"Old Yi, if I say that Sha Zhu's matter has nothing to do with me, would you believe me?"

After Yi Zhonghai finished explaining the whole story, Liu Haizhong felt like killing his two bastard sons. What a useless and troublesome fellow.

Although he disliked Sha Zhu, he really didn't report him. But now, not only his neighbors in the courtyard, but even he himself felt that he wasn't wronged. It was truly a stroke of luck that Qiao'er's mother opened the door for him.

"Do you think we can trust you now?" Yi Zhonghai glanced sideways at Liu Haizhong.

Sure enough, no one believed him now. But he still needed to explain. So, Liu Haizhong painstakingly recounted what he had done that day, and even had his two children brought back.

"I'm asking you, why did you say that I was the one who reported Sha Zhu, and why did I get into a conflict with him?" Liu Haizhong held a large stick that he hadn't used in a long time.

“Dad, we didn’t say you reported it, but judging from the situation at the scene, we’re pretty sure it was you. Even though you’re not good to us usually, we can’t let Sha Zhu bully our family, right?” Liu Guangfu was still unaware of the seriousness of the situation.

"You all think I did it, and you're pretty sure it's true. I'm asking you, what makes you think I did it?" Liu Haizhong continued to press.

“Well, you and Sha Zhu don’t get along well. You even had a conflict with him last time because of the phonograph. Didn’t you say you’d be careful in the future? So we thought you did it,” Liu Guangtian said.

"When I said to be careful in the future, I was just telling Sha Zhu to be careful. It was a well-intentioned reminder. How did it come out as a warning to someone in your mouths?" Liu Haizhong was so angry that his hair stood on end.

"You've never done anything good before," Liu Guangtian muttered under his breath.

"What? What did you say? I'll show you what a good thing is."

Then, Liu Haizhong picked up the stick in his hand and began to discipline the children.

Afterwards, the group discussed the plan to rescue Sha Zhu, with the main force being the Liu family father and son. There was no other way; these three were now figures within the organization.

Fortunately, Sha Zhu had no problems with his background. In the end, Liu Haizhong, under the guise of the workers' picket team, got Sha Zhu into the factory first, and then released him to go home.

"Old Liu, you did a good job today. At least you have some conscience," Yi Zhonghai said.

“Old Yi, you’re wrong about that. When have I ever been heartless? By the way, when are you going to install the glass in my window?” Liu Haizhong asked.

“Glass? You’ll have to ask the old lady.” With that, Yi Zhonghai turned and left.

-------------------------------------

The directive from the highest levels regarding students going to the countryside for re-education sent shockwaves throughout the country, even more so than the grassroots movement's impact on ordinary people. For example, several families in traditional courtyard houses were affected.

"Dad, look at you, you're a leader, why don't you do my job properly instead of finding a job for my brother?" At Liu Haizhong's house, Liu Guangfu angrily challenged Liu Haizhong to a duel.

"You're still blaming me? I wanted to find you guys jobs so you wouldn't just drift around aimlessly in society, but none of you wanted to go. In the end, your brother was a bit older and had to go, while you said you wanted to study for a few more years, but you just wanted to have some fun."

"Now you're coming to me, who am I supposed to turn to? This is national policy, there's nothing I can do," Liu Haizhong said.

At the beginning of the year, Liu Haizhong saw that his two children were not attending school every day and that the expenses were huge, so he tried to persuade his two sons to get jobs. He was already a member of the factory committee, so arranging jobs for them was a small matter for him, but he did not expect that his sons would refuse.

Liu Guangtian and Liu Guangfu had been having too much fun these past few years, spending their days wandering around, occasionally getting into fights with others, and doing shady business. They couldn't have lived a more comfortable life. Asking them to work would be like putting shackles on themselves, so they both refused without hesitation.

Finally, under the strict demands of Lao Liu and Erda, Liu Guangtian agreed to find a job first, planning to wait a year or two before letting his younger son start working. At that time, Liu Guangtian cried so hard he almost fainted, while Liu Guangfu laughed heartily, never expecting that fortunes would turn so quickly.

Liu Guangfu never expected his good days to end so quickly. Fortunately, Yan Jiekuang was there to keep him company in the front yard.

Old Yan's family was in the same situation as Old Liu's; both had two sons in school, and one was eventually assigned a job, while the other refused. Now, things are looking up; these two unfortunate brothers might even be assigned to the same place.

"Da Mao, we really have to thank you for reminding us, otherwise Jianguo would have had to go to the countryside with us. Sigh, with so many people going down there, and no one saying when they'll be back, what will they do when they get married and have children?"

At Xu Damao's home, Wang Minzhi was feeding her twins, a boy and a girl, while talking to them. The two youngest children were almost a year old, but due to the current special circumstances, Wang Minzhi was not working, so the bottle-feeding period had been a bit longer.

"This policy has just started, and it's unclear when it will be reinstated," Xu Damao said.

"Will the eldest child in the family also have to go to the countryside in the future?" Wang Minzhi asked with a worried expression.

"He's only just started school, there's still a long way to go. Who knows if the policy will change in a few years? Worrying too much won't help. Besides, other kids can go, why can't your son?"

"Don't worry, if he really has to go down there, I'll find him a good place," Xu Damao reassured him.

Xu Damao wasn't really clear about the subsequent policies, but he vaguely remembered that the policy of sending people to the countryside was discontinued in the mid-to-late 1970s.

Actually, the person with the most complaints in the compound was not one of the young people who was about to be dismissed, but Jia Zhangshi.

Her son, Banggeng, would be sent to the countryside in a few years, and she was truly reluctant to let him go. According to Jia Zhangshi, this should be like conscription, with each family only needing to send one person, and their family could send Xiaodang instead.

Her precious grandson, the only male in the family, Jia Zhangshi dared not let anything happen to Banggeng.

But it's not the Jia family's turn yet. There's no substitution policy, so Jia Zhangshi can only complain outside.

"Qin Huairu, why don't we just find Banggeng a job? If the child doesn't go to school, the government can't do anything about it," Jia Zhangshi said.

"You think it's that simple. If everyone thought like you, then the sons of other wealthy and powerful families could easily avoid going to the countryside by finding jobs. There's no such good thing as you."

"Besides, where am I supposed to find a job for Bang Geng? I can't just give him my job, can I?" Qin Huairu said.

"How about we ask Sha Zhu? He'll definitely have a solution," said Jia Zhangshi.

"Silly Zhu? Heh, he won't listen to anything we say now."