I Became Rich by Eating Melons in the Era of Literature (1970s)

　　Wang Yuan's eyes began to blur. She saw her eldest daughter Boning and second daughter Zhongning coming over hand in hand. They were smiling especially brightly and they were running towards her.

　　Wang Yuan smiled and closed her eyes. Before she closed her eyes, she could hear the cries of Li Yunying and Shui Ning, as well as many other sounds that she couldn't distinguish.

　　They were all crying, but Wang Yuan wanted to tell them not to cry, because death would be a relief for her.

　　Wang Yuan died, taking with her more than 20 members of Zhang Zhihui's family. In the end, only Shu Ning survived.

　　The police returned to the police station and called their superiors. A truckload of police arrived in the afternoon. They investigated the scene and detected a large amount of rat poison in the corn paste left in the large iron pot on the stove.

　　The police went to the commune's agricultural technology station, and the staff at the station confirmed that a woman carrying a child on her back had indeed come in the morning to buy two packets of the most toxic rat poison.

　　Those two packets of rat poison claimed the lives of more than twenty people.

　　The team leader of Zhangjia Village directed the villagers to dig a big pit near Houlianggang and buried all the more than 20 members of the Zhang family in it.

　　Li Yunying refused to let anyone touch Wang Yuan's body and insisted on keeping it by herself. Wang Shanxi paid for an elm coffin from an old man in Liushugou.

　　They stayed in Zhangjia Village. There were close relatives of Zhang Zhihui's family in Zhangjia Village. The police were afraid that they might do something extreme, so they took turns guarding them with guns.

　　After the autumn harvest, the autumn wind became even colder. Wang Yuan's coffin stood in the room, and there was no bad smell coming out.

　　On the fourth day, Wang Yuan's parents came.

　　Wang Yuan's family was well-off. Her mother was the deputy director of the street office, and her father was a technician at the No. 1 National Cotton Factory in Jiangcheng. She had two older brothers, a younger brother, and a younger sister. The whole family came.

　　Wang Yuan's mother started crying as soon as she got on the train, and by the time she arrived at Zhangjia Village, her eyes were so swollen that only a slit remained.

　　Knowing that Wang's parents would arrive today, Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei brought Shu Ning over in the morning.

　　Li Yunying was busy being sad these days and couldn't take care of the children at all, so the child were taken care of by Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao.

　　She is really well behaved and never makes any noise. She only looks for her mother and sister when she is eating or sleeping.

　　Without waiting for Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei to coax her, she said again, "Mom said that from now on, when Shu Ning misses mom or sister, she can look at the stars in the sky. Mom and sister have turned into stars to protect Shu Ning in the sky."

　　Whenever they heard such words, Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei couldn't hold back their tears.

　　Mother Wang cried all the way from the commune to Zhangjia Village. When she saw the coffin in the yard, she ran over and lay on the coffin, opened the coffin lid, looked at Wang Yuan inside, and slid to the ground.

　　The Wang family members walked over one by one with heavy steps, sobbing together.

　　Mother Wang cried and pounded her chest with her hands.

　　Every word she said was full of accusation and love: "Wang Yuan, why are you so cruel? I told you not to get married but you insisted on getting married. Your father got angry and said that if he didn't give birth to a daughter like you, you would never write to or call home again. Why don't you reply to the letters from home? Why don't you take out the money we sent you?"

　　"Your elder sister came to see you, why didn't you tell her that you were not doing well?"

　　"Do you feel pain for your mother, Yuanyuan? How can you be so cruel? Your mother is already 60 years old. Why did you die before me? You are so cruel, so cruel. How could I give birth to such a cruel daughter?"

　　Brother Wang squatted beside the coffin, knocking his head again and again.

　　That year, Wang Yuan wrote a letter home saying that she wanted to get married. After reading the letter, they asked Wang Yuan's eldest brother to come and take a look. At that time, Wang Yuan had just married Zhang Zhihui not long ago.

　　After Brother Wang arrived, the Zhang family treated him warmly. Zhang Zhihui also took great care of Wang Yuan. After watching over her for a few days, Brother Wang felt relieved and went back home as he was busy with work at home.

　　At first, Wang Yuan would reply to her family's letters and send some local specialties, but the letters gradually became less and less frequent, and in the end, she didn't send any letters home.

