There was nothing worth protecting among the broken pots and pans here.

Let Liu Honghua cause trouble; we’ll make her pay back tenfold later.

Yan Runzhi still hesitated, “Our meager belongings for eating and sleeping…”

“Let’s go. Who cares about these broken things? They kicked us out; we won’t let them off easily,” Jiang Lin said forcefully, pulling Yan Runzhi along.

Ahead, Dabao had already taken Xiaobao and dashed off to the commune office.

Jiang Lin ignored the crashing sounds behind them and led Yan Runzhi straight to the commune office.

The commune office used to be Cheng’s large courtyard, now with its gates open.

In the yard stood a large Chinese parasol tree, with an old copper bell hanging from one of its branches.

This bell was used for signaling work shifts, meetings, and telling time in the commune.

Jiang Lin rushed over and began banging on the bell.

Yan Runzhi jumped in surprise.

Dabao’s eyes widened, and Xiaobao clapped his hands, cheering.

“What’s going on?” A duty officer came out and asked, surprised to see Jiang Lin. “Jiang Zhiqing, weren’t you on leave visiting the city?”

Jiang Lin ignored them and kept banging on the bell until several commune officials ran over to ask her to stop.

There was the commune secretary, Cheng Fujun; the commune director, Cheng Fuliang; the women’s director, Cheng Yulian; and the public security director, Wang Gang.

Soon, several production team leaders also arrived.

“Why are you ringing the bell, you woman?” Cheng Ruhai’s eyes blazed with anger when he saw Jiang Lin.

Earlier, his wife was grinding cornmeal, and Jiang Lin came along with her kids, causing trouble and even hitting his wife.

Now, she was here again, making a scene.

He was furious and felt she deserved a beating.

Jiang Lin snorted and sarcastically muttered, “Ringing the bell for your funeral, to wake you up.”

Cheng Ruhai’s face turned dark with rage, and he shouted, “You venomous woman, you need a beating.”

He raised his hand to slap Jiang Lin.

But Jiang Lin wasn’t about to stand there and take it.

She quickly hid behind the brigade officials, saying, “Secretary, there’s a cadre bullying the people.”

Cheng Fujun, who was promoted by the former secretary Shang Weiye, always remembered the old secretary’s advice to look after Cheng Rushan’s family.

However, this time, Cheng Ruhai had connections with the commune and became the team leader.

Yan Runzhi had gotten used to being criticized and scorned, so she never fought back.

Jiang Lin was planning to return to the city, so no one went to the brigade office to demand justice.

Without complaints, they couldn’t intervene in Cheng Ruhai’s family matters.

Sometimes, taking the first step to confront someone was the hardest part.

Now, with someone getting hit right in front of him, Cheng Fujun couldn’t ignore it.

He glanced at Cheng Ruhai, saying, “If you have something to say, speak up.”

Jiang Lin spoke up, “Secretary, Team Leader, I want to report Cheng Ruhai for abusing his stepmother, sister-in-law, and nephew. He kicked us out without a proper division of the family property. This is clearly the behavior of a bandit and a scoundrel. How can such a beast be a team leader? What qualifies him?”

Cheng Ruhai was stunned.

She actually dared to challenge him directly.

This was outrageous! “You lazy, shameless woman, you insisted on marrying my brother just to avoid work…”

“Spit, spit, spit!” Jiang Lin interrupted him. “What brother? Do you think of him as a brother? As soon as you heard any bad news about him, you kicked his mother, wife, and son out. What kind of brother are you? You’re a heartless, rotten scoundrel!”

She used the words Liu Honghua had used to scold Da Bao and threw them back at Cheng Ruhai, making his face turn black with anger.

He was about to claim he hadn’t kicked them out and that they had left on their own because they couldn’t take a little hardship.

Jiang Lin didn’t give Cheng Ruhai a chance to speak. “ How can someone like you be a production team leader? I will report you!”

Cheng Ruhai’s face turned red and blue with anger.

He wanted to argue, but his words got stuck on the tip of his tongue, making him feel like he was going to explode from frustration.

Not only was Cheng Ruhai stunned, but everyone else was also dumbfounded, watching Jiang Lin in disbelief at how fierce she had suddenly become.

Jiang Lin didn’t give them a chance to react.

She continued, “I originally took leave to visit my family in the city, but when I reached the county public security bureau, I suddenly thought about our situation. How could I leave when Cheng Ruhai abuses his stepmother, sister-in-law, and nephews, and kicks us out without a proper division of the family property? I have to expose and report him!”

