CH 149

4-5 minutes

The division of labor between the Secretary Head and the Captain in the village was also clear. For school, village affairs and cultural-related matters, the Secretary Head was sought after to handle such matters. Anything work related would then be handled by the Captain and the Brigade Leader.

Of course, the overall leader was still the Secretary Head, who was now the Director of the Village Revolutionary Committee.

Relatively speaking, the customs of the Shanzui Village were still considered pretty normal. During the Cultural Revolution, many of the poor and lower-middle class peasants in the other villages took the opportunity to become the Director of the Revolutionary Committee and other cadres, suppressing their respective Secretary Heads and Brigade Leaders. Both criticisms and dismissals were fervently tossed around to no end.

The previous Secretary Head of the Shanzui Village was the current Director whilst the other cadres did not undergo major changes, so they were basically recognized by the commonfolk.

After all, there were several relatively big surnames in the village and the influence of those families were still very large. Hence, a total change of seats in the committee list wouldn’t be possible.

The Secretary Head Han Yongfang was also a famous warrior in the village. When he was young, he had a nickname called ‘Big Wolf’.

It was said that before he participated himself in the committee list, he was a very formidable person in the village. There were times where he had fought off wolves when he was on his way to work outside the village.

Later, he joined the army and was also known as a ruthless character even there. Unfortunately, his hand was injured and he was demobilized, so he returned home early.

After returning home, he first became the Captain of the Village Militia and gradually became the Secretary Head after that. In a blink of an eye, more than ten years had passed as he sat in said position firmly.

Although many people were dissatisfied with this dominating and domineering position that didn’t allow the current youngsters the chance to inherit the title, they couldn’t pry him off this position. It was especially useful when the elderly of the village had any conflicts since they would always get him to judge and preside over justice.

The whole village was both in awe and scared of him because anything he said was usually taken as the ‘correct’ opinion.

But no matter how domineering Han Yongfang was said to be, Lin Lan felt that he was actually quite easy to talk to.

He never looked down on the original owner, and even if the troubles she caused were never-ending, he still encouraged Old Lady Han to have the family separated. He also advised the old lady to not make it a habit of butting in on the Third family’s affairs as well.

Besides, he lent them a bag of cornmeal, so he wasn’t compassionless but kind.

Lin Lan had a good impression of him, so she liked to seek his help when there was an issue for him to preside over. She didn’t find him to be intimidating at all.

When she walked across Old Lady Han’s alley, she heard a shrill scream.

That scream, tsk tsk, sounded like the catastrophe of the century.

It seemed like Old Lady Han was back.

When she arrived outside the door, she heard the old lady shouting as if she was killing a pig, “Go and find the Secretary Head to review this. She came home to steal the chickens when I’m not home— is this acceptable? Hurry up, find someone to arrest her for me and send her to the Public Security Bureau. I demand justice! Justice is necessary!”

She scolded the eldest sister-in-law and the second sister-in-law again, “Were you all dead or have you all become rotten wood? Why didn’t you stop her?”

The second sister-in-law expressed her grievance, “Mother, she had an axe and could literally chop us up if she so wished; how could we stop her!”