Cheng Dabao’s little brain was instantly struck by happiness, making her head feel dizzy.

She exclaimed that he was such a manly guy!

Cheng Tiegang and his brother were scolded until they were hopping mad, and Liu Honghua’s face contorted in anger…

But none of them shocked Meng Yiyi.

She couldn’t believe it as she looked down at Jiang Lin and said, “Linlin?”

Jiang Lin calmly replied, “A house makes a home. What use is 300 yuan?”

Meng Yiyi blurted out anxiously, “Are you planning to settle in the countryside?” Immediately realizing her mistake, she hurriedly added, “Settling in the countryside is our dream. I support you.”

Feeling Jiang Lin’s lack of enthusiasm towards her, Meng Yiyi felt annoyed and squatted beside her, concerned, “Linlin, can you still live together with them like this? It’s so uncomfortable. What if something bad happens…”

Jiang Lin chuckled, “We can build a wall and split the house into two. There’s that partition table, can’t it be split in half?”

Meng Yiyi was very anxious, continuously urging Jiang Lin not to escalate the conflict, “Linlin, you need to stay calm.”

Jiang Lin replied, “I am calm. If I wasn’t, I would have kicked them out long ago.”

“You guys should be the ones leaving, we’re definitely not moving out!” Liu Honghua slapped her thigh.

Before, 300 yuan felt like a painful cut, but now seeing Jiang Lin refuse money and ask for a house, she felt even more anxious.

Originally, the whole courtyard was theirs, but now it was barely three rooms!

She was used to living here and would rather die than move out.

They could live together and fight every day.

She had a husband, sons, and daughters; she must drive them away!

She had it all planned out.

Tonight, Jiang Lin definitely wouldn’t be able to stay.

She quietly removed the tiles from the hidden spot, and when it rained, she would let them leak! Let them get soaked to death! Fix it once, remove it again, until they leave!

Cheng Fujun said, “Let me say it. Boss, you can change one main room into two side rooms. You’re young and capable, so in a couple of years…”

Liu Honghua sensed that the village head was suggesting they move out in a couple of years and immediately cut him off, “How can we live together? What about the pigsty, the thatched hut, and the chicken coop? Who’s responsible for managing the manure? This all counts towards our work points!”

Sun Qinghui sneered, “You have more people and fewer houses. Living together clearly means taking advantage of others. You even want to kick out those with more houses?”

Liu Honghua protested stubbornly, “We’re the main household anyway! We’re not moving out!”

Jiang Lin chuckled, “No problem, we can dismantle bricks to build another small courtyard. By then, your house won’t even look like a house. How embarrassing for you. You dislike me, and I dislike you to death.”

Just imagining two-thirds of the bricks and tiles from one courtyard being removed made Liu Honghua’s home feel drafty, which amused Jiang Lin.

Liu Honghua cursed Jiang Lin for being shameless and said her education made her malicious.

Yan Runzhi ignored her and asked Jiang Lin, “What should we do, Bao’er’s mother?”

If they squeezed together, there would be fights every day, and Dabao and Xiaobao would definitely suffer.

Yan Runzhi didn’t think Jiang Lin would want to live with them.

Jiang Lin sat on a straw bale, holding the tired Dabao in her arms.

She smiled, “It’s easy. The brigade office has empty houses. Let’s move to a smaller courtyard.”

She didn’t want to live with Cheng Ruhai.

He looked dignified, but actually poking his nose in everything disgusted her.

The Yanghong Brigade had a guesthouse, with a foundation of green bricks, mud walls, thatched roofs, two main rooms, and two low side rooms.

There was also another house with green bricks and dark tiles, three main rooms, a southern room, and a pigsty, but no side rooms and a narrow, long courtyard.

Jiang Lin calculated that moving to the brick and tile house would not disadvantage them.

Besides, she preferred three main rooms for symmetry, which felt odd with just two.

Cheng Yulian said, “We could use this place as the brigade guesthouse.” During busy seasons, officials might visit.

Jiang Lin smiled, “We could even raise pigs. It could be a good warehouse.”

Cheng Yulian turned to the livestock keeper, “Lao Wu, didn’t you say you couldn’t handle two more donkeys? I think we can manage them in the west wing and the south courtyard. We can also fit two more pigs in the pigsty, and…”

“No way!” Liu Honghua interrupted anxiously, “You’re bullying us!”

