Starting from 1950

Wu Xinxue didn't know why she blurted out that she wanted Su Yang to be her husband.

She wished she could disappear into the ground, and quickly apologized, covering her burning face: "I'm sorry, I... I misspoke."

Seeing her on the verge of tears, Su Yang suddenly found it amusing and quickly spoke up to help her out, "Director Zhao, what exactly is this solution you're talking about?"

Old Zhao looked at the two little ones with a leisurely air. He had been through it all, and he had also experienced the innocent feelings between teenagers.

He glanced at Wu Xinxue, who dared not look at him, cleared his throat, and said:

"Just tell the people at the flour mill that you two are adoptive siblings."

"Raising siblings?" Wu Xinxue finally raised her head.

"Is it that simple?" Su Yang asked incredulously.

"It's that simple!" Old Zhao said with a smile. "You can make up a story, like you were both orphans and were adopted by the same person... and then lived together for a few years. Anyway, before last year there was war, so nobody cared whether what you said was true or false."

He spoke slowly and deliberately, but he was thinking the same thing.

Now that the nation has just been established, the Baojia system of the Republic of China has been abolished.

The authorities have consistently encouraged people who were displaced by war to return to their hometowns and participate in the reconstruction efforts.

Therefore, there are currently no restrictions on the movement of people nationwide.

The household registration system is still under discussion. Currently, for individuals and families, registration is the main method, and there are no mandatory measures.

Generally, each unit and administrative region is responsible for compiling its own statistics.

Overall, it's very relaxed.

Su Yang and Wu Xinxue exchanged a glance, both seeing joy in each other's eyes.

"Okay! We'll do as you say."

"Alright! Let's go back then. Make sure to wash your faces and hands thoroughly after you finish eating. After all, the flour factory is a food factory. Don't let them reject you because they think you're dirty."

Thank you for reminding me.

......

Su Yang and Wu Xinxue returned to the cafeteria together with smiles on their faces.

Many shrewd women came to inquire about the news, but the two women kept their mouths shut, only saying that their information registration was incorrect, and that Zhao Laochu called them over to re-register.

This shelter, like the old-style reformatory in Beijing, provides two meals a day.

However, before the second meal was served in the afternoon, a truck drove into the shelter.

"Everyone, come out and line up!"

With a shout, the crowd, who had already heard the commotion, rushed out of the two dormitories.

Although Zhao Laochu kept his mouth shut, someone had already managed to get information out of the cooks and other staff.

Everyone knows that whenever a truck comes in, it's either to bring people in or for various organizations to select people.

The meaning of making everyone line up is quite clear now.

Seventy or eighty people lined up in four neat rows, with Su Yang and other teenagers standing in front, and the women from Shanghai standing behind.

Everyone looked expectantly at the two people next to Zhao Laochu in front of them. They were wearing thick overcoats, and you could see from the collar that they were wearing Zhongshan suits underneath.

"Old Zhao, this isn't right, is it? Why are there only women and children here?" A man, who looked to be in his early thirties, took off his felt hat and glanced at the line, his brows furrowing.

"What's wrong, Xiao Liu? You look down on women? Your awareness needs improvement." Old Zhao said slowly, puffing on his pipe.

Stop talking nonsense!

Liu Mancang rolled his eyes at him and said expressionlessly, "The workload at our Limin Flour Factory is quite heavy, so of course, men are the best choice!"

Old Zhao pointed to Su Yang and the others standing in the first row and laughed, "Hey, there are quite a few of these teenagers who are sixteen or seventeen years old. In a couple of years, they'll all be able-bodied men."

Liu Mancang was speechless.

He glanced at them and, judging by their height, realized that none of these boys were actually over 15 years old.

He felt somewhat frustrated, thinking to himself that he shouldn't have come today.

He had only heard that a lot of people had been sent from Beijing and Shanghai yesterday, so he rushed over in a hurry. He even borrowed a truck from the factory's transportation department, hoping to pick out more strong and healthy people to take back.

Seeing Liu Mancang glaring at him, Zhao Laochu said irritably, "Little Liu, let me tell you, you've really struck gold this time. Everyone here can read!"

"Literate? If it's just at the beginner level of a literacy class, then forget it." Liu Mancang waved his hand dismissively.

The basic level of literacy classes means being able to write one's own name, do addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division within 10, and recognize a few hundred characters by guessing and some other means. In his opinion, this is no different from being illiterate.

"Wu Xinxue, come out!" Old Zhao waved to the group.

As Wu Xinxue stepped out of the group, Liu Mancang's eyes lit up at the sight of her exquisite appearance, and he subconsciously decided to take her back to the factory.

Their Limin Flour Factory is not only short of workers, but also short of staff in the publicity department.

The head of the publicity department is his wife.

Now that the country has just been founded, propaganda work is of paramount importance. His wife's hair has turned quite a bit white from worrying about the propaganda department.

Such a pretty young girl, even if she's illiterate, can be taught slowly at the factory. She's young and her learning ability is definitely strong. Maybe she can be trained to become the face of the factory's propaganda department in the future.

If he can bring Wu Xinxue back, then this trip will not have been in vain!

"Little girl, your name is Wu Xinxue? Have you ever been to school?" Liu Mancang's face was full of smiles, and his words were very warm.

Wu Xinxue was stunned by his sudden change of expression. After regaining her senses, she quickly replied, "I didn't go there. My cultural knowledge was taught by my teacher."

"Did the teacher teach you that?"

Liu Mancang was taken aback for a moment, then pulled Zhao Laochu's arm aside and whispered, "Could this young lady be some landlord's daughter?"

Old Zhao looked at him with amusement and whispered in his ear about the origins of Su Yang and Wu Xinxue and their group of teenagers.

After saying that, he added, "You know the work discipline. They came all the way from Beijing to send them here so that they could start a new life without any burdens. Don't go around saying anything bad about it."

Liu Mancang breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing this, thinking to himself that as long as they were poor people, that was fine. He smiled and said, "Don't worry, it won't happen."

After saying that, he quickly walked to the front of the line and smiled at Wu Xinxue, saying, "Comrade Wu, from now on you're one of the employees of our Limin Flour Factory!"

"real?"

Wu Xinxue initially thought something had happened when she saw him and Zhao Laochu whispering to each other.

Hearing this, half the weight was lifted from my heart, and I quickly asked, "Um... sir, I have a younger brother named Su Yang, can I take him with me?"

Upon hearing this, Su Yang stepped out of the group.

Liu Mancang glanced at him and waved his hand dismissively: "Of course family members can bring them!"

"Thank you!" Su Yang and Wu Xinxue said together.

Liu Mancang nodded in satisfaction, then looked at the group and picked out a few boys who looked the oldest, as well as a few sturdy women.

"You, and you! Are you all over 16 yet?... If you are, come out and register!"

The person whose name was called was overjoyed.

"Thank you, boss!"

Su Yang looked in the direction of the voice and saw He Dazhuang, who was also among the selected people.