Chapter 1685 - Filing a Complaint

"Without the progressive tax, you could still clear wasteland and farm more land."

"Not worthwhile, not worthwhile." Bai Putin shook his head repeatedly. "With more land, expenses are also big. After paying taxes on top of that, whether it's profit or loss is hard to say. Besides, more land means hiring workers. There's no place at home for long-term workers to live either."

"Hehe," Yun Suji laughed. "Your calculations are shrewd! Don't worry, I'll definitely study your problem carefully when I return, so that hardworking people don't lose out!"

"Thank you, Chief, for your concern!" Bai Putin nodded repeatedly.

"Where is your little daughter?"

"She's inside. She's still a child who doesn't understand things, dare not come out and disturb the Chief..."

"Bring her out for me to see."

Bai Putin wondered to himself why the Chief wanted to see his little daughter—what was there to see about a child just over two years old? But since he said so, naturally he couldn't refuse. He immediately called: "Da Niu, bring Er Niu out!"

Da Niu answered and went in to bring Er Niu out. Yun Suji saw the child was fair and chubby, wearing an old floral cotton jacket, her head shaved smooth into a peach-cut—country custom was for girls to not start growing their hair until eleven or twelve—very cute. He took the child in his arms and said: "Quite heavy."

Bai Putin said: "That's her good fortune, to be born in such a good place." He couldn't help but think of the little son who died on the road, tears almost falling from his eyes.

Yun Suji played with the child for a while and asked: "What's the child's name?"

"She's just a little girl, what name to give? Everyone just calls her Er Niu (Second Girl)."

"Does her elder sister not have a name either?"

"Right," Bai Putin smiled. "A girl can't be recorded in the family genealogy. What's the use of giving a name?"

Yun Suji smiled: "How about I give her a name?"

Bai Putin quickly stood up: "Chief, you're overwhelming me. I, a farmer..."

Yun Suji laughed: "Sit down, sit down. It's just a name, what's the big deal? I see your eldest daughter doesn't have an official name either. I'll give names to both: the eldest daughter will be called Bai Li, and the little daughter will be called Bai Ya."

As soon as Han Daoguo heard he was going to name the Bai family daughters, he had already prepared brush and ink—he still maintained the habit from his early days as a shop assistant of always carrying an ink box. Yun Suji took the brush and wrote down the two names on white paper.

Bai Putin never dreamed the Chief would actually give names to both daughters. This was truly smoke rising from the ancestral grave!

He was both happy and regretful—if only his youngest son were still alive! Wasted this good fortune on two girls!

He stammered, not knowing what to say. It wasn't until Fan Twelve kicked him that he woke as if from a dream and shouted repeatedly: "Da Niu! Hurry and hold your sister and kowtow to the Chief!"

Da Niu answered. She had just knelt down holding her sister when Yun Suji waved his hand: "No, no. The Senate doesn't do this. Stand up and speak!" He then asked Da Niu how old she was, whether she could read, and whether she could read newspapers.

"Thirteen years old. I can recite 'Hundred Family Surnames' and 'Thousand Character Classic.' I can recognize more than half the characters in newspapers and generally understand the meaning." Da Niu was somewhat shy. At her age, she already understood human affairs. Seeing the Chief give names and ask questions, she couldn't help but wonder: had he taken a liking to her?

"Can you write?"

"I can write a few characters, but my writing is ugly..." Da Niu's face turned red.

"Who taught you to read?"

"The teacher at winter school."

"Do you like going to winter school?" Yun Suji asked. The Bai family's eldest daughter had the typical face of a Shandong girl, eyes black and bright, and quite tall too.

"I like it. Winter school is lively, and you can learn things." Bai Li nodded, then stole a glance at her father.

Yun Suji knew what was going on and asked Bai Putin: "Did you not let your daughter go to winter school?"

Bai Putin was startled—the Chief was truly prescient! He dared not deny it and said with an apologetic smile: "How would I not let her! It's just that this year, there are more people at winter school, men and women, old and young all mixed together laughing and chatting. This, this, isn't quite appropriate—she's still an unmarried girl..."

"What's inappropriate about it? I think it's very good." Yun Suji said emphatically in a very affirmative tone. "Not just a little good, but very good!"

Bai Putin was startled, not knowing which nerve of the Chief he had touched, and quickly said: "Yes, it's very good!"

Yun Suji said to Fan Twelve: "You must grasp the winter school matter tightly and well. For those unwilling to study, you must push them. For parents who don't want to study themselves and don't let their families study, you must educate them well. I see you have quite an effective approach to banning foot-binding."

Fan Twelve nodded repeatedly: "Please rest assured, Chief. I will definitely run the village's winter school well!"

Just as they were talking, suddenly there was a heart-wrenching scream from outside: "Injust—"

The word "injustice" had just left someone's lips when it was abruptly cut off. Yun Suji paused. Fan Twelve and Han Daoguo's faces instantly turned white. Bai Putin, who had been smiling, also suddenly became unsettled.

At this moment, a guard ran in through the door, saluted Yun Suji, and leaned down to whisper: "Chief, we caught an old woman trying to climb over the back wall. She says she has grievances..."

