Chapter 29
The Great Task!

Yi Da Ma thought to herself that her first goal was to learn her own name. That way, she wouldn't be blind!

As soon as they returned to their room, Yi Hai Zhong's face turned gloomy. "Where did you go so late at night?"

Yi Da Ma retorted, "It's a new era, a new world, a new country. Women are liberated now; do you still need to control where I go?"

Yi Hai Zhong glared at her, "Sun Xiu Ju, how long are you going to act like this? The old lady ate nothing but cornbread all day. If this gets out, where will I put my face?"

Yi Da Ma countered, "The neighborhood committee asked you to take care of the old lady. It was about helping her out, not about serving her like an ancestor!"

"If you want to be known as a good person, then take care of her yourself!"

"You're getting out of hand! If you can't take proper care of the old lady, then you don't eat a single grain of rice from this house!"

Yi Da Ma responded with a challenge, "Then let's get a divorce!"

"What did you say?"

Yi Hai Zhong stared at Yi Da Ma, astonished. He couldn't believe that a woman who didn't earn a living and depended on him would dare to mention divorce!

Yi Da Ma continued, "Lao Yi, you've heard the rumors circulating outside. I understand how you feel. You're still young, and we should divorce now. Maybe you can find someone who can bear you children!"

Yi Hai Zhong trembled with anger, "Are you divorcing me because of that abandoned child, Shen Yuan Chao?"

Yi Da Ma affirmed, "Yes! It's because you won't let me adopt him, because you made me miss out on that child, that I want to divorce you!"

The root of her decision was that, through the incident with Shen Yuan Chao, Yi Da Ma had seen the true nature of the deaf old lady and Yi Hai Zhong's selfishness and hypocrisy.

Furthermore, Yi Da Ma vaguely felt that staying with Yi Hai Zhong would lead to a bad ending. People need to look out for themselves!

Hearing the argument between Yi Da Ma and Yi Hai Zhong, Shen Yuan Chao, staring at his own tiny, white arms and legs, felt a pang of worry. Yi Hai Zhong was using moral pressure on Yi Da Ma again.

Yi Da Ma was being threatened with divorce for not properly taking care of the deaf old lady. But why should a neighbor, an elderly woman, be treated like an ancestor?

And why wasn't Yi Da Ma getting any benefit from it?

Shen Yuan Chao made a silent promise to himself. The first words he would speak would be to convince Yi Da Ma to divorce.

From that day onwards, Yi Hai Zhong and Yi Da Ma constantly bickered.

The deaf old lady, left to her own devices, sighed and groaned every day in the courtyard. Yi Da Ma no longer cared for her as attentively as before. Her foot wraps weren't even changed, and the room reeked of something unpleasant.

Even the food she received was not as good as before.

Yi Hai Zhong, harboring resentment towards the deaf old lady for helping Sha Zhu, leading to his own failed scheme, knew about her predicament but purposely ignored it.

He intended to teach the deaf old lady a lesson, making her understand that her true retirement life should not depend on Sha Zhu, but on him, the caretaker, the manager of the compound!

In the back courtyard, the deaf old lady felt a growing sense of unease. Yi Da Ma, preoccupied with the abandoned child, didn't pay much attention to her, constantly thinking of Yi Hai Zhong's best interests.

Yet, Yi Hai Zhong seemed to have lost interest in taking care of her these days.

What was going on?

Could it be that Liu Hui Zhen was stirring up trouble?

It wasn't entirely unreasonable for the deaf old lady to think so. The courtyard gossip revolved around Liu Hui Zhen and her family these days.

However, she soon dismissed the idea. She knew Liu Hui Zhen was too soft and gentle. She wouldn't have the cunning to do such a thing.

It must be Shen Yuan Chao, the abandoned child, causing this instability!

However, the little baby was officially registered as a resident of the courtyard!

She couldn't just beat up Shen Yuan Chao to vent her frustration!

She was the respected matriarch of this courtyard. If she were to assault a little baby, someone would surely expose her, and her hard-earned reputation would be ruined!

So, the deaf old lady, like Yi Hai Zhong, had no choice but to endure the situation, to swallow her pride.

