Of the people who were taken away, only Liu Dahua, Li Guihua, and Zhai Qiaoyun returned from the commune that afternoon.
As soon as Zhai Qiaoyun returned, she packed her things and moved back to the educated youth settlement. At the same time, news of her intention to divorce Li Hongwei spread throughout the entire brigade.
Thanks to the intervention of the Women's Federation, Zhai Qiaoyun obtained her divorce certificate smoothly, and Li Hongwei's verdict was also handed down.
In the improper relationship between Li Hongwei and Duan Nianzhen, there were indeed facts of coercion and seduction.
The circumstances are serious, and the punishment will be severe: parading through the streets for three days, followed by twenty years of labor reform in a prison farm.
As for Duan Nianzhen, although she was coerced by Li Hongwei, she also had serious ideological problems.
Therefore, she could not return to the Progressive Brigade. After careful consideration, the Youth Affairs Office decided to send her to the Northwest to plant trees, hoping that she could work hard and change herself as soon as possible.
Although Zhai Qiaoyun was also at fault for failing to report the incident, she was only given a public reprimand because she was a victim.
And so the matter came to an end. Twenty years of labor reform, who knows if Li Hongwei will even have the life to endure another twenty years.
After receiving her divorce certificate, Zhai Qiaoyun once again expressed her gratitude to Jiang Xile.
However, Jiang Xile didn't really want to deal with her, so the two maintained a lukewarm relationship.
Without Li Hongwei stirring up trouble, the Progressive Brigade entered a brief period of peace until one day the three Li brothers arrived at the educated youth settlement with their tools, breaking the tranquility.
The kang (heated brick bed) was being built in the west room, which meant that more educated youth would be coming. Everyone was very curious and came out to find out more.
"Brother Li, are more educated youth coming? The last batch just arrived not long ago, why are there so many more?"
"I'm not too sure either. My dad told us to come and clean up, so I guess someone's coming."
Are there any of your personal belongings left in this room? If so, please take them with you immediately; we still need to build a wall!
"Build a wall? Isn't it more like building a kang (heated brick bed)?"
"The west room is so big, how many people would live there if we put up kangs all of them? Besides, no one can guarantee that all the educated youth who come are male or female!"
There were no other houses available at the educated youth settlement, so we had to divide this west room in two. That way, both men and women would have a place to stay when they came!
"The captain is so thoughtful. Brother Li, you go ahead with your work. I'll call everyone over to get their things!"
"Okay, thank you for your cooperation, Commander Guo!"
"It's what I should do, Brother Li, you're too kind!"
The house on the west side was thus divided into two rooms. A few days after the kang (heated brick bed) was built, the brigade leader, Li Tiejun, sent another batch of new educated youth over.
That's when a lot of people arrived, four men and four women, a total of eight people. When the captain came over, his face was extremely sour, and his eyes were full of obvious disgust.
"Xiao Guo, I'm leaving this place to you. Just like before, I'm leaving now!"
"Okay, Captain, don't worry, I'll make sure everything is arranged!"
Li Tiejun nodded, then turned and left without even glancing at the group.
"Hey, he just left like that! We're from the capital! How could he do this!"
The female educated youth looked at the doorway in disbelief and pointed at Li Tiejun's back as she spoke.
"Cough cough..."
Guo Dongxu coughed twice, perhaps understanding why the captain disliked these people.
"Comrade, the captain has always been like this. Bringing you here is already the end of his job."
Let me introduce myself. I am the current head of our educated youth settlement. If you have any questions in the future, feel free to come and ask me.
Next, I'll help you arrange your accommodation. The two rooms on the west side were just recently cleaned up.
Since there are quite a few of you this time, we'll have one room for the boys and one room for the girls. According to the rules, each room should accommodate at least six people.
No one has come yet, so you can relax a bit, but wait until someone comes later.
That position still needs to be made available for the new educated youth; I hope everyone understands this! Mutual understanding and consideration are key.
Seeing the others nod, he knew they had understood.
"Next, let me talk about the food. You've just arrived, so you don't need to pay for your own food tonight."
I'll let them know at dinner time, and you can eat with us. Consider it a welcome dinner for you new educated youth from the old educated youth.
However, starting tomorrow, you will have to pay for your meals with grain. Each person will pay a certain amount and eat as much as they are entitled to, and there will be a fixed quota.
At the same time, eating with everyone naturally meant participating in shifts. The girls were responsible for cooking and cleaning the kitchen, while the boys were responsible for chopping wood and carrying water. They worked in pairs, taking turns each day.
As for your food, I will take you to the brigade to collect your food after you have finished packing.
You can buy these rations with money or use your future work points; it's up to you.
That's all I wanted to say. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me now. If not, you can go pack your things!
Everyone else nodded, indicating that they had no problem. Just then, the female educated youth who had complained about the brigade leader earlier jumped out again.
"Chief Guo, I have no problem eating together, but I wonder what the food is like at our educated youth settlement?"
"Cough cough..."
Speaking of food, Guo Dongxu couldn't help but think of the dinner party last night. This was the third time in a while. Jiang Xile had hunted game from the mountain and generously gave everyone an extra meal.
The food at the educated youth settlement has improved significantly recently, but this is not a long-term solution, and he can't expect Jiang Xile to bring back prey every day.
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