Chapter 9: Signing Up for the Rural Program on Behalf of Yan Jiao

Old Madam Yu was so furious when she learned her eldest grandson had been arrested that she nearly passed out. She hated Yu Jingjing and hated the Public Security Bureau to death.
“She already sent her aunt to jail, and now she won’t even let her cousin off! That beast, that damned scourge!”

A police officer responded, “What are you talking about? Your family did something bad, and you think that’s reasonable? That little girl was terrified, you know.”

People like that deserved to be arrested.

Yu Jianmin and Zhao Jinyu reunited in the detention center, and both of them hated Yu Jingjing to the core.

But no matter how much they hated her, she was still living her life just fine, not missing a single piece of flesh.

Only after talking to the family of the eldest uncle did they learn that Yu Jianmin’s attempt last night had failed—not only did he fail to steal the money and the house deed, but he also lost a son for nothing.

“Mom, Yu Jingjing is too heartless. She even sent her own cousin to jail. Jianmin is your only grandson!”

Old Madam Yu loved her eldest grandson the most and started cursing Yu Jingjing.

“That damn girl! She won’t rest until she’s ruined us all. And that unfilial second son of mine, dying and leaving behind this scourge. Why didn’t the two of them take this damn girl with them when they died?!”

“Mom, you must save Jianmin. Our family can’t go on without him!”

“Come on, let’s go find her and make her get the Public Security Bureau to release Jianmin.”

The three of them stormed off to look for Yu Jingjing.

Yu Jingjing had just finished breakfast and tidied up, planning to meet Li Ailing and the others to start work. As she stepped out of the building, she ran into Old Madam Yu, her eldest uncle, and Yu Yanjiao.

Without any warning, Old Madam Yu began hurling insults.
“You damn girl! How could you call the cops and get your cousin arrested? Go talk to them and get him released right now!”

Yu Jingjing didn’t expect to run into such absurd people first thing in the morning, but she wasn’t going to let them ruin her good mood.

On the contrary, the more outrageous they were, the happier she felt.

“Grandma, Jianmin was taken away by the police. If you want to get him out, go talk to them. Why are you looking for me?”

“Because you reported him! If you hadn’t called the police, would they have come and arrested him?!”

Before Yu Jingjing could respond, the neighbors gathering around started to speak up.

“Old lady, listen to yourself. Jianmin climbed in through the window into Jingjing’s room yesterday. Luckily, she was prepared and caught him. Tell me, what kind of person climbs into someone’s house at night? Obviously someone with bad intentions. He deserved to be arrested.”

In the past, Yu Jingjing didn’t dare fight back, and that family always pretended to care about her in front of others. But today, the old woman’s fox tail was finally exposed.

“What could her cousin possibly do? He was probably worried about her being alone at night and went to protect her!”

“Pfft, I can’t believe you’d say that with a straight face. I’ve heard of people sneaking in through windows to do bad things, not to protect anyone.”

“Exactly. This old woman is so biased. Look how well she treats her eldest son’s family, and how she exploits and abuses her second son’s. As soon as the parents passed away, they practically wanted to tear that girl apart!”

Seeing how the neighbors were speaking up for her, Yu Jingjing knew she had to play the part and appear a little more pitiful.

“Uncles, aunties, grandpa, grandma, eldest uncle, and auntie, thank you for speaking up for me. You’re absolutely right. When my dad was alive, my grandma always asked him for money or things, but never cared if he was tired from work or how my mom and I were doing. My eldest uncle’s family often came to mooch off us. You all saw that, didn’t you?

My parents worked so hard to get them jobs, and yet they turned around and stabbed us in the back. After my parents passed, they kept trying to get money from me. I lent them some, but they weren’t satisfied. They wanted to take everything, even our house, even my job.

My aunt secretly signed me up for the rural program, trying to send me away so they could take over our home. Of course, my uncle and grandma knew all about it. They were working together to kick me out and take everything.

I bet my cousin came last night to steal money and the house deed. I only called the police to protect myself. How can I be in the wrong?”

An older auntie said, “Jingjing, you did nothing wrong. Don’t go blaming yourself. They’re the ones in the wrong. They’re heartless, selfish, and ungrateful. We all know how filial your parents were to that old lady. And we also saw how she treated your family. I even wondered at the time—was her second son really her biological child? She’s so biased, she’d rather cut off her own arm.”

Old Madam Yu was infuriated by this and snapped at the older woman.

“Don’t talk nonsense! Your son isn’t even your real child. Our second son is my own flesh and blood, straight from my womb. Don’t you dare say otherwise!”

The older woman scoffed. “Both my sons look like me and their father. Anyone can tell we’re family. Now tell me, does your second son look like you? He doesn’t even resemble your dead husband.”

“Exactly! Jingjing doesn’t look anything like them either. She’s so beautiful, while the rest of them look like a bunch of warped melons.”

“You’re the warped melons! Your whole family are warped melons!” Old Madam Yu nearly exploded on the spot.

Yu Jingjing also began to wonder—could it be that her father wasn’t really Old Madam Yu’s biological son?

“Oh, so my dad wasn’t even her real child. No wonder she treated our two families so differently.”

