At the same time, Yun Zhenguo and his sister arrived at the Youth Registration Office, where they saw the staff members Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei sitting behind the desk.
The siblings spoke in unison:
“Comrades, we want to register for rural work. Please help us with the registration.”
Hearing this, Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei exchanged a glance, delighted—it was like getting a quota assigned to them.
“All right, all right! Comrades, what are your names?”
“Since you’re registering yourselves, we can choose a better rural work location for you.”
At this, the siblings’ eyes lit up.
“Good! I’m Yun Zhenguo, and my sister is Yun Youran. We want to go to Heilong Province. We’ve heard that there—”
Song Hongmei felt increasingly familiar with what she was hearing and quickly interrupted the siblings:
“Stop! If I’m not mistaken, yesterday your mother, Zhou Miaomiao, already registered you for rural work.”
The siblings’ faces were filled with disbelief. They shook their heads repeatedly.
“Comrade, you must be mistaken. Our mother fainted at home yesterday, many neighbors can testify. How could she have come to register us? You must be remembering wrong.”
Yun Youran quickly nodded in agreement:
“Yes! Comrade, you must be mistaken. Our mother fainted yesterday. You should check the registration forms—you’re probably wrong.”
Although Song Hongmei knew she wasn’t mistaken, she still checked yesterday’s records carefully.
When she saw the record, she looked up seriously at the siblings:
“Yun Zhenguo, Yun Youran—that’s you two, right? Living at 17 Dayang Hutong. Your father is Yun Aiguo, and your mother is Zhou Miaomiao. Furthermore, your mother insisted that you be registered to the Great Northwest, so your rural work location is Baiyang Commune in the Great Northwest.”
At this, the siblings had no choice but to believe the registration form—those were their names.
Yet yesterday, their mother had really fainted at home. They stared at Song Hongmei with suspicion.
Yun Zhenguo still wouldn’t accept it:
“But our mother really fainted at home yesterday. Many neighbors can vouch for this.”
Yun Youran added:
“Yes, our house was also robbed yesterday, and the household registration book was only replaced today at the police station. If you don’t believe us, you can call the station to verify. Someone must have impersonated our mother to register us—you were deceived.”
Hearing this, Song Hongmei realized she might indeed have been tricked. She looked to her friend Zhou Dongmei, her eyes silently asking for confirmation.
Leaning closer, she whispered:
“Dongmei, you were here yesterday. You should remember what ‘Zhou Miaomiao’ looked like, right?”
Thinking back to yesterday’s “Gu Hehua,” she quickly added:
“I know you’re excellent at portrait drawing. If yesterday’s ‘Zhou Miaomiao’ was fake, then yesterday’s ‘Gu Hehua’ could also be fake. After all, we both thought those two families were suspicious. But they had the household book and pressured us with leadership instructions.”
Zhou Dongmei shivered at her friend’s words. She had been worried for her friend before, thinking such a mistake might cost her the job.
Now it was her turn—she felt a chill down her spine. She forced herself to concentrate and recalled Zhou Miaomiao’s appearance carefully. After a moment, she said to Song Hongmei:
“I remember. Let’s start the sketch.”
She picked up her pencil and began drawing.
Song Hongmei then turned to the siblings and slowed her tone:
“Comrades, here’s the situation.”
“This is Zhou Dongmei. She’s drawing the ‘Zhou Miaomiao’ who registered you yesterday. When she finishes, you two can see if it’s really your mother.”
Hearing this, the siblings could only nod in agreement.
Yun Zhenguo felt frustrated and complained:
“Fine! Find this imposter and arrest her. How can someone be so malicious? And your staff at the Youth Registration Office—aren’t you too careless?”
Yun Youran, standing nearby, was equally dissatisfied. They had been set up!
Everyone knew the Great Northwest was one of the harshest regions. Going there meant near-certain suffering.
“My brother is right. Your handling of this is outrageous—it’s endangering people!”
Then she remembered the rural work allowance. Each registered youth supposedly got 240 yuan. With both of them, that’s 480 yuan—had someone taken their money?
Her expression darkened as she glared at Song Hongmei:
“You registered us yesterday, right? Our rural work allowance is 480 yuan, and you must compensate us. Also, our work location must be changed to Heilong Province. We won’t insist on the commune. Otherwise, we’ll report your office.”
Hearing his sister, Yun Zhenguo realized the most urgent problem was money. They hadn’t prepared supplies for rural work—their 240 yuan each couldn’t be lost.
Growing angrier by the minute, he slammed the desk.
Bang!
The large teacup on the desk shook violently, startling Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei.
“You—”
“Comrades, calm down! The matter hasn’t even been investigated yet—you can’t act so rashly!”
The siblings’ anger shot from their feet to the top of their heads. Yesterday’s experience was unforgettable—they knew for certain it wasn’t their mother who had come to register them.
Yun Zhenguo glared coldly at Song Hongmei:
“Hmph—investigate? Fine! We have neighbors and the police station who can testify. I want to see how you’ll shirk responsibility. Your Youth Registration Office has gone too far.”
Yun Youran, equally furious, glared at Song Hongmei and spoke through gritted teeth:
“If your office doesn’t meet our demands, we will report you. Don’t think you can dodge responsibility, and don’t think you can make us swallow this loss. Don’t treat us like pushovers.”
Song Hongmei knew she was in trouble. She could only hope that Zhou Dongmei’s sketch would confirm Zhou Miaomiao’s appearance. That would at least count as a single mistake on their record.