The brigade leader is in charge of production, but the commune members have ideological problems. This matter should be the responsibility of the branch secretary.
However, ever since the incident between Ji Xia and Lin Haodong became public, Secretary Ji has remained silent about the Lin family's affairs.
Even though Lin Haodong returned to his hometown and didn't work in the fields for a month, Secretary Ji didn't say anything, letting the mother and son do as they pleased.
Anyway, his children are all outstanding in their own way. He hasn't thought about any career advancement. He'll probably stay in the position of brigade secretary until he dies, living a peaceful life without making any major mistakes.
He had long seen through them; the mother and son were never hard-working people, but rather opportunistic and scheming individuals, and no amount of ideological guidance would be of any use.
In the evening, after going to the fields, Secretary Ji stayed at home with his two twins, watching them roll around in their crib while his mother prepared dinner.
The grandfather and grandson were talking to each other in the main room when they suddenly heard Captain Chen's voice coming from outside the courtyard. Only then did he peek out of the house.
"The door's unlocked, come in!"
Captain Chen pushed open the courtyard gate and walked in. Seeing the twins rolling around in the crib, he couldn't help but chuckle: "Oh my, they've grown so much! They can sit up now?"
Secretary Ji looked at his two grandsons and smiled happily: "They can sit for a while, but not for long. Most of the time they like to crawl around on the bed."
"This child is cutest when he's neither too big nor too small. Once he gets a little older and can run and jump, things will get chaotic."
Captain Chen chuckled, and Secretary Ji couldn't help but glance at him: "I heard your eldest son is pregnant again."
"We only have one son, and he's already so grown up, it's time to have another one."
People in the countryside believe in having many children and grandchildren. Although the brigade leader has three sons, now only the eldest son's family has one male heir, so he is not afraid of having two or three more children.
He casually agreed before explaining his purpose and recounting the reaction of the Lin mother and son: "These two are really delusional, wanting to arrange a job for him in the city. Tell me, what should I say about this? How could I possibly arrange a job for him?"
Upon hearing this, Secretary Ji merely snorted and began assigning tasks. No one knew the work arrangements for the young women in the brigade better than him.
That factory was set up by his son, daughter, and Chen Jing with money pooled together. It was no problem to arrange for some honest and capable young girls from the brigade to work there.
But arranging for Lin Haodong? That's impossible. Even if he starves to death in the brigade, he won't care whether the commune criticizes or scolds him. He might as well starve to death if he doesn't work.
However, he gave Captain Chen a cold glance: "Why are you looking at me? They can go to the city if they want, and they can go to university if they want. If they have the ability to get in, then they can do whatever they want!"
Upon hearing this, Captain Chen gave a helpless, wry smile: "Getting into the city isn't as easy as it seems."
That's his business.
Secretary Ji snorted coldly, and after a while, he suddenly sneered, "I heard from Old Cui that the agricultural machinery factory in the city is recruiting and there is an exam. I don't know if the exam is tomorrow or the day after. You can tell him that if he wants to work in the city, he should go and take the exam himself."
"The agricultural machinery factory is hiring? What kind of workers?" Captain Chen immediately became interested upon hearing this.
Secretary Ji shook his head: "I don't know. I heard Lao Cui mention it after the meeting this afternoon, but I don't care about this, so I didn't ask."
Old Cui is the head of another brigade in the neighborhood. His son works in the city, and he said that the agricultural machinery factory is recruiting workers, so it should be true.
Captain Chen nodded upon hearing this: "Alright, since the agricultural machinery factory is recruiting, let him take the exam. If he fails, then it can only be said that he is incompetent."
Upon hearing this, Secretary Ji merely snorted twice, but then he saw his little grandson raising his tiny fist and yelling at him, and his face immediately lit up with a smile.
Seeing that Secretary Ji was all smiles while chatting and laughing with his grandson, Captain Chen quickly left when he realized that dinner was almost ready.
He turned around and went back to the Lin family home, told Lin Haodong and his mother about the agricultural machinery factory in the city recruiting workers, and told them to handle it themselves before going home.
Lin Haodong was greatly encouraged when he heard that the agricultural machinery factory in the city was recruiting workers, and he had an appetite that very evening.
Although Secretary Ji refused to assign him a job, Lin Haodong felt a bit resentful.
But he also knew the Ji family's temperament. Without Ji Xia, it would be difficult to get the Ji family to pull strings for him. Secretary Ji was not someone who could be easily threatened.
However, Lin Haodong was still very excited when he was told there was a job opening. After all, he had gone through the college entrance examination and was quite confident about the exam.
That evening, Lin Haodong tidied himself up, trimmed his messy long hair and beard, took out his best clothes and ironed them with hot water, and prepared his pen and stationery, ready to go into the city early the next morning.
When I went to the agricultural machinery factory in the city, I found out that the factory was indeed recruiting workers, and the written test was conducted that very afternoon.
Quite a few people received the message, and two or three hundred people gathered outside the factory gate, asking the security guards for registration forms.
Lin Haodong quickly filled out the registration form and handed it in. After waiting for a long time, a girl from the personnel department took them to the factory canteen, where they were given test papers and given a written test.
Lin Haodong's written test went very smoothly. After all, he had been in university for half a year and had a good foundation. The test paper set by the agricultural machinery factory was actually very simple, and he felt that he was very confident.
However, not far from the farm machinery factory after the exam, he overheard a brother and sister talking behind the courtyard wall, and his mood immediately became heavy.
A girl who looked to be around twenty years old frowned and complained with dissatisfaction: "What? You can't even do such a simple question?"
The boy next to her chuckled nonchalantly, "Second sister, what are you worried about? So what if I hand in a blank paper? Dad already made arrangements with them, why worry about it falling through?"
The girl frowned slightly upon hearing this: "Even so, you should take it more seriously, so as not to make things awkward if others find out."
"Alright, alright, it's not like I'm not writing anything, I just left a few blanks, what are you worried about? I'm going now, I have an appointment to see a movie."
The boy waved his hand and walked away impatiently.
Lin Haodong felt a chill run down his spine when he heard what the two siblings said.
So these positions were already reserved, so what's the point of them taking the exam? What's the significance of taking it?
He has already dropped out of school, so it's impossible for him to get a job based on his university education. Now he just wants to be an ordinary worker, but that's not possible either.
Just because of these children whose identities are unknown, their path to advancement for country folk has been abruptly cut off?
Lin Haodong bit his lower lip, his eyes fixed on the slender girl, his eyes filled with boundless rage.
The world is unfair. By what right? By what right do they control the path to advancement?
He was still harboring resentment when he saw the girl get on her bicycle and turn to leave.
Lin Haodong squinted at the girl's back and suddenly noticed the oxcart parked at the intersection in front of her.
An old ox was leisurely grazing with its head down, its tail swishing slowly, creating a graceful arc in the air.
Suddenly, a sharp stone was thrown from somewhere and hit the old ox hard on the back of its rump.
"Moo—"
Startled, the old ox raised its head, bellowed wildly, and its hooves thrashed about. Suddenly, it charged towards the girl riding a bicycle.
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