A century of poverty

Chapter 30 Bullying

In the summer of 1952, the Year of the Dragon, China launched a large-scale literacy campaign.

Zhang Zhiwei from Xichemen worked as a chef in Beiping before liberation. He was quite skilled and became a chef for state banquets after liberation. He did not settle down in Beijing and was an early "Beijing drifter". He sent his salary home on time every year.

His family had plenty of land and houses, and with his salary, they lived comfortably. His two sons, Zhang Qian and Zhang Xun, both successfully completed their studies and worked in Beijing. His eldest son was married to Peng Xiangzhi, a girl from Nanpengdianzi, near the railway. She had a square face, straight hair, and slightly dark skin. She was short and not particularly beautiful, but she was steady, kind, and patient. She was a teacher at Zhangzhuangtuo Elementary School after the founding of the People's Republic of China and also a night school teacher during the literacy campaign.

As soon as the literacy campaign began, she went door-to-door to persuade young women with heavy household chores to attend literacy classes. Her mother also joined the literacy class at night school under her encouragement. Every evening after dinner, she would finish her chores and go to night school to study, where she learned some commonly used characters.

Soon after, the eldest brother was born, and the mother was forced to stop attending night school. However, Teacher Peng did not give up on her "students." She wrote the characters on square pieces of paper and pasted them on corresponding objects, trying her best to help the students consolidate the characters they had learned.

However, due to the heavy burden of housework, the mother was unable to return to the literacy class to regain her literacy.

The grandmother was greatly comforted by the arrival of her grandson. She had been raising her father's son since she was twenty-seven, and now that she had a grandson, she could continue the family line.

The father felt even more at ease having a son, having fulfilled his duty to his mother and now having descendants. It seemed that his life was complete, and he had more purpose in life.

The sixth month of the lunar calendar is the hottest time of the year. My mother gave birth to my eldest brother and stayed indoors for three days before she and my father took my eldest sister to the slope below Dongjing to plant sweet potato vines.

Father carried water and watered the plants, Mother dug the mound and planted the seedlings, and the eldest sister sealed the mound.

Under the scorching sun, on the scorching ground, it was nearly noon. Hot and exhausted, the eldest sister couldn't go on. The seven-year-old stood up, looking around, wanting to rest and play in the shade by the river. She saw someone walking along the path to Xiaodongguan, pointing in her direction. Her father recognized him as Zhang Mingzhi and knew he was probably here to discuss village matters again.

She coaxed her eldest sister gently, "My dear daughter, work hard, and I'll buy you a floral jacket after we sell the baskets for the New Year." Then she and Zhang Mingzhi squatted down under the small locust tree by the river at the south end of the field to plan things for the village.

The seven-year-old eldest sister endured it.

The scorching sun doesn't protect children from harm just because they're mentally strong. The eldest sister developed a large bump on her head. To avoid troubling the adults, she chose to remain silent. A few days later, it oozed fluid, became infected, and could no longer be hidden. Her father shaved off the hair on her head, squeezed out the pus and blood, and her mother bought medicine from the township clinic to apply to it.

When my older sister started school, her sunburn hadn't healed yet; she was still applying gentian violet, and her hair hadn't grown back. Other children carried slates and pencils to school, but we couldn't afford them. So my father drilled a hole in the bottom of a large helmet, tied a hemp rope to it, and had my older sister carry it. We also collected some pink stones from the stone ponds in the northwest mountains to use as drawing stones. Her clothes weren't as nice as the other children's.

The eldest sister, dressed in such a shabby manner, became the laughingstock of the naughty children. Higashii-no-Kami (11 years old, boy) and his companion, Kou-chan (10 years old, boy), not only showed no sympathy for the eldest sister, but also surrounded her and told some clumsy jokes, so the eldest sister had no choice but to avoid them.

But that's how it is; the more you avoid them, the more they push their luck. They think you're afraid of them, and they become even more brazen. The two boys, several years older than the older sister, only get more and more enthusiastic.

The older sister panicked and started fighting with them. An 11-year-old boy and a 10-year-old boy were beating a 7-year-old girl; the result was predictable. The older sister suffered a terrible defeat, covered in dirt, her face bruised and swollen. Her helmet sole was completely destroyed, and the paving stones were gone. The older sister ran home sobbing, crying, "Mom—Mom! I'm never going to school again! They bullied me!"

Mom: "Don't cry, don't cry." While wiping away her older sister's tears, she comforted her with heartache, "Don't be afraid, don't be afraid, who hit you? What happened? Tell Mom."

