Reborn: Back to the 1980s Chapter 11

After that incident, Zhao Shenggu became even more vigilant around the Guan family, keeping Guan Yuan tightly under his protection.

On the third day after her wedding, Guan Manyue came back to her parents' house for the customary visit—but she showed up by herself. Wang Guohui was nowhere to be seen. As soon as she walked in, she hugged Yang Xiucui and burst into tears, "What kind of man is that? He's been out of his mind ever since we got back. His family had to tie him to the bed, or he'd start hitting people. Mom, I'm not going back…"

Yang Xiucui's eyes were also full of tears. She genuinely felt heartbroken for Guan Manyue. Although Yang Xiucui had always been a sharp-tongued and quarrelsome woman, even she didn't dare to talk back when Guan He flew into a rage.

"Yue'er, you're already married. What else can you do? Even if you came back home, what kind of man could you marry?"

At that, Guan Manyue was overcome with sorrow and wept uncontrollably. After a while, she remembered who was to blame: "Mom, what about my eldest sister? She arranged this. I don't believe she didn't know. Her heart is completely black—how could she find such a family for her own sister!"

Yang Xiucui clicked her tongue. "That… that can't be. She must not have known either."

Guan Manyue screamed in fury, "Even now, you're still taking her side! And Dad and my brothers—they just stood by and married me off to a madman. I'm their own sister and daughter!"

Guan He happened to walk in just then. Hearing this, he snapped at her, "If you weren't my own daughter, do you think I'd put up with this nonsense? What's wrong with Wang Guohui? He's sick, sure, but once he gets better, it'll be fine. What's wrong with living the good life with his family? Or would you rather come back here and marry some poor farmer who works the fields all day?"

Guan Manyue went quiet. She pictured the women laboring in the fields and shivered at the thought. Her sobs gradually died down. Seeing her calm, Guan He softened his tone. "Yue'er, marrying into the city is a great blessing. You can't have everything in life. And if you're truly mistreated, aren't your father and brothers here for you?"

Guan Yuan found it amusing. The most despicable person in this family was Guan He—he'd even sell out his own daughter.

And so Guan Manyue was persuaded to stay calm. She left with her eyes red and swollen from crying. Yang Xiucui, feeling sorry for her, asked Guan Mancang to walk her back home.

Zhao Shenggu watched all of this with growing unease. At that moment, the Guan family seemed to him like a man-eating beast—its jaws wide open, ready to devour anyone who let their guard down.

His gaze toward Guan He grew even more wary. He used his body to shield Guan Yuan completely, terrified that Guan He might set his sights on him.

On the seventeenth day of the first lunar month, work resumed at the production team. This time, without Guan Yuan even needing to ask, Zhao Shenggu brought him along.

The farmland of Guanjia Village stretched out in one continuous patch, with several hundred people working in the fields.

Guan Manku walked around with a notebook in hand, recording everyone's work and assigning work points accordingly. After Zhao Shenggu finished registering Guan Yuan with Guan Manku, he led him toward the fields.

He found a sunny spot, spread some dried grass on the ground, and told Guan Yuan, "Xiao Yuan, sit here and enjoy the sun. Don't wander off. I'll be right over there, and I can see you at all times. I'll come find you during the break." Guan Yuan looked where Zhao Shenggu pointed and saw it was indeed close.

He nodded obediently. "Brother, go ahead. I'll stay right here and not go anywhere." Zhao Shenggu ruffled Guan Yuan's hair, picked up his hoe, and headed into the fields.

The sunlight poured down, gilding Zhao Shenggu in a layer of gold. Guan Yuan squinted at him, thinking how handsome his brother was.

As the work-point recorder, Guan Manku didn't have to labor in the fields. Instead, he patrolled the area, keeping an eye out for anyone slacking off.

Guan Yuan watched Guan Manku make his rounds. Then, a man quietly signaled to him, and Guan Manku, as if knowing what it was about, stealthily followed him behind a dirt mound.

Guan Yuan narrowed his eyes and crept after them.

The man first scanned the surroundings carefully. Seeing no one around, he took a one-yuan bill out of his pocket and slipped it into Guan Manku's hand.

"Brother Manku, I'm counting on you for this month's work points. Could you put me down for first-class?" the man said with an ingratiating smile.

[In the 1950s–70s work-point system, first-class work (10 points) meant a full-strength male laborer doing the heaviest tasks; second-class (8–9 points) was for less capable men or strong women; third-class (6–8 points) was for women, weaker workers, or teenagers — with actual daily pay often worth less than 1 yuan.]

Guan Manku rubbed the money between his fingers and shook his head. "Look, Ergouzi, you're doing third-class work, and you want me to mark you as first-class? What are you thinking? Do I look like that kind of person?"

Even as he said that, he rubbed the one-yuan note again.

Ergouzi winced, looking pained, as if making a great sacrifice, and pulled out another fifty cents. "That's all I've got. If you won't do it, give me back my money."

Guan Manku snatched the fifty cents with a quick hand, stuffed both bills into his pocket, and broke into a grin. "Brother Ergou, we're practically family. Leave it to me. Now get back to work."

Having seen enough and fearing discovery, Guan Yuan turned and slipped away.

