Ch 93: Bringing a Farming Game System to the 1970s

Fang Shengli could only tell Yu Xianghe’s family what she knew. She had no evidence in her hands — the only thing she had once hidden was a letter from Yu Xianghe to Yu Qingshan and the others pleading for help. If that letter had survived, it would have been useful, but in the end it had been burned.

Fang Shengli said, “You should go to Shanghai and find Tao Yan. She was the smartest among us. She was almost caught by the village Party secretary, but she found another way out for herself.” Though the price she paid was the same, instead of submitting to the Party secretary, she turned to a commune cadre, secured herself a job, and in the end returned to Shanghai in one piece. “Without a doubt, she’s resourceful. Maybe she still has something left.”

Meanwhile, in the capital, Wen Ruzhen brought a bowl of porridge into the room where Yu Xiangyan was scribbling something. “You still haven’t eaten. If you keep this up, your body won’t hold out. I know you want to find the evidence quickly, but if you collapse, what will happen then?”

Hearing her persuasion, Yu Xiangyan put down his pen and rubbed his brow. “Sorry to make you worry.”

Wen Ruzhen sighed. “What silly thing are you saying? We’re husband and wife. Of course I’m anxious too when something like this happens. But no matter how anxious you are, you can’t skip meals. People are iron, rice is steel — if you don’t eat, your body will give out. Don’t worry so much. This matter will not just be left alone.”

“We’ll help on our side. My brother has many classmates in government. They might not be in that specific area, but some are nearby. I’ve already asked him to dig into who’s backing them. He said he’ll get back to us as soon as he has news.”

Yu Xiangyan took her hand. “We’re troubling him.”

She nudged him. “What nonsense — we’re all family. Hasn’t he troubled you enough as a brother-in-law in the past? Now he finally has a chance to help, so don’t say that. All right, stop talking and drink your porridge.”

She was very beautiful herself. When they were sent to the countryside, she and her brother had been in great danger too. If it weren’t for Yu Xiangyan — tall, strong, and devoted to her — she didn’t know if she might have suffered the same fate.

In the countryside, it was all too easy for someone with a bit of local power to crush an outsider.

They decided what work you did in the fields, and if they gave you only heavy, exhausting jobs, your body would wear down. Without enough to eat, your health would collapse. Given the rural medical conditions, even without malicious intent, one serious illness was already a tug-of-war with death — and if they meant harm, the outcome was far worse.

Now, hearing of the fate of Yu Xianghe — a sister-in-law she had never met — Wen Ruzhen felt nothing but fear and dread.

Just after Yu Xiangyan finished the porridge, their daughter Yu Xiyi came in with a cup of sugar water. She watched as he took it from her and told him, “Daddy, drink it all.”

Looking at his eldest daughter’s stubborn little face, Yu Xiangyan touched his belly. “Alright, alright, I’ll finish it.”

Once she saw him drink it all, she nodded in satisfaction. “Daddy, we’re all being good. You just work hard. We won’t make you and Mommy worry.”

The three children didn’t know exactly what had happened, but they could sense the change in the household atmosphere.

As the eldest, Yu Xiyi kept her younger siblings in line so they wouldn’t cause trouble.

Yu Xiangyan stroked her hair. Looking at her face — so much like her mother’s, with beauty already clear from childhood — his heart ached even more.

Scum like that didn’t deserve to keep living.

He had his own classmates and connections too. Even from far away, he could help. If they had solid evidence, it wouldn’t matter who was backing the culprit — no one could cover the sky with one hand.

Wen Yizhen was also doing all he could. He and his sister had always benefited from the Yu family’s help, and he remembered it well. Before he was married, much of his money had gone to his sister and her children — one, because they were his sister’s kids, and two, because it was his way of repaying their kindness. Now that he had a chance to help in a meaningful way, he wasn’t about to just offer words.

He even told his wife about the matter. She worked in the government health system and had heard of more than one such case.

Her attitude matched his: “People like that should be stripped of their false face and exposed under the sun.”

Even Wen Ruzhen’s father, Wen Yanjun, was helping. When he heard about it, a cold sweat broke out over him.

Years ago, he had dreamed such a nightmare — back when he was in reform through labor. In it, his daughter’s beauty caught the eye of a local thug, who tried to force her to marry. She refused, and of course her brother wouldn’t stand by, so he was beaten to death on the spot. His daughter was forced into the bridal chamber, and the next morning, she hanged herself. The dream ended there, with him waking in horror. And now, in reality, it had happened to someone else, with almost the same ending.

