Chapter 56: Chapter 47: The Hooligan Leader Cousin
A moment later, a sharp, breathless voice rang out from outside the courtyard gate. It was Mo Xiaosu. "Mo Xiaoqiang, why isn’t the gate open? Shout louder! Tell Grandma to open up! Our cousin’s here! This time, we’re definitely going to beat that little bitch to death!"
Mo Xiaoqiang called out, his voice full of admiration, "Cousin! It’s great that you’re here! This gate is bolted shut tight. It must be Mo Xiaoman! She’s got a guilty conscience and is scared, so she’s hiding inside. No matter how much we yell at her, she won’t come out!"
The voice of a teenage boy, cracking as it changed, spoke up. "Move, move, let me and the guys take a look! Whoa, these walls are high and sturdy. You’d need some real skill to climb them. This gate is thick, too—made of maple wood soaked in pond mud. Holy shit! Even a grown man would have a hard time smashing this open, let alone you kids... Little Su, this Knowledge Youth House is really well-built. Now that it belongs to your Grandpa and Grandma, why are you and your parents still living in that messy, rundown, dingy old place? It’d be so much more comfortable to move over here!"
"It’s just that it’s the busy farming season, so we haven’t had any free time. My parents said that once this rush is over, we’ll move here. Cousin, you have to come help us move then, okay!" Mo Xiaosu’s voice was tinged with excitement.
"No problem. I’ll just get a few of my boys to make a couple of trips, and we’ll be done in no time!"
Xiao Man found the cracking, adolescent voice familiar. ’Which cousin?’ she wondered. After a moment, it hit her: Second Aunt Mo had a paternal cousin who had also married someone in their village and lived at the south end, in a different production team. The teenager outside was the son of Mo Xiaosu’s aunt—the local punk leader, her cousin Huang Baoshan!
Huang Baoshan was about sixteen or seventeen years old. He refused to work or go to school, instead gathering a gang of like-minded delinquents from the surrounding villages. They wasted their days on petty theft, brawling, and stirring up trouble. ’Later, in the eighties, during the Reform and Opening-Up, people would start to have a bit more spending money, and his gang would get busier. They’d act as thieves and pickpockets, form a cattle-rustling ring, and even start ambushing freight trucks on the highways. This would eventually draw the attention of the higher authorities. The Public Security Bureau would crack down hard, catching the entire gang. Huang Baoshan himself would be arrested during that time and sent to a labor camp.’
For now, Huang Baoshan’s reputation wasn’t quite so "illustrious" yet, but he was already considered a local bully and a vicious fighter. ’In my last life,’ Xiao Man recalled, ’Liu Fengying kept Mo Xiaoqiang on a tight leash, so he stayed in school. He was hyperactive and naughty, but he never ran with Huang Baoshan’s crowd.’ This time, however, Mo Xiaosu had "invited" her dear cousin to help.
The "cousin" stopped the others from smashing the gate and throwing bricks. In his own words, "This is going to be my cousin Little Su’s house soon, so we can’t damage it!"
Then he started making other plans. Mo Xiaoman’s heart began to pound as she heard him order his lackeys to bring several long, thick logs. ’He’s an older kid, after all. Huang Baoshan is much cleverer than Mo Xiaoqiang, and his plans are more reliable.’ He was going to use the logs to make a makeshift ladder, climb onto the roof of the gatehouse, slide down about half a meter, and then jump into the courtyard!
’But what can I do?’ Grandpa wasn’t home. If they really got in, Grandma would surely try to protect her from the beating. That would just drag Grandma into it and get her hurt!
As Xiao Man paced around in a panic, she suddenly noticed the new bamboo pole she had brought back that morning. She recalled how Mo Guoqiang had once jabbed at her with a pole, and an idea sparked. She walked over, took down a long bamboo pole, and checked the tip—it wasn’t sharp. She hefted it, took up a defensive stance behind the gate, and aimed the end of the pole at the roof above the gate. She fixed her gaze on that spot, ready. The moment someone’s head appeared, she could at least give them a fright.