Time flew by, seemingly in a blink of an eye.

It was February 1953!

In that year, a momentous mission began: The First Five-Year Plan!

At the beginning of February, the neighborhood committee announced a halt to the registration of new residents without permits in the capital.

In the same year, the new government issued an "Instruction on Stopping Farmers from Blindly Flowing into Cities", opposing and restricting the uncontrolled migration of farmers to cities.

Until 1956, seven more policy documents were issued, including "Seven Instructions on Preventing the Blind Outflow of Rural Population", strictly prohibiting urban departments from privately recruiting workers from rural areas.

It was just that when these policies were released, everyone was busy preparing for the New Year, so no one paid much attention.

Only Shen Yuan Chao, keeping track of time, knew in his heart that it would become increasingly difficult for rural people to acquire urban residency in the future.

Unless they had a job!

However, in 1952, to fully implement industrialization, factories recruited millions of new workers. The new government discovered that many of these new recruits were actually farmers seeking non-agricultural employment!

They therefore issued an order prohibiting state-owned factories from continuing to hire people from rural areas. The new government also began to control the flow of people migrating into the capital!

The household registration system became even more stringent!

The unified purchase and supply system, although officially launched in October 1953, was actually planned and decided upon at a meeting in 1952!

However, none of this mattered much to Shen Yuan Chao. After all, his family was guaranteed access to rationed food!

In this era, having access to rationed food wasn't just about the food itself. It represented status and social standing.

In those days, people called eating rationed food "eating the Emperor's food"!

Shen Yuan Chao was in a good mood. Plus, after a period of exercise, his physique seemed to be improving. Before, he would get tired after rolling over ten times, becoming drowsy.

Now, he could roll over thirty or forty times a day without any difficulty!

"Little brother, come on!"

"Mom, little brother rolled over again!"

"Ah~"

Shen You Chu and Shen You Tian shrieked in surprise. Liu Hui Zhen, thinking something had happened, rushed into the room. "What's wrong? Did Yuan Chao fall?"

As soon as she entered, she saw Shen Yuan Chao sitting on the kang, blinking his dark eyes and smiling at her.

Liu Hui Zhen's heart instantly melted.

"Oh my, our Yuan Chao can sit up! He's six months old! He's rolling over, sitting up, crawling. What a smart little boy!"

Liu Hui Zhen gently took Shen Yuan Chao in her arms, checked his diaper, making sure he wasn't wet, and then kissed him. "Let's put on some new clothes, okay?"

"咿咿呀呀!"

Shen Yuan Chao nodded happily. As long as his mother and his two bean sprout sisters were happy, he was happy!

Liu Hui Zhen took out the clothes she had made for Shen Yuan Chao from scraps of fabric. The little tiger shoes, and a head cap with a prominent silk flower.

Liu Hui Zhen was skilled with her hands. Shen Yuan Chao felt that even the machines of his future world couldn't produce such beautiful clothes.

When Shen Yuan Chao was dressed in his new clothes, Shen You Chu and Shen You Tian exclaimed, "Mommy, little brother looks so handsome!"

Liu Hui Zhen smiled, "Yes, he does. When Mom makes more money, I'll make new clothes for you too!"

Shen Yuan Chao looked at his bean sprout sisters and Liu Hui Zhen, feeling a sense of urgency. He really wanted to grow up quickly. At least he needed to find a way to make money and improve the family's living standards.

His two bean sprout sisters often went without food, and their clothes were patched and re-patched, with patches piled on top of patches.

In the entire courtyard, Liu Hui Zhen's family was the thinnest, with the most patched clothes. But even so, Liu Hui Zhen had managed to keep Shen Yuan Chao plump and healthy!

Grow up faster!

Thinking this, Shen Yuan Chao continued to lie on the kang and roll over. He even learned how to roll over cleverly, going halfway and then rolling over the other way, ensuring the system counted it twice.

【Infant Stage: Growth Task: Roll over 1000 times. Current progress: 500/1000】

Seeing that he was halfway through, Shen Yuan Chao started to get excited. What would his first growth reward be?