Lin Guodong returned home, and Ning Shu curiously asked, “What did the brigade leader want from you?”

Lin Guodong didn’t hide anything and explained the brigade leader’s concerns, “Tomorrow morning, Uncle Hongfa and I will go to the commune.”

Ning Shu became even more curious, “Does that mean the brigade leader’s position will be taken away? If the higher-ups intend to remove him from his position, can you help him?”

Lin Guodong replied, “I’m not sure about the higher-ups’ intentions. Regarding the matter of the introduction letter, Uncle Hongfa indeed has some responsibility. If he loses the brigade leader position, the new one will also be selected from the village. Uncle Hongfa has a good reputation in the village, so finding a new squad leader might not be easy. I can try to talk to the commune, but I can’t guarantee anything.”

“It would be unfair for him to lose his position because of this,” Ning Shu sighed.

Today, the whole Qinglin Bay Brigade was very lively.

Almost every household was visiting each other, naturally discussing Zhuang Daming and Jiang Xiaoyue’s matter.

The adults were busy visiting each other, paying no attention to the children, who naturally went out to play.

Because the entrance of the village committee’s courtyard was where the adults liked to gather, it became a gathering place for the children.

Many children were sitting at the village entrance chatting today.

“I saw the police again today, and this is how they walk,” one of the children imitated the way the police walked, with their heads held high and walking with purpose.

Some other children giggled when they saw it.

One of them suggested, “Let’s play the game of police catching chickens?”

Er Bao couldn’t help but ask, “Isn’t it usually eagles catching chickens? Why do we want to become police catching chickens?”

The child explained, “My mom said the police are very powerful. They catch bad people, they fight bad people, definitely stronger than eagles, so we should become police catching chickens.”

Er Bao’s eyes lit up, “But eagles catch chickens to eat. If the police catch chickens, do they want to eat them too? Do they want to eat braised chicken or drink chicken soup?”

The child was stumped by the question.

Another child added, “Chicken meat is so delicious, the police must like to eat it too. There are so many chickens, they can eat one braised and stew the other for soup.”

Other children agreed, thinking this made sense.

Er Bao continued, “But the police definitely won’t catch chickens. They’re supposed to catch bad people. Let’s not play police catching chickens, let’s play police catching bad guys.”

Upon hearing Er Bao’s words, the children thought the suggestion was good. But the problem was, “Who wants to be the bad guy?”

The children looked at each other, none of them wanting to be the bad guy.

Yi Bao said, “We can play bad guys catching police. There’s only one bad guy, but there can be many police.”

“Yi Bao, you’re so smart! Then we can all be police, we only need one bad guy.”

“With just one bad guy, we can take turns.”

“Then who goes first?”

“Yi Bao, you’re smart, who should go first as the bad guy?”

Yi Bao thought about it.

Last time, when everyone came to his house to trade chestnuts for candy, he had them line up using rock-paper-scissors. Mom said it was good to do it this way, fairer.

Now, every kid wanted to be a police officer, and no one wanted to be the bad guy.

They couldn’t force anyone to be the bad guy; it wouldn’t be fair to the kid who had to be the bad guy.

So, to be fair, they should use rock-paper-scissors. Yi Bao suggested, “Let’s use rock-paper-scissors, whoever comes last will be the bad guy first.”

“This method is good, let’s do rock-paper-scissors.”

“I’ll go first, I’ll go first, rock-paper-scissors… I lost.”

“Rock-paper-scissors… I won…”

The children competed in pairs, and in the end, the one who lost was Yang Youfu.

Yang Youfu grinned, “Get ready, I’m going to catch the police.”

“Brother Xiaoshan, you’re the oldest, you’re in the front, you have to stop Youfu,” Er Bao said.

Lin Xiaoshan patted his chest, reassuring, “I got this.” He was nine, while Yang Youfu was five.

He wasn’t bullying Yang Youfu, but they were used to playing together, and he completely forgot Yang Youfu’s real age.

Lin Xiaoshan was at the back, taking on the role of the mother hen… no, the police captain, and the little police officers behind him were the chicks.

