Chapter 3: Take a look at this so-called ‘honest’ father and daughter…

Chapter 3: Take a look at this so-called 'honest' father and daughter...

The people present started giving Cao Mei and Tian Fang suspicious looks.

"Sure, grain is tight, but it’s still way better than during the famine years of '58 and '59, so how could they be starving like this? It turns out all the grain was borrowed and they've been out of food for days... Not eating for several days, no wonder they're starving."

"But still, no family has extra grain to spare, so how can they ask others to lend them some? If they needed to borrow, they should have gone to the commune. When the grain is distributed, it can be deducted then. Lending until they run out of food? That’s just plain wrong!"

"Come on, that’s not borrowing—it’s outright robbery!"

"I’m not shocked Cao Mei did this, but Tian Fang? Didn’t see that coming."

"I told you she’s all talk and no action, but you didn’t believe me."

Most of the people working in the fields were elderly folks and kids. To be precise, apart from the kids, most were middle-aged women. These women were known for speaking their minds, especially since a few of them had longstanding grudges against Cao Mei and Tian Fang. They began to chatter away.

Cao Mei immediately flared up. "What nonsense are you all spouting? I never said I wouldn't return the grain. How is that robbery? Besides, I borrowed from them, not from you. What business is it of yours to interfere?"

Shoving Shen Moer aside, she defended herself, "We have a large family and don't have enough food. Your family has fewer members and less burden. We’re family—what’s the big deal about borrowing some grain?"

The others were shocked by her shamelessness. The ever-helpful Aunt Chen immediately said, "If your family needs food, why don’t you dig up some wild veggies and roots?"

Pushed by Cao Mei, Shen Moer stumbled and fell to the ground, crying out, "But I didn't want to lend the grain. My father wasn't home, and you took all the food away. Even... even a potato was left for us... I've been digging wild vegetables, but they don't fill our stomachs, I'm really scared of starving to death..."

Shen Shaoyuan held his daughter, his face turning red with rage. "Sister-in-law, you took all the grain while I wasn't home. Now that Moer is like this, you still scold and push her. You're too much! Are you trying to drive us to our deaths?!"

Everyone understood now. It seemed that Cao Mei had taken all the grain from Shen Laoqi's home while he was away.

The Shen father and daughter were both timid and probably wouldn't dare to ask for the grain back. Even if they did, Cao Mei might not have returned it—everyone thought she was capable of that.

The Shen family, with two able-bodied members and no additional burden, should have been self-sufficient. They probably were too embarrassed to borrow grain from the commune, and that's why they ran out of food.

If Shen Moer hadn't fainted from hunger, they might have never brought this up.

Once they understood the situation, the people looked at Cao Mei with even more disdain. What kind of person does this?

Zhou Peijun was furious. "Aunt Cao, they clearly didn't want to lend the grain, yet you took it. Isn't that robbery? Don't glare at me. If you don't agree, let's call the police and let them decide whether what you did was right or if you should be locked up for a few days!"

Cao Mei, who had been glaring at Zhou Peijun, immediately wilted at the mention of the police. "It's just a small matter, why involve the police?"

She didn't think she was wrong, but she knew Zhou Peijun's brother-in-law was a police officer. She feared that Zhou Peijun might convince his brother-in-law to arrest her.

Zhou Peijun didn't really intend to call the police. What Cao Mei did was certainly wrong, but in the countryside, people preferred to resolve matters within the commune. If this got out, the entire commune would lose face.

He shouted, "Then hurry up and return their grain!"

Having to return the grain she had taken was not something Cao Mei was willing to do. Besides, the grain she had taken wasn't hers, and her family had been eating well for days, so most of it was already gone.

Grumbling, Cao Mei said, "There's no more grain left in our house. It's all been eaten."

Shen Moer "softly" sobbed, "Forty jin of grain and over twenty jin of potatoes, how could it be all gone, wuwuwu..."

The others gasped. That was over sixty jin of grain and potatoes. It was a considerable amount.

They looked at Cao Mei with even more contempt. Even if it was an emergency loan, she should have only borrowed a jin or two at most. To take so much, she clearly intended to rob them. What kind of person does that?

Zhou Peijun said directly, "I don't believe your family is out of grain. Let's go and check right now. All of us can come and see."

This was serious—if anything happened to Shen Laoqi and his daughter, the whole Yangliu commune could get a bad name.

Zhou Peijun made a quick decision and, after finishing his words, headed straight for Shen Laosan's house.

Cao Mei hurriedly followed, calling out as she walked: "Okay, okay, okay, I do have some grain left at home, but I didn’t take all their grain by myself. Tian Fang and I split it between our two families. How can you expect me to repay it all by myself?"

Tian Fang had remained silent until then, trying to slip by unnoticed. But when Cao Mei shouted, she was both annoyed and aware that her family couldn’t avoid this anymore. She quickly caught up and explained: "Old Cao did give us a bit of the grain, and I haven’t touched it yet. I’ll go get it right now."