But no one paid any attention to her.

Cheng Ruhai sighed in resignation, “Since that’s the case, we might as well move to that small courtyard.”

Liu Honghua immediately burst into tears, “Husband, are you crazy? That small courtyard is made of mud bricks, ours is made of bricks and tiles!”

Cheng Ruhai sighed again, “What else can we do?”

He knew that the brigade secretary and the brigade leader were ganging up on him.

In their village, most families were surnamed Cheng, but there were varying degrees of closeness among them.

By following the path of Cheng Fugui from the commune, he had replaced the original team leader and caused resentment.

The former team leader happened to be Cheng Yulian’s brother-in-law from her maternal family, which made her harbor envy towards him.

Moreover, the brigade secretary was her maternal cousin and likely supported Jiang Lin in causing trouble for him.

Cheng Fujun saw that everyone was willing to move, so he said, “Find a few people to help pack up and move over.”

That house would become the brigade’s new guesthouse.

Liu Honghua couldn’t help but cry, “This yard belongs to my family. I don’t want it to be seized by anyone else again.” She bitterly resented Jiang Lin—this was like losing everything, handing over such a good house to someone else.

Jiang Lin didn’t have any sentimental attachment to the house; what mattered most to her was living comfortably.

Apart from the house, the brigade accountant handled the rest.

Cheng Ruhai also had to take out a wardrobe, a large chest, a table, several chairs, and some pottery tubs and other farm tools that were regularly used.

There wasn’t much left, so they divided it into two piles.

Cheng Ruhai quickly drafted a list and confidently said, “If you don’t have any objections, choose a pile and press your thumbprint.”

In the past, when brothers divided property, one managed the division while the other got to choose first.

This time, the brigade was dividing things up, with special consideration given to sons who cared for their elderly parents.

Liu Honghua wasn’t happy again, “The elders can still work. Why should they get the same amount of work points?”

Now she recalled that Yan Runzhi earned ten work points a day embroidering, which was more than she could earn and she also received money from the brigade.

The educated youths began to deride her, “Do you think they’re raising their parents, or what? You’re obsessed with work points. How shameless!”

“Yeah, your child is taken care of by others. Are you grateful at all?”

Liu Honghua wasn’t embarrassed though, she was sure of herself, “Our children are not inferior to them in any way.”

Cheng Dabao was so tired that he couldn’t keep his eyes open and dozed off.

He woke up suddenly and realized they had finished dividing the items.

He urgently shouted, “There’s still a hen and a pig! I’ll take Song Lu’s share!”

Cheng Jingang replied, “The pig and hen are from my family. You have nothing from your family.”

Cheng Dabao retorted, “You’re nothing!”

“You little…”

Cheng Jingang, at eight years old, wasn’t very articulate but knew how to curse.

Cheng Yulian slapped him on the back of his head, saying, “You pig-head, go away!”

Liu Honghua couldn’t stand it, “Cheng Yulian, what do you mean by that, you…”

“Shut up!” Cheng Fujun scolded, “The pig belongs to the collective. Half of the work points from pig-raising should be shared, and three chickens.”

Everyone agreed it was fair, whether there were more or fewer of these little things.

Jiang Lin thanked the cadres and educated youth, “You’ve all worked hard. There’s nothing to offer you right now, but we’ll thank you separately in a few days.”

“No need, no need. It’s just a small matter in the village,” several people said and left.

The accountant of the brigade called a few people to help move things to the new courtyard.

Cheng Xiaobao had already fallen asleep.

Jiang Lin held him, while Cheng Dabao was also struggling to stay awake beside Yan Runzhi.

Sun Qinghui and a few educated youth helped move things. “Jiang Lin, congratulations!”

Jiang Lin thanked them, “It’s all thanks to everyone’s help.”

“We’re all educated youth, no need to be formal.”

They quickly helped move things, including items previously packed from the brigade house, and cleared out things from the small courtyard to move back to the new guesthouse.

Liu Honghua was still crying, “They get to live in the brick house, and they want us to live in the mud house. That house is unbearable. The roof leaked a long time ago. It’s unfair…”

Meng Yiyi walked beside Jiang Lin and whispered, “Linlin, are you… giving up on going back to the city?”

