Red Scarf Girl

The night Ji-li gets home from the country, her mother and Uncle Tian have a secret meeting. Afterwards, her mother puts some pieces of paper down and goes into the bathroom to wash up for bed. Ji-li reads the papers, which are a draft of an anonymous letter to the Municipal Party Committee criticizing the Rebels, who are the group in power at Ji-li’s father’s workplace. While the letter makes some very good points, it is a very dangerous thing to have in the apartment.

A day later, Ji-li is preparing dinner when her mother bursts in to tell them to hide the letter because the people from Ji-li’s father’s workplace are coming to search their home. Ji-li hides the letter in the cat’s litter box. The search party comes in and ransacks the apartment. Ji-yong tries to stop them from taking a book that he has borrowed and must return. Instead, they tear off the cover. Ji-yong rushes at the man who ruined the book, but he pushes him away, and Ji-li and her sister hold Ji-yong back so that he doesn’t get hurt or into trouble.

Six-Fingers tells Thin-Face that a letter has been hidden and he demands that Ji-li tell him where it is.