Lin Chuanbai was not idle either. This was his own family, and he couldn’t ignore it. He went back to Qin City to speak with Lin Houpou, who had since been promoted.

Lin Houpou had transferred from the army, as had many of his comrades, now posted across the country. There wasn’t anyone in the town where Yushu Village was located, but there was someone in the city it fell under.

When he heard the story, Lin Houpou clenched his fists. “Outrageous!”

After venting his anger for a moment, he asked, “Do you have evidence? If you do, there’s no need to worry — anyone who did it will face the consequences. But without evidence, it’s difficult. A few verbal testimonies alone won’t stand up as proof.”

“They’re already looking for it,” Lin Chuanbai said.

Lin Houpou was pessimistic about finding evidence. “After so many years, it’ll be hard. But men with such vices rarely reform completely. Even if there are no educated youths now, other young girls might still suffer. I’ll get my comrades to help. If I hear anything, I’ll let you know.”

If the man hadn’t stopped his behavior, who knew how many girls had been harmed over the years?

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In Shanghai, Yu Xiangan and the others went to look for Tao Yan, but she had already moved.

Miao Hongxing was startled. “The last time we corresponded was three years ago.”

The person who told them about Tao Yan’s move eyed the strangers with suspicion. “Who are you to her? If you were close, she’d have told you where she went.”

They refused to say where she’d gone.

Unable to find her, Yu Xiangan’s group settled temporarily at a hotel. Then Yu Xiangan went to visit her elder brother and sister-in-law’s home in Shanghai.

Lin Guangbai had been transferred to the Yancheng Development Zone, and Yun Jing had later followed him there. But their two children still attended school in Shanghai, where the teaching resources were better, and they didn’t want to hinder their education.

Lin Guangbai and Yun Jing had two children — the elder, a son named Lin Qianjing, was at university in Shanghai; the younger, a daughter about the same age as the twins, was in primary school.

The children had been living with their maternal grandmother, but after Yun Jing returned, they went back to their parents’ home.

Pouring tea for everyone, Yun Jing said, “Xiang An, I’ve already made inquiries. We’ll have news soon.”

Yu Xiangan sighed. “Even if we find her, I don’t know if she’ll have any evidence for us.”

“She will,” Yun Jing said with conviction. “And even if she doesn’t, a man like that will slip up sooner or later. Once we find the trail, we’ll pull in the whole net.”

She spoke with a fierce determination, her expression like that of a wrathful guardian.

And indeed, news came quickly.

They had obtained Tao Yan’s new address, along with her record since returning to the city.

She had come back in 1979, and the following year married a trade union cadre a few years her senior, whose wife had died in childbirth. Before the one-child policy was implemented, she had two children. Now both husband and wife were respectable, grain-salary earners. The reason they had moved was due to job transfers, which also meant a change in housing. No one around them knew about Tao Yan’s past.

Knowing this, Yu Xiangan frowned.

Someone with such concerns would think about many things. If nothing else, just for the sake of her children not being gossiped about, she would never want anyone to know what she had experienced during her years in the countryside.

Following the address, Yu Xiangan and the others went over. After waiting a while, they saw Tao Yan at the door, holding a child’s hand and returning from buying vegetables.

Looking at her face, Yu Xiangan found it somewhat familiar. Yu Qingshan noticed it too. They exchanged a glance and remembered — she bore a resemblance to Ruan Chenxi, though Tao Yan was more refined. Even in a loose, shapeless factory uniform, she was the sort of woman who could draw a second glance in a crowd.

She saw Miao Hongxing first, and her expression shifted slightly, just as some elderly women chatting at the door called out, “You’re back! You’ve got guests today — they’ve been waiting a while. Are they relatives from your mother’s side?”

Tao Yan’s eyes flicked over Yu Xiangan and Yu Qingshan. After three seconds of silence, she smiled and said, “No, this is an old classmate. Goodness, I hardly recognized them — it’s been so many years. We have a lot to catch up on. Auntie, I’m going to see another classmate with them. Could you watch the kids for me? When their dad gets back, tell him I’m with classmates today — I might be at my mother’s tonight.”

“Alright!”

Miao Hongxing smiled cooperatively. “Let’s go.”

Tao Yan led them through a couple of turns, eventually arriving at a weed-choked, dilapidated courtyard.

If any locals had seen them, they would have looked on in admiration — this was the infamous “haunted house,” a place no one dared approach.

“It’s safe to talk here. Why have you come?”