’The roof over the gate isn’t flat. Who wouldn’t be scared of being shoved off before they could even get a firm footing?’
Just as Xiao Man predicted, the first one up was Huang Baoshan. His head had barely cleared the edge when he saw her stance. He froze for a moment and snarled, "You damn bitch, what do you think you’re doing?"
"You’re the damn bitch! What do you think *you’re* doing, climbing my family’s gate?"
"Well now! The damn bitch talks back? You just wait! I’ll beat you to death when I get down there!"
"Bring it on! I dare you to climb any higher! See if I don’t knock you right off with this pole!"
Huang Baoshan was stunned into silence.
Suspicion flickered in his eyes. He looked back down and called out, "Hey, Little Su! Xiaoqiang! Are you sure that’s the blockhead Mo Xiaoman in there? She’s completely different from before! She’s fierce!"
Mo Xiaosu shrieked, "Cousin, that’s her! She was putting on an act before, pretending to be some pitiful weakling. She’s actually cunning and sly! See? She tricked my Grandpa and Grandma into taking her in, and now she’s showing her true colors! She’s gotten too big for her britches! If she weren’t so vicious, how could she have hurt Xiao Feng? She’s the one who injured Xiao Feng so badly!"
Mo Xiaoqiang yelled, full of grief and fury, "Cousin! She’s the one who did it! Go on up, I’ll be right behind you! We have to get inside and kill that bitch to avenge Xiao Feng!"
Huang Baoshan glanced back up at Xiao Man, a wicked smirk twisting his lips. "Alright, then! Let’s just see what’s faster—my jump, or your bamboo pole! Once I catch you, I’ll make you see what I’m capable of!"
Grandma felt her way out of the house, her voice anxious. "Xiao Man, listen to Grandma. Get back inside, quick! We can barricade the house door! Your Grandpa will be back any minute!"
"So what if he’s coming back? I brought my crew. You think I’m afraid of some old geezer?"
Huang Baoshan heaved the top half of his body onto the gatehouse roof. Xiao Man gritted her teeth and yelled, "I’m going to count to three! You either get down from there, or I’m using this pole!"
"Mo Xiaoman, you wouldn’t dare!" Mo Xiaosu screamed from outside the gate. "If my cousin falls and gets hurt, that’s assault! You’re already in trouble for what happened to Xiao Feng, you want to add another crime to the list?"
"Mo Xiaofeng getting hurt has nothing to do with me! Liu Fengying was trying to harm someone else and it backfired on her!" Xiao Man yelled, raising the bamboo pole threateningly. "Listen up, Huang Baoshan! The law says that if someone trespasses on private property to start a fight and gets injured or even killed, they have no one to blame but themselves!"
That last part clearly gave him pause. Huang Baoshan hesitated. In that moment of hesitation, a man’s stern voice boomed from outside the gate. "Who’s causing trouble here? Get down from there this instant!"
"This is still public property! What do you think you’re doing, climbing all over it? What if you damage it, huh? We’ll deduct the cost from your family’s grain rations to pay for it, and then your parents will break your legs!"
It was Secretary Mo!
Xiao Man and Grandma both let out a sigh of relief. As Huang Baoshan vanished from the gatehouse roof, Xiao Man quickly lowered her bamboo pole.
With Secretary Mo outside, the danger had passed. Grandma told Xiao Man to unbolt the gate and invite him in to have a seat.
Following Secretary Mo into the courtyard were two other brigade cadres and a large crowd of onlookers of all ages. The younger and middle-aged villagers were all busy working in the fields and had no time to spare.
Huang Baoshan and his cronies followed Mo Xiaoqiang and Mo Xiaosu inside as well. He stood at the edge of the grain-sunning ground with his arms crossed, shifting his weight with a lazy swagger. He didn’t seem at all afraid of Secretary Mo, his eyes darting about as he sized up the courtyard.