　　Wang's father followed a master who studied abroad in his early years. His situation in the factory has not been good in recent years, and his whole family has been implicated, so he has paid less attention to Wang Yuan.

　　The situation at home has improved this year. Last month, Wang's mother told Wang's father that she would come to see Wang Yuan before the New Year after she finished her current work.

　　But just when they were planning well, they suddenly received a telegram saying that Wang Yuan had died. After calling the educated youth at the educated youth point, they didn't waste any time and came here without packing anything.

　　Brother Wang thought, if he had come that year and had a tougher attitude and seen more clearly, and had seen through the Zhang family's wolfish ambitions earlier, wouldn't this kind of thing have happened today?

　　Wang Yuan's second brother, younger brother and younger sister also burst into tears.

　　After a long time, Wang's father wiped his tears, stood up tremblingly, covered the coffin, and bowed deeply to Li Yunying and others.

　　"Thank you, thank you for leaving my daughter Yuanyuan with some dignity. Thank you for notifying us."

　　Mother Wang also stood up and bowed with her husband.

　　They are all quite old, and their hair has turned grey.

　　Li Yunying and the others moved aside and avoided the situation. Li Yunying said, "Uncle and aunt, there is no need to do this. If I had taken better care of her, she wouldn't have gotten into this kind of situation."

　　Li Yunying has been reflecting and blaming herself these days. She thinks that if she had visited Wang Yuan more often and asked more about Wang Yuan's affairs, Wang Yuan would not have ended up like this.

　　"How can I blame you? You've done a great job as a friend." Mother Wang was grateful to them for staying with Wang Yuan for three days and waiting for them to see her for the last time.

　　She looked around, and when she saw Shu Ning being led by Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei, her tears burst out again. This child looked so much like her Yuanyuan when she was a child.

　　She walked over, squatted down, and took Shu Ning's hand: "Shun Ning, right? I'm your grandma."

　　Shu Ning hid behind Jiang Youtao.

　　Mother Wang did not force it.

　　She has complicated feelings towards this child, and for a moment, she doesn't know how to face you and her.

　　Wang's father looked at Li Yunying and asked, "Before Yuanyuan left, did she ask you to say anything to us?"

　　Li Yunying took out a letter from her pocket and handed it to Wang's father: "This is the letter we found when we were sorting out Wang Yuan's belongings."

　　Father Wang took the letter but was afraid to open it, as if the letter weighed a thousand pounds.

　　He opened it anyway.

　　When he unfolded the letter, he saw the familiar words written by his eldest daughter.

　　'Dear father, mother, elder brother, second brother, younger brother and younger sister, I am glad to hear from you.

　　When you read this letter, I will no longer be alive. When I was a child, you often said to me that I was so soft-hearted that I would be deceived by others with small favors when I grew up. I refuted you and said that I would never be that stupid.

　　But I was really so stupid, and I fell into the trap after he played a little trick.

　　Over the years, I have regretted countless times, regretting that I should have listened to you. I have also wanted to write to you countless times, but every time I picked up the pen, I couldn't write a single word.

　　I have so many lives on my shoulders, I know I can't survive, if I wait for the verdict, it will be a death sentence. I can wait until then, but I don't dare, I'm afraid to see you cry, and I'm also afraid to see you look at me with disappointment.

　　Just treat me as a coward and please allow me to escape one last time.

　　As your daughter, my selfishness makes me owe you a lot. But I want to be selfish again and owe you one more time. Shu Ning is only two years old and still can't remember anything. She is very well behaved. Her sisters are gone, and I can't bear to take her away.

　　Please help me take her away from this man-eating quagmire. If you don't want to raise her, please send her to an orphanage and never mention me to her again in your life.

　　I'm not a good mother and I'm sorry to her.

　　Dad, please cremate me. I don't want to be buried in the mountains here. It's too cold here. I want to see the river in our Jiangcheng and see our home. I've been away from home for so many years. I miss home.

　　When you leave, please scatter some of my ashes on the back beam, so that I can accompany my Boning and Zhongning forever.

　　Please forgive my selfishness. In the next life, please don't give birth to a daughter like me.'

　　The date on the letter was the day the Zhang family member died.

