Their group entered the village one after another. The villagers who saw them asked what had happened, and when they learned the truth, they were shaken by the close call and hurriedly forbade their own children from going to the seaside.
When they got home, the quarrel was still going, and an even bigger crowd had gathered.
Mother Chen had a booming voice. "What's going on? Why are you all gathered outside my house?"
Zhang Cuihua planted both hands on her hips. "Your family is grabbing collective property! Well, look at that, you've brought back three more big buckets! Folks, come and see! They're grabbing collective property and pulling little capitalist tricks."
Mother Chen bristled. "Bull-fucking-shit! Zhang Cui-Dog, you eat shit every day, and now you're spraying it out of your mouth first thing in the morning! I'll tear that mouth of yours apart."
Chen Haichao bared his teeth and stared at his mother in amazement. She could be this fierce?
Come to think of it, she had indeed been quite fierce to begin with, but after that child was swept away by the waves, his mother's back had bent, and she had never spoken so loudly again in the decades that followed.
He stepped forward to stop his mother from charging into battle and stood in front of her. "Auntie, you can eat whatever you like, but you can't just say whatever you like, much less slap labels on people."
"The country has just put an end to the communal mess. What does it advocate? More pay for more work, hard work is glorious, and laziness is shameful."
"The policy clearly states that the main work belongs to the collective, and sideline work depends on the individual. During the day, everyone follows the production team's arrangements, with work points assigned and goods distributed according to the same rules. Our family hasn't slacked off for a single day of that collective labor."
"After work is personal time, and our labor is our own. We earned these things through hard work, getting rich through diligence and relying on ourselves. That's what the higher-ups encourage."
Zhang Cuihua was left momentarily bewildered by his words, but she still shouted, "The sea belongs to the collective. If you haul in so much, you're taking advantage of the collective."
Chen Haichao gave a soft snort. "The brigade already allows everyone to pick things up at the seaside in their spare time to improve their lives. It's not as if any of it is worth much. The leader also said, 'Work with your own hands, and you'll have ample food and clothing.'"
"By your logic, the harder someone works, the guiltier they are? The more hardship they endure, the more they're in the wrong? Then why is the country reforming the system at all? Why get rid of the communal mess? Why not just keep eating the lazy man's meal of equal shares?"
"We haven't stolen or robbed anyone. What's wrong with earning ourselves a bite to eat through our own hard work?"
"It's those who reap without sowing, who are jealous of other people's harvests, spread rumors and stir up trouble, and want to carve up the fruits of others' labor, whose thinking is crooked."
After all he had said, Zhang Cuihua's bluster weakened, but she gritted her teeth and continued, "That's sophistry. Those things belong to the collective, and you've hauled in such a huge amount. That's grabbing resources and prying bricks from the commune's foundations."
Mother Chen shoved Chen Haichao aside, her index finger nearly poking Zhang Cuihua's nose. "Bull-fucking-shit! We're answering the call and running our household through hard work. We're nothing like your whole family of lazybones, who only know how to envy other people."
Father Chen also said, "If you think it's unfair, if you think we've broken the rules, you can go to the brigade captain or the village party secretary and find the documents."
Father Chen's older brother, Uncle Chen, also said, "The brigade already lets us go to the beach and gather a few things on our own. You're just a jealous woman stirring up trouble."
Aunt Chen also planted her hands on her hips and shouted, "How is something earned through our own labor grabbing collective resources or prying bricks from the commune's foundations? I say you've got red-eye disease, and your family's too poor to pay for a cure."
Chen Haichao said, "You'd better think carefully. Spreading rumors and stirring up trouble outside our house, inciting conflict between neighbors-you're undermining collective unity!"
At this time, undermining collective unity had serious consequences.
The "collective" was the basic unit of social organization, and "unity" was regarded as political correctness above all else.
Zhang Cuihua took a step back, shrinking away in fear.
"What's all this arguing about? You finally get a holiday, and instead of preparing for the New Year, you might as well go back to work."
The crowd immediately parted to make a path. The brigade captain had arrived.
Zhang Cuihua repeated her claims that the Chens were taking advantage of the collective, adding oil and vinegar as she went. But she was no longer as self-righteous as she had been at first, and her fierce manner concealed her misgivings.
Before the Chens could speak, the brigade captain glared at her. "If you have time to poke your nose into other people's business, you'd be better off learning from them. Then perhaps your family wouldn't be stuck eating thin gruel and pickles again for the New Year. A whole family of lazybones, jealous of people who work hard?"
