It snowed all night in Bincheng.

The next day, the entire city was covered in snow, a silver-white wonderland, exceptionally beautiful.

The children were happy, rushing out to play and frolic in the snow.

The adults had many more things to worry about: sorting through cabbages, cleaning the stove, and shoveling snow to clear the roads.

People in this era are highly conscious; they not only mind their own business but also often voluntarily join street sweeping teams. Of course, this is also a requirement of various organizations.

The troops stationed in Bincheng and the cadets from the military academy were the main force in cleaning the main streets and roads. They sang military songs and worked enthusiastically, which attracted many children to watch excitedly and imitate them. They were also very proud.

One person in the team was particularly enthusiastic, and that was Zhai Qingping. He was thinking that he should finish the snow removal task as soon as possible so that he could ask his leader for leave and find the Feng family's address before dark.

At the hospital, Zhou Jinshan was secretly undergoing rehabilitation. As for Lu Xiangqian, he had been tricked into going to sweep the streets early in the morning, so he naturally didn't have time to complain to the political commissar.

Feng Mingshu was also shoveling snow. After breakfast, she left her twin siblings to play in the snow in the yard while she and her mother joined the neighborhood committee's street cleaning team.

During the work, Feng Mingshu took the initiative to approach Zhu Cuifen, the director of the neighborhood committee, and inquired about going to the countryside.

Director Zhu is in her fifties, and her sons have all given her grandchildren, yet she remains full of energy, striving for progress and wanting to take another step forward before retirement.

What best exemplifies progress today?

The natural solution was to mobilize the educated youth of the neighborhood to go to the countryside and participate in volunteer land reclamation teams. This not only alleviated the pressure of urban employment but also increased grain production—a win-win situation. The neighborhood with the most youth volunteers would be the most prestigious and likely to be promoted.

Normally, when Director Zhu tried to persuade the neighbors, they would all run away as fast as they could.

Now that the eldest daughter of the Feng family has taken the initiative to inquire about going to the countryside, Director Zhu, who had been sweeping snow all morning, immediately felt no more backache or leg pain. He threw the broom aside, pulled Feng Mingshu to the open space where the snow had been swept, and got ready to start talking.

This scene caught the attention of someone, who then said in a sour voice, "Director Zhu, you've been working hard all morning and need to rest, we won't say anything, but don't let Miss Feng slack off, isn't this blatant favoritism?"

People have always been more concerned about inequality than scarcity, a saying that resonated with many neighbors, who became less enthusiastic about shoveling snow.

Director Zhu looked over when she heard the voice and saw that the one who had started the trouble was a notoriously mean old lady in the neighborhood. She sneered, "The Feng family girl came to ask me about going to the countryside. If your grandchildren were willing to listen to me ramble on, they could rest now. Even you, Old Lady Li, can benefit from this. Go rest over there."

Upon hearing this, Li's grandchildren all gave their grandmother a dissatisfied look, then grabbed brooms and ran far away, working hard and sweeping the snow into the air.

Anyway, going to the countryside is out of the question; just hearing a single word of it makes me anxious.

Many other young people in the neighborhood shared the same thought: staying in the city and eating government-supplied food was better than going to the countryside to toil in the fields.

The young people all ran away, and those who remained all distanced themselves from Old Lady Li.

Old Mrs. Li was humiliated, but she still tried to save face and muttered, "Who knows if the Feng family is really asking or just pretending? Maybe they're just looking for an excuse to be lazy. Capitalists are good at being lazy and exploiting the people."

After the Feng family prospered, they always maintained good relations with their neighbors. In the past, when the Feng family still owned property, many neighbors relied on the Feng family for their livelihood, some working in factories and others doing domestic work for the Feng family.

Later, with the public-private partnership, the Feng family withdrew from the management of the industry. Yu Jingqiu, as the head of the household, dismissed the maids, leaving only Wang Ma. However, every neighbor who had worked for the Feng family received an extra month's salary.

Therefore, few neighbors spoke ill of the Feng family, except for Old Lady Li's family.

It is said that back then, Old Lady Li wanted to be the wet nurse for the young master of the Feng family (Feng Mingshu's biological father), but she was rejected because her breast milk was not good.

Old Mrs. Li still holds a grudge to this day, instigating her children and grandchildren to be at odds with the Feng family. Although she hasn't gained anything from it, she still enjoys doing it.

Feng Mingshu knew that gossip could be deadly, especially in this special era, where gossip could even kill. Naturally, she couldn't let Old Lady Li smear her family's reputation, so she retorted, "In terms of lineage, which family hasn't been wealthy in the past? Otherwise, their bloodline wouldn't have been able to continue to this day."

That's true, and the neighbors all nodded in agreement. They could talk about their ancestors' glory for three days and three nights.

Having laid the groundwork, Feng Mingshu continued, "My family is just a bit too wealthy, and besides, as the great man said, capitalists can be reformed into good people. Grandma Li, were you just saying something in opposition to the great man?"

Who dares to oppose a great man in this day and age?

Old Mrs. Li was so frightened that her face turned pale: "Who opposed the great man? I didn't! You little brat, you're so sharp-tongued and good at labeling people, you're no good!"

Feng Mingshu: "Whether I am good or bad is not for you to judge. Our neighbors have discerning eyes and can tell who is good and who is bad."

The neighbors loved to hear this and all agreed: "Yes, the eldest daughter of the Feng family is good. She is sensible, kind, and studies well. My grandchildren have had a lot of their homework tutored by the eldest daughter of the Feng family. Not only does she not charge them money, but she also gives them candy. They have all studied more diligently, and their grades at the end of the semester have improved significantly."

"My son is the same, very mischievous, he likes to follow the eldest daughter of the Feng family to read books and draw."

...

Feng Mingshu felt a little embarrassed by all the praise. The children were willing to follow her because she was generous and would often take out candy to give out, which would coax the children to play and study with their younger siblings. She didn't want her lonely childhood to be repeated in her younger siblings.

Of course, she never gave candy to the Li family's children; she was not a saint and would not repay evil with kindness.

This infuriated Old Lady Li: "You're all so easily swayed; a little candy is all it takes to bribe you!"

"Hey, you're really something else. Who steals the persimmons in front of my house every autumn?" a neighbor asked sarcastically.

A guilty look flashed in Old Lady Li's eyes, but she remained defiant: "Who knows who stole it? Anyway, it wasn't my house!"

“I know you won’t admit it. Next time I catch a thief stealing persimmons, I’ll just break his legs with a stick!” the neighbor said fiercely, then addressed the crowd. “Everyone is here today, so please bear witness for me. When I break the thief’s legs next year, don’t say I didn’t warn you.”

Everyone loved a good time and agreed in unison. The loud voices made Old Lady Li jump up and down. She couldn't argue with eight or ten people, so she finally grabbed a broom and slunk away.

This was one of the few defeats for the unreasonable and argumentative Old Lady Li. Director Zhu could naturally see that this result was intentionally orchestrated by the eldest daughter of the Feng family.

She's a smart girl.

Director Zhu appreciatively took Feng Mingshu's hand and said, "Mingshu, with your skills, you'll definitely make a name for yourself in the reclamation team. Come, let me tell you about it."