　　Wang's father burst into tears holding the letter. Wang's mother took the letter but didn't dare to look at it. The letter was circulated among Wang Yuan's elder brother, second brother, younger brother and sister.

　　Father Wang went to pick up Shu Ning and said, "Shun Ning, go home with Grandpa."

　　That afternoon, witnessed by the local police station and leading cadres of Zhangjia Village, Wang Yuan was cremated and her ashes were placed in a small jar.

　　Led by the police, the Wang family went to Houlianggang. Wang's mother picked up the pieces of red cloth scattered around the rubble and buried them together with Wang Yuan's ashes.

　　After coming down from the mountain, they should go back.

　　The others took Shu Ning away.

　　The educated youth from Liushugou saw them off to the bus.

　　Before the car arrived, Wang's mother said to Jiang Youtao and the others in a calm tone: "We have discussed it at home. Shu Ning will stay in our home to be raised. My eldest daughter-in-law is infertile, so she will be our eldest daughter's child in the future. Don't worry, we will treat her well and teach her well. We will not let her follow her mother's old path. We will not let her become like her father."

　　Mother Wang's eyes were still swollen, and her eye circles were full of red bloodshot. Since the day she learned of her daughter's death, she had never slept well.

　　Late last night, she slept next to Shu Ning and finally had a good sleep.

　　When Mother Wang saw Shu Ning, she would of course think of the Zhang family, but the person she thought about most was Wang Yuan.

　　She is the only child left by her daughter Yuanyuan. She is one of the witnesses of her daughter Yuanyuan's life in this world.

　　Li Yunying was still worried: "Auntie, can I go see Shu Ning later?"

　　Wang's mother smiled at Li Yunying and said, "Of course. The door of the Wang family will always be open to you." She looked at the other educated youth in Liushugou and said, "You too, thank you for everything you have done for Wang Yuan."

　　The Wang family has said thank you countless times in these days.

　　Finally, Mother Wang's eyes fell on Jiang Youtao: "Thank you for giving our Yuanyuan the candy."

　　Her Yuanyuan had suffered for many years, and now she could leave with sweetness at the end of her life. Mother Wang should be grateful.

　　Jiang Youtao shook her head.

　　The car arrived and the Wang family left. Wang Yuan's brother and sister walked at the end.

　　They are only fifteen years old this year. When Wang Yuan went to the countryside, they were still seven or eight years old. Wang Yuan's second brother is in his thirties this year. He is a few years older than Wang Yuan and found a job right after graduation.

　　Wang Yuan could have chosen not to go to the countryside, but her superiors said that as the deputy director of the subdistrict office, Wang's mother had to take the lead.

　　Over the years, Mother Wang hated herself more than once. If she had known this would happen, if she could go back to the past, she would definitely not have made that decision.

　　The Wang Yuan incident caused a great sensation throughout Harbin Province.

　　In order to prevent such incidents from happening again, the people from Zao Township's Youth League Office visited the homes of married youths again and again.

　　The chairpersons of the Women's Federation went to the countryside again and again to give lectures and teach women how to deal with such situations.

　　Each village held meetings again and again, and police officers went to the countryside to explain the law to everyone again and again.

　　Wang Yuan used her own death to let all the women in Zao Township know that the husband's family cannot beat, scold or exploit their daughter-in-law, that the husband's family cannot sell their daughters and sons, and that the husband's family is nothing in front of the public.

　　Zaoxiang Police Station received several cases, most of which were daughters-in-law suing their parents-in-law for selling their granddaughters, and there were also women reporting their husbands for domestic violence.

　　The atmosphere at the Liushugou Youth League site was very depressing.

　　After eating the melon made by Wang Yuan, Jiang Youtao received a lot of rewards and gained several more melon coins, but she was not happy at all.

　　This melon is too bitter. If possible, she would rather not eat it. She would rather not have these rewards and melon coins.

　　Li Yunying had been lying on the kang for several days. According to Zhao Yonglan, every time she woke up at night, she could hear Li Yunying crying.

　　Wang Shanxi and a few other male educated youth were nowhere to be seen all day. Every time they went up the mountain, they would carry back large loads of dead wood.

　　They took turns chopping wood, venting their anger and resentment through chopping wood.

