Chapter 1688 - Talk

Entering the courtyard, he saw Old Lady Cao had already been laid out on a door plank. Several people surrounded her while a guard performed chest compressions. Yun Suji asked, "How is she?"

The captain of the guards replied, "She's been revived—barely."

"When was she discovered?"

"Just moments ago," the captain said, still shaken. "She hadn't made a sound. If you hadn't ordered hourly checks, Chief, she'd likely be stiff by morning."

Hearing she wasn't dead, the color slowly returned to Fan Twelve's face.

Yun Suji nodded. A woman entered carrying a bowl of ginger broth and carefully poured it down Old Lady Cao's throat. Seeing her face flush pink again—confirming she had regained her breath—he ordered her carried to the side room to rest, with two women assigned to watch over her.

Old Lady Cao had tried to take everyone down with her—the fish dying to break the net. Yun Suji lit a cigarette, unsurprised. In the old days, this was common practice: hanging yourself at your enemy's door to ruin their family. The authorities didn't distinguish between suicide and homicide; by custom, whoever's doorstep bore a corpse was treated as the murderer or prime suspect. Even if innocence could eventually be proven, it would still mean a ruined body and a broken household.

Even in 20th-century rural China, it wasn't uncommon for women to barge into an adversary's home and drink pesticide over various disputes. Trivial matters—a sulk, a family quarrel—could drive women to take their own lives. In surveys of suicide populations in China, rural women had always shown the highest rates.

This was meant to humiliate Fan Twelve, Liu Yuanhu, and their whole circle, he thought. He turned to Fan Twelve, who had followed him in trembling the whole way: "Go fetch Han Daoguo and Liu Yuanhu. I have questions."

Fan Twelve acknowledged the order and was about to leave when Yun Suji stopped him: "Bring Liu Yuanhu's wife too."

Watching Fan Twelve depart as if his soul had fled his body, the guard captain asked, "Chief, shall I send someone to accompany him?"

Yun Suji shook his head. "If he runs, there's nothing left to ask—that would prove a guilty conscience." He instructed the captain to guard Old Lady Cao's door and prevent her from coming out to make a scene.

Before long, Fan Twelve had gathered everyone. Yun Suji ordered them brought in one by one for questioning. He was intimately familiar with grassroots work; within a few exchanges, he could tell whether there were abuses and whether cadres were telling the truth.

From his visits and discussions throughout the day, Borang Village had no major problems—but a heap of minor ones. To use a cliché: the general direction was sound. As for village cadres eating and taking more than their share, pressing villagers into labor for personal errands, being rude, beating or scolding villagers—these weren't considered critical issues at the current stage.

Yun Suji believed that the simplest measures of grassroots administrative competence were just two things: livelihoods and infrastructure. Whether cadres were dedicated and how capable they were could be judged from these. On both counts, Borang Village was doing reasonably well.

The county did provide some financial support for the infrastructure of model villages, but the bulk still depended on villagers investing their own labor and materials. Without a certain degree of appeal and practical ability, village cadres couldn't possibly accomplish all this.

As for anti-foot-binding campaigns and improved sanitation—while not major livelihood issues like food and clothing, they were genuinely related to people's wellbeing. They also served as important benchmarks for testing whether cadres applied themselves seriously to their work.

Therefore, he didn't dwell too long on the details of village administration, focusing instead on Old Lady Cao's case. He asked Fan Twelve: "I know you came from Shandong with Senator Lu and are a longstanding naturalized citizen who has proven himself. So give me the bottom line: what exactly happened with her son's pension? Old Lady Cao keeps saying she never received it. Did she or didn't she?"

Fan Twelve said, "Chief! Heaven and earth as my witness regarding this pension matter! We didn't embezzle her money. After her son's accident, the pension was indeed collected by Yuanhu, and when it reached the village, it was entered into the official public account. It's all recorded in black and white..."

Yun Suji said, "If the money was collected, why wasn't it distributed to her? Why enter it into the village's public account?"

Fan Twelve swallowed hard. Old Lady Cao's pension had long been spent. Fortunately, they had discussed this matter beforehand, and Han Daoguo had found a policy basis at the time—so he wasn't too nervous: "There's a reason. Old Lady Cao lost her son and has no grandchildren—this makes her a heirless household. According to the Civil Affairs document issued to us by the county, this is called a 'social security household without descendants,' and the village is responsible for her support." As he spoke, he rummaged through a cabinet and produced a crumpled red-header document, explaining that according to its provisions, the land of heirless households was to be uniformly managed by the village, which would recruit people to farm it on their behalf. The pension would be managed by the village and reserved for major expenses.

Yun Suji took it and examined it. The red-header document was genuine. The clauses about substitute farming and pension trusteeship were also authentic—but the section about village management of the pension included the word may. In other words, handing it over to the village wasn't mandatory.

