Chapter 110

"Is Zhu Shen urging you on that side?" Lin Zhao guessed.

Song Yuncheng gave a thumbs up and praised: "It has to be you."

He knitted his brows and said: "It's just Zhu Shen. She said she found a few suitable ones and told my mom to notify Sister Xiangxiang and have her meet those people."

Notify.

Her exact words were to notify!

Lin Zhao caught the expression on Song Yuncheng's face and guessed that the people Zhu Shen introduced weren't good matches.

"What kind of people did she introduce? Tell me about them?"

Song Yuncheng didn't say, "Cousin, don't ask. None of them are good candidates; you won't even want to eat after hearing about them!"

"Is it that exaggerated?" Lin Zhao bit her chopsticks, her face showing astonishment.

"It's not exaggerated at all." Song Yuncheng shook his head, his face full of words that were hard to describe, "The ones she introduced to you before were exaggerated enough, right? The ones she introduced to Sister Xiangxiang are even worse."

Like some fifty-something widower who burns a boiler.

Like some lazy kid who only listens to his mom and dad.

And some bedridden, disfigured man.

And who knows where she found so many people that one wouldn't even hear of in ordinary times.

"Go back and have Aunt decline Zhu Shen; just say Sister Xiangxiang is already seeing someone and doesn't need to trouble her." Lin Zhao didn't ask further; she understood Zhu Shen well enough to imagine it.

Song Yuncheng stared at Lin Zhao, "Is Sister Xiangxiang sure she is with..."

She glanced in the direction where Li Fen was and asked with a wink: "Is it a done deal with that person?"

Lin Zhao focused on eating, didn't look at him, and only said: "The possibility is very high."

"Even if it doesn't work out, we can't let Zhu Shen introduce anyone; her heart isn't sincere."

She knew Zhu Shen's routine: introduce the most outrageous ones first, wait for people to get anxious, and after receiving benefits during this process, introduce the mid-to-lower tier ones. If the other party is still unsatisfied, keep them hanging, and when they can't help but come knocking again, give them the mid-to-upper tier ones, all while complaining about how much effort she put in... After this whole set, the earnings are quite considerable.

"That's what I said too." Song Yuncheng propped up his chin and sighed, "But my mom is afraid of delaying Sister Xiangxiang's life-long event."

Lin Zhao felt Aunt was overthinking, "You should persuade her too; tell her that this kind of thing can't be rushed, and marrying the wrong person is what truly delays a life-long event."

"I said that, but my mom is still worried." Song Yuncheng knew what his mom was worried about; it was nothing more than Sister Xiangxiang's age being on the older side and her not having a job, which indeed made it hard to find someone.

"..."

Lin Zhao was speechless.

"Go back and tell Aunt to prepare the gift money and red peony bedsheets."

What she meant by this was to have Aunt shift her focus.

Song Yuncheng, however, thought he had received a definitive answer and clapped his hands happily, "Alright, I'll say that when I go back."

"Cousin, you don't know how annoying Zhu Shen is. Every time she comes to our house, she has this high-and-mighty look. She ate all the peach shortbread that Yunjin brought home, and not only did she eat it, she took some too, not even leaving us a crumb." He complained.

"If I were to find a partner myself, I wouldn't look for her no matter what." Song Yuncheng was left with psychological trauma by the matchmaker's sleazy operations.

Lin Zhao looked at him, her eyes probing, "Do you have someone you like?"

Song Yuncheng's face turned completely red, and he didn't even dare to look at his cousin, being incredibly pure, "Cousin, don't tell my mom." He stammered.

"I definitely won't be a blabbermouth. When you wet the bed as a kid and made Yunjin take the blame for you, you begged me not to tell Aunt, and didn't I keep quiet?" Lin Zhao said.

Song Yuncheng looked helpless.

"Cousin, when was that, why are you still bringing it up." He said embarrassedly.

"Who told you to doubt me? Am I a blabbermouth?" Lin Zhao rolled her eyes.

Even rolling her eyes looked beautiful when she was good-looking.

Song Yuncheng couldn't get angry at all; it had been like this since he was small. Just looking at his cousin's overly pretty face, well, whatever cousin said was right.

"My fault, I shouldn't have doubted you." Song Yuncheng raised both hands in surrender.

Lin Zhao asked curiously: "You have someone you like?? A classmate? Or someone at the factory?"

Song Yuncheng cleared his throat and drew out his tone, "Cousin, it's not even a start yet. When I have a partner, I'll definitely tell you; don't ask for now."

Lin Zhao saw how embarrassed he was and laughed: "Alright, I won't ask."

Before she knew it, her two cousins were also at the age to get married.

After Lin Zhao finished eating, Song Yuncheng didn't delay, patted his butt, and left directly, his departing back revealing a sense of high spirits.

Tsk, that's the look of someone falling in love.

Fengshou Brigade.

After Gu Chenghuai finished with the new house, he found time to go to the brigade headquarters to find the Captain and discuss the placement of Mr. Qiao and the others.

