"Hello, Aunt Huang."

Feng Mingshu quickly stood up to greet her, but was immediately grabbed by the enthusiastic Aunt Huang.

"Xiao Yu, is this your Ming Shu? He's so handsome, and his hands are so beautiful and smooth. I don't want to let go of him."

After praising Feng Mingshu for a while, Aunt Huang turned to her daughter: "Speaking of which, my Erni is not much older than Mingshu. She is not as good-looking as Mingshu, but her hands are still decent. When she was raised at home, we couldn't bear to let her do any work. But after a year in the countryside, she came back to visit her family, knocked on the door and called me 'Mom.' I was stunned. Was that rough-handed, dark-faced, skinny girl outside still my Erni?"

Aunt Huang's eyes reddened as she spoke. Yu Jingqiu handed her a handkerchief, and Aunt Huang wiped her eyes and waved her hand, saying, "I'm fine, I don't need a handkerchief. I just feel sad when I think about my Erni, and I regret how I agreed to let her go to the countryside in such a muddled way."

Aunt Huang went on and on, saying that her daughter Erni was having a hard time there. She had to take a hoe to hoe the ground before it froze, and as a result, she got frostbite on her hands, feet, and ears. It would itch terribly every winter, and no amount of frostbite medicine she sent over helped.

It is said that some educated youths who went to the countryside in the first year did not prepare enough supplies for the cold weather, and as a result, their legs were frostbitten and they became disabled, and their relationships also fell through.

They also said that the agricultural reclamation area was far from the villages and towns, and it was difficult to buy anything needed. The communal meals were bland and lacked oil, and the hunger pangs at night made them feel dizzy. Some educated youth couldn't bear it and went out to find food in the middle of the night, but they never returned. They even sent out hunting dogs to search for them, but in the end, they only brought back a shoe and a few scraps of cloth...

Feng Mingshu roughly guessed that Aunt Huang was specially invited by her mother. At first, she didn't pay much attention to it, after all, going to the countryside inevitably meant suffering, and she was mentally prepared. But when she heard about the educated youth disappearing in the middle of the night, her expression changed slightly.

In her previous life, she lived in a labor camp farm where there was no freedom. Anyone who dared to wander off and was discovered would be severely punished, if not killed. As for the situation of educated youth going to the countryside, she heard about it from the radio and from her roommate occasionally talking about her children who had gone to the countryside. Both of these described a life full of hope, which, although arduous, was inspiring.

Although Feng Mingshu didn't believe everything, he didn't expect that the freedom of going to the countryside would also result in death.

That's true. Who would spread such negative news besides those who experienced it firsthand? Even those who experienced it firsthand would probably be warned to shut up.

Yu Jingqiu remained calm, as if she already knew. After glancing at her daughter, she turned to comfort her colleague, whose eyes were red from crying: "If you can't bear to see your child suffer, then find a way to transfer her back."

Aunt Huang cried, "Her father and I have tried everything, but Erni's connections are tied up there, we can't get her back. If we do nothing, as soon as she returns to the city, she'll become a vagrant, without a household registration or food rations, and she'll have to hide from the Production and Construction Corps over there to get her accountable..."

Aunt Huang cried for a long time, and left with red and swollen eyes just before it was almost time for her to go back to work in the afternoon.

All afternoon, Feng Mingshu didn't mention going to the countryside again, and silently helped her mother sort out the bills.

Because she realized that her previous arrangements were too careless.

Although the agricultural reclamation corps was better than the cadre school farm, the improvement was still limited. She could tolerate it, but her mother and younger siblings might not.

We still need to take a long-term approach.

Perhaps she should wait until her family's donation is published in the newspaper and then see how things go before making any arrangements.

...

The snow removal mission was finally completed at 2 p.m. Zhai Qingping asked the political commissar for four hours off, using the excuse of visiting his roommate who was still recovering from an injury at the hospital.

Just as he was about to run away, the political commissar stopped him again. Zhai Qingping was on edge when a wad of cash was stuffed into his hand. He raised an eyebrow in surprise: "Political Commissar, it's not even the New Year yet, and you're already giving me New Year's money?"

"What are you dreaming about?" The political commissar glared at the unserious trainee. "I told you to take the money and use it to buy some good nourishment for that kid Zhou Jinshan. Don't embezzle it."

"How could I dare embezzle the political commissar's money?" Zhai Qingping grinned, then stood at attention and saluted. "I guarantee I'll complete the mission!"

"Okay, you can go now... Wait, ask Zhou Jinshan if he saw anyone he liked at yesterday's social dance?"

"Political Commissar, I went yesterday too, why didn't you ask me about it?"

"What do you have to ask, kid? Your standards are so high that even a fairy wouldn't be interested in you. I can't be bothered with you. Get lost." The political commissar waved him away and turned to get into the passenger seat of the military vehicle.

Zhai Qingping: "..."

He really did find someone he liked this time, but no one cared, so he had mixed feelings.

He then perked up, thinking of bringing the "fairy" to the political commissar and surprising him.

With his mind filled with wonderful thoughts, Zhai Qingping took off running down the snow-covered streets in the winter, steam rising from his head, heading straight for the Feng family's small villa.

That's right, while shoveling snow, he struck up a conversation with a local classmate from Bincheng and found out the Feng family's address.

After all, ten years ago the Feng family was a well-known family in Bincheng, and their address was a place familiar to the locals.

Zhai Qingping didn't take the bus because these days, buses that stop and start all the time can't keep up with his speed. An hour later, he arrived at the gate of the Feng family compound and tried to catch his breath.

The gate to the courtyard was half open, but his movements still caught the attention of the twins in the yard.

Feng Mingyu, considering himself the man of the house, dropped the snowball he was holding, told his sister to stay in the yard, and ran to the gate, looking up and asking, "Who are you? What are you doing in my house?"

Zhai Qingping looked down and saw that the little boy in front of him had round eyes that were almost identical to Feng Mingshu's. He immediately knew that he had come to the right place, and leaned down to ask with a smile, "Little friend, this is Comrade Feng Mingshu's home, right?"

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