Chapter 9: Giving Yang Dayong a Sound Thrashing

Gu Wennuan and her brother arrived at the cowshed at the foot of the mountain. They were responsible for cleaning up the manure and tending to the village's oxen, a task performed in wretched conditions.

In the summer, the cowshed was swarming with flies, and the air was thick with the stench of cow dung. Outside, the oxen were tethered, while the small hut inside served as living quarters.

"Uncle Liu, shoveling manure? Is Uncle Yang in?" Gu Tiezhu handed a hand-rolled cigarette he had prepared at home to Uncle Liu.

"Old Yang started coughing early this morning and is lying inside. You two should come here less often; it doesn't look good if people see you."

Gu Tiezhu didn't care; the villagers generally avoided them anyway. "I’ll go inside and see Uncle Yang."

"Brother, why do you have hand-rolled cigarettes again? You don't even smoke."

"A while back, when I was watching the water, an old man gave them to me. I don't smoke, so I just bring them to Uncle Liu."

Entering the inner room, they found an elderly man, thin as a rail, lying on a large kang.

"Uncle Yang, my sister and I have come to see you."

The old man on the kang slowly raised his head. His cloudy eyes could no longer see clearly, but he recognized their voices. "Is that you, Zhuzi? Why did you come? Don't come here if you don't have to."

"If I hadn't come, I wouldn't have known you were so ill. Let me carry you to see a doctor."

"Put me down, Zhuzi. Your Uncle Yang knows his own condition; I won't die yet."

Gu Wennuan looked at the frail old man. It was he who, with his small, thin frame, had protected her and her brother when they were orphans. "Brother, put him down. Let me take a look at him."

Gu Tiezhu looked at Gu Wennuan with suspicion. "You know how to practice medicine? I never knew that."

Gu Wennuan felt a pang of annoyance, suddenly remembering that the original owner of this body was uneducated and had only finished primary school at fifteen.

"You forgot about Dr. Guo who lived at the foot of the mountain? I learned from her. Don't you remember I used to love playing at her place?" Gu Wennuan recalled an old traditional Chinese medicine practitioner who had lived at the foot of the mountain; she had used the excuse of digging for earthworms in the nearby woods to spend time there when she had no other playmates.

"Oh, I remember now. So you learned from her. Hurry up and take a look at Uncle Yang."

Gu Wennuan placed her hand on the old man's wrist, her expression turning somber. "Uncle is suffering from severe malnutrition and his body is extremely depleted. If he stays in this environment any longer, he could develop kidney failure."

Hearing this, Gu Tiezhu moved to carry Uncle Yang home. "No, a drop of water in need deserves a spring in return, let alone a life-saving kindness. We’re going home."

"Put me down, Zhuzi. I don't have two years left to live; I don't want to cause trouble for you." Gu Wennuan knew the old man didn't want to be a burden.

"Brother, once I get the medicine, you brew it and bring it to him. Let him take it for a while and see the results, then I'll come back. Bring him porridge or noodles regularly to nourish his stomach."

After bidding farewell to Uncle Yang, Gu Wennuan set off to find the current brigade leader. She wanted to know why her family hadn't been allocated land last year; they were registered residents of the Yangshu Brigade and were entitled to ten acres.

"Don't go. You know what kind of man Yang Dayong's father is. If he gets someone to beat you, what will you do?" Gu Tiezhu wasn't a coward, but Yang Dayong’s father had been a local thug for miles around, and no one dared to cross him, lest he burn their house down.

"Brother, are we supposed to be bullied for the rest of our lives?"

Gu Wennuan stormed into the village office. Yang Dayong’s father wasn't there, but Yang Dayong was sitting inside, drinking tea. Gu Wennuan kicked the office door open. Startled by the thunderous crash, Yang Dayong dropped his teacup to the floor.

"Which bastard kicked my door?"

"Your grandmother, that's who."

As Gu Wennuan stepped forward, Yang Dayong eyed her thin frame with a lecherous gaze. "Oh, it's Little Wennuan. Haven't seen you back in the brigade for a while. How have you been? Come, have a chat with your brother Yong."