He was the most promising person in the entire brigade and had a solid background; the Captain would take whatever he said seriously, not to mention that he was there to help solve a problem.

After listening to what Gu Chenghuai said, the Captain pondered for a moment, his face full of uncertainty, and said with some worry: "I'm in a difficult position; I don't know what attitude to take toward them. You also know that those people were sent down from above to receive education. Building walls and repairing houses aren't big deals, but the only point I find difficult is... I don't know how to grasp the degree. Chenghuai, you are a capable person and know a lot; do you know what exactly is going on above?"

He looked at Gu Chenghuai with expectant eyes.

The county was also chaotic, and even if the Captain was slow, he had noticed something was wrong.

Gu Chenghuai couldn't say the policy was problematic, "No matter what is going on, the work focus of each brigade won't change; we still take production tasks as the center."

"As for those people, the brigade will do whatever is required from above. The document clearly requires them to receive labor education; this is something you, Captain, are good at, and you don't need me to teach you, but..."

He paused slightly and continued: "Receiving labor education doesn't mean taking people's lives. The place where they live is close to the mountains; it's fine if there are no wild beasts coming down, but once they do, those people are old and young, so where would they have a chance to survive?"

The Captain's expression gradually became solemn.

This was also what he was most worried about.

"If a vicious incident of wild beasts attacking people suddenly occurs..." Gu Chenghuai shook his head, "Even if the injured people are those who need to receive education, it will still be discussed. If it's a coincidence and a reporter comes to report on it, then our brigade will be known nationwide."

The Captain's face changed drastically, "That won't do, who would want such a bad reputation?"

He paced around irritably, calculated for a long time, and made up his mind: "No, no, the house must be repaired, and the courtyard wall must be built."

A hint of a smile flashed quickly in Gu Chenghuai's eyes.

It's best to be able to improve their living environment openly and honestly, so that Dad won't have to risk himself.

"Chenghuai, doing it this way... will it be okay?" The Captain wanted to find some peace of mind and locked his gaze on him.

Gu Chenghuai nodded, "It's fine, the problems with those people aren't big."

He had looked into it; the most troublesome one was that Mr. Qiao, a big capitalist. Even so, he still had commendation documents signed and stamped by leaders hidden away; if one looked closely, he could still be considered 'red'.

"That's good, that's good." The Captain repeated twice, thinking that it's better to do it early than late, and went to find a few strong laborers to go to the foot of the mountain.

Repairing roofs, changing wooden doors, building courtyard walls...

When Meng Jiusi and the others saw people from the brigade coming, they were nervous at first, but after discovering they were there to help repair the house, they felt relieved and flattered at the same time.

Seeing a few uncles helping them repair the roof, Xiaoxiao's mouth curled into a subtle smile, and she whispered: "Mom, the uncles are helping us repair the roof."

Tian Ruo had originally grown a string of small blisters in her mouth from worrying about the holes in the roof, but seeing people from the village come to help, she also felt relieved.

"Yes, someone has come to help us repair the roof." She looked toward Mr. Qiao, knowing that all of them were borrowing his light.

She had heard the commotion last night.

Over there, the Captain noticed what Meng Jiusi was drying, walked over to take a look, and said uncertainly: "You are... drying medicinal herbs?"

Meng Jiusi nodded, "Yes."

Not knowing what he thought of, he added: "My grandfather and I both know traditional Chinese medicine."

Hearing this, the Captain's eyes changed instantly.

A capable person who knows medical skills?

He appreciated capable people, and upon learning that this pair of grandfather and grandson were physicians, several thoughts popped into his mind, such as wanting them to be the brigade's doctors, but no matter how many thoughts he had, remembering their identities, he could only give up.

Sigh.

What a pity.

The Captain patted Meng Jiusi on the shoulder, "That's very good."

He rarely said a word of comfort, "Things will get better."

He felt that people with such skills wouldn't be afraid anywhere.

"Thank you." Warmth flowed in Meng Jiusi's eyes, and he nodded with a faint smile.

Ever since his grandfather's incident, the people around them had all turned into monsters and demons, and his heart had turned cold inch by inch.

Until this moment, he felt again that this terrible world wasn't so terrible after all.

Gu Fu learned from Gu Chenghuai that the Captain had taken people to repair the thatched huts at the foot of the mountain, and a big smile appeared on his face.

"Third, you really are this." He gave a thumbs up.

He had learned this gesture from the twins.

"I can finally rest easy. How did you say it to the Captain, and why was he willing?"

Gu Chenghuai said calmly: "Move them with emotion and reason with them."

"The Captain is a reasonable person; if you talk to him properly about the pros and cons, he will understand."

He believed that those so-called charges couldn't trap Mr. Qiao and the others for a lifetime.

The Captain's way of being kind to others was correct and only had benefits for the whole brigade.

Gu Fu's vision wasn't that broad; he was mainly afraid of dragging the Captain down, so he asked: "Won't this bring any bad influence to the Captain?"

