At the beginning of 1962, the Chinese central government convened the "7000 Cadres Conference", presided over by Liu Shaoqi, Vice Chairman of the Chinese Communist Party Central Committee. Chairman Mao Zedong conducted a self-criticism regarding past policy mistakes and advocated the principle of "seeking truth from facts." The government implemented a series of restorative economic adjustments: the urban population was reduced, yound people were mobilized to settle in the countryside, the communal canteen system was abolished, household sideline production was restored, and the state-owned enterprises began to emphasize efficiency and accountability. In order to strengthen rural Party organizations and promote anti-corruption efforts, Liu Shaoqi launched the Socialist Education Movement, also known as the "Four Cleanups Movement." However, the policies advocated by Liu Shaoqi and Deng Xiaoping, focusing on economic development and improving people's livelihood, conflicted with Mao Zedong's emphasis on class struggle, the prevention of capitalist restoration, and the primacy of politics. This contradiction laid the groundwork for the eventual outbreak of the Cultural Revolution.
Of course, these political matters were not the primary concern of the ordinary people. For them, the most important issue had always been having enough to eat. The ability to cook at home and enjoy a full meal was a simple but profound source of happiness. Life gradually returned to a sense of normalcy, including for the Shen family. What made them even more comfort was that Shen Hui was nevertheless allowed to continue serving the people in the hospital though she still carried the label of the rightist and her political status didn't have improved better. Time flew by and by 1965, Liu'er had already been admitted to a university in the provincial capital, majoring in Forestry Program. Xue'er had also graduated from the middle school. Although she was an excellent student, she was unable to continue her education in high school due to her political background checks. Nanny You repeatedly argued with the county education bureau, insisting that for many years, Xue'er had been her granddaughter and had no relationship with Shen Hui. Nevertheless, Xue'er's pursuit of education was abruptly cut off. Shen Hui felt deeply sorry for her daughter. Even the teachers at school expressed their regret on her behalf. But Xue'er just smiled as if nothing had happened, wrapped her arms around her mother and said softly: "It's okay." to comfort her. Actually Xue'er had long known that this day would come. Since elementary school, she had never been chosen to join the Young Pioneer and serve as a class cadre; in middle school, she was excluded from joining the Communist Youth League, being a Red Guard and even from performing the "Loyalty Dance" to Chairman Mao etc. She had grown used to being left out. Yet this never extinguished her desire to study. In addition to reading Liu'er old high school textbooks, she continued studying the Russian she had learned at school and even began learning herself English by listening to the radio though she had no idea why she chose to learn this language. But aside from Shen Hui, no one else knew about any of this.
This year was destined to be an extraordinary one. Shen Hui's home was ransacked and she was taken away by the Red Guards. The charges against her were "colluding with foreign forces" and "attempting to defect". In addition to her controversial marriage, it was also because someone had reported the fact that she had once tried to flee to Hong Kong with Xue'er. Although You Tao did his best to cover up the incident, it seemed like he was starting to be pushed to the margins politically. His wife, Wang Hongjun, became the director of the County Revolutionary Committee. She was deeply grateful for Shen Hui's help in curing her infertility, which allowed her and You Tao to have four sons in succession. Therefore, although she could not prevent Shen Hui from being arrested and put on trial, she tried to protect Xue'er from the worst of the political fallout. In addition to the protection from Nanny You, Xue'er was spared from being arrested and tried alongside her mother. But she still lived in constant fear and anxiety. And Nanny You, acting on her instincts, had already moved some books and items which she considered important into her own room from Shen Hui's room. In her mind, these were precious things left behind by the old master and madam for Shen Hui. To her, these were treasures far too precious to be destroyed. It would have broken her heart to see them ruined.
After a public trial, Shen Hui was finally sentenced to ten years of labour reform and sent to Jiangxi Province for re-education through labour. On the day of the public sentencing rally, Nanny You didn't attend. Instead, she stayed at home, holding Xue'er tightly in her arms and repeating over and over:
"Don't be afraid, my child. Grandma is here. I will take care of you."
She was afraid that Xue'er might be scared or even fall into despair. That very day, she moved Xue'er's belongings into her own room and had her two grandsons move into Shen Hui's room. Her thought was to resolve the problem about her son's overcrowded housing in public. But actually she wanted to keep some place for Shen Hui. If someone occupied it, it maybe was impossible for her to take it back again. And it also helped silence potential gossip from the neighbours.
