Chapter 1987 - 1987: Warning at the Banquet (Part 3)
This statement hit some educated youths' hidden thoughts. As their expressions changed drastically, the villagers present erupted, voicing their opinions.
"What? They want to just leave?"
"No way! When they didn't want to work or couldn't earn work points, they married our young people here and lived a stable life. Now that they're doing well, they want to abandon their spouses and children? Not a chance!"
"Exactly, Brigade Leader, you must take care of this matter. We can't let the children of our brigade who married educated youths end up breaking their families."
"Brigade Leader, say something!"
Wang Zhenguo raised his hand to quell their discussions and said seriously, "Although I'm no longer in office, the majority of the educated youths came here during my tenure, so I definitely have to handle this."
Upon hearing these words, everyone felt reassured.
They had an inexplicable confidence in Wang Zhenguo, always feeling that he could resolve anything that came his way. Most importantly, his niece and her husband were both highly capable.
Wang Zhenguo sighed deeply. When he heard from his niece about the aftermath of educated youths returning to the city, he couldn't sleep well for several days. Later, he discussed it with Father Lu for a long time, but it was tough to cover all bases because human nature is the hardest to predict.
"To put it bluntly, when you chose to marry, you should have considered all possibilities. There are many educated youths who didn't marry—like Chen Yuan, Jie Hong, Zheng Huihui, and Bai Xiaolin—and despite the hardships, they have managed on their own for years. Since you chose marriage to lessen your burdens, you should now shoulder the current situation. You can't see your rural partner and child as burdens now that you have a promising future. Remember, you were a burden too when you married!"
Cheng Baoguo applauded loudly, "Absolutely right, people shouldn't be ungrateful!"
He was a retired senior official and a war veteran. Even in retirement, no one dared to underestimate him—his connections alone surpassed those of 90% of people nationwide. So only his words wouldn't elicit resentment.
With Cheng Baoguo's approval, Wang Zhenguo's subsequent words carried even more confidence, "Our Wanglou Brigade is a collective. Even if there were private disputes in the past, if anyone bullies the brigade's children, it's an issue for our entire brigade. I'm not threatening anyone; I'm just letting you know that the children of Wanglou Brigade, regardless of their temperament, have the entire brigade as their backing. When you decide to abandon your spouse and children, you'd better be ready for us to come after you. Of course, if it's our children who are at fault, we won't cover for them either."
Not a threat, but a warning.
Other brigades and deserted rural folks might swallow their anger, but not the Wanglou Brigade.
Perhaps because the living standards of Wanglou Brigade were high and they were always united, the people there, regardless of age or gender, were inherently tough.
"The Brigade Leader is right; if anyone bullies our children, we'll make their life miserable!"
"That's right, people shouldn't forget to repay kindness with gratitude!"
"Back then, getting married was a mutual decision, with no coercion. Since that's the case, you educated youths shouldn't act like marrying us rural folks is a grievance! Our brigade is thriving; we can find any kind of partner we want. Even city people want to marry our village's girls, because we have plenty of grain, unlike them, struggling to get by on just twenty or thirty pounds of ration a month."