Gaining their approval is difficult. The villagers in the base area are absolutely honest and beautiful, but they are also just as wary as the average person. In other words, to befriend them and gain their trust, you must be sincere and not cunning. Another key element is unity! What does unity mean? It means that once you integrate into their group, they will treat you as one of their own. If someone bullies you, they will be the first to rush to your aid.

I understand what this means, and it seems that Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie also understand it. It seems that these two people have some background. Indeed, revolutionary base areas like this are not places that ordinary people can come to.

Do not underestimate the people from the revolutionary base areas. They understand the gratitude to the Party and the People's Liberation Army better than most people. They also grew up with the Party and the revolutionary fighters and are the most loyal to the Party and the country.

This place is great! Even without the captain who was driving the cart ahead, as Uncle Shen mentioned, I shouldn't have a hard time surviving here. After all, I'm a descendant of revolutionary soldiers!

Indeed, Gu Zhengrong was surprised when he received a letter from Shen Bowen even before he arrived! He knew Shen Bowen; they had fought together in the Korean War. Back then, he was just a lowly soldier, while Shen Bowen was a high-ranking regimental commander. Even as a regimental commander, he had charged forward regardless of his own safety when the battle began. He had heard that Shen Bowen had even traveled with him back to participate in the rescue efforts, and that he had almost died, only being saved by his benefactor's wife. He was a little surprised that Shen Bowen would write to him, but since Shen Bowen was now undoubtedly a former superior, he decided to open it and read it.

But to his surprise, besides the letter itself, there was also a photo of a little girl inside. The entire letter contained only two things:

First: Li Zilong and his wife recently sacrificed their lives while on a mission.

Second: The couple has an only daughter, Li Mianmian, born in 1951, who is 13 years old this year. The city is not safe now, and she has been assigned to your brigade as an educated youth. In the hope that you will take care of her, considering that Comrade Li Zilong once saved her life.

Gu Zhengrong's elderly father, Gu Bingtong, who was also the old Party Secretary of the brigade, was sitting on the other side of the kang (a heated brick bed). He wondered why his son was urinating while reading a letter.

Grandma Gu, sitting next to Grandpa Gu, saw the photo that had fallen on the table, quickly picked it up, and examined the little girl in the picture. She thought the little girl in the photo looked like a fairy. But hearing her eldest son trying to hold back his tears and his shoulders shaking, she didn't care and quickly asked, "Eldest son, oh dear, don't pee, tell me quickly!"

"Mother, my savior is gone, gone, sacrificed!" Gu Zhengrong could no longer hold back his tears and bit his lip tightly as he cried.

Upon hearing this, the children in the family quickly ran to their grandparents' room to see their father, who was crying there.

"What! This, this..." Old Mrs. Gu asked.

"What else did the letter say?" Old Gu asked.

"Oh, right, what else was mentioned? What's this photo?" Grandma Gu quickly chimed in.

"This photo shows Chief Li's daughter," Gu Zhengrong said.

"You mean this little girl?" said Grandma Gu.

"Tell me more," said Old Man Gu.

Gu Zhengrong then recounted the contents of the letter, and the old lady immediately asked, "Eldest son, what you just said means that this little girl's parents have both sacrificed themselves?"

"yes"

"How are the children supposed to live? Their parents have both sacrificed their lives," said Mrs. Gu.

"Live life as you see fit," Old Man Gu said.

"But old man, look how young this child is. He doesn't look like he's ever suffered much. Our countryside is nothing like the city."

"Didn't you hear what the letter said? The city isn't safe right now. Besides, she's just a young girl with no relatives in the city. It's better for her to stay here with us. At least we can keep an eye on her."

"Old man, you're right. No matter what, she's the child of our eldest son's savior; we can't let her suffer here."

"You kids, when this child comes, take good care of her. Treat her like your own sister, your own older sister. If it weren't for her father, your father would have died on the battlefield, understand?"

"Uncle, we understand. Don't worry, we won't let anyone bully her," said Gu Zhengrong's eldest son, Gu Yunpeng.

"Yes, sir, we all know what's good for us," Gu Yuncheng said.

"Grandpa, we know too."

"Eldest daughter-in-law, go and tidy up Cuicui's room. When the young girl arrives, let her share a room with Cuicui," said Old Mrs. Gu.

"Yes, Mother, I know," said Gu Liushi.

"Eldest brother, the letter says when the child will arrive?" Old Gu asked.

"I said, based on the time, it will arrive the day after tomorrow."

"Alright, you go pick her up yourself then, and while you're at it, check on the child. Eldest daughter-in-law, once she arrives, you take her and slowly teach her what life is like in the countryside. Only by learning that will she not starve here."

Along the way, I learned about the current situation of this brigade, but that's just hearsay. You have to experience it firsthand to truly understand what it's like, right?

“Our brigade is relatively close to the commune, less than 20 li away, and the oxcart goes there once a day; however, it's far from the county town, about 100 li away. When the village's oxcarts aren't busy, they only go every three days unless there are special circumstances. If you have anything to do, come and ask for leave in advance. If you need to go to the county town, ask Old Huang, the driver, beforehand. He's the one in charge of driving the oxcarts in our village,” Gu Zhengrong said while driving the oxcart.

"Okay, thank you, Captain."

"No need to thank me. You'll understand these little things as you stay longer. I'm just letting you know in advance."

"Uncle, are there any other educated youth in our brigade now?"

“They used to, but in the last two years they’ve all used connections to move back to the city,” Chen Enpeng asked.

"Uncle Captain, where will we be staying?"

"Our brigade doesn't have many spare houses, so you'll have to stay with the villagers. You'll be paid two yuan a month in rent, and you'll eat and sleep with them."

After hearing this, Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie exchanged a glance and then said nothing more. Actually, there wasn't much to say; they simply had to stay, whether they wanted to or not.

However, I don't plan to stay at my fellow villager's house. Staying there for too long will cause trouble, and I won't be able to eat or stay properly. But now is not the time to say that, is it?

Gu Zhengrong knew that these city kids weren't used to living there, but what could he do? That was the situation in the brigade, and besides, the money allocated by the higher authorities wasn't enough to build houses.