Miao Hongxing gave a bitter smile. “I brought them to you. They’re Xianghe’s family — they want justice for her.”

Yu Qingshan said, “I’m her father.”

Yu Xiangqing and Yu Xiangan added, “We’re her sisters.”

Tao Yan studied their faces for a long time. “Justice? That’s easy to say. It’s been so many years, and their power in that place isn’t simple.”

Her face was indifferent.

“You should be careful. Don’t say I didn’t warn you — if you don’t have something solid, you might get yourselves dragged down.”

Yu Xiangqing replied, “I don’t believe such darkness can run rampant forever. If necessary, I can submit an article to the newspaper under my real name. I’m a high school teacher, my father is a retired worker, my eldest brother is also a worker, my second brother is a cadre in the capital, and my younger sister graduated from a university in the capital with contacts inside the system. With so many people, I don’t believe they can block everything!”

Tao Yan’s gaze swept over their clothing, and her expression softened slightly.

“Having lived with her, ask me what you want now. Once we leave here, I won’t acknowledge anything you say. Today I’m just talking with an old classmate — anything you claim I said, I’ll deny.”

Since returning from the countryside, she had married. If people she knew learned of her shameful past, her family might be ruined.

So she was willing to tell them, but she would not testify, nor accompany them to seek evidence or justice.

If they called her selfish, she would accept that — but she would not step forward.

Her meaning was firm: she could share some information, but that was all. Publicly, she knew nothing.

This was not surprising.

Could anyone really say she was wrong? How many people these days could ignore such consequences?

She was not like Miao Hongxing, who had never suffered that particular abuse, and thus could fully understand the Yu family’s anger and unwillingness. Tao Yan did not want her own life disrupted.

It had not been easy for her to escape that place. She cherished her current life and would not risk it.

She nodded toward Yu Qingshan. “Uncle Yu, you’re a parent — I’m a parent now too. I came back, married, and had two children. No one here knows what I went through. If this gets out, my children will be ruined.”

When she returned, people thought she had simply abandoned a rural husband and child — not uncommon among former educated youths. But if they knew the truth of her years there, they would look down on her and her children.

Other people’s gossip could harm children whose characters were not yet formed.

She would not take that risk.

Yu Qingshan’s throat worked. “I hope you can help us find evidence — we don’t have enough.”

Tao Yan shook her head. “I just know more than most. If you want evidence, I can’t help you. But while I can’t help directly, I can point you to someone who might. If you can pay the right price, she can help you reach your goal.”

Yu Qingshan felt disappointment at first, then sudden hope. “Who?”

“She wasn’t an educated youth in Yushu Village — she was in the neighboring village, sent down two years before us. But she went through the same thing. She was already married then, but it didn’t matter. Her husband was killed by wolves in the mountains, leaving her with two children. After he died, she had to support the family, but the brigade leader threatened her using the children, forcing her to be his mistress. He and Pan Wang were sworn brothers — the entire commune’s leadership was rotten to the core!”

As she spoke, Tao Yan grew agitated. “She’s not doing well now. If you give her enough money to remove her worries, she should agree to come forward. She’s also back in Shanghai, but she still has a son trapped there.”

“She has evidence. After her husband’s death, she had two more children — one looks like the brigade leader, the other like the town mayor. Those two children are living proof. And she may have kept other evidence as well.”

The group fell silent at the story. Even Miao Hongxing was wordless.

So the notorious ‘wild mandarin duck’ from the neighboring village was also from Shanghai.

Yu Xiangqing’s voice was dry. “If we just turn up at her door, she might not believe us.”

Tao Yan took a deep breath, regaining her composure. In just a few breaths, her face was calm again. “I can take you to her.”

No one wanted to dredge up past pain, but if doing so could bring her a stable life, Tao Yan knew that with Yuanyang’s temperament, she would not mind stepping up — especially with her son still there.

Those people were completely rotten.

If it hadn’t been impossible back then, Tao Yan would have tried to escape with her.

Yuanyang had married a local after a ‘hero rescues beauty’ incident not long after arriving in the countryside. In those days, she enjoyed two good years.

But her husband’s family was small and outsiders to the area, with no local roots. Once her husband had his accident, things turned grim.

Only she and her mother-in-law — two frail women — were left. How could they support a family?

All the more because she had a soft spot that could be exploited.

She had no choice but to give in — if she didn’t, she would suffer the same fate again, and her children would not survive either.

Later, she gave up caring about her reputation, and it was ruined anyway. But when the policies loosened, she immediately fled with her daughter, leaving behind her eldest son and the two sons she had borne afterward.