Yun Suji nodded and said quietly: "Take her to the village office first and keep her there. We'll talk later!"

Fan Twelve couldn't sit still. He stood up and said in a trembling voice: "Chief..."

"It's alright," Yun Suji stood up and said. "I see it's getting late. I'll stay the night here with you. For tonight's arranged meal, I think I'll go eat at Old Yang's house. You all go about your business first. I'll chat a bit more with Old Bai."

Fan Twelve had no choice but to leave with Han Daoguo first. They hadn't gone far when they saw Liu Yuanhu outside making frantic throat-cutting gestures at them. Fan Twelve spat and said: "What good is pulling faces now! You were supposed to watch her!"

Liu Yuanhu's face was full of grievance: "The old hag needed to use the toilet. I couldn't follow her in, could I? Who knew that at her age her legs were still so nimble! She climbed out through the toilet window!"

Fan Twelve wanted to scold him more, but Han Daoguo persuaded: "Forget it, forget it. What's done is done. Let's stop blaming each other and think about what to do!"

Liu Yuanhu was young and said: "We didn't do anything against our conscience..."

Fan Twelve cursed: "Nonsense! You think only murder, arson, and stealing wives counts as going against your conscience? Old Lady Cao is no pushover! If she spouts nonsense in front of the Chief, we might as well all pack our luggage and go to the Cheka for tea!"

Only then did Liu Yuanhu get nervous and said: "What do we do then? The old woman has been taken to the village office. Four guards are watching her; there's no way at all!"

Han Daoguo was calmer. He said: "Don't panic! If blessings come, they're not disasters; if disasters come, there's no escaping. What's done is done, and there's no way to fix it now. We can only brace ourselves and go to court! Let's first reach an agreement among ourselves. Chief Yun will certainly question us. Let's think carefully about how to position ourselves and how to answer. Otherwise, if we panic when questioned and each says something different, saying things that shouldn't be said—that's what will really cause trouble!"

While they were discussing, Yun Suji chatted with Bai Putin about some production matters, then came out and headed to the village office. He told the guards to bring Old Lady Cao over for questioning.

The guards brought an aged woman who, upon seeing Yun Suji, threw herself to the ground with a thud and cried out: "Injustice!" Yun Suji quickly said: "Get up, get up. Just sit down and speak!"

However, the old woman obviously couldn't understand his Mandarin. She opened her mouth and spoke in Shandong dialect. Yun Suji couldn't understand either and was already feeling somewhat displeased. Fortunately, one of the guards could understand her speech and served as an interpreter.

From her words, Yun Suji roughly learned that the old woman's surname was Cao and her husband's family name was Huang. Her husband and his family had all died in the Dengzhou Rebellion. She and her son and daughter-in-law had escaped with their lives and were settled in this village.

The old woman's son thought farming earned too little money, so he recruited to work at the county timber factory. Last year, he died in a workplace accident. The county civil affairs section said there would be compensation paid out, but to this day, she hadn't seen a single cent.

"...I'm an old woman, without a son, all alone. The village swallowed my compensation money and even locked me up!" Old Lady Cao said through gritted teeth. "Fan Twelve, Han Daoguo, Liu Yuanhu—those three bastards! Heartless! Swallowed this old widow's money and took my land too! Said substitute farming, but never gave me even a single cup of rice!"

Yun Suji had long known there was something fishy about the substitute farming, but hearing that even the compensation money wasn't given, his expression changed. The Senate's compensation payments, though modest—only a one-time payment except for families of fallen soldiers—were still an important social stabilizer. Although the amount of money involved here was limited, the social impact was extremely bad. In the old timeline, the credibility of grassroots government institutions was eroded bit by bit like this.

He couldn't help but become serious and asked: "Is this all true?"

"If this old woman speaks half a word of lies, may heaven strike me with five thunderbolts!" Old Lady Cao's expression was resolute and certain. Yun Suji felt she was unlikely to be lying.

"Fan Twelve, Han Daoguo, Liu Yuanhu... they're all rotten to the core," she continued. "Oppressing the villagers! Anyone who doesn't go along with them, they say you're opposing the Senate, tie you up and beat you with carrying poles. Beating until skin splits and flesh is torn is common! Last year they even beat someone to death..."

Yun Suji quickly asked upon hearing this: "Beat someone to death?"

Old Lady Cao nodded: "Beat him to death, wrapped him in a mat, and threw him in the river. Truly lawless!"

Yun Suji found it somewhat hard to believe, but he knew that when grassroots went lawless, it really did exceed ordinary people's imagination. He quickly asked: "There's actually such a thing! Who was beaten to death?"

"Old Meng's son!"

"Old Meng? Which Old Meng?"

"The Old Meng who makes tofu!" Old Lady Cao's voice grew louder and louder. "Old Meng still thinks his son is working in the county! It's all Fan Twelve and them lying to him! I've told him several times, but he doesn't believe me!"

Yun Suji was half-believing, half-doubting. Could Old Meng really not know about something this big at all? This was too incredible. Could this Borang Village really be a "fake progressive, truly reactionary" village?