"Don't bother with them; they just see you're good-looking and want to chat with you, maybe slip you something on the side. Lately, these people haven't been so obedient. My mom still needs to punish them more. They're well over thirty and not the least bit serious."
I didn't say anything, just listened to the secretary's son nagging on.
Unexpectedly, as soon as I walked into the village committee, I saw Yasi. Her face was covered in dirt, and she was bound tightly, not asking for help when she saw me, just as she said she would before leaving, pretending not to know me.
She just glared furiously at the woman in front of her.
At the side of the table sat a middle-aged woman, delicate-looking and gentle in demeanor, with traces of the years on her face and her eyes exuded both compassion and orthodoxy.
Dressed in a grey work uniform, she looked indeed like a village party secretary, I stood firm and said,
"Hello, are you the secretary Miao Fengwu mentioned?"