The eldest son couldn’t be taken — he was trapped there. As for the other two, they were living proof of her humiliation, and she had no wish to take them at all.

After escaping, she and her daughter endured a period of wandering and hardship. Her family home was here, but both her parents had passed away, and she had no relatives to rely on. She survived by making clothes for others, and life for mother and daughter was extremely difficult.

Tao Yan recounted Yuan Yang’s experience so Yu Xiangan and the others could understand her situation, then led them over to see her. No one spoke along the way.

It felt like each of their hearts was weighed down by a heavy stone.

Yu Qingshan thought about this girl named Yuan Yang. While he felt sorrow for what she had endured, he also thought that if it had been his own daughter… as a father, he would rather she live on in hardship, because living meant hope.

The past might eventually fade, but if life ended in youth, there would be no future at all.

When they arrived, Yuan Yang was at the well washing vegetables — the kind others threw away or used to feed chickens and pigs.

Her clothes were covered in patch upon patch, so layered that it was impossible to tell their original color. Both she and her daughter wore bangs that covered most of their faces.

Yu Xiangan, seeing their hairstyles, guessed the reason — they didn’t want to show their faces. Even here, in a familiar place, they dared not reveal themselves. Her daughter, now a grown girl, walked with a hunched back. When she saw the visitors, she instinctively hid behind her mother.

She seemed shy and wary of strangers.

Yuan Yang looked up at them, and Tao Yan stepped forward. “It’s me. I need to talk to you — somewhere we can speak freely.”

Yuan Yang paused in her washing, glanced at them, and nodded. Turning to her daughter, she said, “Keep cleaning those vegetables on the ground. I’m going to take them for a walk. When you’re done, go home.”

Her daughter didn’t say a word, only bowed her head deeply so they saw the back of her head, and nodded twice.

Yuan Yang stood up and walked away. Yu Xiangan and the others followed her down a deserted path. When they were alone, she stopped. “What is it?”

Tao Yan said, “You should remember her — Yu Xianghe, who lived in the same educated youth dorm as me back then. This is her family. They want justice for her, to avenge her.” Her tone was flat. “But it’s been so long. You know how hard it is to find evidence, so they came to ask if you have any leads.”

Yuan Yang was silent for a moment, glancing at Yu Qingshan and Yu Xiangan, then pulled Tao Yan aside. “Let’s talk first.”

Yu Xiangan watched them walk some distance away, their voices low and indistinct.

Miao Hongxing grew tense. Would this “wild mandarin duck” agree?

She admired this woman — a woman shunned by nearly all others there, who had survived so much and still fought to live. If this were brought into the open, it would be like ripping off an old scab and exposing raw flesh to public judgment.

She herself could never do it. She would rather die.

Yu Xiangqing clasped her hands tightly, watching them, and asked in a low voice, “Xiao An, do you think she’ll agree?” She felt torn — she desperately wanted revenge for her sister, but if there was no other evidence, it would mean forcing this woman to expose her shameful past, causing her great harm. For someone without the mental strength to endure, gossip alone could drive a person to their death.

Yet even so, she still hoped she would agree.

From her appearance, she could tell the woman’s family was struggling. Yu Xiangqing wasn’t wealthy, but she could contribute money to help — if only the woman would be willing to help them in return.

Yuan Yang’s suffering hadn’t happened in Yushu Village, but the people at the top were the same. If the protection above collapsed, the underlings would not be spared.

They would be rooted out completely.

Yu Xiangan looked at Yuan Yang’s clothes and thought of the girl she’d just seen. “I think she’ll agree — for her children.”

If life continued like this, what would happen to her daughter? And she still couldn’t let go of her eldest son left behind.

For the sake of both children, Yu Xiangan believed Yuan Yang would agree. As for gossip — the fact she could bear it long enough to return to Shanghai proved she had an iron will.

A woman like her, no matter how hard life was, would always find a way forward unless the path ahead was a sheer cliff.

Her son was being raised by his grandmother, living hand-to-mouth. Perhaps he even thought of her as a bad mother for abandoning him and leaving him to endure gossip with his sister. But the truth was, she had exhausted all her strength just to escape herself.

He had never been given a chance to leave, and his grandmother was a gullible woman who believed whatever people told her.

So they could offer to bring him to the Special Economic Zone, find him work, and give her a lump sum — enough to buy a home there for the whole family. The SEZ was open and bustling, full of strangers, where no one would know his past.

And the northeast… they would have to go there too.

🌱🌿 🫧🍃