The older sister choked up, "It was Xiao Pai and Xiao Xiao'er. They would call me 'Pigsy, Pigsy' whenever they saw me. At first, I always avoided them. Today, when I walked down the west slope of Beiyuanzi, they called again. I ignored them, so they started throwing stones at me. I got angry and started fighting with them. They pinned me to the ground and beat me." The older sister sobbed, and then burst into tears.

After hearing what had happened, the mother realized her daughter had been greatly wronged: "I need to talk to Xiao Pai's mother about this," the mother said.

Grandma also said, "Go and tell them to stop bullying our little girl, they're all grown up now."

After comforting her for a while, the older sister stopped crying, and the mother led her to Xiao Pai's house.

It seemed Xiao Pai's family was well-prepared. Xiao Pai, her mother, and her sister-in-law were all waiting at the front door. When her mother arrived with her eldest sister, her mother had barely opened her mouth to say, "Sister-in-law, you should discipline Xiao Pai." Before she could finish her sentence, Xiao Pai's mother's expression changed drastically, and she shouted, "Whether I discipline her or not is none of your business! What are you doing here? Looking for a fight? Go ahead and hit her! Hit her! Hit her!" As she spoke, she pushed Xiao Pai's sister-in-law towards her mother.

When Mom saw how unreasonable this person was, she led her older sister back.

Xiao Pai's mother's unreasonable behavior stemmed from her resentment over the land reallocation during the land reform. Back then, she had tried to cause trouble at the agricultural commission but failed, so she held a grudge against her father. She often talked about how Zhang Xiwang had caused her family losses during the land reform, which Xiao Pai kept in mind and constantly sought out her older sister.

She still wouldn't let it go and took her mother to the township government, saying that her mother had beaten her eldest daughter-in-law and caused her to miscarry, and that the township government had to stand up for her.

The township security assistant comforted her, saying, "We will investigate the matter you reported. Go home and wait for it to be resolved."

When Xiao Pai's mother returned, she conspired with Xiao Xiao'er's mother to make her give false testimony. When people from the village came to investigate, they said that Zhang Xiwang's family had slapped Xiao Pai's sister-in-law across the face and kicked her in the waist a few times.

Two weeks later, the township security assistant and a clerk came to the village and summoned the two parties involved to the village office.

Xiao Pai's mom and Xiao Xiao's mom sat on the benches in the village office, and then the mother came in too.

The security assistant began: "Today, we've come to address the dispute between your two families, as reported by Zhang Pishi. Who would like to first recount what happened?"

Zhang Pishi: "That day, my eldest daughter-in-law, my son Xiaopai, Xiaoxiaoer, Xiaoxiaoer's mother and I were waiting at the front door of my house when Zhang Xiwang's family brought her eldest daughter to fight with us, saying that my son Xiaopai had hit her daughter. This is completely untrue."

That day, after school, Xiaopai and Xiaoxiao came to my house. No matter what I said, Zhang Xiwang's family wouldn't believe me, and they even hit my Xiaopai.

His sister-in-law pulled him away, then slapped my eldest daughter-in-law hard across the face and kicked her several times in the waist. My daughter-in-law miscarried. You can ask Xiaoxiao's mother; she was there and saw everything.

Then she turned to the mother of the little one.

Little Mom: "Yes, I saw it all. It was Zhang Xiwang's family who started the fight. They hit my sister-in-law across the face and kicked her several times in the waist."

Little Brand Mom: "You government officials have to stand up for me!"

My daughter-in-law still can't straighten her back and is lying on the kang (heated brick bed). She has to compensate us.

Security Assistant: "Jiang Xiuying, tell me about what happened that day."

Mom recounted what happened that day.

The security assistant said, "We are all neighbors and should get along well. If it exists, it exists; if it doesn't, it doesn't. Don't disregard the facts and fabricate stories out of thin air."

Turning to the mother of the little one, she said, "A person should have a conscience; giving false testimony is illegal."

He continued seriously, "According to our investigation, the facts are not as Zhang Pishi said. Your two sons beat up a girl, didn't discipline their own children, and even colluded to fabricate facts and falsely accuse someone of injuring your daughter-in-law. Half a month has passed. Where was the miscarriage checked? Is there a diagnosis? What is the evidence? We investigated the township health center, and they did not treat this patient."

Intentionally fabricating facts to frame others is a crime punishable by law.

Don't form cliques and engage in unhealthy practices! I'm letting it slide for now because you are women and elderly. But if you cause trouble again, I will not tolerate it. From now on, focus your energy on educating your children and improving your production.

Go back, everyone!

These words left the two women speechless, and they left the village office dejectedly.