And so, Xue'er drifted aimlessly through a year of pain and confusion. Fortunately, she buried all her sorrow in memorizing "Quotations from Chairman Mao", making sure no one could see the suffering she kept hidden. By the summer of 1966, Liu'er returned home after graduating from the university. However, her return was only a short time because she was already preparing to dedicate her youth and passion to serving the country in the most remote and difficult areas. Xue'er looked with admiration at her spirited and confident sister, Liu'er, just as she watched some youth wearing large red flowers, being sent off with drums and gongs to support the development of frontier regions. She knew she didn't have the qualifications for that kind of send-off. But this time, Liu'er had brought her an unexpected news:
In response to the call of the Central Committee of the Communist Party, Liu'er and many of her fellow graduates voluntarily applied to go to the most challenging and remote areas to contribute to the country's construction and development. Driven by the belief that "Man can conquer nature.", they were prepared to go to join a construction corps stationed on the border between Gansu Province and Inner Mongolia, where they would engage in production work and combat desertification. Their enthusiasm also inspired many students in high school to abandon their studies and follow them, vowing with unwavering determination to transform the desert into an oasis. Liu'er reported Comrade Lei, the political commissar leading the team, the situation about Xue'er and got the following response:
"Comrade Shen Xue was born in New China and raised under the red flag. Under the leadership of our great Chairman Mao and the Communist Party, even the most evil feudal emperor, Puyi, was reformed and transformed into a member of the proletarian. So how could we not accept a young girl who has grown up under Chairman Mao's teachings and is devoted to the Party and New China? If we refused to accept such a young person, we are calling to question our country's policies of education and reform. Worse still, we would be casting doubt on our great Chairman Mao and the Communist Party. Let her join our ranks so that she may undergo the arduous tempering in the great furnace of revolution and grow into a true and qualified revolutionary youth."
Upon hearing this news, Xue'er was so overwhelmed with emotion that tears of gratitude streamed down her face. The complex feeling of finally being acknowledged and trusted by society made her break down and she couldn't help but throw her arms around Liu'er and burst into tears.
After learning all that had happened at home, Liu'er felt deeply saddened. She knew Shen Hui had truly been kind to her and had taken good care of her. Without Shen Hui, she might never have experienced the warmth of a family or even struggled to survive. But the reality made it difficult for her to continue accepting Shen Hui. In particular, the ideological education she had received during her four years at university had thoroughly erased any lingering sense of gratitude. And she felt relieved that she had never been registered under Shen Hui's name and had instead always claimed to be Nanny You's granddaughter. However, her feelings for Xue'er were sincere. She wasn't worried about the potential trouble which Xue'er's foreign appearance might bring. On the contrary, she felt it was her duty to rescue Xue'er, especially after Xue'er had officially severed mother-daughter relationship with Shen Hui.
She encouraged Xue'er to change her name as a way to show her loyalty to the Party and Chairman Mao. Actually she herself had changed her name at university, from Li Yan to Li Weibing, which meant to "Defender of Red Guard.("Red Guard" is "Hong Weibing" in Chinese with "Wei" meaning "defender". ) Even she suggested that Nanny You burn or hand over all the books and belongings which Nanny You had worked so hard to preserve. But Nanny You scolded her harshly and said:
"This isn't making a revolution and it is wasteful! It goes against Chairman Mao's principle of hard work and thrift. Even if those books are placed next to 'Quotations from Chairman Mao', they will be suppressed and reformed by his words. If Chairman Mao could reform emperor, Japanese devils and high-ranking Kuomintang officials, then those books can certainly be reformed too. And if they really can't be reformed, well, they can still be used to start fires for cooking or serve as toilet paper."
Liu'er had no choice though she thought Nanny You was just being obstinate and irrational. Nanny You, fearing Liu'er might actually burn these books and destroy the other items when she wasn't at home, had You Tao secretly wrap them tightly in plastic and lock them in a large wooden chest. Then they sealed the chest inside a brick platform under the pretence that it was meant for storing household items. But her worries turned out to be unnecessary because Liu'er had no time to carry out her plan. She was too busy accompanying Xue'er to change her name from Shen Xue to Li Weiwen, meaning "Defender the Culture Revolution".("the Culture Revolution" is "Wen Hua Da Ge Ming" in Chinese. ) Then they were busy packing their belongings. They had to rush toward Shanghai to join the rest of the group and take the train to Gansu Province. Watching the two girls leave in high spirits to Shanghai, Nanny You couldn't hold back her tears. She was witnessing the complete disintegration of the Shen family. Of the three girls she had raised: one was undergoing reform through labor and the other two were heading off to an unknown place thousands of miles away and uncertain future. This pain was like a knife through her heart. Just two days after the girl's departure, she fell the serious illness.
Xue'er sat on the train heading to Gansu Province. Looking at the people bidding farewell on the platform, she felt a mixture of happiness and sorrow. She was happy because she finally wore the big red flower pinned to her chest as a symbol of send-off and saddened because none of her own family were there to see her off. She had wanted to write a letter to her mother to tell her everything but Liu'er told her it was better for her not to keep in touch with her mother since she had severed the mother-daughter relationship with Shen Hui. "Don't bring any trouble upon herself." So without leaving a single word for Shen Hui, Xue'er boarded the train. From the moment the train departed, she knew all of her life would change, even including her name. She would no longer be Shen Xue; from now on she would be Li Weiwen.