The reason they moved out was because Liu Honghua constantly insulted them, withheld Da Bao and Xiao Bao’s food, and encouraged their cousins to bully them.

Jiang Lin, eager to return to the city, turned a blind eye, while Yan Runzhi, seeing the situation, moved out to protect Da Bao and Xiao Bao from further harm.

Naturally, there was no fair division of the family property.

Hearing Jiang Lin’s words, Yan Runzhi covered her face and began to cry, accusing Cheng Ruhai. “Back on the farm, I protected you when others bullied you. After we returned, when there was nothing to eat, I saved my ration for you while I went hungry and drank cold water at night. When people insulted and bullied you, it was my son and I who stood up for you. How can you be so heartless? Even if you don’t call me mother, I raised you and got you a wife. You’re not a good son; I’m going to report you to the government…”

She had been through many political movements and knew when to submit and when to fight.

Over the past few years, the focus had shifted from class struggles to emphasizing production.

Without support, she had lived quietly.

Now that her daughter-in-law was causing a stir, she immediately joined in.

She cooperated with Jiang Lin and even signaled her two grandsons to cry.

Da Bao refused to cry, but Xiao Bao’s wailing was deafening.

To outsiders, it looked like a tragic scene.

“Cheng Ruhai is too much; he’s practically devouring people whole!” someone shouted in support of Jiang Lin.

Jiang Lin turned to see that it was Sun Qinghui, another educated youth.

The original Jiang Lin didn’t have good relations with the other educated youths, except for Meng Yiyi.

She had despised everyone else.

Jiang Lin didn’t expect Sun Qinghui and the others to come to her aid.

Sun Qinghui waved to Jiang Lin, “Don’t be afraid, Jiang Lin. We educated youths are one family. If someone bullies us, we fight back!”

Even though there were internal conflicts among the educated youths, they still stood together against external threats.

If you didn’t stand up for others, no one would stand up for you when you were bullied.

Of course, the person in trouble had to stand up first. If they showed no backbone, others naturally wouldn’t intervene.

Seeing Sun Qinghui speak up, the other educated youths quickly joined in to help.

“Let’s write a complaint and report him!”

“Cheng Ruhai climbed up to be the production team leader through connections with the commune. Let’s report him to the county!”

“If the county doesn’t work, we’ll go back to the provincial capital. There’s no way a crooked team leader can bully educated youths from the city!”

Everyone in the village knew that Cheng Ruhai had used his connections with the commune to get his position.

Shuihuai Village was a large village, and each production team had 6 to 12 educated youths, totaling over twenty.

Even if only half of them spoke up, it would be enough to give Cheng Ruhai a hard time.

Since the policy adjustment in 1974, the status of educated youths in the countryside had risen.

Local cadres and members were not allowed to bully educated youths, force them to marry, or withhold their rations.

Moreover, educated youths were literate and unafraid to go to the county or interact with the public security bureau and revolutionary committees, making many villagers wary of them.

With people now speaking up for Jiang Lin, the brigade secretary Cheng Fujun and the brigade leader Cheng Fulian also wanted to curb Cheng Ruhai’s arrogance, lest he become too cocky with his connections.

Cheng Fujun shouted, “Educated youths, calm down. Let’s talk this through.”

Sun Qinghui responded, “Secretary, what’s there to talk about? Team Leader Three has gone too far. His brother’s news just came in, and before the government even stamped anything, he kicked out his brother’s mother, wife, and children. Is this something a human being would do? How can our Party and government use such a degenerate as a cadre? This is a deliberate attempt to tarnish the government’s reputation! His intentions are despicable!”

Cheng Rushan was taken away by the public security bureau, but no one knew the exact details, and there was no official confirmation.

Rumors circulated that Cheng Rushan had participated in counter-revolutionary activities and was reported and imprisoned.

Now, Cheng Ruhai was spreading word that his brother had met with trouble in prison, but this was just his claim without any official documents.

The villagers, being uneducated, were quick to believe rumors.

However, the educated youths were not so easily fooled and knew it wasn’t so simple.

Initially, most of the educated youths looked down on Jiang Lin for marrying a rural man to avoid labor.

But now, seeing her stand up for her mother-in-law, they found her actions respectable.

Cheng Ruhai retorted, “Nonsense! Who kicked them out? They moved out on their own.”

But no one believed him.

Liu Honghua ran over with her children, furious. “Jiang Lin, what are you doing? Are you trying to rebel?”

Jiang Lin sneered, “You’ve smashed our place to pieces. How impressive! You’re even more ruthless than the foreign invaders during their village raids!”

