Chapter 475: Poor Birth? Noble Son??

"You can't let my family be dragged into this because of me."

Liu Hai's eyes carried a plea as he said this.

Something fishy going on here... Yu Dazhang immediately caught the hidden meaning in his words.

The Qing Dynasty fell over a hundred years ago — the idea of exterminating nine clans has long since ceased to exist. Liu Hai is a PhD; surely he knows this much common sense.

Knowing that, yet making such a request, means his family must have benefited in some way from his betrayal.

"That depends on how you look at it."

Yu Dazhang didn't dare agree to this request. He chose his words carefully:

"If your family was involved in what you did, the law shows no mercy — no one can protect them."

"If they only enjoyed the benefits you brought, a refund and returning the illicit gains will be enough. It's not a big problem."

The meaning of his words was clear: no one can help you with illegal matters.

"You've got it wrong. My family doesn't know what I've done."

Liu Hai hurriedly explained:

"My family is from the countryside. My parents are honest, simple farmers. I only ask that you don't spread word of my case back to the village."

"Best not to tell my family either. They're old, and they can't take any kind of shock."

He paused, seeming to steady the unease inside him, then continued:

"I don't want them being gossiped about by the villagers either. This is my only request."

This request wasn't excessive... and at the same time, Yu Dazhang said he understood.

In this country, every village has a mysterious organization.

The members of this organization are all older rural women.

They frequently appear at the village entrance and on the main road leading into the village.

Their usual work is gathering information, manufacturing rumors, spreading news, and so on.

This organization has many titles.

For example:

Village Entrance Intelligence Station, Village Head Discussion Group, Center for the Study of Ruined Reputations...

Rumor has it that even a dog passing in front of them ends up with its reputation ruined.

One can imagine — if the news of Liu Hai's arrest reached the village, there's no telling what kind of story they'd spin out of it.

One thing is certain: his family would never escape being talked about behind their backs.

"If things really are as you say, I can promise to keep it confidential," Yu Dazhang assured him.

He knew in his heart that this wouldn't be hard to handle.

The national security team would certainly conduct a thorough follow-up investigation.

If Liu Hai's family truly wasn't involved, there'd be no need for national security to spread the news either.

"I trust you," Liu Hai said gratefully:

"Thank you."

Their village's intelligence station is pretty formidable... Yu Dazhang couldn't help sighing inwardly.

Despite everything that had happened to him, Liu Hai still hadn't escaped his fear of being at their mercy.

"Then tell me about it."

Yu Dazhang looked at him with a solemn face:

"Start from the beginning. When did you first come into contact with those people? How did you make contact? Be as detailed as possible."

Things having reached this point saved trouble for both sides.

National security didn't need to bother with interrogation, and Yu Dazhang was free of his psychological burden.

Naturally, Liu Hai didn't want to be taken away by national security for questioning either.

If he had a choice, he'd still rather confess to Yu Dazhang. He knew full well that national security wouldn't negotiate terms with him.

"Thirteen years ago, I got into the local key high school."

Pride colored Liu Hai's voice, but it quickly dimmed again:

"My family was very poor back then. We couldn't afford my tuition at all."

"In desperation, I contacted a local education foundation. Their target recipients were high school students from local families with financial difficulties."

At this point, he visibly relaxed, and a smile appeared on his face:

"Luckily, my application was approved quickly. After that, I finished high school on their scholarship."

Thirteen years ago?

Yu Dazhang had considered many possibilities, but the one thing he hadn't expected was that the time span was this long. He could tell that foundation must have had problems — otherwise Liu Hai wouldn't have brought it up specifically.

Under the banner of助学, they specifically funded students with excellent grades and talent but financial difficulties.

Their intention...

Yu Dazhang suddenly felt a chill creeping up his back.

At the same time, a movie line came to mind.

What's most valuable in the twenty-first century?

Talent!

The students they funded didn't all necessarily have to amount to anything.

If one PhD came out of a hundred, it wouldn't be a loss for them.

And if that PhD then entered a national key research project, that would be a massive windfall.

The gains obtained would directly surpass money itself.

The scariest part is that they were doing this under a perfectly legal and legitimate identity.

If there were anything off about them, Liu Hai wouldn't have made it through layer after layer of vetting to arrive at the Fifty-Third Institute.

On the surface, that education foundation invested long-term without seeking returns, but in reality it was plotting slowly and steadily.

This was a hunt targeting the country's highly educated elite.

What they were scheming for was the very foundation of a nation.

Yu Dazhang truly could not imagine how many people they had cultivated over all these years, and how many were working for them in the shadows.

These bastards are literally thieves stealing a country!

Just as he was letting his imagination run wild, Liu Hai's voice rose again.

"During my university years, that education foundation continued to sponsor me."

His tone was very calm as he spoke:

"If I'd had to work part-time through university, I couldn't have devoted myself fully to studying, and I wouldn't have gone on to take the graduate and doctoral exams later."

At this point he gave a self-mocking laugh:

"Everyone says poverty breeds talent, but they don't know that the 'poor family' in that saying refers to fallen aristocratic clans, not absolutely destitute households."

"You simply can't understand the kind of despair that comes from growing up in a poor family."

Liu Hai's voice dropped a little:

"If I hadn't met a benefactor, I might never have even left my village, and I'd have ended up just like my parents—staying in the countryside to farm for a living."

That statement was a bit too absolute… Yu Dazhang didn't quite agree.

He himself had seen plenty of young people who got into good universities through their own hard work.

People shouldn't always be looking at the negative side of things.

Fine, he had to admit, plenty of promising seedlings had given up their studies because of family finances.

And that was the main reason the country allowed those education foundations to exist.

At the same time, Yu Dazhang also spotted a key point: that education foundation's targeting was extremely precise.

They specifically picked outstanding high school students to sponsor.

This was equivalent to the country's nine-year compulsory education doing the talent screening for them.

Actually, the high school entrance exam is the first real turning point in life.

Once you get into high school, you notice all those so-called school bullies have vanished.

To put it precisely: the high school entrance exam's streaming mechanism.

Students with good grades and proper behavior go on to high school; the rest are streamed into vocational high schools, technical schools, or drop out entirely.

Naturally, some students from poor families but with excellent grades also get streamed out.

And these students were their target group.

No one could find fault with this.

Doing charity is never wrong, right?

And the people they could actually make use of were only a tiny fraction of these students.

The method was also very simple.

Leverage a favor to demand repayment!

(End of chapter)