Courtyard House: Drunk and tipsy, the whole courtyard exposed at the start.

Yang Yibai wanted to perform well in order to be recognized as an "advanced role model" so that she could be assigned to a good unit after returning.

Her father is under investigation, and she has no choice but to behave herself; she needs these means to protect herself.

So she launched an initiative—an initiative that all graduating students in the department support rural development.

All the students in the department signed it, how dare Mu Wanqing not sign it?

Originally, signing this contract was just a formality; most of the available positions had already been assigned by the department.

The department was struggling to find a place to accommodate those with minor issues, but this proposal made their work much easier.

Moreover, everyone signed a "submit to assignment" form on their graduation assignment form. These days, try writing "disobey" and see what happens.

Because of the proposal, Yang Yibai became a role model in the department and the captain of the educated youth art troupe, in charge of selecting the members.

None of the people from their compound, including Zhao Weiguo, Liu Yuanchao, and Zhu Hongqi, escaped.

Mu Wanqing was inexplicably pulled into the group—according to Yang Yibai, it meant: ["I'm going to the countryside, and you, Mu Wanqing, are staying in the city to enjoy yourself? Why should I?"]

Having come this far, Mu Wanqing dared not go to the department or the dean's office to say that she refused the assignment and that she didn't need to work...

Nobody dares.

However, considering that it was only a short-term task and that she could endure it for at most a year, Mu Wanqing put up with it.

They thought it was only a year, the leaders in the school's job placement office also thought it was only a year, everyone thought it was only a year, just like going on a business trip or an internship.

But they never imagined that a strong wind would blow next year, and if no one rescued them, they would really never be able to come back.

It's also worth mentioning that, in order to achieve tangible results and to make "proactive support for rural development" more effective, Yang Yibai was "willing to take the lead in going to the most difficult places!"

In the end, the institute assigned me to the Yulin region in northern Shaanxi.

Yulin is bordered by the Mu Us Desert to the north and the Loess Plateau and gullies to the south. Wind, sand, drought, and soil erosion are the "three pillars" of this land. The Mu Us Desert accounts for 56.1% of Yulin's area, and a local folk song from that era goes: "High mountains are bald, riverbanks are treeless. Yellow sand rolls on, nine out of ten harvests fail."

Moreover, in 65, northern Shaanxi experienced a once-in-a-century drought. Jiaxian County in the Yulin region, in particular, received no rain throughout the year, resulting in virtually no harvest and barren mountains. The total grain output of Yulin City was extremely low, necessitating the import of large quantities of grain from Xinjiang, Heilongjiang, and Inner Mongolia as an emergency measure.

In Jiaxian that year, starting in the second half of the year, the food ration was 15 jin of coarse grains and 2 jin of side dishes per person per month. The coarse grains were corn and sorghum, and the side dishes were wheat bran, dried sweet potatoes, and dried radishes. In other words, only half a jin of food a day was enough to keep you alive.

Yang Yibai led a team of eight people, including Mu Wanqing, who had already set off by train five days before Zhang Dabiao returned to the city.

I reckon we've arrived by now!

------------

After hearing Aunt Mu recount these events, Zhang Dabiao wanted to curse!

What the hell is this?

Who the hell said that you'd be guaranteed a job after returning home in a year?

Isn't this utter nonsense?

He and Mu Wanqing had already discussed this matter. If the school was located in Beijing, even in the suburbs, it didn't matter if it was a cultural center or a school.

If it's any further away, then we'll have to "give up" this job opening.

Anyway, they already have Beijing residency. If they don't have a job, they can just go home, take over Aunt Mu's job, or Zhang Dabiao can arrange something for them. It's all a piece of cake.

But who would have thought that Yang Yibai and her gang of idiots would come up with some kind of "proposal"?!

These days, "proposals" are incredibly powerful, because signing one is like signing a pledge to the organization, and nobody dares to go back on their word.