“Don’t talk nonsense! Your dad came from my own body! He’s definitely my biological child!”

“I don’t believe you. If you were really my grandmother, you wouldn’t treat me like this. My dad couldn’t possibly be your real son.”

Chapter 9 Signing Up for the Countryside on Behalf of Yan Jiao (2/2)

“Right, she’s not your biological granddaughter, is she? Old Lady Yu, hurry up and tell us—where did you pick up Jingjing’s father? Or did you steal him from someone else’s home?” The neighbors stared at Old Lady Yu with eyes full of gossip.

Old Lady Yu, seeing herself besieged, sighed, stomped her foot, and turned to leave.

Eldest Uncle Yu and Yu Yanjiao quickly followed her out.
“Mom, we still haven’t settled Jianmin’s matter.”

Old Lady Yu could only sigh deeply.
“Didn’t you see how stubborn that damn girl is? Do you think she’ll let Jianmin go?”

In truth, she had other concerns on her mind.

Eldest Uncle Yu caught up with the old lady and brought up another issue.
“Mom, they’re saying Lao Er isn’t your biological son—is that true?”

Lao Er was only a year younger than him, and when he was born, Eldest Uncle Yu was too young to remember. So he genuinely didn’t know if Lao Er was his mom’s biological child.

His mom had always treated their family differently from Lao Er’s. He had once thought it was just because he was the eldest son and his father was biased. But thinking back now, there might be another reason.

“Mom, if Lao Er isn’t your biological son, then is he my real brother?”

If this younger brother wasn’t truly hers, then maybe he could benefit from it somehow.

Old Lady Yu shot him a glare.
“Don’t listen to those people’s nonsense. He’s your biological younger brother. We should be thinking about how to get Jianmin out.”

They went to the police station again, but the officers told them that the evidence against Yu Jianmin was solid—no one could save him.

The three of them could only return home with bottled-up frustration.

In the family housing compound, Yu Jingjing and the neighbors had just seen off the troublesome trio. The neighbors all felt sorry for Yu Chang’an, his wife, and Yu Jingjing.

“I bet your dad’s not even her real son. Otherwise, how could she treat your family like that?”

Yu Jingjing said, “I’ve already published a statement cutting ties with them. Whether he’s my biological father or not, I don’t care anymore.”

“From now on, I’ll try to stay away from them.”

“That’s best.”

Yu Jingjing, Ling Ailing, and Xiaokui left the compound. They met up with Ling Ailing’s cousin and niece and headed to the pharmaceutical factory to formally transfer those two job positions. That afternoon, they also handled the house title transfer.

After settling everything, Yu Jingjing finally let out a huge sigh of relief.

She walked alone into the Educated Youth Office. As soon as she entered, she stuffed two big, red apples into the hands of the older woman responsible for registering the youth for countryside assignments.

“Big Sis, these are from a relative’s orchard. Please try them.”

The woman looked at her suspiciously, “There’s no need for all this just to sign up for going to the countryside. What’s going on?”

Yu Jingjing sat down across from her.
“To be honest, there is a little issue. My cousin wants to sign up to go, but her household registration booklet suddenly went missing. She’s also busy today, so she asked me to register on her behalf.”

The older woman looked at the tempting, red apples and quickly tucked them into her bag.

Picking up her pen, she got ready to fill out the form.
“Alright then. What’s your cousin’s name? Do you have her household ID? Where does she want to go? Is it for reassigning to a rural brigade or to a state farm?”

“My cousin’s name is Yu Yanjiao—‘Yan’ as in bright and beautiful, ‘Jiao’ as in lovely and charming. Her household number… Anyway, she’s always had a strong spirit of devotion. She said she wanted to support the construction of the countryside with all her might. She’s not afraid of hardship and prefers a more difficult place. Doesn’t the northwest kind of match that?”

The older woman smiled.
“Your cousin has quite the admirable spirit. We need more people like her who are willing to endure hardship.”
And since she could handle hardship, the woman figured she’d let her experience some:
“How about one of those dry, dusty places in the northwest that’s severely lacking in water?”

“Perfect, perfect! That’s exactly what my cousin wants. I’ll let her know—she’ll be thrilled.”

The woman immediately wrote down the name of a particularly impoverished county in the northwest.

She was actually pleased, too—most people didn’t want to be sent to that place. If someone got assigned there, their family would pull every string to get it changed. If they had any connections, it could be a real pain. Now this “Comrade Yu Yanjiao” had conveniently filled that gap.

She pulled out the educated youth allowance from her drawer and handed it to Yu Jingjing.
“Since the conditions are harsh over there, the state gives more subsidies—seven hundred yuan in total, and ten ration coupons. Here you go.”

“Aiya, my cousin said the same thing. She said going to a tough place meant she could leave more money for the family.”

“She really is a filial child.”

Yu Jingjing accepted the money and tickets.
“Thanks, Sis. I’ll get going now.”

“Mhm. Tell your cousin she leaves in three days.”

“Got it.”

At that very moment, the “filial child” Yu Yanjiao still had no idea she was about to head off to the northwest and start eating sand.