As soon as the name was announced, surprised gasps immediately rang out from those around.

The male educated youth all thought that Meng Bin would be the one to leave, but no one expected it to be Chen Zhiyu.

The choice for the female educated youth had been between Shen Ruyi and Liu Huifang, but unexpectedly, Song Yinglan was chosen in the end.

Unable to accept the blow, Liu Huifang burst into tears, hugging Shen Ruyi. She cried not only because she couldn't return to the city, but also because she was saddened by the unfair treatment she had received.

Even if that person were Shen Ruyi, she wouldn't be this heartbroken.

Song Yinglan must have used connections, which means that if she hadn't, she would have had a hard time getting a spot to return to the city. She might not even be as good as the new educated youth, and she might never get a spot to return to the city in her entire life.

Shen Ruyi also hugged her and patted her back to comfort her.

Meng Bin stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was hearing. After a few seconds of stunned silence, he grabbed Sun Wenshan's arm and pressed, "Comrade, you must have misread the name. Look again, is it really Comrade Chen Zhiyu on the list?"

Sun Wenshan asked him to look at the list of those returning to the city. On the left side of the column for the Victory Brigade, only the names of Chen Zhiyu and Song Yinglan were written.

Meng Bin stared at the list for a long time, blinking several times. The name on the list was indeed Chen Zhiyu, not him, Meng Bin.

For a moment, he felt dizzy and his chest felt tight; the feeling of falling from heaven to hell was no more intense than this.

He pondered for a moment, then his sharp gaze swept over Chen Zhiyu, who appeared calm and collected, as if he had anticipated the outcome.

Could it be that Chen Zhiyu was behind this?

He angrily rushed up to Chen Zhiyu and grabbed the man's collar hard.

"Was it you? You tampered with things behind the scenes. I should have been the one returning to the city, so why was it you?"

Chen Zhiyu pushed him away forcefully and straightened his collar.

Tong Jianxin said, "Old Chen is the one here who is most qualified to return to the city, so why can't it be him?"

"No, this shouldn't be, it can't be him, it should be me." Meng Bin, as if possessed, walked up to Sun Wenshan: "Comrade, I injured my foot during the autumn harvest and lost two toes. I was injured for the sake of the country's construction, shouldn't you take care of me and let me go back to the city?"

Sun Wenshan asked, "What's your name?"

"My name is Meng Bin, I'm twenty-two years old, and I'm from Anhui Province." Meng Bin rattled off a long list of words, just in case Sun Wenshan couldn't recognize him.

"Wait a moment."

Sun Wenshan rummaged through his bag for a while, then took out a letter of complaint.

"Comrade Meng Bin, you were originally eligible to return to the city, but someone reported that you stole a chicken from Liu Daneng's family three years ago. Your actions have caused you to lose this opportunity to return to the city, and it is estimated that you will never have another chance."

Upon hearing this, Meng Bin was taken aback and instinctively looked at Chen Zhiyu, his mind involuntarily recalling past events.

That was when he first came here to work in the countryside. New and old educated youths cooked together. Because he couldn't stand the poor food, he stole a rooster that a villager was raising.

Later, someone secretly took the chicken to the back mountain to roast and eat, but unfortunately, Chen Zhiyu, who was going up the mountain, saw it.

He begged Chen Zhiyu not to tell anyone, and Chen Zhiyu agreed to keep it a secret. He never expected that the matter would be brought up again after so long.

He angrily asked Chen Zhiyu, "Didn't you say you would keep my secret? Why didn't you keep your promise? Why did you tell everyone?"

Chen Zhiyu said, “Meng, I didn’t know about this before. A couple of days ago, you accidentally let it slip and I found out. Comrade Liu Daneng searched the whole village for his missing chickens and even came to the educated youth settlement to look for them, but you didn’t say a word. Meng, you were in the wrong first. In order to protect the villagers’ property from being harmed, I had to report this to the organization. You stole from the villagers’ homes and deserve the punishment you should receive. You should know to repent now, right?”

He couldn't admit that he knew about this all along, that he hadn't reported it, and that he was protecting the thief; otherwise, he might lose his chance to return to the city.

Meng Bin burst out laughing unexpectedly: "Every man for himself, I never thought that Old Chen, whom I trusted the most, would be such a selfish and heartless person."

Chen Zhiyu remained silent, knowing that saying more would only lead to more mistakes, and decided to stop short of making a point.

Sun Wenshan said, "Meng Zhiqing, I will report this matter to the brigade cadres here, and also notify the villager who lost the chicken, so that they can handle it together."

The quotas for male educated youth have been finalized, and Tong Jianxin hugged Chen Zhiyu.

"Old Chen, this is great, you can finally go back."

"Jianxin, you're next."

"I'll try my best."

At this moment, Meng Bin was feeling extremely ashamed. He turned around and ran out of the educated youth settlement.

Sun Wenshan said, "The quota has been determined. Chen Zhiyu and Song Yinglan, you two educated youths, you can make preparations. The day after tomorrow, go to the educated youth office in the county town to complete the household registration transfer procedures, and then return to the city."

"Wait a minute." Sun Wenshan was about to leave for the next batch of educated youth settlements when Shen Ruyi stopped him: "Comrade, don't go yet. We female educated youth still have some problems with the quotas for returning to the city. Could you please help us with that?"

Sun Wenshan frowned: "Is there anything else?"

"I want to report Song Yinglan. She secretly accepted money from fellow villagers here, and when they asked for it back, I don't know if she returned the money. If she didn't, that fellow villager is really at a disadvantage."

"I've already paid it back," Song Yinglan lied.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!