Reborn in 1977, starting with severing ties with family.

Zhao Guangming sat down with a smile.

He took out a pack of Toad Head cigarettes, handed one to Jiang Sen and one to Wang Haiyang, and then lit one for himself before offering to light them for them.

"We'll do it ourselves, we'll do it ourselves!" Jiang Sen quickly said, and he and Wang Haiyang lit cigarettes, "cough cough cough..."

Toad Head is a cigarette brand produced in Northeast China. It's a brown cigarette, like a cigar, and very pungent.

After two puffs, the whole room was filled with the smell of smoke.

"Don't like it? Then try another one..."

"No need, this is fine!"

Jiang Sen felt that Zhao Guangming did it on purpose.

Last time I even slipped him a bag of Dasheng (a type of agricultural product), but when they came, I served them frog heads (a type of fried toad).

Wang Haiyang took two puffs, his face turned green, and he simply put the cigarette between his fingers and stopped smoking.

Neither of them spoke, waiting for the village chief to speak.

Zhao Guangming was a shrewd old man. He didn't say anything, but just smiled at them and offered them water from time to time.

After pouring the water, Zhao Erhu went to the west room. Erluzi brought over an enamel tray with melon seeds and peanuts, put it down, and then went to the west room.

The two sat there, not saying a word, their eyes fixed on the east room.

Jiang Sen took a couple of puffs of his cigarette, but couldn't smoke anymore. It was too harsh and burning to his throat, so he imitated Wang Haiyang and held it between his fingers.

Zhao Guangming began to speak, and Jiang Sen cursed him inwardly as an old fox before asking, "Village Chief, our team leader said you wanted to see us about something. What is it?"

Zhao Guangming sighed and said, "You know, our Jiazigou Village has been around for so many years. We might have some petty theft and stuff, but we've never had any spies. When the farm manager came, he took down everyone in the team headquarters, praised us, and was happy for a long time afterward. But slowly, the more I think about it, the more uneasy I feel. Can you give me a hint? Who exactly is this spy they're talking about?"

Zhao Guangming is quite good at pretending; he doesn't speak directly about things, but beats around the bush.

When Jiang Sen came to see him, he had already told him that the spy was Feng Chao. So, the reason he asked again now was definitely not that.

Jiang Sen said, "Village chief, would you believe me if I said we didn't know either?"

Zhao Guangming chuckled; he didn't believe it.

Although Li Chaoyang promised them a reward, they made a lot of noise from beginning to end, and even after the people in the team were arrested, they still felt that they were quite capable.

But if those people in the team headquarters are spies, then how could so many of them be?

When Zhao Erhu came back, he said that the team headquarters had arrested quite a few people, dozens of them!

Take this with a grain of salt; there's definitely some exaggeration involved.

But Zhao Guangming pondered it for a long time in private, and still felt uneasy.

What if there are still some deeply hidden mobs that haven't been uncovered, and they cause further damage to the village, or assassinate him in the middle of the night...

The more he thought about it, the more uneasy he became. He wanted to find someone to ask if all the bad guys had been caught and if any had escaped.

If Jiang Sen knew what he was thinking, he would definitely give him a thumbs up and praise his wild imagination.

Even if spies were to carry out assassinations, it wouldn't be his turn!

"Look, you're being unseemly, aren't you?" Zhao Guangming deliberately put on a stern face. "What's our relationship? You're educated youth who came to settle in our village, and I'm the village head. What can't we say openly? As the village head, I should have the right to know, right? What if there are bad people hiding among us? If you tell me, we can be prepared, can't we?"

Wang Haiyang grew impatient, threw the cigarette butt, which had a long ash residue, on the ground, and stomped it out.

He said, “Village chief, it’s not that we don’t want to tell you, we’ve already asked, but the farm manager won’t tell us, and he won’t even let us come back and talk nonsense!”

Jiang Sen nodded, "That's right! When we arrived at the team headquarters, we were all stuck in the office with Erhu and the others, not allowed to leave. They only called us out later to ask what happened. You can ask Erhu if you don't believe me!"

Erhu heard him being called and quickly came over, "Brother Jiang!"

