"Are you just letting this kind of thing happen? Do you also think that it's cleaner if she dies?" Shen Zile said coldly.
Yu Lianshan and Shi Chengtai were both greatly startled and quickly shook their heads in denial. "Secretary Shen, we don't have that kind of thought. We just feel that this girl's life is indeed too hard. She can't really stay in this village anymore. Wherever she goes, people look at her with strange eyes. She probably feels that living is painful, which is why she thought of ending her life."
As Shen Zile was talking with Yu Lianshan and Shi Chengtai, Lu Weimin was quietly watching the girl in front of him.
She had changed into dry clothes, probably from Hu Shunchang's wife, which didn't fit well. The washed-out的确良 (polyester) shirt and the loose 茵丹布 (yindan cloth) pants made her sit listlessly on the bed.
The middle-aged woman next to her was Hu Shunchang's wife. Seeing the girl's blank gaze, she could only sigh, not knowing how to console her. After a while, she said hesitantly, "Shi Mei, why can't you think it through? If it weren't for the county cadre Lu who saved you today, what would you say about yourself..."
"I don't need anyone to save me." A lifeless voice came from the girl's pale lips. "My life is a burden to others. Whoever I'm with, I bring them trouble. This is my fate. They all hope I die. Why save me?"
Lu Weimin's face was stern, and he didn't know how to respond to this topic.
The power of local customs is immense, and no one can easily change it. The influence of traditional clans is even stronger in areas where the local government is weak, far surpassing the power of the law. The poorer the place, the more obvious this is. Poverty and isolation, superstition and backwardness, intertwine and influence each other, leading to such stories happening repeatedly, and people seem to have become numb to it.
What was happening in front of him was a clear example.
Suddenly, the girl's gaze fell on Lu Weimin, and she glared at him with a hint of resentment. "Why did you save me? Who asked you to save me? Wanting to die is my business. What's it to you? You're just trying to prove your noble character and high morals, but did you consider me? You saved me, but can you take care of my life, take care of me for the rest of my life?!"
"Enough! No one can take care of anyone for life, except for oneself!" Lu Weimin suppressed the anger that was about to explode inside him. "Your path can only be walked by yourself, and your fate can only be changed by yourself! Your life? What is your life? If others say your life is like this, it is like this? If they tell you to die, you die? If they tell you to eat shit, will you eat shit?!"
Neither the girl nor the middle-aged woman next to her expected the county cadre to say such vulgar words. They were momentarily speechless.
Lu Weimin, who had burst out, was like an angry lion, pacing back and forth in the room.
"You have hands and feet, and you're not stupid. When others defame and humiliate you, do you just believe it? A bunch of short-sighted fools spouting nonsense, and you believe it? I heard you even went to high school for two years, and you still believe this?" Lu Weimin's face was slightly red, and his eyes were full of frustration. "If they had the ability to predict your fate, they wouldn't be stuck in this village. None of them have become successful."
"Since your parents gave you this life, no one has the right to decide your fate except you! If you have the courage to die, don't you have the courage to go out and see the world?!"
"Man must rely on himself..." This phrase seemed to be the terrorist "Professor's" catchphrase from the movie *Mouseheart Dragon Courage*, but Lu Weimin felt it was very reasonable. At this moment, he couldn't help but say it.
Lu Weimin didn't know how long he had been scolding. He felt that many of the words he had been suppressing in his heart were finally released. He didn't care whether the other party understood, and it wasn't until the girl started crying uncontrollably that he stopped.
"It's not that simple, Secretary Yu, Mayor Shi. I heard that she is often beaten by her stepfather at home, and she can't bear it. She sought help from the village, but the village didn't care. She sought help from the township several times, but the township only advised her to endure. Can anyone endure such a life? Maybe everyone really hopes she dies?" Lu Weimin, who had spent a few minutes stabilizing his emotions outside, couldn't help but walk in and interject.
Yu Lianshan was quite grateful to Lu Weimin. If this incident had happened at the township government gate and the person had died, the county would have some opinions about the township. Now that the person was still alive, it was much simpler.
He glanced at Lu Weimin and said with a bitter smile, "Secretary Lu, our township is also in a difficult position. We have contacted the village, but we all know the effect. We can't force the villagers to accept our views."
"That's right. Our township is just a small place, and many tasks still rely on the grassroots cadres. Secretary Shen, Secretary Song, Shi Mei is indeed not suitable to stay in Shiqiao. If we can get her to the district or the county, even to find a place where she can eat and do some odd jobs, it would be fine." Shi Chengtai looked at Shen Zile and Song Chenghua, as if making a request.
Perhaps the incident at noon had dampened his enthusiasm. Shen Zile, who originally planned to visit Maweiqu, suddenly lost interest and asked the driver to head back to the county.
The buzzing engine of the jeep and the scorching heat of the sun, along with the dust kicked up by the bumpy road, made the summer afternoon of 1990 seem so dry and tasteless.
"Lu, do you think that such things happening in our Nantang mean that Nantang is really too closed and backward?" Shen Zile, who had been sitting in the passenger seat with his eyes closed, suddenly asked.
"Secretary Shen, we can't say that, but compared to Lingnan, we are indeed far behind. How to put it? When you go to the towns and villages there, you see all kinds of township enterprises and migrant workers, and the fast-paced lifestyle. The clash and collision of ideas and the stimulation of interests make you feel the need to speed up. The foreign ideas brought by the reform and opening up can quickly wash away all backward and ignorant things. It's a very inspiring feeling, of course, it may also bring some negative things, but I believe the benefits far outweigh the drawbacks. On our side, everyone is following the routine, step by step, and although it won't cause problems, it's impossible to have a major breakthrough in work. In this era, it's like rowing against the current; if you don't advance, you retreat, and even if you advance slowly, it's a retreat." Lu Weimin chose his words carefully, as the driver was still in the car, and he didn't want to say too much.
Shen Zile didn't say anything more and remained silent until they returned to the county party committee.