Chen Lan stopped dwelling on the trivialities. Since they didn't mind, why should she? Thus, after Wei Dang and Chun Ni graduated from high school, Chen Lan took the children, who were on summer break, back to the valley and held a grand traditional Chinese wedding for the two.
It was Chen Lan's first time marrying off a daughter, and she naturally prepared a very generous dowry. Besides the gold jewelry and fabric tucked away for safekeeping, there were also stamps and Great Tens that Chen Lan had saved for her ten children long ago. As for other possessions Chen Lan held, she planned to deal with them once things became more peaceful.
When she handed the stamps and Great Tens to Chun Ni, Chen Lan repeatedly reminded her daughter not to sell these items now, as they would be very valuable in the future. She told her to keep them for safekeeping and sell them only when prices were high. If her in-laws urgently needed money for something, she should seek help from her maternal family.
Chun Ni, with red eyes, nodded and replied, "Mom, I know! I won't sell them!"
However, when Chen Lan handed Chun Ni the property deed for the house in Harbin, which was registered under Wang Chun Ni's name, Chun Ni flatly refused to accept it, crying uncontrollably.
This also made Chen Lan's nose sting and tears well up. As their eldest daughter was getting married, the elders and children at home were also very reluctant to see her go. The triplets, especially, who had been raised by Chun Ni since they were small, cried their hearts out.
A month after the wedding, Wei Dang returned to Qinhuangdao. He had been away for two years, and it was imperative for him to go back, as his household registration and grain rations were tied to that location.
This time, he did not take Chun Ni with him. Wei Dang asked Chun Ni to stay in the valley and wait for him to come back and pick her up. Therefore, although Chun Ni was married, she still lived with her in-laws at her maternal home.
The family tearfully bid Wei Dang farewell. Xu Mingxuan was also about to be assigned to a new post after graduating from the Party School. The triplets were also going to Harbin to start their first year of high school.
Chen Lan arranged the autumn harvest work in the valley and then, along with Xu Mingxuan, the triplets, her elderly mother, and her two daughters Chun Hua and Chun Fang, left the valley to live in Harbin.
The home in the valley was naturally entrusted to the already married Chun Ni, as well as Zhao Qian and Song Wan, the wives of Wen Kai and Wen Qi, to look after.
The couple had also wanted to bring their mother-in-law to live in Harbin, but she was reluctant to leave her younger grandsons and her youngest son Ming Zhe.
The reason for bringing the elderly mother to Harbin was that after Wen Kai and Wen Qi, the younger brothers, graduated from high school, Director Huang introduced them to work and study at the Railway Central Hospital, so they couldn't return to the valley.
Their mother, longing to see her sons, had no choice but to come to Harbin with Chen Lan and her husband to live. Their wives, due to their status, could not accompany them to Harbin and could only stay in the valley to wait for the men to have holidays before reuniting in the valley.
Thanks to Jia Yao's good reputation, the director of the Railway Central Hospital tasted the benefits. Therefore, he readily agreed to Director Huang's proposal and specifically designated mentors for the two: one was Director Qian, the head of internal medicine, and the other was Director Liu, the deputy head of hepatobiliary and gastrointestinal medicine.
The reason for this was that although Jia Yao had been studying in high school for the past two years, he had not only been diligent in his work at the hospital but was also willing to do all the dirty and arduous tasks, and he was such a good employee that he didn't accept a single cent of salary!
Most importantly, Jia Yao respected his teachers and elders, and was also intelligent and diligent. Therefore, directors from other departments were very envious of Director Huang and kept asking the director for apprentices like him. Now that there was an opportunity, the director agreed to Director Huang's request without hesitation and immediately assigned the two. Director Huang was stunned for a long time before he came to his senses.
Xu Mingxuan was ultimately assigned to the Materials Bureau of the Harbin Land Reclamation Bureau. It so happened that the previous head of the wholesale materials station was retiring. Chen Lan didn't know why, but this department, with its considerable profits and being a lucrative position, did not have a suitable candidate selected by the bureau for some time. Therefore, Xu Mingxuan, right after graduation, took over the position of the old station chief and became the director of the wholesale materials station.
Even Chen Lan felt that Xu Mingxuan's luck was unparalleled! He was truly someone specially favored by heaven, with exceptionally good luck!
The main job of the wholesale materials station was to procure various production and living materials at commercial transfer prices and then supply them to its subordinate units and various brigades.
The living materials they needed to purchase ranged from small items like needles and thread to large production and living materials, all of which they were responsible for procuring. Therefore, Xu Mingxuan became very busy from the very beginning of his employment.
It truly held true that having connections in high places made things easier. Chen Lan went through the back door of Xu Mingxuan's workplace and obtained two recommendation letters, sending Chun Hua and Chun Fang to night school to study accounting and brush up on politics. This was because the children in the valley generally had weak political knowledge, but politics was a required subject for the college entrance examination.
Days passed quickly amidst the busyness. One day, Chen Lan planned to go to the courtyard of the Harbin Normal University Affiliated High School to deliver some living supplies to the children.
While riding her bicycle and taking a shortcut through an alley, Chen Lan noticed that the alley was exceptionally lively. There were loud scoldings, as well as crying and begging sounds.
Chen Lan was very curious. Had something happened to someone again? So she stopped her bicycle, took a handful of peanuts from her pocket, handed them to an older sister who was craning her neck to watch the commotion, and asked, "Sister, what's going on here?"
The older sister smiled and accepted the peanuts Chen Lan handed her. Then, she glanced around and found that no one was paying attention to them.
She then whispered, "The Revolutionary Committee is confiscating property. The man of this house was formerly a teacher at that Harbin Normal University. It's said he was reported by a student! They say the teacher had foreign books at home, so the Revolutionary Committee is raiding his house. Alas! It's such a sin! They've taken all the valuable things in the house. How are they supposed to live, this family of old and young! Reading a book can lead to such a grave disaster of confiscation and ruin. It's better to read less!"
As soon as Chen Lan heard the words "Revolutionary Committee," she immediately thought of the director of the Housing Management Office and his son on the Revolutionary Committee. Looking at the scattered belongings on the ground in front of the house, and hearing the women's pleading and the children's crying,
Chen Lan hadn't expected that after all these years, those people from the Revolutionary Committee were still doing evil deeds. And it just so happened that she had witnessed it. It seemed that heaven itself wanted her to deal with them. Even if she couldn't rush forward to uphold justice at this moment, it was time for her to act!
Chen Lan took a deep breath and exhaled, calming her somewhat depressed mood. She decided to prepare to act on behalf of heaven!