He looked at Jiang Ci, seemingly seeking confirmation.
Jiang Ci nodded. "Yes, a meeting has already been held, and the policy has been finalized. It shouldn't be long before the decree is issued nationwide."
"Oh dear, this is a difficult situation." The brigade leader said with some distress, "You don't know, not long after you went to Beijing, the Red Armbands fell from power, and several educated youths in the production teams started to act up. They went to the educated youth office to make trouble, asking them to issue letters of introduction saying that they wanted to return to the city."
"The educated youth office wouldn't release them, so some educated youth even secretly climbed onto the train to escape, and several died in the chaos!"
"Now that the college entrance examination has been reinstated, those educated youth who have attended high school will have to take the exam, right? Many of the female educated youth are married and have children. Are they going to abandon their husbands and children to take the exam?"
Jiang Ci said coldly, "Whether they take the exam or not is their freedom."
"Their husbands and mothers-in-law may disagree, but don't they know that taking the college entrance examination means abandoning their husbands and children?"
"I don't know why they got married, but if they wanted to, as the brigade leader, you can't stop the women from progressing."
The captain's face looked even more miserable.
Aunt Lian, with her old-fashioned mindset, said, "Xiao Jiang, what you're saying is just breaking up someone's family!"
As the saying goes, it's better to build ten temples than to break up one marriage...
Jiang Ci said, "Aunt Lian, as I said, what were the reasons that led the female educated youth to get married? Let's not talk about those who got married voluntarily, but what about those who didn't?"
"They have another path to take, should we stop them?"
Aunt Lian was speechless, and the brigade leader was also speechless.
This is indeed a difficult situation.
A considerable number of female educated youth married villagers not out of their own free will.
In impoverished and remote areas, discipline was not strict, and villagers in the production brigade even banded together. Even if things like bullying men and women happened, the villagers would cover for each other, and the news would not spread. Female educated youth were forced to marry, forced to have children, and forced to be locked up in their small plot of land, suffering a lifetime of torment.
Letting the female educated youth go would offend the villagers, but not letting them go would ruin their lives.
The battalion commander is going to have a tough time in the next few years.
Jiang Ci told the captain in advance so that he could be mentally prepared.
She wasn't all-powerful, nor could she dictate terms like, "Which educated youth wants to take the college entrance exam? Go ahead. I say you can get a divorce, so you can get a divorce." She could only do her best to persuade as many people as she could.
When she returns and sees Secretary Zhao again, she will discuss it further with him.
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli distributed the things they brought back to the brigade leader's family and Sister-in-law Yu's family.
Most of it was given to Sister-in-law Yu. Zhou Mingli said to the brigade leader, "Don't think I'm being biased, brother. Sister-in-law Yu and Brother Yu have helped our family a lot before."
The team leader rolled his eyes. "Am I still a child? I'm jealous because I didn't get a little more than others when they were distributing the goods."
Zhou Mingli smiled faintly, "We need to make things clear first."
Sister-in-law Yu was all smiles; she couldn't have been happier.
The brigade leader had many things to do. After talking with Zhou Mingli and Jiang Ci for a while, he left with Aunt Lian.
"How long are you going to stay this time?" Sister-in-law Yu asked with concern, affectionately holding Jiang Ci's hand.
"I have to leave as soon as I finish my business. I still have work to do in Beijing, and I can't delay any longer."
Hearing this, Sister-in-law Yu was a little disappointed, "I thought you could stay in the brigade for a longer period of time."
Sister-in-law Yu also mentioned that they sent a lot of dried mushrooms and vegetables to Beijing last month, and asked if they had received them.
Jiang Ci shook her head. "They should still be on their way."
"By the way, how's Brother Yu doing at the quarry?"
Speaking of this, Sister-in-law Yu's eyes were full of smiles. "It's great! Fugui said his master thinks he drives steadily and he should be able to drive the route to Beijing next year. I was thinking that when Fugui goes to Beijing next year, I can meet you. I didn't expect you to come back first."
“Going to Beijing is certainly better, but the journey is quite long. Can Brother Yu handle it?” Jiang Ci asked.
Sister-in-law Yu's eyes widened. "How can he not handle it? He's young and strong. Driving is much easier for him than doing farm work!"
Jiang Ci and Zhou Mingli couldn't help but laugh when they heard this.
Jiang Ci squeezed Sister-in-law Yu's hand and said, "Maybe you'll be able to go to Beijing in the future. Brother Yu is in a lucrative position transporting goods back and forth. He can secretly get some other things to resell between the two places. Sister-in-law, tell Brother Yu to be more shrewd. When he gets to other cities, he should see what good things are available to sell and bring them back, or he can get things from our Zhongmo Town and sell them elsewhere."
“I understand.” Sister-in-law Yu gave Jiang Ci a look and lowered her voice, “This year, your brother Yu brought back a lot of tea from other places.”
“He went directly to the tea mountains in other places. Where would ordinary people like us get tea to drink? Your older brother brought back four or five catties, saying it was some kind of third-harvest tea. Compared to pre-Qingming tea, pre-rain tea is much cheaper. The tea farmers sold it to your older brother cheaply, and he brought it back and resold it, making a profit of almost thirty yuan!”
"After going back and forth several times, the family now has some savings."
“We live in a poor, remote area. Even if we had money, we wouldn’t know where to spend it. We just wanted to make more clothes for Dazhu and Erzhu and buy them more books so that they could study properly.”
Jiang Ci couldn't help but sigh inwardly, thinking that as long as she could get out, the avenues for making money would naturally open up.
She gave Sister-in-law Yu a thumbs up.
“You’re right to think that way. In the future, there will be more and more ways to make money, and travel will definitely become more and more convenient. Maybe you and Brother Yu can even go to Beijing then.”
“Whether it’s healthcare, education, or employment, Beijing is much better than Shanding Brigade. Sister-in-law, you not only have to plan for Dazhu and Erzhu, but also for your family’s future.”
Sister-in-law Yu didn't even dare to think about it, and stammered, "We can still go to Beijing?"
Jiang Ci laughed and said, "Why not?"
Seeing Jiang Ci's calm and composed expression, for some reason, Sister-in-law Yu felt reassured and blindly trusted Jiang Ci.
She nodded emphatically, "Don't worry, we will definitely go to Beijing!"
Jiang Ci took out a notebook and a ballpoint pen from her bag and quickly wrote down an address in Beijing.
She tore off the paper and handed it to Sister-in-law Yu, saying, "My second brother and I have also been allocated a house in Beijing. This is our address. Sister-in-law, when my eldest brother goes to Beijing, you must ask him to come to my house."
Sister-in-law Yu smiled and solemnly accepted the paper, saying, "Oh!"
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