"Let's have a good chat, then. Why didn't my family get any land allocated last year?"

Yang Dayong's smile faded. "The land in the Yangshu Brigade—does it have anything to do with a married-out woman like you?"

"Our Gu family is registered in the Yangshu Brigade. By what right do you deny us land? Or did your father embezzle it?"

Yang Dayong’s hand trembled, spilling tea onto his trousers. He brushed it off and sneered, "Gu Wennuan, I'm talking to you nicely, so don't push your luck. You know who calls the shots around here."

"Then let's go to the town government and settle this." Gu Wennuan grabbed Yang Dayong, intending to drag him to town.

"Let go of me, Gu Wennuan! I'm telling you, if you want to stay in this brigade, you better behave, or don't blame me for being ruthless."

Yang Dayong glared viciously at Gu Tiezhu, who, terrified, hurried to pull Gu Wennuan back. "Sister, let's go home. If we provoke him, we'll never have peace."

"Peace? Do you think we have peace now? If they won't let us live in peace, then nobody will."

Gu Wennuan grabbed Yang Dayong by his collar and hoisted him up. "You like to use force, don't you? Then have a taste of my fists today."

With a single punch, Gu Wennuan sent Yang Dayong crashing into the wall of the office. The others in the room hid behind the door in terror.

"Gu Wennuan, I'll kill you!" Yang Dayong spat blood, still shouting threats.

"Kill me? Then I'll kill you today. I've only got one life; if it's gone, so be it." Gu Wennuan slapped him across the face, knocking out his teeth. "Are you going to allocate the land or not?"

Completely terrified by her reckless ferocity, Yang Dayong gasped, "I will! I'll have my father allocate the land to your family!"

"Go now."

The brigade secretary and the accountant scrambled toward the fields, terrified of being chased by the ferocious woman who was still dragging Yang Dayong behind her. By noon, the land had been allocated. Yang Dayong collapsed on a ridge, and others had to carry him home.

When Yang Dayong’s mother saw her son being carried back half-dead, she wailed in grief. "Heaven help us! Who beat my son like this?"

Yang Wencai looked at his son and tapped his pipe. "Accountant Yang, what happened?"

"Uncle, it was Gu Wennuan. She demanded land, and when we wouldn't give it to her, she started hitting people. Dayong was beaten by her, and she took the rice paddies on the east side."

"What?" Yang Wencai slammed his pipe onto the table in a rage. "Let's go to her house!"

"Father, take our son to the hospital first!"

But Yang Wencai had already stormed off with his men. They arrived at Gu Tiezhu's house and pushed the door open to find Gu Wennuan sitting inside, taking her sister-in-law's pulse. The noise woke up little Gu Maomao.

"The brigade leader is here? I come back to my maiden home and get such a warm welcome. Yang Dayong was so happy just now that he gave my family the land."

Yang Wencai, livid, threw his pipe at Gu Wennuan. "Gu Wennuan, don't push your luck! If you stay in the Yangshu Brigade, you abide by our rules. You're a married-out woman; get out, or don't blame me for what happens next."

Gu Wennuan looked at the enraged Yang Wencai and picked up the pipe. "I heard you've been bullying my family quite a bit."

Yang Wencai froze as Gu Wennuan stood right before him. "Uncle Yang, is the widow Song’s bed comfortable?"

Gu Wennuan knew he cared deeply about his reputation and acted with extreme caution. If she hadn't gone to waylay Zhou Sinian that morning, she never would have caught him slipping out of the widow Song's house.

Yang Wencai stared at her, wide-eyed. If his fierce wife found out, it would be the talk of the entire village, and he would lose all his standing.

After Yang Wencai left, Gu Wennuan told her brother to go to the Fengtian Brigade and tell her mother-in-law she wouldn't be returning today. That night, Gu Wennuan sat in the courtyard, sharpening a kitchen knife, bracing herself for the battle to come.