"The communal mess had to be reformed precisely because it was feeding a bunch of lazy people like you, who do nothing but eat and drag your feet at work every day."
"The leader said, 'More pay for more work, get rich through hard work, labor is glorious, and laziness is shameful!' With the spare time you have to stand here watching the commotion, you could have gathered a bucketful and brought it back to dry yourselves."
Zhang Cuihua didn't even dare talk back as the brigade captain scolded her.
Mother Chen happily smoothed down her bird's-nest hair and straightened her back.
"That's right, Brigade Captain. Zhang Cui-Dog... Cuihua has been spreading rumors and stirring up trouble since early this morning, undermining collective unity. She should be punished with the dirtiest, most exhausting work."
"I didn't. I just saw how much you'd hauled in and couldn't stand it, so I said a few words. If the brigade captain says it's allowed, then it's allowed. I have to go to the market..." Zhang Cuihua's voice grew quieter and quieter with fear, and as soon as she finished, she greased her soles and slipped away.
Once she left, the people gathered around also exchanged a few cheerful words and dispersed.
The brigade captain hadn't left yet. His surname was Wang, and Wang and Chen were the most common surnames in their village.
Brigade Captain Wang glanced over the three buckets at their feet and said in a ringing voice, "You earned these things legitimately through hard work. These little shrimp aren't worth anything and can't be sold, so it doesn't count as taking advantage of the collective or violating policy. Anyone with energy to spare can go forage by the sea and bring back a little more to eat."
"If anyone spreads rumors and stirs up trouble over this again, talking about grabbing collective assets, prying bricks from the commune's foundations, or cutting off the tail of capitalism, slapping labels on people, making trouble out of nothing, and undermining collective unity, report them directly to the brigade for a major demerit and a deduction of points."
He was also speaking for the villagers who hadn't gone far, publicly settling the nature of the matter.
Zhang Cuihua walked even faster.
When Brigade Captain Wang finished, his gaze settled gently on Chen Haichao. The severity he had shown while scolding people was gone from his face, replaced by a measure of genuine lingering fear and gratitude.
His wife had just returned in a sorry state, carrying their soaking-wet grandson, and briefly told them what had happened. It had scared their whole family half to death. Fortunately, the boy was all right.
Then, at the door, he had heard there was an argument here. Seeing that his grandson was fine, he had come over to take a look first.
"Abao, thank you for today..."
"Call me Haichao, not Abao."
Black lines covered Chen Haichao's forehead. He had four older sisters, so the moment he was born, he had naturally been promoted to the whole family's precious darling, and everyone still called him that even now.
Fortunately, his name had to include the generational character. That was close! He might nearly have been named Yaozong, Yaozu, or Tianci. Thank the ancestors that his generation's character wasn't "Yao."
Brigade Captain Wang chuckled. "All right, Haichao. You're grown up now, so it's not right to call you by your childhood name, huh? Your auntie just went back and told me you saved my eldest grandson. Thank you so much."
"You're too polite, Brigade Captain. We're all neighbors. How could I stand by and let him die? Anyone who saw him would have lent a hand. Is the child all right?"
"He looked full of energy, and his cries were loud and strong, so he should be fine. He's having a bath and changing his clothes now."
Mother Chen cut in. "You can't be careless. Buy some pearl powder for the child to take, to settle his fright. He's so young, and falling into the sea must have scared him. Keep a closer eye on him tonight."
"All right, I'll have his parents watch him more closely. As soon as I heard someone was arguing outside your door, I came over first. I'm a little embarrassed to be empty-handed now. I'll have his parents come over and thank you in a bit."
Father Chen smiled and said, "I didn't even know about this. I was too busy arguing with someone. Brigade Captain, you don't have to be so polite. Anyone who saw him would have saved him. That was a life at stake."
"But it's also a fact that Haichao rescued my eldest grandson. We certainly have to thank him as we should. That boy is the lifeblood of our whole family."
Father Chen thought of it too. The brigade captain had three sons and two daughters. Leaving aside the daughters, who had both married out, one of the three sons had died in military service, while another happened to have dwarfism. He was in his twenties but was still only as tall as a ten-year-old child, and it looked as though he would never find a wife in this lifetime.
Only one son had children, a boy and a girl. Wasn't that eldest grandson the lifeblood of their whole family?
Mother Chen gave the brigade captain the bucket of clams Li Lanxiang had left behind, along with the tools.
"We can talk about thanks later. Your wife left this behind just now. There are clams in her bucket, so take it back with you."
"Oh, one of the buckets is mine too? Thank you."