Jiang Lin replied softly, “No.”

“But what about…” Meng Yiyi’s voice tightened, “You want to go back to the city, yet you’re acting like this? I fought so hard to get you that money, and now you’re giving it away?”

“Yiyi, why don’t you think about going back to the city yourself?” Jiang Lin asked softly. Meng Yiyi’s family situation was similar to hers.

Even if they weren’t well-off, tightening their belts and borrowing here and there could scrape together three hundred yuan.

With three hundred yuan, one could consider going back to the city.

Even if there were no immediate job prospects, they could tough it out for a while or quietly engage in small business.

The original host couldn’t endure physical labor, and neither could Meng Yiyi.

Otherwise, she wouldn’t have needed to take over the job of an elementary school teacher.

Meng Yiyi: … Playing tricks on me!

“I just want you to go back first. If you don’t, how can I be at ease?” Meng Yiyi continued, “Besides, Bian Haitao is still waiting for you. Don’t you want…”

“Don’t mention him to me!” Jiang Lin interrupted, eyes wide. “Don’t bring up that person in front of me again, or I’ll get angry!”

Meng Yiyi stopped in her tracks, feeling heavy in her chest.

She had been quite upset by Jiang Lin throughout the day.

Jiang Lin quickened her pace and caught up with Yan Runzhi and Cheng Dabao ahead. “Dabao, feeling tired?”

Cheng Dabao, barely able to keep his eyes open, mumbled something incoherent.

Jiang Lin smiled. “He’s just a little kid, still so determined.”

The new small courtyard was right next to the brigade office.

The brigade office had originally been surrounded by a large wall, but most of it had been torn down during the steel-making days to build brick kilns.

Now, only the office and warehouse had walls; everything else was open.

Jiang Lin liked this location.

It was close to the big locust tree, the well, and the millstone, which made life very convenient.

Several brigade members and educated youth had already brought over all the belongings.

The place had originally been meant as guest quarters and only had some miscellaneous items stored.

Once these were moved out, it would be ready.

Jiang Lin looked around and saw that the eastern platform bed had collapsed, leaving only the west side usable for sleeping.

Luckily, half of the room had platforms lined up, enough for five or six adults and children to sleep on.

However, the bedding was in bad shape, so they had to layer dry wheat straw to make it more comfortable.

She and Yan Runzhi settled Cheng Dabao and Cheng Xiaobao first, then went to thank the brigade members and educated youth, thinking about how to repay their kindness in the future.

Although exhausted and sleepy, after a day of rushing around, she felt uncomfortable with sweat and dust all over her body.

She intended to fetch water from the brigade’s large firewater tank to wash up. Just as she was about to leave, Sun Qinghui came in carrying a bucket of water. “It’s too dark outside. Let me fetch the water for you,” he said.

Jiang Lin hurriedly thanked him, “Thank you so much.”

Sun Qinghui smiled, “Don’t mention it. It’s late now. Close the door and get some rest.”

After seeing Sun Qinghui off, Jiang Lin closed the courtyard gate and washed up outside.

She wanted to check on Yan Runzhi, but found her already fast asleep in her clothes.

Feeling equally tired, Jiang Lin glanced at the grain bin in the east corner, satisfied that everything was in order, before climbing onto the platform bed to sleep.

She was so exhausted that she fell asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow.

…

On the remote southeastern edge, at Niujiao Mountain Prison.

After suppressing a prisoner riot, an eerie atmosphere of repression hung over the entire prison. Armed guards in full gear patrolled the area.

In an office, three military personnel dressed in uniforms without clear insignia sat solemnly around a table.

The officer in the middle, in his forties, lazily flipped through a file in his hand, occasionally lifting his eyelids to glance at the young man seated in front of him.

The young man was tall with long legs, and although lean, anyone who had fought him knew how strong and ruthless he could be.

Under the scrutiny, his handsome face remained calm and composed, his posture firm and unwavering, as if he wouldn’t flinch even if the sky fell.

“Cheng Rushan, after evaluating your performance, we’ve decided to invite you to join a special forces unit for further training,” the officer glanced at Cheng Rushan, “Do you have anything to say?”

Cheng Rushan’s deep black eyes remained tranquil as he replied, “Sir, is this enlistment mandatory?”