The Captain's wife had a loose tongue and wasn't easy to get along with, but the Captain was still very fair and just, and he didn't want the Captain to step down.

"It's fine, I will arrange it properly."

Listening to Gu Chenghuai's words, Gu Fu felt more and more that the third one was reliable; no matter what it was, as long as you told him, he guaranteed to handle it for you neatly.

How could he not be proud to have such a son?

"The names for the cubs are already picked out; when your wife comes back and the family is all here, I'll say it again." The old man even kept a bit of suspense.

Gu Chenghuai thought of his younger brother and asked: "When is Qingzhou coming back?"

Gu Xing'er had been kicked out of the Gu family, and her room had become Gu Qingzhou's, so there was no need to worry about the fourth one not having a place to stay when he returned.

"He originally said he would come back when school started, but since the school turned into that state, your eldest uncle said to let him stay a few more days." Gu Fu said, "Chenghuai, go to your grandmother's house one of these days and pick that kid up; I think he's almost forgotten which way the door to his home opens."

"Alright, I'll go next Monday." Having not seen his younger brother for a long time, Gu Chenghuai still missed him.

Gu Mother's maiden home was far away, the kind where a round trip would take half a day, and riding a bicycle would take more than two hours.

"Does Qingzhou not know I'm back?"

Gu Fu shook his head with a smile, "He definitely doesn't know; if that kid knew, he could run back overnight."

The youngest son admired his third brother the most; as long as the third one was at home, he would always stick to him, just like the second cub stuck to the big cub.

"I originally wanted to entrust someone to bring him a message, but I couldn't find anyone for a while."

Gu Chenghuai also understood his brother's temper and said: "It's fine, I'll go find him; Qingzhou won't be angry."

"In front of you, that kid's temper is good." Gu Fu said helplessly, but a hint of indulgence flashed in his eyes.

The youngest son was different from Xing'er; Xing'er was selfish and only had herself in her heart, but Qingzhou was different. Qingzhou had his family in his heart, his heart was soft, and he was a sensible child.

In the county.

Taking advantage of the lunch break when there weren't many people at the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Zhao asked Li Fen to watch the counter for her, and she went to the street office on South Street.

She would only feel at ease once that courtyard was transferred to her name early. She wanted to avoid it being confiscated by the housing management office, in which case it would be too late to cry.

Lin Zhao found the street office, and as soon as she spoke, the clerks in the office all looked at her.

"Do you have the land and housing ownership certificate for that courtyard?" a woman asked.

That house had been ownerless for many years, and suddenly someone came saying she was the owner and requested a new certificate, so of course she had to ask clearly.

"Yes, it's here." Lin Zhao handed over the tattered piece of paper.

The woman took it and looked at it, "It's real, you guys come and see too." She beckoned to the others.

The other clerks stood up one after another and then swarmed over.

They looked at it one by one.

"It's real."

"I didn't expect it to still be around after so many years."

"Lin Jiu, that's the owner."

Several people said one thing after another.

"Can it be processed?" Lin Zhao asked.

"Yes." The person specifically responsible for the work said, "Did you bring the introduction letter?"

"I brought it." Lin Zhao gave her the introduction letter as well.

In this day and age, the introduction letter was an important document to prove one's personal identity. To dispel their doubts, she also took out her grain and oil certificate.

The people at the street office saw the large '## Supply and Marketing Cooperative' characters on it and looked at her in surprise.

"Are you from the supply and marketing cooperative?"

Lin Zhao smiled, "Yes, I'm a salesperson; I haven't been working for long."

Being able to enter the supply and marketing cooperative meant there was no problem with her identity.

The few female comrades didn't have any bad intentions to block her in the first place, and knowing she was a salesperson, they handled the matter even more efficiently.

The girl mainly responsible for this took out a small notebook, wrote down Lin Zhao's name according to the name on the introduction letter, and stamped it with a thud.

"It's done." She said, archiving the old land and housing ownership certificate and handing the new one over.

"You came at just the right time; if it were any later, it wouldn't have been this easy."

Lin Zhao raised an eyebrow.

Could it be that the matter Yunjin was inquiring about needed to speed up its progress?

She didn't expect it to go so smoothly. She put away the new certificate, took out some candies to thank the clerks, and praised them with a smile: "Thank you, I didn't think it would be this fast. I originally thought that if I couldn't get it done today, I would ask for half a day off tomorrow to specifically run for it. You comrades are really efficient!"

Once the house was repaired, there would be no lack of contact with the street office, and maybe one day she would need them, so she had to maintain a good relationship.

Each of them got a handful of candies and was praised, so they were incredibly happy.

"Comrade Lin, you are from our street; if you need any help in the future, just come find us."

"Yes, yes, yes, we will definitely help if we can."

Lin Zhao: They are really enthusiastic.

"Thank you, if you want to buy anything, you can also come find me; I'll save some for you."

Hearing this, the people at the street office were overjoyed.