Sweet Rebirth: The Little Healer

When Dong Sanshu heard Gu Qingyu mention his name, and since he was newly appointed and naturally wanted to make a good impression on the villagers, he opened the notebook and pen he carried with him. He nodded and said, ”That’s right. Yesterday’s total was one hundred eighty-two bundles, which filled up two entire rows perfectly. Today, we started on the third row. Let me count what we have here... Five bundles, ten bundles... one hundred sixty-five bundles... plus the eighteen outside, that makes one hundred seventy-three bundles. That’s nine fewer than yesterday, but don’t forget, everyone, there are still two hours until we knock off for the night. At this pace, hitting two hundred and twenty bundles today will be no problem at all!”

Dong Sanshu’s words seemed to put the villagers at ease. They then turned to look at Li Siming and Wang Dadan, as if to see what else they could possibly say.

Wang Dadan was stunned. He had been watching all morning. ’That old woman only manages a dozen or so bundles in an afternoon, a few dozen a day at most. How could there be over a hundred?’

”They’re cheating! They’re cheating!” Wang Dadan shot back, pointing at Old Sir Qian and Old Madam Qian. ”You’re all covering for them! I’m going to the county to report you all!”

Hearing Wang Dadan, Miao Dahai seethed with anger and snapped, ”That’s enough, Wang Dadan! Haven’t you stirred up enough trouble in this village? We’re all neighbors here, and everyone has been more than lenient with you. But what do you do? You cast aside a peaceful life to nitpick and find fault where there is none. Do you have any idea how much trouble you’ll bring upon our entire village? Hmph! On behalf of the villagers, I’m sending you and Li Siming for self-criticism.”

Wang Dadan froze for a second but immediately relaxed. ’Miao Cunzheng would never dare,’ he thought.

”I’m just reporting an issue. You can’t lock me up,” Wang Dadan sneered. ”You wouldn’t dare!”

”That’s right, we’re reporting an issue! You have no right to lock us up,” Li Siming chimed in. ”If you do, you’re abusing your power for personal reasons! It’s a dereliction of duty!”

”Honestly, the things you say are getting more and more absurd,” Li Guihua sneered. ”We all know what kind of man Miao is. It’s not true just because you say it is. We don’t believe you. It’s absolutely wrong of you to slander our village elders. Wang Dadan, who on earth gave you the nerve to smear the village and its people like this?”

”That’s right, Wang Dadan! How can you say that without any proof?” the villagers retorted. They were all just common folk who wanted to live in peace, but people like Wang Dadan and Li Siming were always disturbing the tranquility. Slowly, everyone had begun to grow tired of Wang Dadan.

”Yeah, you need evidence when you make accusations!”

”Even the old landlords from before wouldn’t have dared to slander people the way you do!”

”Exactly, exactly...”

Public opinion had now swung to the side of the village, Old Sir Qian, and Old Madam Qian. Yet Wang Dadan and Li Siming were still making a scene, despite how unscrupulously they both acted.

Wu Dazhu led a few men over and seized Wang Dadan and Li Siming. To stop them from spouting more vicious nonsense, he stuffed rags directly into their mouths. ’This is nothing but slander, a complete frame-up. They need to be taught a lesson,’ he thought.

”Miao, don’t be angry. They’ve been holding a grudge ever since their village cadre positions were revoked by the higher-ups. That’s why they’re making something out of nothing,” Li Guihua said. ”Everyone, you all know what kind of life we have here in Nianqiao Village. Last year’s harvest was poor. Was there any village that didn’t have people starve to death? But not ours. Among us cadres, besides Wang Dadan and Li Siming who took things home for themselves back when they were in charge, the rest of us are completely clean. And despite that, we’re still being slandered by these two parasites. It’ll make it hard for us village cadres to do our jobs from now on...”

”Miao, Director Li, we all know you’re good cadres! You’re always the first to tackle the dirty, tiring jobs, not like Wang Dadan and Li Siming, who only do the easy tasks and never the heavy lifting. They just slack off and try to get away with it...”

”That’s right! Miao Dahai is a stand-up guy! We respect that!”

”Our Director is great, too! Leading the women of the village, she really helps hold up half the sky!”

The villagers chimed in, echoing Li Guihua’s words. They didn’t know for sure if Miao Cunzheng and Li Guihua were corrupt, but they did know that when it was time to work, the two of them—and even others like Wu Dazhu and Dong Sanshu—never shirked their duties or tried to hide. Besides, Li Guihua was right about one thing: many people in other villages had starved or frozen to death. Women who came to visit relatives and daughters from Nianqiao Village who had married out and returned home all said the same.

Compared to other villages, every household in Nianqiao Village received a decent sum of money at the end of the year, had enough grain to eat, and could even secretly catch fish. Life was indeed much better, and they could often afford to help out their maiden families or their married daughters.

In such difficult times, the villagers were more than satisfied with the lives they had, and they didn’t want people like Wang Dadan and Li Siming to ruin it.

”Thank you for your trust, everyone. I hope all you fellow villagers will continue to hold us accountable in the future,” Miao Dahai said. ”For now, the old woman is still unconscious. Let’s go check on her.”

Zhao Nuanyue, who had seen the tide turn but was still a little worried, hurried over. ”How is she?” she asked.

Sun Haoran winked at Zhao Nuanyue, signaling for her not to worry.

Zhao Nuanyue was taken aback for a moment, but then she understood. ’If Sun Haoran has the presence of mind to joke around like that, Old Madam Qian must not be in any real danger.’

”An elderly woman, working so hard at her age, only to be persecuted by Wang Dadan and Li Siming...” Seeing that the matter was mostly settled, Zhao Nuanyue deliberately raised her voice.

Seeing his chance, Hua Yusen immediately said to Miao Dahai, ”Uncle Miao, Mr. Zhao and I have been diligently working every single day on the task you and the village commune assigned to us, never daring to slack off for even a moment. By accusing the old woman of being lazy, aren’t Wang Dadan and Li Siming also implying that we aren’t doing our jobs properly? This time, you must ensure justice is served, both for us and for the old woman.”

Miao Dahai was furious, but he had already come up with a plan to deal with Accountant Li and Wang Dadan. Now that Hua Yusen had brought it up, he certainly wasn’t going to let the opportunity pass. He walked with the others over to the old woman, thought for a moment, and said, ”Mr. Hua, Mr. Zhao, I will report your situation to the higher-ups. I will absolutely ensure a just outcome for the old woman.”

Old Sir Qian said nothing, his heart filled with bitter resentment.

’But what could he do?’

’If he simply died to end it all, wouldn’t that leave his wife in an even more pitiful state? And what about their daughter-in-law and grandson, whose whereabouts were still unknown?’