Reborn before the famine, kicking away the scumbag's family and living a carefree life.

69. Joining the army (7)

Ye Xiaolong: "County Chief Zhang, how much do you know about Qi Anrong? If he has done anything wrong, it's not too late to recall him now."

"To be honest, Qi Anrong is still a child. We haven't had much contact with him, and we don't know him well. He hasn't done anything particularly outrageous."

Ye Xiaolong: "But he has an uncle like that. They say that you become like those you associate with. I'm worried that he will also be negatively influenced."

"I'm not too sure about that, you'll have to figure it out yourself."

"Unless there's a major incident, there's no reason to recall it. Oh well, let it be!"

"But it's good that you told me all this. The unit they arrived at this time was led by one of my comrades. I was thinking of saying hello to my comrade and asking him to give them some pointers... but now it seems there's no need for that."

County Head Zhang: "The military is a place that really tests people. Whether you're a nobody or a dragon, time will tell."

"Yes, whether it's good or bad, it depends on him."

Daben Village, the home of Township Head Wang.

As soon as Mayor Wang got home, his wife yelled at him, "Why do you write recommendation letters for outsiders but not for your own family?"

What's wrong with you now?

"Knowing that female soldiers are being recruited this year, why didn't you recommend your own daughter?"

“Our daughter is fourteen years old, which is too young. Other families require sixteen to eighteen years old.”

"What about my brother's daughter, Xiaoyu? She's exactly sixteen, is she old enough? And my sister's daughter, Aqin, she's also sixteen."

“Your brother’s daughter, Xiaoyu, only went to school for two years. How can she compete with Su Jinyu, who went to junior high school? She’s not even as tall as Su Jinyu. Your sister’s daughter, Aqin, is not as good as Su Jinyu in terms of education, height, or appearance.”

"You're talking nonsense. Su Jinyu is so wonderful in your eyes. What is your relationship with her that you're so protective of her?"

"Can't you be reasonable? I'm not the one in charge of the selection. I'm just providing an objective analysis. You need to know your own situation and not be blindly confident, thinking that if others can do it, you definitely can too. Otherwise, you'll just become a laughing stock."

"You yourself said it wasn't you who selected them, so why do you say it's no good? Why did you write a recommendation letter for Su Jinyu, but not for your own family members?"

"I didn't write Su Jinyu's letter of recommendation."

"You're lying. You're the township head. If you didn't write it, who else is qualified to write it?"

"Zhang Jingui, County Chief Zhang, do you think he's qualified to write this?"

"Zhang Jingui? The former township head?"

Township Head Wang nodded.

"Why would a county magistrate write a letter of recommendation for Su Jinyu? Shouldn't it be written by a township head?"

“That day, Su Jinyu and her sister came to the township government to ask me to write a letter of recommendation. County Chief Zhang happened to be there as well. He offered to write it for Su Jinyu because he knew her situation very well, and he did indeed know her family situation very well, so he let him write it.”

Township Chief Wang's wife stared wide-eyed, her face filled with disbelief.

"What is Zhang Jingui's relationship with their family? As far as I know, the two families are not related at all. Why would Zhang Jingui help them like this?"

"Why do you care why they helped you, or what their relationship is? Stop spreading rumors outside."

"No wonder Su Jinyu was able to get that one and only spot. The county magistrate wrote a letter of recommendation. If not her, who would get that spot?"

"She meets the requirements herself, and the recommendation letter carries significant weight, so naturally there's no one else but her."

The news that County Magistrate Zhang personally wrote a letter of recommendation for Su Jinyu quickly spread.

When Jin Gui returned home that day, Ding Xiang poured him water to wash his face.

"Your brother and sister-in-law came over just now and said a lot of sarcastic things."

While washing her face, Jin Gui said, "What sarcastic remarks did you make?"

Dingxiang countered, "Now the whole village is talking about how you wrote the recommendation letter for Su Jinyu to join the army? Is that true?"

"It's true. I wrote it."

"My elder brother and sister-in-law came over earlier to ask you why you write recommendation letters for outsiders but not for their Lingling?"

"Whether it's education, height, appearance, or reaction speed, Lingling and Su Jinyu standing together, the difference in their abilities is obvious. It's not something that I can decide by writing a letter of recommendation."

“I already said that the military recruitment assessment is very strict, and it involves a comprehensive evaluation. The final decision is not up to you, but they don’t believe it. They think that Su Jinyu was selected because you wrote the recommendation letter. If you don’t write it for Su Jinyu and instead write it for Lingling, Lingling will definitely be the one who goes.”

"The matter of enlisting in the military is handled by the Armed Forces Department, and the decision-making power lies with them."

“I told them the same thing, but they thought that since you are the deputy county head, your rank is higher than that of the armed forces department, they would listen to you.”

"Nonsense, what kind of talk is that? What will others think of me if they hear it?"

"Why didn't they wait for me? Why didn't they tell me? Why did they have to tell you?"

"Actually, they know in their hearts that Lingling is no match for Su Jinyu, so they don't dare to tell you, they just complain to me."

“Dingxiang, they don’t dare to complain to me, but they dare to complain to you. You’re such a powerful person, would they dare to do this if you didn’t condone and allow it?”

"Jin Gui, what do you mean? Those are your brother and sister-in-law, what can I do to them?"

"Dingxiang, actually, you're not happy about it either, are you?"

“I’m unhappy, Jin Gui. I just don’t understand. This isn’t your job. It’s the township head’s job. You just want to take care of Su Jinyu, or rather, Su Jinru, so you wrote this letter of recommendation yourself.”

“You wouldn’t even write a recommendation letter for your own brother and sister-in-law’s niece, but you wrote one for someone who’s a complete stranger. Zhang Jingui, do you dare say you have no selfish motives?”

“Dingxiang, I do have selfish motives, but these motives are different from the ones you’re imagining.”

"Why is it different?"

“Dingxiang, I know you’ve never understood why I take special care of Su Jinru. It’s because I’m grateful to her. Compared to the help she’s given me, the help I’ve given her is nothing at all.”

How did she help you?

“I promised her I wouldn’t tell anyone about this, but today, in order to avoid you misunderstanding, to help you understand me, to avoid affecting our marital relationship, and to ensure you continue to support me instead of holding me back because of your suspicions, I’m going to break my promise to her and tell you. But you have to swear you won’t reveal a single word to anyone else.”

"I swear, I will never tell anyone. If I utter a single word, may I be struck by lightning..."

Jin Gui covered Ding Xiang's mouth.

“I didn’t ask you to make such a poisonous oath.”

"I swore it, so tell me."

“Back when we were in the production team, Aru helped us buy that rice through a contact person.”