Chapter 85, First Watch

Chapter 85, First Watch

Shen Moer had only seen Sun Yaozu once, back in the Yangliu Brigade. That day, she saw a silhouette, and it struck her as familiar, but she didn’t immediately connect it to Sun Yaozu. Now, upon careful reflection, the side profile and build of that person bore an eight or nine out of ten resemblance to Sun Yaozu.

Moreover, if it were Sun Yaozu, it wouldn’t be strange that Zhou Pingan didn’t want to mention his name. After all, in these times, no one wants to be associated with the Revolutionary Committee.

It was unclear how Fei Lin got involved with Sun Yaozu.

During dinner that evening, Shen Moer mentioned the matter to Shen Shaoyuan and Fu Mingze.

Shen Shaoyuan frowned and mentioned an incident: "This afternoon, the home of an old technician from the textile factory was raided by the Revolutionary Committee. It’s said to be related to the Chao family, a well-known capitalist family in the county."

"He is a distant relative of the Chao family. Because he once worked as a clerk in the Chao family’s shop, he was considered an oppressed and exploited laborer, so during the class categorization, he wasn’t labeled as a landlord, rich peasant, counter-revolutionary, bad element, or rightist. But this time, someone reported that his family had hidden many items left by the Chao family and had close ties with them."

As Shen Shaoyuan spoke, he exchanged a glance with Shen Moer. Both father and daughter were relieved. Their family’s notorious poverty had kept them out of trouble.

In fact, Shen Shaoyuan’s ability to paint and Shen Moer’s skill in embroidery were things that could be scrutinized. If someone with ill intentions wanted to make an issue out of it, they certainly could.

But fortunately, the Shen family had been poor farmers for three generations, and the original host’s mother had passed away early. Even though everyone could guess that the original host’s mother’s background was probably not good, a woman who had come as a refugee with an unclear background would be hard to investigate, even if someone wanted to.

Fortunately, they had been cautious since their arrival and never flaunted any wealth.

Shen Moer glanced at Fu Mingze and noticed that he was lost in thought. She served him some food: "What’s wrong?"

Fu Mingze snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head: "It seems that when you met Sun Yaozu, he said he had important business. It might have been this matter. I just wonder if it has anything to do with Mr. Fei at your school."

The next day, when Shen Moer arrived at school, the other teachers in the office were discussing the old technician from the textile factory. Overnight, more details had surfaced. It was said that the Revolutionary Committee had indeed found some items during the raid, and now the entire family was detained.

"I didn’t expect his family to be related to the Chao family. I hadn’t heard about that before!"

"The Chao family caused the deaths of many people. In the martyrs’ cemetery where we take our students to sweep the graves every year, several were victims of the Chao family. Being related to them is a death sentence!"

"I heard that his family was actually connected to the wife of the youngest son of the Chao family. The Chao family’s evil deeds were mainly carried out by the first two sons. The youngest son was said to be a bookworm, always staying in school."

"Even so, he’s still a capitalist offspring. They should be overthrown and trampled under ten thousand feet."

...

While fetching water, Shen Moer glanced at Fei Lin. He wasn’t participating in the discussion, but there was nothing unusual about him. He was just engrossed in writing his lesson plan.

At that moment, Kong Meijuan suddenly brought over a piece of drawing paper: "Teacher Shen, is this yours?"

Shen Moer took it and looked at it, puzzled: "Yes, it’s mine. This is a draft I made for an embroidery design. There were a couple of places that weren’t right, so I threw it in the wastepaper pile. How did you find it?"

Kong Meijuan was also puzzled: "Ah, it’s a discarded draft? It’s so well-drawn, yet it’s wrong? But I found it on the floor, wedged in the gap of my desk."

She pointed in the direction of her desk.

Shen Moer turned her head and caught Fei Lin’s gaze. Fei Lin was momentarily startled, then smiled at her before diving back into his writing.

Shen Moer didn’t have a class during the first period. After the other teachers had gone to their classes, she went to the corner of the office where the waste paper was kept and searched around. She discovered that the discarded drafts she had tossed there earlier were all missing.

