Wu Yuanyuan hadn't considered Captain Huang's situation at all. The issue of the work-study soldier quota had caused quite a stir. It would have been understandable if the quota had been given to someone who usually performed well or was well-behaved.

If the quota is given to a piece of trash like Zhou Likang, and the troublemakers in the educated youth compound find out, Captain Huang will be in big trouble.

In places where the brigade leader has absolute power, his subordinates are so controlled that they have no chance of advancement. Even if they know that the brigade leader is abusing his power, no one dares to cause trouble.

Captain Huang always puts reason into everything he does and disdains using his status to intimidate others. Even after several years in the countryside, the troublemakers from the educated youth compound have managed to maintain their troublesome nature, all thanks to his integrity.

No sooner had Captain Huang given the spot to Zhou Likang than the troublemakers from the educated youth compound dared to go to the town to report him.

Wu Dazhu cursed, "What are you dreaming about? Do you think you'd get such a good thing? If he really gets the spot, the first thing he'll do is abandon you and your daughter and run back to the city."

Zhou Likang wanted a spot but didn't come himself. Instead, he instigated Wu Yuanyuan, who was heavily pregnant, to come and use a self-inflicted injury ruse. Besides, all the things he had done in the past, no matter what they were, could make Wu Dazhu believe him.

Zhu Jiaojiao earnestly advised, "Yuanyuan, your father is right. You can't trust his words. Before you got married, he always pushed you out whenever something happened. I knew he wasn't sincere towards you."

"If he gets the spot, he'll have other options. He can live anywhere, find a better woman. Why would he drag you into the city? He's lying to you."

"Besides, our family doesn't have the ability to persuade the brigade leader to give him the spot."

Wu Yuanyuan hadn't taken her previous words of persuasion to heart at all; all she wanted now was a spot.

Wu Yuanyuan's eyes flashed: "Why not? Money makes the world go round. My brother earns tens of yuan a month, and our family has a lot of savings. If we give the brigade leader a few hundred yuan, I don't believe he won't be tempted."

Wu Dazhu felt that his daughter was truly beyond saving.

Wu Dazhu angrily said, "The brigade leader's family is much richer than ours. His son Da Dan earns more than your brother, and his youngest son is about to graduate from high school and become a worker. How can you think he would give up his promising future for a few hundred yuan?"

A few hundred yuan is a huge sum for many people, but for Captain Huang, it's not a bad deal.

Wu Yuanyuan stubbornly said, "How do you know he won't accept it if you don't try?"

Wu Dazhu pointed at the gate and said, "Get out! Get out of my house and don't ever come back. If it weren't for your pregnancy, I would have already beaten you out with a stick."

Wu Dazhu refused to budge, and Wu Yuanyuan, having failed to get what she wanted, left the Wu family dejectedly.

Wu Yuanyuan successfully knelt down at the Wu family's gate and left empty-handed; the story spread throughout the team.

Huang Guihua, who came to chat with Yu Rujia, said, "If I had a daughter like that, I would have broken her legs long ago. I would never let her run around outside. The Wu family has been prosperous all their lives, but in their old age, they have become so muddled."

Yu Rujia: "Don't worry, your Taohua is well-educated and reasonable. She usually speaks softly and listens to you. She definitely won't become like her."

Huang Guihua: "That's not necessarily true. Wu Yuanyuan used to be so well-behaved. Who would have thought that she would make her own mother faint over trash like Zhou Zhiqing? I need to keep a close eye on Taohua, lest she follow in Wu Yuanyuan's footsteps if I'm not careful."

Yu Rujia: "In the blink of an eye, Taohua is eighteen years old. She's reached the age where she should be getting married. Have you made any preparations for her?"

Huang Guihua: "I thought highly of Wei Zhiqing, but he doesn't associate with anyone except the people from the brick kiln and your family. Taohua doesn't have that kind of luck."

Yu Rujia chuckled but didn't reply. Wei Han was so frightened that he was practically immune to women, and he wouldn't have such thoughts for the time being. So she decided not to go up to him and bring it up.

Huang Guihua: "Rujia, what do you think of Hou Zhiqing?"

Yu Rujia: "Taohua has a job, why don't you think about finding her a worker?"

Huang Guihua and Guo Xiaojie's business was booming. Through Guo Xiaojie's introduction, Taohua, who failed to get into high school, entered a garment factory as a factory worker.

Gao Shujing had already told her that Captain Huang had decided to give the worker-peasant-soldier quota to Hou Dayong.

If Hou Dayong gets the spot, he will leave immediately. He definitely won't marry a country girl at this time, even if she has a job.

Hou Dayong is 22 years old. He has completed two years of university and will be 24 years old after graduation. With his university degree and job, finding a partner will be very easy for him.

Finding a partner in the countryside can easily lead to a long-distance relationship, unless he's out of his mind to get married before leaving.

Huang Guihua: "Taohua is gentle by nature. I'm worried that if she marries into a family in town, she'll be bullied without our knowledge."

“I think it’s good that Lijie is like this. She married a sent-down youth and still lives at home after marriage. It’s like finding a son-in-law who lives with the family.”

"I think Hou Zhiqing is a good person. He is honest and upright, and he has a monthly salary. Although it is not much, we are not after his money. We just want him to be able to live with Taohua after marriage since he has no roots here."

When Huang Lijie and Cheng Qi got together, Huang Guihua couldn't understand it at all. She felt that it was too unfair for Huang Lijie, a worker, to marry Cheng Qi, a educated youth who worked in the fields.

A few years later, when it came to her own daughter, she realized that marrying a former educated youth was a really good idea.

You only know if something is right or wrong when it happens to you.

Yu Rujia: "We live close to the town, and you go there often. Xiaojie lives in the town, so you can't possibly hide from her whether she's been bullied or not."

Huang Guihua was shrewd to begin with, and the longer she spent with Guo Xiaojie, the more clever she became. She glanced at Yu Rujia a few times and guessed a thing or two.

Huang Guihua asked softly, "You don't think highly of Hou Zhiqing? Is there something about him that we don't know?"

Before Zhou Likang exposed Wu Yuanyuan's affair, the people in the team only thought that he was a bit lazy and clumsy, but his character was not a big problem.

After Wu Yuanyuan's affair was exposed, everyone knew he was a scumbag. He had been deceiving the entire team for years; his secrecy was too good.

Huang Guihua, with her wild imagination, wondered if Yu Rujia's disapproval of Hou Dayong stemmed from having seen another side of him. If that were the case, her daughter Taohua definitely couldn't marry into that family.

Yu Rujia: "Hou Zhiqing is a good person, but he and Tao Hua are not a good match."

Since the person himself is fine, then there must be another reason. Huang Guihua pressed on, "What's wrong? Does he have a girlfriend?"

Yu Rujia: "Don't ask anymore. Anyway, find another partner for Tao Hua."