Whitewashing

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

In Episode 33, Whitewashing, Lin Yuzhu clicked her tongue. To be honest, village chiefs still had a bit of authority these days. Never mind the National College Entrance Examination a few years from now—even after this upheaval passed, the Educated Youth would not all return to the city in one swarm. They would still leave in batches, dragging things out for a year or two. If they ran into a petty-minded chief, he really could make things difficult for them over this.

As for the first National College Entrance Examination, Lin Yuzhu only knew that it would be announced in October 1977. The exams would take place within a month or two after the announcement, and the timing differed from province to province. She did not know much more than that. It seemed the first round still had inspection teams, so the village chief had room to maneuver there too.

As for completely offending the village chief, that probably had not happened.

Lin Yuzhu said quietly, "You were the one who embarrassed him the most today. But it shouldn't have offended him that badly, right?"

Wang Xiaomei looked a little anxious. "Did I?"

Thinking it over, she did seem to have gone a little too far. "If you're really worried, give him something and let him save face."

A mouth that had eaten was soft, and a hand that had taken was short. That was an age-old truth with normal people.

It was just that the village chief had not acted much like a normal person today.

Wang Xiaomei looked pained.

"Mm, I don't have anything to give him. What should I send? Besides, didn't you say at noon that he was an old landlord who oppressed the people? You didn't exactly spare his feelings either."

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes. "Did I say that?"

"Let me tell you something, but don't tell anyone else."

Wang Xiaomei darted furtive glances around before whispering.

"What is it?"

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone."

Lin Yuzhu lowered her voice too, copying Wang Xiaomei.

Wang Xiaomei giggled, finding the way they were talking hilarious.

"There's a lot to it."

Wang Xiaomei cleared her throat, hooked her arm through Lin Yuzhu's, and said softly, "Last year, someone came to the village to inspect things. I overheard that the county had someone who wanted to build a primary school in several nearby villages."

"From the sound of it, our village has the best chance."

Lin Yuzhu blinked, lowered her head to think for a moment, then asked.

"Mm. If they really build a primary school in the village, would they give priority to people from the village when choosing teachers?"

"Of course. Think about it—the village chief even managed to get his son-in-law a spot at Worker-Peasant-Soldier University. Getting a teacher's position would be even easier."

Wang Xiaomei analyzed the situation with great confidence.

Lin Yuzhu understood what Wang Xiaomei meant. The old village chief had managed to get a university spot for his son-in-law, which showed that he definitely had connections. Getting a teaching position truly would not be difficult for him.

This was another unexpected development. As for her small conflict with the village chief, Lin Yuzhu felt it had been a disaster out of nowhere.

Who could have guessed that the old man would suddenly lose his head and demand that they give up the house they had built themselves? Was that something a normal person would do?

Thinking it over, Lin Yuzhu felt that while the village chief was not the worst kind of oddball, he was still an oddball—an oddball with some use.

Then she really needed to pay attention to this.

Lin Yuzhu muttered, "Right? I already asked around. A teacher at a Hope Primary School gets paid monthly—three hundred a month."

"Three hundred?"

Lin Yuzhu's eyes lit up. "Do you know which other villages might get Hope Primary Schools?"

Wang Xiaomei shook her head and said softly, "I only happened to overhear that much."

Lin Yuzhu clicked her tongue. "Then let's get the old village chief on our side first."

What happened today was not really a major issue. At most, they had offended him in an argument. Considering that he had ultimately been injured by Auntie Li Si and only received two eggs in compensation, it was nothing much.

Lin Yuzhu felt that sending a few eggs would do. They could not feed him too much at once, or he might start seeing them as fat sheep.

"I think the two of us can each contribute five eggs and send them over. That should be about right."

Wang Xiaomei considered it, nodded, and said, "That works. We'll go next door later and ask Auntie Chen for some eggs."

Lin Yuzhu had originally wanted to take eggs from her space, but after thinking about it, she decided against it.

It could be said that from the townships down to the villages, only families that raised chickens had eggs. Eggs were valuable and scarce.

If Lin Yuzhu produced eggs out of thin air, it would be easy to expose herself. She could not explain where they came from. She could not say she had bought them from someone, much less claim she had bought them at the Black Market. Buying things at the Black Market these days was a crime too.

After the two settled on it, they returned to the Educated Youth Dormitory, changed out of their clothes, washed up quickly, and then went next door to Auntie Chen's house.

After autumn arrived, the days grew shorter and shorter. Since they had decided to deliver the gift, they naturally had to go before it was completely dark. It was not safe for two female Educated Youth to walk at night either.

At first, Auntie Chen looked guarded when she saw the two enter her courtyard. But the moment she heard they wanted to trade for eggs, she welcomed them with a smile. She claimed there were no eggs, but she was still willing to sell them. Without a scale, they counted ten eggs as one jin.

Lin Yuzhu had experience with this. She and Wang Xiaomei each gave Auntie Chen twenty-five cents and received ten eggs.

Auntie Chen cheerfully saw them out, thinking how wonderful it would be if everyone at the Educated Youth Dormitory came to her for eggs. The Supply and Marketing Cooperative in town only paid thirty-eight cents per jin for eggs.

