frugality? The Party feeds you for nothing! Your parents taught you for nothing! Am I right?”

Wang Daliang: “…”

Wang Daliang and his classmates were dumbfounded.

Qiao Wei pointed at the pile of books in the courtyard. “These are books! Books are made of paper! Paper is made of wood! They can be burned!”

She waved her arm, “So many books, so much fuel, and you’re just going to burn them like this? Isn’t that wasteful? What kind of families are you from? Are you all officials’ families? How much fuel does your parents’ unit use every month? And you dare to waste like this? This is fuel! Listen, let me say it again, this is paper, paper is made from wood, wood is fuel. All of these—are fuel! Do you understand?”

Wang Daliang and his classmates: “…”

They shook their heads together, too afraid to speak.

The young but very authoritative librarian was so angry she couldn’t speak. She put her hands on her hips and said, “It’s winter now, every household needs to light their stoves, to cook they need fire. Don’t you need a fire starter? Don’t you need to add fire? Haven’t you ever burned paper before? This is such useful fuel. It’s much better than straw for starting and controlling a fire. Throw it into the stove, no need for a bellows, the fire will start in minutes. Do you understand?”

The youngsters timidly but firmly… shook their heads.

They didn’t understand.

The librarian, seemingly too furious to speak, pinched her forehead.

“You, what’s your name? Wang Daniao?” She pointed at the leading boy.

A burst of laughter erupted!

Wang Daliang’s face flushed red. “Wang Daliang! Daliang! As loud as a song!”

“Okay, Wang Daliang, you’re the leader, right?”

Wang Daliang puffed out his chest. “Yes!”

“Then you’re in charge,” Qiao Wei began to assign tasks, “Contact the street, have these books transported there and distributed to residents for fuel. Allocate them by household and by person.”

A girl’s eyes lit up. “That’s great! We burn the books and don’t waste them!”

Everyone was from the working-class, none were from wealthy, corrupt families. In such a cold winter, having more fuel at home was naturally good. Otherwise, if their parents or grandparents were stingy and reluctant to light the stove, everyone would suffer from the cold.

Wang Daliang stiffly said, “Your arrangement is quite good. Let’s do it this way.”

He had already planned it out in his mind—first, they would divide the books among themselves and take them home to burn for warmth.

Hehe, Mom will praise me.

Feeling pleased with himself, Qiao Wei asked, “Zheng Ai, which is the nearest residential street here?”

Zheng Ai played along, “It’s Sìmín Street.”

“Alright, then the first batch will be sent to Sìmín Street to distribute to the residents,” Qiao Wei finalized.

Wang Daliang was not having it. If it went like this, his little scheme would fall through. His classmates had the same idea, and they were giving him meaningful looks.

Wang Daliang refused, “We’re not familiar with Sìmín Street. What if we send these books over there and they don’t burn them? Instead, they start reading them? These are all poisonous books with incorrect ideologies that will corrupt everyone’s minds.”

“I see… You have a point,” Qiao Wei rubbed her chin, as if deep in thought.

The students secretly rejoiced and exchanged glances.

Suddenly, Qiao Wei looked up and said, “That’s simple. You, and you, and you… all of you together, tear these books apart. Page by page, then scatter them. Mix up the pages of different books so they’re not connected. If you’re still worried, tear the pages in half again, then scatter them, making them impossible to read. It’s such a simple thing.”

Wang Daliang was dumbfounded.

But he couldn’t think of a rebuttal for the moment. His lips moved, and he swallowed hard.

Qiao Wei raised an eyebrow, “What’s wrong? Is my method not acceptable? Or perhaps, you never intended to give these books to the residents in the first place? Could it be you want to embezzle them for yourselves? Do you want to secretly read them or hoard them for burning?”

How could this adult seem to read minds?

Everyone avoided eye contact.

A group of half-grown kids, naive teenagers, didn’t know how to hide their thoughts. Just now, they exchanged meaningful looks, but Qiao Wei saw through their little schemes instantly.

But of course, they couldn’t admit it. Not only could they not admit it, but they also had to do the opposite of what they really wanted to prove their innocence.

Wang Daliang stiffened his neck, insisting, “Who do you think we are! We’re all working for the country and the people. Just tearing books, let’s do it now. Come on, everyone! Let’s tear!”

Qiao Wei clapped her hands, “Good, good. You are the rising sun of our motherland at eight or nine o’clock. The future of the country relies on all of you! Zheng Ai, Xiao Wu, why are you so sluggish? Bring a few chairs over for your classmates to sit and tear comfortably! Don’t tire them out!”

The head librarian was too cunning.

It’s winter now, how cold is it is.

The library staff moved the chairs expressionlessly, placing them in the courtyard.

Qiao Wei said, “What time is it? I need to make a call to Secretary Pan of the Revolutionary Committee. We agreed to discuss something this morning.”

“Students, take your time tearing. Once you’re done, we’ll count the quantity, then contact the street to see how many households there are.”

“Unequal distribution is the real problem. If the distribution isn’t fair, with some households getting more and some less, it would be terrible. Some people love to take advantage of others, and they’d definitely cause trouble for your families.”

“You guys tear first, tear first, and once you’re done, go inside to carry. I’ll make a phone call first.”

Qiao Wei hurried inside.

The library staff followed suit and went inside.

Roasting by the fire, sipping hot tea, behind the warm glass window, watching a bunch of kids freezing their hands and feet while tearing books in the courtyard.

Sure enough, their enthusiasm was quickly dispersed by the cold wind.

“Oops! My nose is running.” Zheng Ai held the teapot disdainfully.

In the courtyard, a boy wiped his nose with a torn page of the book, rolled it into a ball, and threw it on the ground.

There was a chorus of disdain from inside the house.

After half a pot of hot tea, everyone felt warm.

“Look, they’re tearing slower and slower,” they said.

Of course, it’s so cold outside. After tearing books for so long, their hands must be stiff. It’s inconvenient to wear gloves.

“Look, they’re stomping their feet. Must be freezing them stiff.”

Qiao Wei carried a pot of ginger syrup she brewed on the stove, walked to the window, blew some hot air, and glanced outside.

The students were hopping in place, cold to the bone.

Qiao Wei blew some more hot air, took a sip of the hot syrup, and thought, these little brats, daring to challenge adults.