Upon hearing this address, Zhao Guangming's face hardened. "Nonsense! What do you mean by 'brother'? Call me 'educated youth' or 'comrade' if you want. There's no manners here!"

Jiang Sen laughed, "It's okay, we have a good relationship, let's each keep to ourselves! Erhu, when we were at the team headquarters, weren't we all waiting in the office and not allowed to go out?"

"Ugh! Two guys with guns are standing outside watching me, I'm about to burst from holding my pee!"

"Get out! You spout nonsense! Useless rubbish!" Zhao Guangming waved for Erhu to leave.

He knew he wouldn't get any more information from Jiang Sen and Wang Haiyang, so he didn't want to ask anymore.

He picked up the teacup, put it to his lips, and blew on it, clearly indicating that he wanted to see the guest out.

Jiang Sen stubbed out his cigarette, stood up, and said, "Village Chief, it's getting late. If there's nothing else, we'll head back."

"Oh, you're leaving already? Aren't you going to stay a little longer? Erhu, help me see these two educated youth comrades off!"

He didn't even get up; it was like he was glued to the kang (a heated brick bed).

Jiang Sen and Wang Haiyang didn't mind and walked out.

Upon reaching the entrance, Jiang Sen stopped, turned around, and said, "Village Chief, if we receive an award later, other brigades might come to our village to visit and learn from us."

After saying that, he walked out the door without looking back.

Erhu and Erlvzi saw the people off at the gate, and only turned back after they had gone far away.

After hearing Jiang Sen's words, Zhao Guangming regretted it and wanted to get up to see him off, but it was too late. He wanted to sit back down, but then he felt that he had been too obvious, so he wanted to leave.

He got up and sat back down on the kang (heated brick bed) several times before Erhu returned.

"Where's Erluzi?"

"It's late, time to go home!"

"What did that kid surnamed Jiang mean by what he just said?"

Zhao Erhu scratched his head. "What do you mean? Doesn't it mean that our village has done a good job this time, and other brigades might come to visit and learn from us?"

"Can he come?" Zhao Guangming had no idea.

Zhao Erhu said smugly, "Of course you'll come! Just like that time in Xiangyang Brigade when a young educated youth saved someone and made a meritorious contribution, didn't you go too? You even gave a speech in public to express your determination, wore a big red flower, and were given a notebook, a pen, and a washbasin!"

Zhao Guangming's heart began to race; that scene had left a deep impression on him.

If the farm administration issues an award, they'll hold a commendation ceremony, give me a big red flower and a certificate, and I'll have to give a speech in front of so many people.

Should I prepare in advance?

Yes, we definitely need to prepare in advance.

After he finished speaking, everyone applauded him, and then other brigades were organized to come and visit and learn from him.

When the time comes, I will lead them to the fields, where red flags will be planted all around, and the villagers and educated youth will be busy harvesting and doing farm work.

Village women and female educated youth pushed wheelbarrows together, delivering meals and water to people working in the fields...

Just imagining that scene is exciting.

"father?"

"Ouch! Hiss... What the hell are you doing? You little bastard!"

Seeing his father's eerie smile and his unwavering stare at one spot, Zhao Erhu felt a chill run down his spine and quickly called for help.

She called him several times but he didn't respond, so she got impatient and reached out to pinch his cheek.

"What's wrong?" Zhao Erhu asked. "Did you bump into something? Should I go find Master Ma to chant some sutras for you?"

"Get lost!" Zhao Guangming kicked out, grabbed his flashlight, and walked out. "I'm going out for a bit. You stay home and watch the house!"

"What time is it? Where are you going?"

"Let's go find Old Sun and talk to him about something!"

"Don't go, let's talk about it tomorrow!"

"You don't know anything! Guard the house!"

Seeing Zhao Guangming leave, Zhao Erhu was puzzled. What happened?

After leaving the village chief's house, Jiang Sen and Wang Haiyang headed towards the educated youth settlement.

Wang Haiyang asked, "What did you mean by what you just said?"

Jiang Sen smiled, looked around, and whispered to him, "It's just to tell him to treat the educated youth better in the future."

"That's it? Can he even do that?"