Chapter 151 Finally, A Discovery

Xiao Weiguo quickly stood up, terrified that Wangcai might hurt Xiao Qigong.

To his surprise, when Wangcai reached his side, it merely let out low whimpering sounds without any other aggressive movements.

It was as if it were saying: Master, why haven't you come back to see me for so long?

"Big Brother!"

Hongmei and the other two called out happily to Xiao Weiguo in turn.

Xiao Weiguo patted each of the little ones on the head.

Then, he tapped Xiao Weijun on the head and said, "You're supposed to be going to school, so why did you bring Wangcai along with you?"

"Big Brother, Wangcai is very well-behaved. I even suspect it can understand what the teacher is teaching in class."

"Hmph, no more of that in the future. No matter how well-behaved it is, you shouldn't bring a dog to school."

Seeing his four younger siblings, Xiao Weiguo's inner anxiety gradually subsided. Even if he ultimately failed to secure an urban residency, with his own abilities, he could still ensure they lived smooth and easy lives.

If worst came to worst, he wouldn't bother with the urban grain quotas and would simply live in the city with rural household registrations; he was fully capable of supporting them.

His only fear was that the city authorities might forcefully expel people with rural registrations when the time came.

While they were talking, his grandfather, Xiao Tieniu, walked into the courtyard with his hands behind his back. Seeing Xiao Weiguo, a smile emerged in his silent eyes.

"Weiguo, you shouldn't keep coming back when you're busy with work. And stop bringing things home all the time; we have enough to eat.

Your dad brought back so much stuff last time, and the two of you need to eat in the city too," Xiao Tieniu said earnestly.

"Grandpa, there are a lot of people here, and Weijun and the others are still growing. They need to eat better."

"All right, stop talking for now, come and eat," Grandmother called out from the kitchen.

"Weiguo, we didn't know you were coming back, so we just boiled a couple of extra sweet potatoes. If it's not enough, we'll make some more," Grandmother said to Xiao Weiguo while dishing out food for the little ones.

"Grandma, you should save more for yourself. Why are you just eating this? I'll bring back some more grain in a couple of days."

Looking at the large pot of corn porridge and the two corn-flour buns per person, Xiao Weiguo frowned.

In addition, they had specially boiled two sweet potatoes just for him.

"Silly child, this is enough. You don't see what other families in the production brigade are eating; it's all wild vegetable porridge."

"Grandpa, didn't they say Uncle Gonglin is going to buy back-sold grain for everyone?"

"The back-sold grain came down, and each family was allotted another twenty catties of cornmeal. What is that going to do?

So much grain, and it all got handed right back up—such foolishness, hmph!"

Xiao Tieniu pulled out his dried tobacco, took a puff, and said fiercely.

In that case, coupled with the previously distributed grain, if they drank wild vegetable porridge every meal, they might barely scrape by this year, but next year would be difficult indeed.

It was truly bitter.

The rural people hadn't done anything wrong, yet whenever any upheaval occurred, the rural people had to bear the brunt of it.

It truly deserved to be called the best buffer zone.

Xiao Weiguo drank a bowl of porridge, ate a sweet potato, and handed the other sweet potato to Xiao Weijun to eat.

After the meal, he led Xiao Weijun through the streets and alleys of the brigade, chatting with everyone and listening to the envy and flattery on their lips.

Yet Xiao Weiguo didn't feel happy at all; along the way, he sensed an atmosphere of grim resolve.

The suffering people here probably knew in their hearts that this time they were going to suffer just like before.

Well, they had enjoyed a good decade of a decent life, anyway.

No matter how dynasties changed, the people at the bottom always survived this way; they were used to it, weren't they?

Xiao Weiguo wondered what he could do for the fellow villagers.

This year and the first half of next year would be all right, but what about after the summer harvest next year? He didn't dare to think about it.

Perhaps by then, he would need to do something.

He didn't go to leaders like Xiao Gonglin and Zhang Dahai; he figured they must be suffering terribly as well.

He couldn't blame them; under the grand momentum of history, how could an ordinary individual possibly resist? They could only drift with the tide.

Xiao Weiguo returned to the city. When he went, he carried the petty troubles of his small family because his household registration transfer had hit a snag.

Upon coming back, he carried the despair of the masses, as hypothetical scenarios of the next three years constantly surfaced in his mind.

Ever since the day he arrived here, he had sought opportunities solely for himself, or at most for his immediate family.

Now that his own situation was gradually improving, Xiao Weiguo naturally remembered that this was not the hardship of one or two people, but the predicament of tens of thousands.

Despite feeling like a superman now, in the face of the impending great hardships, he still felt utter despair and helplessness.

So be it; he would take it one step at a time. For an individual, there was simply no other way.

------

Xiao Weiguo came to the police station once again. The household registration clerk impatiently told him to go back and wait for notification, as all these applications would be discussed in a meeting and he just needed to wait patiently.

Even if an application failed, they would still send someone to deliver the notice to his residence.

So they were essentially awaiting judgment; every application would be brought to the relevant meeting and adjudicated one by one.

He had never heard of such a procedure before; it seemed to be a temporary measure devised to curb the urban population.

If he could earn some merit, would he gain more support during subjective evaluations and thus get his application approved? That was entirely possible.

Filled with hope once again, Xiao Weiguo involuntarily thought of those two lurking Japanese spies.

Arriving at Zhengyangmen once more, Xiao Weiguo first went to Xinghua Primary School.

Unfortunately, as a civilian visitor, he couldn't get inside the school.

He had no choice but to head over to the courtyard where the two suspects lived, and using the exact same excuse, squatted down on the steps again.

He used his mental perception to observe the inside.

Hoping to find some clues.

A curious auntie from the courtyard came over to chat with Xiao Weiguo.

After brushing her off, Xiao Weiguo tried to fish for information from the auntie.

"Auntie, are these two teachers, Manyi and Zhang Changqin, really that good at teaching? Do they have any hobbies usually? I'd like to bring them some gifts they like so they can help my younger brother with his grades."

"That goes without saying! The grades of the children in our courtyard, under the meticulous cultivation of those two teachers, are all better than those of kids in other courtyards. I wouldn't lie to you about that.

As for hobbies, those two really like going to Tiananmen Square to hang out. Well, it's close by, so they just treat it like a public park."

Another auntie chimed in, "It's just such a pity that they don't have any children. Tsk tsk tsk, what a shame."

The more he listened, the more they sounded like secret agents.

Xiao Weiguo used his mental perception to observe again, and listening to the auntie's words, he scanned even more thoroughly.

Yet there was truly nothing unusual inside the house. The couple's combined savings amounted to only four or five hundred yuan—which was a lot compared to others, but such a modest sum was hardly the scale of a secret agent.

Wait, why did the brick bed (kang) inside feel a bit high?

Previously, Xiao Weiguo's observations had focused on trunks, wardrobes, and similar items inside the house.

Naturally, he had also checked the floor tiles and walls, finding nothing unusual.

He hadn't examined the interior structure of the heated brick bed closely.

A piqued Xiao Weiguo scanned it inch by inch until, in the rearmost corner, he discovered an opening that led straight down underground, and it was exceptionally deep.

The opening was covered by a thick stone slab, so at a glance, it looked completely normal.

Feeling that his mental range was slightly out of reach, Xiao Weiguo quickly moved to squat in a different spot.

His mental perception followed the underground tunnel all the way to the bottom.

At a depth of about three meters underground, the tunnel suddenly made a ninety-degree turn, opening into a cellar-like space.

What Xiao Weiguo saw inside left him completely stunned.