Rebirth in the 50s: The Couple with the Hidden Space novel Chapter 37

Chapter 37: Chapter 27: County Town Observations

Zhang Guoqing was riding his bicycle to the county town. The county town was like a colorless photo, with a gray sky and muddy roads. Everywhere on the walls of the houses along the roads were large red slogans. As soon as he entered the county town, upon closer look, he saw that in the past few days many propaganda posters and large red slogans had appeared in every corner and wall of the city. Men and women of all ages wore clothes patched upon patches, while groups of twos and threes donned yellow military uniforms, yellow military caps, red armbands, yellow satchels, and liberation shoes. They carried paint buckets, sprayers, and other such items, and attached pre-cut paper templates to the walls, spraying over them.

In the morning, when he was rushing, he didn’t notice that many new slogans had appeared: "Work harder, strive for excellence, build socialism faster, better, and cheaper," "Carry the fight against the rightists to the end," and so on. The large red characters shone brightly under the sunlight.

In the streets of the county town, there were people carrying baskets selling persimmons, pears, and some wild fruits like "bitter girls." Zhang Guoqing saw the "bitter girls" and couldn’t help but stop his bike. These were especially sweet after the frost, so he bought some fruits. Jiao Jiao loved to eat these wild fruits.

Loudspeakers in the alleyways of the county town played revolutionary songs. Along with the mechanical screeching of gears, "The East is Red, the Sun rises..." Zhang Guoqing pedaled along with the tune towards the county textile factory.

The county textile factory was the largest factory in the town, with more than 1,000 workers. It had a towel workshop and a cotton cloth workshop. Occupying an area of 20 hectares, it was located in the East Suburb outside the city, and before liberation, it belonged to the county capitalist Wang Baiwan. Later, it was transformed from private to public ownership, becoming a state-owned collective enterprise.

Before liberation, with this factory, Wang Baiwan owned a street of shops in the most bustling area of the provincial city. His cotton cloths and towels were among the earliest to be sold throughout the Northeast Three Provinces.

Close to the county textile factory, there was a five-entrance courtyard which was his ancestral home. Many small courtyards around it were built by his dependent clansmen, who gradually constructed them. After the liquidation in ’52, the courtyard was divided by local department managers and allocated to the earliest batch of old employees of the textile factory.

Wang Baiwan’s life was extremely turbulent. His father died when he was young, his mother was seriously ill and frail, and he had a much younger brother. As a youth, he ventured alone to Shanghai, became famous on Shanghai Beach through hard work and being smart, and married the only daughter of a noble family. After his father-in-law passed away, he returned to Wang Family Village in nostalgia, with his wife, children, and wealth, and immediately bought an entire area in the county town’s East Suburb, built a five-entrance courtyard, and established the largest textile factory in the entire Northeast Province of the time. At the peak of his career, his family employed more than 2,000 people.

He had only one wife throughout his life, bore 3 sons and 2 daughters. When Yuan Shikai was about to ascend the throne, he sent his young son and daughter to study in England, accompanied by his brother’s family.

He and his wife set family rules, stipulating that regardless of gender, the children of the family must be sent to England for further study after finishing learning the Four Books and Five Classics by the age of 10. Those who studied abroad and returned home included only the youngest son while the others visited once every 3-5 years. By the time of 9.18, he had quickly sent abroad the youngest son’s family, leaving the couple reluctant to part with their homeland. Seeing that the situation was unfavorable, they closed much of the industry, leaving only the county textile factory. When the little devils occupied the county textile factory after liberation, both husband and wife died closely during the liquidation in ’52. He saved countless lives throughout his lifetime, and his children’s whereabouts became a mystery, along with his fortunes.

Old Man Zhang, the gatekeeper, recognized Zhang Guoqing, as he often came to visit his two sisters and brothers-in-law. Upon seeing him ride over, he yelled loudly, "How come you’ve got time today? I heard you got married with your young wife, why didn’t you invite me over for a drink?"

"Uncle Zhang, you’re such a busy man, if I did invite you, that wouldn’t be right. I’m just a junior, why bother you to the countryside? Whenever you’re free, we can go out for a drink together. Just let me know, and I’ll be there." Zhang Guoqing laughed and said to the gatekeeper, stopping his bike, "Where is my brother-in-law stationed? I need to find him for something."

"Alright, I’ll use the loudspeaker to call him. You come in first and wait." Uncle Zhang said as he went inside.

A moment later, the loudspeaker sounded, "Comrade Zhang Chunming, someone is waiting at the gatehouse, Comrade Zhang Chunming, please come to the gatehouse, you have a visitor waiting. Calling Comrade Zhang Chunming, a visitor is waiting for you at the gatehouse."

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