Chapter 130 2/2

Afterwards, each of the three brothers went to their own rooms and gave their wives a stern talking-to, warning them not to behave in a way that would disgust others again. Qiao Wei, this city wife, only comes back a few times in her lifetime. If they keep acting like this, she might not come back again in the future.

Perhaps this might even make Yan Lei stop giving money to the family.

A thousand words, all boil down to self-interest being the real weakness. The last sentence struck a chord with everyone.

That’s how Qiao Wei’s trip back home ended so peacefully and happily.

Yan Lei had limited vacation time, so he didn’t stay at home for long. Moreover, after many years, he found that his hometown was really a place more for nostalgia than for returning.

When you’re far away, memories seem beautiful.

But when you really come back, each relative has their own calculations, those little thoughts are written on their faces, and it’s clear to see, so the heart isn’t as warm anymore.

When it was time to bid farewell to the relatives and board the mule cart, Yan Lei actually felt a sense of relief and relaxation.

Once they were on the train, he carefully asked, “You weren’t unhappy during this trip back, were you?”

He kept an eye on who dared to give Qiao Wei a hard time.

Qiao Wei took out a clean apple from her bag and peeled it while telling him, “Don’t worry, this is your home. Whatever you want to come back for, I’ll accompany you.”

Yan Lei breathed a sigh of relief.

Qiao Wei said, “It’s nice for people to have a place to go back to.”

Yan Lei nodded.

But even though they said that, it was only when they got off the train and returned to the old military settlement area in Bocheng County, Xiahekou District, and saw their own light yellow mud walls, cooling beds, cushions… that Yan Lei truly felt like he was coming home.

This was his true home.

Although not her birthplace, it was a place of peace, a place where one could let down their guard, a place to completely relax.

Yan Lei’s shoulders relaxed.

This year passed relatively peacefully.

However, now it’s almost impossible for middle and high school students to attend classes normally. Large numbers of students and unemployed youths wander around, giving rise to many social problems.

In the first half of this year, Qiao Wei saw the Zhao family’s daughter, Yingzi, skipping school and running around everywhere all day long. She advised Sister Yang to either send Yingzi to a vocational school or find a way to arrange a job for her directly.

But Yingzi was only fourteen, and Sister Yang and Captain Zhao always felt she was “still young” and didn’t feel urgent about it.

Qiao Wei couldn’t force them either.

Gangzi, on the other hand, was fine. He had graduated from vocational school and become a welder in a factory.

Sister Yang asked him to hand over all his wages, but he was very determined and refused. In the end, he only handed over half of his salary each month, keeping the other half for himself.

He was the eldest brother, and he had the demeanor of an elder brother. He even occasionally gave his younger siblings some pocket money.

The younger siblings now listen to him more.

The eldest son was like this. If he could stand on his own, he would be the second father in the family.

But the second father of the Yan family wasn’t Yan Zhu, it was Yan Lei.

Qiao Wei wasn’t sure of the exact year of the major event, but she could vaguely feel that it was approaching, judging from the current situation of the teenagers and students.

Sure enough, at the end of this year, the great leader issued the directive that “educated youth should go to the countryside and receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants, which is very necessary.”

The large-scale “Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside Movement,” which covered the entire country, finally began.

After the New Year, the county established the Educated Youth Office, and the streets went door-to-door to register. This year’s middle and high school students, as well as socially unemployed youth who had just graduated but were still at home, were all within the scope of the statistics, collectively referred to as urban educated youth, known as educated youths in later secular terms.

When they came to Captain Zhao’s house, Gangzi was already working, so he wasn’t within this scope.

Lin Xixi, Captain Zhao promised to help her with her household registration, but not now. Captain Zhao promised her that once he found a suitable match for her, he would transfer her household registration over.

But all the matches he had introduced her to hadn’t worked out. So, the matter of the household registration had been shelved.

Moreover, she didn’t have much education, so she didn’t count as an educated youth and wasn’t within the scope of the statistics.

But Yingzi couldn’t escape.

She was still a student, not an only child, and no one in her family was seriously ill and needed to stay behind for care. There were no employment or replacement positions, and so on. In short, she had no legitimate reasons that fit the policy to avoid it.

And now Captain Zhao was serving as the military representative of Bocheng County, with many eyes watching him. He couldn’t act recklessly.

There was no way out for Yingzi, she became an educated youth and was arranged to go to the countryside.

But fortunately, they were in a small county here, and even more specifically, they lived in a small town.

Outside the county town, outside the town, was the “countryside.”

Unlike educated youths in big cities, who went thousands of miles to completely unfamiliar rural areas. Unfamiliar customs, unfamiliar food, unfamiliar accents.

The place where Yingzi and the other educated youth from the small town went to the countryside was only thirty kilometers away from Xiahekou.

One week later, on Sunday, Qiao Wei stewed some meat and brought a bowl to Sister Yang’s house. As soon as she entered, she saw Yingzi squatting at the kitchen door, gnawing on a chicken leg with gleaming eyes, like a fox.

Qiao Wei: “…”

“Auntie, you’re here!” Yingzi greeted Qiao Wei with her chubby cheeks.

Qiao Wei asked, “Why are you back?”

According to the regulations, educated youths cannot leave their designated areas.

Yingzi chuckled, “My dad made arrangements with the brigade. I can leave the team on Sundays, as long as I return home before nightfall and don’t stay overnight.”

This was much luckier compared to educated youths in big cities.

Qiao Wei said to Sister Yang, “Although it’s close, we still need to find a way to bring the child back.”

The sooner she came back, the sooner arrangements could be made.

When the large group of educated youths returned to the city, job opportunities would become scarce again.

Sister Yang regretted not listening to Qiao Wei earlier and arranging a job for Yingzi sooner. She felt sorry for her, saying, “They say they sleep in a big dormitory there, and the food isn’t good.”

Once they went to the countryside, they didn’t have their mothers or cousins to take care of them. The educated youths had to do their own laundry and cooking.

Ever since Lin Xixi came to the Zhao family, Yingzi has been living with a nanny for the past few years. She had never experienced such hardship before.

“Old Zhao is already making moves.”

Policies are dead, but people are alive.

Moreover, her own father had some abilities.

Yingzi went to the countryside in February, just thirty miles away from home.

In June, she was brought back by her father.

In October, both Yan Lei and Captain Pan received letters from Beijing.

Their faces changed upon reading them.