After getting the eggs, the two discussed going to the village chief's house right away. They might arrive at dinnertime, but that was still better than risking a walk home in the dark.

Luckily, when they arrived at the village chief's house, the family had not started dinner yet. The village chief's wife was sitting in the courtyard, preparing to cook with her daughter-in-law.

The village chief's wife tensed when she saw the two enter the courtyard. What are these two here for? Neither one is easy to deal with. They aren't here to pick a fight, are they?

The more she thought about it, the more uneasy she felt, and she watched them seriously.

Lin Yuzhu was puzzled. She had already been reduced to this, so why did the village chief's wife seem wary of her too? She had sensed something similar at Auntie Chen's house just now, but the village chief's wife should not have reacted like this. After all, she had accepted Lin Yuzhu's brown sugar before. Though puzzled, Lin Yuzhu smiled at the village chief's wife and said.

"Is the village chief at home? You don't hit someone with a smiling face."

Seeing Educated Youth Lin smiling, the village chief's wife figured she was not here to quarrel. Thinking of the foolish thing her old man had done today, she cursed him inwardly again. "He's here. Come, sit down!"

After saying that, she shouted toward the back of the house, "Old man, we have visitors!"

She did not say who it was because she was afraid the neighbors would hear that Educated Youth had come to their house. The villagers had been especially sensitive about the Educated Youth today. Thinking of the five more Educated Youth coming, the village chief's wife cursed her old man again for being foolish enough to let the commune people fool him.

Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei could not tell what the village chief was doing behind the house, and the meeting was a little awkward.

Wang Xiaomei was only quick-witted when she was arguing with people. Now she was finished, shrinking behind Lin Yuzhu like a quail.

"What did you two girls come here for?"

The village chief felt that, at his age, there was no need to get angry with two young girls. Besides, he felt a little guilty now. He knew he had bullied them.

Lin Yuzhu placed the ten eggs on the table and said in a soft, sweet voice, "At noon today, Comrade Wang and I spoke too harshly to you. After thinking about it, we realized you were only worried about the newly arrived Educated Youth. Your intentions were good."

"No matter what, we should not have embarrassed you in front of so many people. We hope you won't take it to heart. Please try to understand us too. We had barely settled into that house before being asked to give it up. How could we not be anxious?"

"We were so anxious that we spoke without thinking."

"But afterward, we thought it over. Since you asked us to give up the house, you would surely have them reimburse us for the cost of building it. You would never let us suffer a loss. We really misunderstood you!"

"Aiya, you're a generous elder with a heart big enough to hold a boat. Please don't lower yourself to the level of two little girls like us."

The village chief's mouth twitched as he listened to her refined words. These two girls really knew when to bend and when to stretch. When they smiled, they truly smiled; when they cursed, they did not even blink.

Before the village chief could speak, his wife jumped in first. "Girls from the city really know how to talk. Educated Youth Lin, you understand your Uncle Village Chief after all. He meant well but handled it badly. He didn't even think about whether the newly arrived Educated Youth had money to compensate you for the house."

"You two girls, don't take it to heart. The house is still yours. This time, he was just so anxious that he got muddled."

"Honestly, the commune sent down so many Educated Youth all at once. It really put him in a difficult position."

Lin Yuzhu rather admired the village chief's wife. Her words were watertight. In just a few sentences, she had nearly cleared the village chief's name. Between the lines, she made it clear that the village chief had never meant to seize their house. Whether he had meant it or not, as long as Lin Yuzhu lived there, the house would remain hers.

Seeing the village chief and his wife both looking troubled, Lin Yuzhu sighed along with them. This really was a worrying matter.

Wang Xiaomei was speechless. Just then, the sound of stir-frying came from inside the house, and Lin Yuzhu rose at the right moment. "Auntie, we should head back too. We've got food cooking in the pot. If we don't go back soon, it'll burn dry."

"Aiya, then you need to hurry back and check. Don't let the pot get ruined."

The village chief's wife looked anxious along with them. Then she picked up the cloth bag of eggs. "Take these back. If we really accepted them, wouldn't we be shameless?"

Lin Yuzhu hurriedly declined. "Auntie, this is just a token of our sincerity. Keep them and let the children at home build up their health."

"How could I do that? Hurry and take them back."

After they pushed the bag back and forth a few times, the village chief finally coughed and spoke. "Take them back. What would I become if I accepted them?"

The village chief's wife's grip visibly tightened.

Once the village chief said that, it meant the unpleasantness from today was over. They could get along as they had before. Lin Yuzhu could not possibly take all the eggs back, so after a few more exchanges, she left four eggs behind before the two returned home.

After they left, the village chief's wife said, "I think those two girls are the only ones in the Educated Youth Dormitory who know how to handle people."

The village chief, after being sweet-talked by his wife, stayed silent.

At that moment, a crescent moon hung high in the sky, and stars glittered overhead. Such a night sky was truly breathtaking. Unfortunately, decades later, children in the cities would hardly ever see such beauty.