　　Two days have passed since August 15th, the day when Wang Yuan was cremated. As we enter September, the weather has become cooler and we have to wear two layers of thicker clothes in the morning and evening.

　　The open space next to the educated youth site has been bustling with people coming and going these past two days. The hustle and bustle there has also attracted some people to the educated youth site.

　　Li Yunying walked out of the dormitory door during the day for the first time. She asked Jiang Youtao: "What are you doing over there?"

　　Jiang Youtao had already found out everything: "Su Zhengtang's family is building a house here. They finally separated, and he brought Zhu Yuemei out to live alone."

　　Li Yunying said "oh" and stopped caring.

　　Nowadays, Zhao Yonglan no longer had any inexplicable thoughts about Su Zhengtang. Knowing that Su Zhengtang was going to build a house next to the educated youth site, she did not pay much attention to it.

　　When the autumn wind blew off the last yellow leaf on the book, they woke up in the morning to see a thick layer of frost on the dead grass on the roadside. Winter was coming.

　　The kang needs to be heated at night.

　　They have to wear a sweater inside their clothes in the morning and evening, and a thick cotton-padded jacket when they go out.

　　Around the ninth day of the ninth lunar month, the village re-elected the team leader and the village party secretary.

　　The team leader is Xu Dazui's husband Liu Manzhu, and the branch secretary is Jiang Si's husband. They both became wives of officials, and today they walk with a breeze.

　　The winter sun is exceptionally bright, but it doesn't give any warmth to people.

　　Jiang Youtao and others walked towards the team headquarters together.

　　They are going to dig up hemp stalks.

　　There were already many people in the largest meeting room in the team headquarters. They were all women from the village. Winter was coming, and if they wanted to earn work points, they had no choice but to do this job.

　　Today's educated youth do everything together.

　　Jiang Youtao walked towards Xu Dazui and the others, and Zhang Huihui and the others followed behind her.

　　Everyone sat down around Xu Dazui. Xu Dazui and her friends took a bunch of hemp poles and placed them in the open space of the house, put out small stools and started working.

　　Jiang Youtao and the others all wore gloves.

　　Xu Dazui was particularly envious: "Do you have any extra gloves? Can you sell me a pair? I will give them to our Dong Liu."

　　Dong Liu is Xu Dazui's little daughter. She is now sitting with a group of little girls in the northeast corner of the conference hall. Among those little girls, two are particularly eye-catching.

　　One was wearing a brand new red cotton jacket, with her chin held high, and spoke the loudest, her laughter echoing throughout the conference room. Another was wearing a cotton jacket with holes in it, the color of which could not be seen, with her head lowered, and they haven't heard her say a word from beginning to end.

　　But they are cousins.

　　There are plenty of gloves in Gu Nianwei's space. She is with Jiang Youtao and is very familiar with Xu Dazui and others.

　　"Yes, I'll bring you two pairs this afternoon." Gu Nianwei didn't mention the money because she knew Xu Dazui wouldn't owe her any.

　　After a while, Fourth Aunt Jiang came over with a smile on her face. She sat down next to them and started telling them what had just happened at the Su family.

　　"Xia Heyu is really crazy. Do you know what she wants to do? She actually wants to follow Zhu Yuemei to live in Su Zhengtang's house!"

　　"Do you think she is sick? She is the wife of Su Zhengtang's nephew. She is about the same age as Su Zhengtang. What will people say if she lives with Su Zhengtang?"

　　"Sun Xiaojuan is almost mad. Su Yang just hit her. Su Yang said Xia Heyu is cheating on her!"

　　"Xia Heyu didn't let him go. Oh, the couple was fighting in the yard. You pinched my neck and I dug your eyes. It was so lively. In order to watch the fun, I ate cold rice. Now my stomach hurts."

　　Fourth Aunt Jiang's words sparked a discussion among everyone, with everyone contributing something, and it was very lively.

　　In the middle of the trip, Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei wanted to go to the toilet. Zhao Yonglan said that they had to follow them no matter what. The three of them walked to the toilet behind the team headquarters. When they came out, they saw Xia Heyu standing at the corner of the wall with her arms outstretched to block Su Zhengtang.

　　"Su Zhengtang, how long are you going to hide from me? Why can't you just admit that you still love me?"