During the Cultural Revolution in China (1966-1976), a period marked by widespread violence and repression, millions of young people were denied educational opportunities and forcibly sent from cities to rural areas for hard labor, including Gu Ruhan. This devastating policy upended countless lives and had far-reaching consequences that lingered long after the revolution’s end.
In 1979, as many of these displaced youth finally returned to the cities, a shortage of teachers emerged in various parts of the country, including at the Huaihai Farm. The returning young people faced the daunting challenge of rebuilding their lives amid the chaos left in the wake of the Cultural Revolution.
In this context, Gu Ruhan, at 36 years old, was hired to teach at Huaihai Farm’s Sixth Elementary School, marking a fresh start after years of turmoil. By 1993, Gu Ruhan had transferred to the Second Elementary School, where his hard work earned him a promotion to vice principal. There, he began hearing troubling rumors about Huaihai Farm’s director, Ye Xiuhe.
Reporting the corruption and facing threats
In March 1995, the Jiangsu Agricultural Reclamation Corporation sent personnel to Huaihai Farm to evaluate Ye Xiuhe and other managers. Upon hearing this news, Gu Ruhan hurriedly wrote a report overnight, detailing Ye Xiuhe’s issues: his domineering attitude, manipulation of power, forming cliques, inappropriate relationships with married women, and using public funds to send his children to study elsewhere.
The next day at noon, Gu Ruhan submitted his signed report. The leadership of the Agricultural Reclamation Corporation took Gu’s report seriously and assigned someone to verify Ye Xiuhe’s issues. However, Ye had prepared to shield himself. Witnesses refused to cooperate, fearing retaliation, which led to an unsatisfactory investigation result. Ye Xiuhe remained in his position. At a staff meeting, he indirectly threatened: “Just wait and see. You’re still too naive if you think you can bring me down.”
Facing retaliation and hardships
Soon after, Ye began retaliating against Gu Ruhan. First, his uncle Wang, head of the Education Department, created friction with Gu. Ye then publicly declared: “If Gu tries to throw me in jail, I’ll destroy him.” Facing difficulties and threats, Gu Ruhan prepared himself. He avoided direct confrontations and collected more detailed evidence for further reporting. Learning that Gu was not intimidated and continued to report, Ye escalated his retaliation.
In December 1995, Ye used his authority to remove Gu Ruhan from his position as vice-principal. Not satisfied, he later dismissed Gu from his teaching post, stopped his salary, and forced him to farm three acres of land. He also instructed Wang to stop Gu’s wife, Ding Guilin, from working at the farm’s kindergarten, assigning her to janitorial work at a school with a monthly allowance of only 120 yuan (equivalent to about US$30 in terms of purchasing power). By October of the following year, Ye found another pretext to completely sever Gu Ruhan’s ties with Huaihai Farm, effectively expelling him from the community.
In April 1998, Ding officially retired and should have begun receiving a pension that month. However, by early November, Ye manipulated her pension, downgrading it from the more favorable public institution rate to a lower corporate rate, and demanded repayment of the pension amounts she had already received. Additionally, he withheld a salary increase that Ding was due in 1997. These financial setbacks forced Ding to leave her hometown and work as a nanny to make ends meet. Subsequently, Gu’s daughter-in-law, unable to bear the family’s poverty, left her young daughter and the family.
Despite these hardships, Gu Ruhan was not defeated. He borrowed money multiple times and used his son’s earnings to cover travel expenses for his reporting efforts. To save money, he often slept on the streets, drank tap water when thirsty, and begged for food when hungry.
Not alone in his struggle
Although his reports yielded no results, Gu did not feel alone. Besides his family’s understanding, many people silently supported him.
Once, after getting off a bus, Gu realized he had left his report materials on the bus. Upon learning this, a stranger volunteered to take Gu on his motorcycle to chase the bus from Gaoyou to Sheyang Station, spending hours retrieving the materials. Holding the recovered report, Gu Ruhan broke down in tears.
A colleague secretly gave Gu 1,500 yuan (equivalent to US$400 in purchasing power) and 50 kilograms of rice to support his reporting. Gu, moved to tears, initially refused the help, knowing everyone was struggling. But the colleague insisted, saying: “You can pay me back after bringing down Ye Xiuhe.” Many people, known and unknown to Gu, often secretly left fish, meat, and rice at his window after learning about his family’s difficulties. With so many supporting him, Gu Ruhan felt deeply comforted and firmly believed: “Justice will prevail over evil!”
Tears of relief as the corrupt official is sentenced
In 2001, several high-profile figures, whom Ye Xiuhe considered his allies, were arrested for economic crimes. Subsequently, Ye was transferred from Huaihai Farm to serve as the Party Secretary of the Jiangsu Agricultural Reclamation Group’s Dahua Seed Company. On the afternoon of October 8, 2002, Gu Ruhan walked into the Xuanwu District Procuratorate in Nanjing with his materials.
Gu recounted that Prosecutor Wu Weimin warmly received him and, after carefully reading the report, decided: “We will conduct a preliminary investigation. If there’s a case, we’ll contact you immediately.” Gu was moved to tears, having waited eight years for this clear response. On the morning of December 10, Gu received a call from the Xuanwu District Procuratorate’s reporting center, asking him to come to Nanjing to verify some report details. Upon arrival, Deputy Chief Prosecutor Zhou Xiaobo and Deputy Director of the Anti-Corruption Bureau Guo Lian confirmed their intention to “take down” Ye Xiuhe.
With Gu Ruhan’s assistance, the case quickly broke open. Soon, the Xuanwu District Procuratorate filed a case against Ye, uncovering that he had accepted bribes totaling 111,000 yuan (equivalent to about US$30,000 in purchasing power). On February 5, 2005, the Nanjing Intermediate People’s Court delivered a final verdict, sentencing Ye Xiuhe to 10 years in prison for bribery. Upon hearing the news, Gu Ruhan fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face.
Translated article
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