On his way back, he saw Zhao Shenggu running toward him anxiously. "Xiao Yuan, where did you go? I looked away for one second and you were gone. You're going to worry me to death!"

Seeing Zhao Shenggu so concerned, Guan Yuan immediately apologized. "I'm sorry, Brother. I saw a butterfly and chased after it a bit too far. It won't happen again."

Just then, Guan Mancang walked over. "What's this? Erwa, you dare to slack off? Half a day's work points deducted." He marked it down in his notebook with a smirk. Oh, you want to keep your own work points and money, do you? Watch me crush you.

"You—" Guan Yuan started to speak, but Zhao Shenggu held him back and shook his head.

"Sit tight here. I'm going back to work."

Guan Yuan watched Zhao Shenggu walk away, then fixed Guan Manku with an unreadable stare.

Just then, Ergouzi—the very man who'd slipped money to Guan Manku—passed by Guan Yuan. Guan Yuan discreetly sprinkled some truth serum he'd taken from his space over him.

Ergouzi's eyes went hazy for a moment, then he suddenly shouted, "I've sinned! I bribed Guan Manku to falsify my work points!" Still yelling, he ran toward the team leader.

"Team Leader, I paid Guan Manku to change my work points—" Ergouzi's voice was so loud that everyone working in the fields heard him. A wave of commotion rippled through the crowd as they gathered around him.

Guan Manku was stunned speechless. He strode over to Ergouzi and clamped a hand over his mouth. "Have you lost your mind? What are you babbling about—" Sweat poured down his face. Guan Yuan, with his sharp eyes, could see from a distance that Guan Manku's hand was trembling slightly.

By then, the production team leader and the field workers had all walked over. "Guan Manku, let go of Ergouzi. I want to hear whether what he's saying is true."

"Team Leader, he's just spouting nonsense! You can't listen to him!" Guan Manku said, forcing himself to stay bold.

The team leader's face darkened immediately. "I said let him go—didn't you hear me?" The onlookers also clamored for Guan Manku to release him.

Helpless, Guan Manku let go.

"Team Leader, just now I gave Guan Manku one yuan and fifty cents to change my third-class work points to first-class…" Ergouzi kept repeating himself without stopping.

The team leader grabbed Guan Manku's notebook and checked it—sure enough, Ergouzi's points were recorded as first-class. "Does anyone know what kind of work Ergouzi actually does?"

A woman in the crowd spoke up: "What kind of work? He's lazy all day, same as me—just weeding."

Guan Manku's cold sweat poured down in a rush. His whole body trembled. Guan He, Guan Mancang, and Guan Mandi had also rushed over by now, staring at Guan Manku in shock. They had no idea at all that he had been taking bribes.

Guan He, still concerned for his son, knew that if this was confirmed, Guan Manku wouldn't just lose his job as recorder—he'd likely be publicly criticized, which would be disastrous. "Team Leader, my second son has been diligent all these years. He'd never do such a thing. This must be Ergouzi slandering him. Look at him—he seems possessed! How can you trust anything he says?"

The team leader had long disliked Guan Manku. Now that he had an opportunity, he wasn't about to let it go. "Slander, you say? We'll find out with a search. Search him."

Two men came forward and searched Guan Manku thoroughly, patting down his entire body. Sure enough, they found one yuan and fifty cents in his pocket. "Hmph! What do you have to say now? The organization trusted you, but you went and did something like this. You must undergo serious re-education."

After watching the scene, Zhao Shenggu took Guan Yuan and walked away without a word, then went back to work in the fields.

When work ended, Guan Yuan lay on Zhao Shenggu's back. "Brother, why aren't you saying anything?" 

Zhao Shenggu sighed. "Xiao Yuan, I will protect you well. No one will hurt you." He was worried that Guan Yuan might be implicated because of Guan Manku.

Guan Yuan didn't know what Zhao Shenggu was thinking, but he obediently agreed anyway.

In the end, Guan Manku was stripped of his position as work-point recorder, sentenced to one month of re-education, had his work points halved for the next year, and was required to perform compulsory labor for the team.

[Re-education (劳教, láojiào): a Mao-era policy of ideological remolding — a versatile social and political tool that could involve being sent to labor camps, army farms, political study sessions, or manual labor within one's own community, often used to enforce ideological conformity; officially abolished in 2013.]

The Guan household was shrouded in gloom. Guan Manku had originally earned the most work points; now, he was practically useless.

Li Yuezhi had often flaunted her status because Guan Manku was the recorder, but now Yang Feifang seized the chance to mock her: "Oh my goodness! How could Second Brother do such a thing—taking bribes behind everyone's backs? We didn't see a cent of it, and now we're all dragged down by his bad luck. What is this even about!"

Guan He was already annoyed to death, and Yang Feifang kept chattering on. However, he usually didn't scold his daughters-in-law directly. Instead, he said to Guan Mancang, "Take your wife back inside. Stop making a racket over nothing."

Guan Manku was terrified of the impending criticism. "Dad, what do we do? If I really have to go through a month of re-education, will I even survive? Could we ask for help from brothers-in-law?"

Guan He took a long drag on his pipe and finally made a decision. "Mancang, you and Manku go to the county town and find Manyue and Manxing. See if they have any way out."