Speaking of the past, Lu’s father found himself hard to stop.
"Your eldest brother tried to stop people from disturbing your grandparents. He was beaten badly, damaging bones and muscles. He could not receive proper medical treatment afterward, which left chronic health problems. Later, your eldest sister-in-law’s family suffered. Her father was a scholar and had been a private school teacher before. He was declared a class enemy and her brother, who had studied abroad, was considered a spy and killed on the spot. These events have implicated her, the married daughter. She had just given birth to Tianzhi and hadn’t even finished her postnatal month yet. She suffered a lot of torment. Consequently, both your eldest brother and eldest sister-in-law passed away one after the other."
Feng Qingxue was deeply moved by this point.
Apparently, Lu Jiang’s elder brother and sister-in-law did not merely die because they were pampered before their home got ransacked and couldn’t bear the hardships afterward. Rather, they didn’t survive the relatively minor torments in the midst of such turmoil.
It turned out that Lu Jiang’s grandparents and mother all died suddenly after Lu Jiang’s elder siblings, not the other way around.
With misty eyes, Lu’s father spoke about the passing of the elder family members, "If the Lu family had been unkind and wealthy, it might not be too far stretched to call this a retribution. But since my birth till now, we’ve never done anything immoral, and we’ve even financially supported the anti-Japan revolutionary efforts. Why have we fallen to such a state? Losing family members and affecting Ajiang’s future prospects."
If it was not because of family background issues, Lu Jiang, who had a prestigious origin, was good at both literature and martial arts, and had made countless contributions in several battles, would not have been only a mere school-level deputy regimental commander.
What could Feng Qingxue say to this? She could only comfort Lu’s father as before.
"Uncle Lu, no matter when, darkness is always temporary. It will eventually usher in the light." Even though this period of darkness had been too long, too long that many people could not wait any longer.
The year now was 1960, and life was already hard for those with a bad social status. What would they do when the cultural catastrophe of 1966 arrived?
The only solution is to take precautions ahead of time.
After some consideration, Feng Qingxue resisted the temptation of the brick house and suggested building a new house that is unobtrusive, preferably like an ordinary person’s. "When I was outside, I found that the situation is becoming more chaotic, with many people scrambling for power and benefits. I fear that future activities could be more intense and more inhumane than before. We better pretend to be penniless on the surface in order not to attract attention!"
Lu Jiang was taken aback: "You mean..."
"My intuition has always been very accurate and has almost never made a mistake. I think everything that happened before and now is like appetizers, and a real storm is brewing. Uncle Lu, you and Lu Jiang have studied, you should understand history better than I do. Many dynasties had a period of power struggle to eliminate dissidents after their establishment. The struggle at the top often affects the bottom, Uncle Lu, we must take precautions."
Lu’s father was shocked by the words, gritted his teeth, and made up his mind.
"I believe you are not shooting without aim. Ajiang, listen to Qingxue. Go get some tiles with your comrade’s younger uncle. We will build our house not with bricks, but with stones and mud! When the situation is not so tense in the future, we can build a larger house!"
Having experienced the devastation of his family, Lu’s father was scared of social instability and the potential crises that might threaten the lives of his family members.
Since Feng Qingxue suggested so, of course, Lu Jiang had no objection. When he’s not at home, with the old being old and the young being young, how could he not worry when he is outside? It is necessary to reduce the possibility of suffering in the future.