Yun Suji's heart was clear as glass: Fan Twelve and his cohort were "eating the heirless household." This wasn't unique to the Ming Dynasty of the 17th century—it was common even in 21st-century rural China. A single word like may in an official document could become a masterwork of bureaucratic interpretation. For villagers who were essentially illiterate or semi-literate, how could they grasp such subtleties? But this still wasn't the worst of it—at least Fan Twelve's group was exploiting policy loopholes and playing word games, demonstrating some semblance of a "rule of law" spirit.

"Your definition of 'heirless' is a stretch. The Cao family still has a daughter-in-law. You must know about recruiting a husband to support the parents-in-law." Yun Suji shook his head. "That's one thing. Secondly, Old Lady Cao and Gaifeng both have shares in the pension; her portion should be distributed to her."

Fan Twelve had never imagined the daughter-in-law would also count for a share. At Yun Suji's words, panic flickered across his face. "Yes, yes—we didn't grasp the policy accurately."

"As for this 'heirless' question, I won't haggle too much with you," Yun Suji said. "Gaifeng has remarried now, so recruiting a husband to support parents-in-law is no longer relevant."

"I'll arrange to distribute Gaifeng's share to her tomorrow..."

"You must issue Old Lady Cao's money as well. If you don't understand what may means, ask Han Daoguo to explain it." Yun Suji smiled faintly, then grew serious. "Additionally, the rice given to social security households by substitute farmers is insufficient. Four hundred jin per person—that's barely enough for basic rations," he said slowly. "People still need clothing. Even with vegetables from their own plots, they must buy salt. Families with small children need fish and meat occasionally... The substitute farmers are taking far too much advantage. The tax benefits alone are endless—don't you agree?"

Fan Twelve started, realizing his little tricks had been seen through. "Yes, yes."

"Go summon Gaifeng."

"Right away!"

Before long, Fan Twelve led Gaifeng in. She appeared to be about twenty-five or twenty-six, wearing an indigo tie-dyed cotton jacket, tidy and clean. Her features were unremarkable, but though her complexion was dark, her skin was full and lustrous with a rosy flush. She seemed to be living well with Liu Yuanhu.

Yun Suji noticed she walked with a slight limp. Upon entering, she curtsied first, called out "Chief," then lowered her head and fell silent. Tear stains lingered at the corners of her eyes—with Old Lady Cao's commotion, she couldn't have had a peaceful night either.

His heart filled with pity for all she had suffered, and he spoke gently:

"You are Gaifeng?"

"Yes, this servant is."

"What was your maiden name?"

Gaifeng looked up at him briefly, then lowered her head again. "This servant's parents died when I was young. I don't know the family name. My husband's family is surnamed Liu."

"You were Old Lady Cao's daughter-in-law before?"

At this, Gaifeng's body trembled. She whispered, "Yes."

"How did they treat you?"

Gaifeng kept her head bowed. Though Yun Suji couldn't see her expression, he could tell from her slightly trembling shoulders that great waves were surging in her heart. After a long silence, he heard her whisper, "There was always a mouthful of rice to eat."

He asked again, "You are husband and wife with Liu Yuanhu now. How does he treat you?"

Gaifeng answered almost immediately: "He treats me well! I went to him willingly." She seemed terrified that Yun Suji might drag her back into connection with her former husband's family, and added quickly: "Whether it's eating chaff and wild vegetables or being beaten and cursed, I'm willing. Even if he goes to prison, I'll bring him meals and wait for him to come out!"

Yun Suji now knew with certainty that everything Old Yang's wife had said was true. But he was puzzled—why would she mention prison? He smiled and asked, "Who said he's going to prison?"

"Ever since you entered the village, people have been saying so," Gaifeng whispered.

"Your husband hasn't committed any crime. Why would he go to prison?"

Gaifeng glanced up at him, then lowered her gaze again. "He's a petty official—there are always times when he does things wrong. He's usually fierce with the villagers too. Village Head Fan just uses him as a club. If something really happened, wouldn't everyone pile onto the falling wall?"

Yun Suji nodded. "You're quite perceptive."

"This servant dares not presume."

"Liu Yuanhu has some problems with his methods, but his work is still done quite well." Yun Suji said. "Prison and such—those are just rumors. Nothing of the sort is happening."

"Yes... thank you, Blue Sky Lord..." Gaifeng's tears were already rolling down her cheeks.

"What happened to your foot? Did Liu Yuanhu beat you?"

Gaifeng shook her head and replied flatly, "This is left over from before. Pressed on the bench—they broke four or five bamboo switches on me. That night I had to crawl onto the kang."

Yun Suji felt his heart ache with sympathy. "I've investigated the matter of your former husband's pension thoroughly. It was wrong for the village to withhold it. It will be issued tomorrow. By rights, you should have a share of it too..."

Gaifeng shook her head. "I don't want that money."

"It's your former husband's pension. You were husband and wife after all. Both emotionally and reasonably, you're entitled to it..."

Gaifeng spoke with resolve: "I won't touch a single thing from his family—dead or alive. Whoever covets it can have it. I don't want a single copper."

Yun Suji nodded silently. This woman had clear principles. "You may go. Send in Liu Yuanhu."

(End of Chapter)