So Mu Wanqing could only leave a letter and hurriedly went to the countryside with Yang Yibai and the others—she genuinely believed that she could come back and be assigned a job nearby after just one year.

Zhang Dabiao was speechless...

He finally comforted Aunt Mu, saying, "Auntie, don't worry, I'll go see her tomorrow."

"I'll go to my workplace tomorrow morning to get a letter of introduction, and then I'll set off!"

"This poor kid was fooled by her classmates, but don't worry, with me here, she won't suffer any losses."

With Zhang Dabiao's repeated assurances, Aunt Mu finally felt relieved.

Aunt Mu's thinking was still very feudal, not to mention the issue of Mu Wanqing's marriage to Zhang Dabiao. In Aunt Mu's eyes, Zhang Dabiao was equivalent to a pawnshop owner or a landlord in the old society—this landlord was very rich, very powerful, and had connections with officials. He was the kind of strongman who could get by anywhere in the old society!

If something can be solved with money, then it's not a problem.

If the problem remains unresolved, it means the money hasn't been allocated.

With Zhang Dabiao's net worth of several hundred thousand, getting Mu Wanqing back would be a piece of cake.

------------

In the afternoon, Zhang Dabiao returned to the courtyard. Everyone was naturally very happy to see him return and wanted to give him a welcome-back feast. Qin Jingru and He Yushui rushed out, chattering about Mu Wanqing.

Zhang Dabiao said he already knew.

Liu Guangqi, Sha Zhu, Xu Damao, and others didn't take it seriously. Business trips were common these days, including working at the grassroots level.

Putting everything else aside, Zhang Dabiao himself spends 3-4 months on business trips, which is quite normal.

We had dinner in the small courtyard that night and chatted about the courtyard house, which was pretty much the same as the original story.

However, there are more and more personnel changes in the steel rolling mill. Director Yang is now frequently attacked, and it is estimated that Li Huaide's time to take over will be soon.

Meanwhile, the Hongxing Daily Necessities Manufacturing Plant, the factory where Liu Guangqi, Yan Jiecheng, Aunt Mu and others worked, was incredibly stable. It had a simple leadership structure, and everyone was focused on making products and earning foreign exchange, leaving no time for all sorts of trivial matters.

They are all veteran employees who were recruited during the expansion program back then. They are extremely grateful to have a job. There are not many young people.

If anyone causes trouble and leaves everyone starving, they'll really tear their mouths off.

Qin Jingru just finished her final exams in her second year of high school. She will graduate from high school next year, 66. Once she gets a job and a house from Li Huaide, her social mobility from the countryside to the city will be complete. After graduating from high school, she will have no problem becoming a junior clerk.

He Yushui had just graduated from university and was assigned to the materials and technology department of the municipal cotton mill, where she was just a team leader. She figured she could wait a few years and see if she could get promoted, but she would just slowly build up her seniority first—as Shazhu put it, the He family had produced a cadre, and Yushui's mother would be at peace in heaven if she saw this.

That night, Sha Zhu got drunk and was dragged back by Liu Guangqi, Yan Jiecheng, and a few others.

Zhang Dabiao also began his preparations for tomorrow—

First, go back to your "little nest" and pull up your own photos and Mu Wanqing's photos. Mu Wanqing's photos are black and white photos taken in recent years. Scan them and then use the local AI Qiuye Stable Diffusion to process them into wedding photos from the 5s and 60s.

Those AI-generated wedding photo backgrounds are all those scenes of agricultural learning from Dazhai, various labor paintings, a few rooms with carved lattice decorative walls, Shanghai-style fashion, Zhongshan suits, youth suits, cheongsams... Beihai Park, White Pagoda, Tiananmen Square, Temple of Heaven, Hall of Prayer for Good Harvests, Di'anmen Gate, the Great Wall, Summer Palace... AI producing wedding backgrounds like these is just ridiculous!

They used a fake to deceive everyone!