In the office, everyone’s used paper wasn’t thrown away but piled up here. Once a certain amount had accumulated, it would be sent to the recycling center.

Usually, it was only sent every six months, and since the beginning of the year, it hadn’t been sent yet, so there was a large stack here.

But drawing paper was distinct from other types of paper and relatively easy to spot.

Shen Moer couldn’t understand why someone would take her botched drafts. Moreover, since Kong Meijuan had picked up the draft near Fei Lin’s spot, she couldn’t shake the suspicion that it might have been Fei Lin.

However, this was a tough case to crack. The scrap paper pile was free for anyone to take. Sometimes people would grab some to paste walls or windows, or even take a bit home to start a fire. As long as they didn’t take too much, no one would say anything.

Shen Moer had no clue for the moment, so she put the matter aside. She figured this mess wouldn’t be sorted out before she left the commune middle school. She never expected things to blow up just days later.

First, on Saturday night, Shen Shaoyuan returned home after overtime and mentioned that the local cops had gone all out to nab someone, turning the streets upside down. It seemed someone from the commune Revolutionary Committee was also involved.

By the next morning, which was Sunday, word had spread like crazy throughout the residential compound, with every household talking about it.

Liu Guizhi showed up with Zhou Pingan and spilled all the juicy details.

It was said that someone had anonymously reported to the police station that Deputy Director Sun Yaozu of the Revolutionary Committee had privately intercepted a batch of antiques and paintings from confiscated homes, planning to smuggle them south. The tip even included the exact time and place of the deal.

Then, while the police station was setting up to arrest Sun Yaozu, another deputy director of the Revolutionary Committee, Wu Qiong, received an identical report. Wu Qiong and Sun Yaozu had been butting heads for ages, though it was an internal matter of the Revolutionary Committee. Wu Qiong didn’t know what to make of it at first, so he brought a few of his trusted men to the scene.

When they arrived, the cops had already nabbed them in the act. Seeing this, Wu Qiong claimed he had also come to arrest them based on the report.

They bickered over who’d take the suspects, but in the end, Wu Qiong conceded.

It was said that the person buying these antiques and paintings was suspected of colluding with enemy agents from the south, involving issues of espionage. The Revolutionary Committee handling it wouldn’t look as good as the cops taking charge.

However, some believed that Wu Qiong threw Sun Yaozu to the wolves, not wanting him to make a comeback. After all, Sun Yaozu was a real operator and had very good relations with the county Revolutionary Committee. If it weren’t for the current commune Revolutionary Committee director’s ruthless methods and strong backing, Sun Yaozu might have already ousted him.

If Sun Yaozu were still in the hands of the Revolutionary Committee, he might have found a way to escape. But in the hands of the police, it was different. The cops and the Revolutionary Committee had been at each other’s throats for years, and there was old enmity between them. The police wouldn’t go easy on Sun Yaozu.

Getting mixed up with spies was practically treason, something everyone would condemn. Sun Yaozu would find it hard to make a comeback.

Liu Guizhi was practically bouncing with excitement: "You’ll never guess who the enemy agent dealing with Sun Yaozu is. I tell you, it’s someone you know!"

Shen Moer glanced at Zhou Pingan, who stood silently beside her, thinking to herself that not only did she know the enemy agent dealing with Sun Yaozu was Fei Lin, but she also suspected that the anonymous informant was likely Zhou Pingan, Liu Guizhi’s good son.

This kid’s got some guts!

Shen Moer had been too busy lately to keep a constant eye on Zhou Pingan, but she still paid attention to him at school. Recently, Zhou Pingan hadn’t shown any signs of abnormality, and she hadn’t heard Liu Guizhi mention him coming home soaked again… It seemed that after being discovered last time, he had become even more cautious.

Shen Moer smiled: "How could I guess? Is it someone from our residential compound? There’s actually an enemy agent hiding among us?"

Liu Guizhi exaggeratedly said: "I knew you wouldn’t guess. It’s Fei Lin, the teacher from your commune middle school! Oh my, isn’t that scary? A school teacher is actually an enemy agent."

Shen Moer put on her best shocked face: "What? Teacher Fei? No way!"