Cao Mei had a gut feeling that something wasn’t right about Tian Fang’s words, but since it was she who had taken and distributed the grain, there was nothing she could say to refute. Seeing that others were scolding her but not Tian Fang, and that Tian Fang wasn’t sticking up for her either, Cao Mei glared at Tian Fang angrily. Tian Fang, however, pretended she didn’t notice.

The others followed as well and, upon hearing this, many assumed that Tian Fang had unknowingly accepted the grain that Cao Mei had shared. They grew even more contemptuous of Cao Mei, thinking it was truly shameless of her to steal the grain and then use it to curry favor with others.

Aunt Chen helped Shen Shaoyuan support Shen Moer and muttered: "That Tian family sure knows how to distance themselves cleanly. It wouldn’t be surprising if the bad idea was hers to begin with."

Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan exchanged a glance, thinking that Aunt Chen was indeed one of the few clear-headed people in the village. Tian Fang had a sweet tongue but a bitter heart—wasn’t it her who came up with the bad idea?

The group walked from the village entrance into the village. After about ten minutes, they finally arrived at their destination.

The four Shen brothers—Shen Laodai, Shen Laoer, Shen Laosan, and Shen Laoqi—used to live together. The first three still lived in a row of blue-brick tile-roofed houses, built when their father was still alive.

Before their father passed away, he had divided the houses among his sons. Shen Laoqi actually had a share too. But at that time, he wasn’t married yet. His nephews, who were older than him, found their houses too cramped for marriage, so they "borrowed" Shen Laoqi’s share of the house.

When Shen Laoqi got married, his nephews didn’t offer to return the house. Instead, they pooled some money together, bought a confiscated storage room from the village, did a quick repair, and handed it over to Shen Laoqi as repayment for the house.

As could be imagined, how sturdy could a storage room really be?

Over the years, people in the village had heard plenty about how Shen Laoqi’s house was drafty and leaky.

Now, seeing this row of sturdy blue-brick houses, everyone had a sudden realization: The Shen family had a history of borrowing things and never giving them back!

Everyone knew that Shen Laoqi’s family had been at a disadvantage before, but since it was a family issue and Shen Laoqi hadn’t complained, there wasn’t much anyone could do to help.

But today was different. Moer had fainted from hunger, and the father and daughter had laid everything out in the open. With Zhou Peijun, the team leader, leading the charge, as fellow villagers, they had to help!

A few enthusiastic aunties followed Cao Mei and Tian Fang into the main room, supervising as the two took out the grain.

Tian Fang’s family hadn’t touched the grain yet, though there were only a few potatoes left. In Cao Mei’s house, not only were the potatoes gone, but there was also very little grain left.

Tian Fang sighed: "There are many people in my family, and the children are at an age where they eat a lot. Even if we go hungry ourselves, we can’t let Moer go hungry, right?"

Cao Mei, on the other hand, cursed: "Take everything! Once you two are fed, don’t care if we starve! Damn it, you’re all ungrateful wretches!"

What they said essentially meant the same thing—accusing the father and daughter of taking the grain and not caring if their families starved.

Shen Moer, leaning "weakly" on Shen Shaoyuan, asked: "Dad, is the team going to distribute grain today? The second and third uncles' families probably won’t be starving like us, right?"

Shen Shaoyuan choked back tears: "Don’t worry about them. Your cousins are capable and earn more work points than we do. They won’t go hungry. Look at you, you’re so hungry you’ve fainted. And yet you’re still worried about whether they have enough to eat. If they don’t care about you, why should you care about them? Don’t worry. Dad has figured it out. You’re the only daughter I have. If anyone tries to stop you from eating, I’ll fight them to the end!"

The others then realized that, if anyone was going to starve, it was Shen Laoqi’s family who had gone without food for days. And today, the team was distributing grain. Taking away this grain wouldn’t cause Shen Laoer or Shen Laosan’s families to starve.

After all, they had plenty of laborers and earned a lot of work points, as Shen Laoqi had said. Their lives were certainly better than Shen Laoqi’s father and daughter.

And besides, how dare they act so righteous after stealing someone else’s grain?

Look, they had pushed honest people to the point of crying, screaming, and threatening to fight back!

Although people didn’t usually think of Shen Laoqi and his daughter as the type to act like this, hadn’t the old opera stories said "forced onto Liangshan"? When people were pushed to the edge, they would even rebel. What wouldn’t they dare to do?

So no one thought Shen Moer and Shen Shaoyuan were in the wrong for reacting this way.

Everyone couldn't help but feel that Cao Mei seemed even more unreasonable, and that Tian Fang, as Aunt Chen had said, only talks nicely but doesn't follow through.

So, when Shen Shaoyuan asked about the missing grain, everyone unanimously agreed that since the village committee was about to distribute grain, they would all supervise together to ensure their families made up for the shortfall.

Shen Shaoyuan looked genuinely touched: “You are all such kind-hearted people!”

Shen Moer, feigning weakness, expressed her gratitude: “What would we do without you?”

The others, especially Zhou Peijun and a few enthusiastic aunts, were filled with a sense of duty and purpose: "Look at how honest they are! If it weren’t for our help, they could have been starved to death without fighting back... We have to help, and we are determined to see it through!"