Er Bao and Yi Bao were separated, with San Bao in between them.

They had to protect San Bao and make sure he didn’t fall.

Last year, San Bao could only watch them play eagles catching chicks, but this year he could finally join in.

His small hands gripped the clothes of the kids in front of him, his face filled with excitement.

Yi Bao was behind him, holding him under his arms to prevent him from falling.

Behind Yi Bao was Haicai.

Even when playing games, they stayed together.

“Youfu, hurry up and catch us.”

“Youfu, you haven’t caught any of us.”

“Youfu, if you keep going like this, you’ll keep being the bad guy.”

The children cheered, and sweat dripped down Yang Youfu’s forehead.

As a six-year-old little troublemaker, he couldn’t beat the nine-year-old lead police officer at the front.

What could he do?

“I… I’m so tired, I want to rest for a bit,” Yang Youfu panted, “Xiaoshan ge is too good, I can’t catch the police.”

Lin Xiaoshan was also happy, “I’m the police, I have to protect my teammates.”

Boys of Lin Xiaoshan’s age were the most heroic.

“Youfu, come on… hurry up and catch us!” Er Bao shouted from behind.

Yang Youfu wanted to cheer up too.

He didn’t want to be the bad guy; he wanted to be a police officer and hide behind Xiaoshan ge.

But he really couldn’t muster any energy. In the end, Yang Youfu simply gave up and sat down, exhausted.

“Waaah… we won…”

“Youfu is so weak, hahaha…”

Yang Youfu, being young, could accept being called weak.

Several children jumped for joy.

San Bao looked at everyone being so happy and started jumping too, “Brother…brother.. “

Yi Bao wiped the sweat off his forehead, “Be happy, we won.”

San Bao grinned, his smile innocent and bright, nodding his head nonstop.

“Yi Bao, Er Bao, San Bao, it’s time for dinner.” Ning Shu had been waiting for the three boys to come home, and when she saw them playing the game of eagles catching chicks, she didn’t call them until the game was over.

“Mom…” San Bao heard his mother’s call and happily ran towards her.

“Let’s go for dinner.” Er Bao followed behind San Bao. “Mom, what are we having for dinner tonight?”

“We’re having noodles. Didn’t you say you wanted noodles for lunch?” Ning Shu replied.

“Mom, you’re the best! Let’s go eat noodles.” Er Bao’s mouth started watering.

Some of the children who hadn’t left yet overheard their conversation and felt envious.

“Er Bao is going home to eat noodles… I really want noodles too.”

Ning Shu spotted Haicai in the crowd and called out, “Haicai, come join us for dinner at Aunt San’s house.”

Haicai heard Third Aunt calling him and wanted to go happily, but he shook his head and said, “Auntie , I’m not going. I’ll go home for dinner.”

With that, he ran off towards his old house.

Seeing this, Ning Shu took the three boys home.

At dinner, Er Bao spoke up, “Dad, today we played a game where the bad guys catch the police, just like eagles catching chicks. Dad, have you ever played the game of bad guys catching police?”

Lin Guodong raised an eyebrow, “Bad guys catching police? Isn’t it usually police catching bad guys?”

Yi Bao explained, “Because nobody wanted to be the bad guy, so we played bad guys catching police. That way, the police could be like chicks, and there could be many of them.”

Lin Guodong looked at Ning Shu, “What kind of game is this?”

Ning Shu asked back, “Have you never played eagles catching chicks before?”

Lin Guodong nodded, “No.”

When he was born, the country hadn’t been liberated yet, so he didn’t get to play outside much during his childhood.

Later, when the country was liberated, he was already in school and didn’t have time to play.

Because the opportunity to study was hard-won for him, he wanted to make the most of it by studying as much as he could.

Besides, he wasn’t interested in children’s games without background or connections.

So, he immersed himself in his studies, and as a result, missed out on many childhood games.

Er Bao heard his parents’ conversation and widened his eyes in disbelief, “Dad, you’ve never played eagles catching chicks before? Is it because when you were little, other kids didn’t like you and didn’t want to play with you?” In Er Bao’s mind, that seemed like the only reason.