A child came running up, shouting, “The hut has been wrecked! It’s all ruined, we can’t sleep or eat there anymore.”

A dozen educated youths immediately surged forward in anger, especially those who had been bullied before and could empathize deeply.

“This is too much! They must be severely punished! If we don’t get a resolution, we’ll go to the county public security bureau to file a complaint!”

Cheng Ruhai and his wife started to feel scared.

Educated youths causing trouble was no small matter.

Back when the Houmiaozi brigade took the educated youths’ relocation subsidies but didn’t build proper housing for them, forcing them to live in huts or with villagers, it led to a scandal where hooligans assaulted and tried to force a female educated youth into marriage, resulting in her suicide by drowning.

The educated youths banded together and caused such a commotion that not only were the brigade cadres punished, but the culprits were also executed.

A new policy was then enforced to ensure the personal safety of educated youths, curbing some of the lawless behavior.

Cheng Fujun and Cheng Fulian exchanged a glance.

With Yan Runzhi and Jiang Lin seeking the cadres’ help, what started as a family issue had become a public matter, giving them a legitimate reason to intervene.

Cheng Fujun said, “Since there are grievances, let’s redistribute the property.”

Jiang Lin said, “Thank you, Secretary, for seeking justice. The damage caused by Liu Honghua should be on her; we won’t accept it as our loss.” She handed over a list she had made, “This is our family’s property inventory.”

Cheng Fujun took the list and handed it to the brigade accountant.

Liu Honghua swore, “I’ll curse you, you filthy… ah—”

Jiang Lin kicked her when she heard her foul language.

When Liu Honghua tried to retaliate, Jiang Lin dodged again.

Liu Honghua was hopping mad.

Jiang Lin taunted, “Stop acting like a lunatic. Go ahead and try to break something else of mine! Do it!”

Liu Honghua was so angry her eyes rolled back.

Cheng Fujun said, “We’ll redistribute the property after lunch.”

Jiang Lin replied, “Our house has been smashed up, and our food was stolen, so we have nothing to eat.”

Cheng Dabao, who had been holding Cheng Xiaobao’s hand and watching Jiang Lin closely, pointed his small finger at Liu Honghua and said angrily, “She used to never let Xiaobao and me eat our fill, and now she’s stolen our food!”

Liu Honghua began, “I…”

“It was you!” Jiang Lin immediately shut her down, “When you kicked us out before, you barely gave us any food. I exchanged some grain coupons, but you stole the remaining thirty pounds of flour and fifty pounds of cornmeal from our pantry!”

The educated youths and the surrounding villagers murmured in agreement, supporting Jiang Lin’s accusations and making it clear they believed her over Liu Honghua.

This public support strengthened Jiang Lin’s position and added pressure on the brigade leaders to address the injustice.

Liu Honghua was trembling with anger, barely able to speak, “You… you…”

Cheng Ruhai quickly interjected, “We didn’t take any food!”

His eldest son, Cheng Tiegang, immediately shouted, “We just smashed the pots and pans, we didn’t take any food.”

The crowd laughed derisively; smashing someone’s pots and pans wasn’t exactly a noble defense.

“You broke the hut, and now the food is gone. Who do you think took it?” Jiang Lin sneered.

Even if the food wasn’t stolen, she was determined to make them pay.

She coldly added, “It doesn’t matter if you don’t admit it. I’ll go to the county public security bureau tonight and file a complaint, let the police investigate!”

Jiang Lin then bowed to the educated youths and pretended to wipe away non-existent tears. “Thank you all for standing up for me today. I realize I was wrong before and apologize for any offenses.”

She was already pretty, with fair skin and clear, bright eyes.

Her tearful but resolute gaze instantly stirred everyone’s sense of justice.

Even those who had had minor conflicts with her before put aside their grievances, willing to help.

After all, her past actions hadn’t been too offensive.

Seeing the majority of the educated youths support her, Jiang Lin knew she had won.

She decided to add more fuel to the fire. “I don’t want to trouble the secretary and the brigade leader. I’ll go to the county to report Cheng Ruhai!”

She turned to leave, with Cheng Da Bao running to follow her and Cheng Xiao Bao grabbing her hand.

Cheng Fujun made a decisive call, “Liu Honghua, your actions of leading people to smash things are truly vile. You must immediately return Jiang Lin’s food, or we’ll hold a meeting to severely criticize you!”

The crowd murmured in agreement, creating even more pressure on Liu Honghua and Cheng Ruhai.

They were cornered, realizing that they had to comply or face even greater repercussions from the community and potentially the authorities.