Zhou Pingan glanced at Shen Moer, his mouth twitching.

Liu Guizhi shared the news she had heard with Shen Moer: "Yes, it’s said that he was neighbors with Sun Yaozu and grew up with Sun Yaozu’s aunt. Later, his family fell into poverty, so he went out to learn a trade, joining a large opera troupe to play the erhu. It was in the troupe that he got involved with enemy agents. After liberation, somehow he became a teacher, and then somehow he reconnected with Sun Yaozu. The two teamed up, with Sun Yaozu getting him things and information, and he would sell them for money."

She said, her voice a mix of disbelief and envy: "This morning, the police searched several of Sun Yaozu’s residences and found a whole box of those 'little gold bars' they call 'small yellow fish.' My, how much money that must be! In such a small place, they managed to get so much money!"

Shen Moer blinked. She knew what "little gold bars" were, but her treasure vault held more than just a box or two, so a single box didn’t exactly blow her away. No matter how much, it could only gather dust in the vault, not be exchanged for money.

What really caught her eye were the antiques and paintings they’d been dealing. She hadn’t seen "ancient" items from this world yet and wondered if they were any different from those in Great Liang.

Clearly, Shen Shaoyuan was also more interested in the antiques and paintings, asking: "Isn’t it said that during the 'Destroy the Four Olds' campaign, such things were to be smashed? How can they still be exchanged for money?"

This was the tricky part of being an "outsider." While knowing the rules of this world, they often found that rules and reality were contradictory.

Liu Guizhi had no clue about those antique paintings and calligraphy; she only cared about that box of "little yellow fish"—gold bars.

However, Zhou Pingan spoke up to explain: "They’re considered worthless here in the country. Some folks toss them out to steer clear of trouble, but if they take them to the south or abroad, they become valuable. I’ve heard folks in Hong Kong and across the strait are willing to pay good money for them."

Shen Shaoyuan glanced at him with a smile: "You sure know a lot for someone your age."

Zhou Pingan lowered his eyes: "I picked it up from classmates during chats."

Shen Moer almost rolled her eyes. He kept to himself at school; who’d even talk to him? Besides, she knew his classmates well—they all had that clueless, naive look in their eyes, hardly the type to know such things.

But what surprised Shen Moer even more was that Zhou Pingan had more to say: "Well, those things aren’t completely worthless. I’ve heard that some embroidery patterns evolved from ancient paintings, and even Uncle Shen’s propaganda posters have hints of ancient art."

Although he called Shen Moer "Teacher Shen," he referred to Shen Shaoyuan as "Uncle Shen."

This was mostly because Shen Shaoyuan, still feeling young, didn’t mind being called "Uncle" by younger relatives in the village, but outside, he didn’t want to be called "Grandpa," especially by someone like Zhou Pingan, who wasn’t much younger than his own daughter.

At first, Liu Guizhi thought her son had finally come around, knowing to talk more with the Shen family to build closer ties. But after hearing him, her face went pale: "No, how dare you say such things as a child? Those are the 'Four Olds'—utterly worthless and deserving of criticism!"

Zhou Pingan glanced at his mother, pursed his lips, and fell silent.

Shen Shaoyuan looked at him thoughtfully: "You’ve seen my posters?"

Zhou Pingan nodded emphatically: "Yes, the first one I saw was 'The Furnace Fire.' The flames looked alive, and the people seemed real too."

Shen Shaoyuan nodded. That was the first propaganda poster he painted after joining the kiln factory, titled "The Furnace Fire." Besides the roaring flames, it also depicted the hardworking kiln workers.

He hadn’t expected Zhou Pingan to have seen his work so early on.

Zhou Pingan continued enthusiastically: "But my favorite is the one you painted for the commune, 'Harvest.' That painting makes you think of the smell of rice fields in the breeze, filling one with hope, joy, and a sense of fulfillment."

"Of course, 'Striving for Education' is also great. The kids are all happily lugging their school bags, bursting with energy, just like the leader said—they’re the sun at eight or nine in the morning."

Zhou Pingan’s eyes sparkled.

Shen Shaoyuan looked at him and suddenly said: "Want to learn painting from me?"