They all felt extremely lucky to have arrived early and discovered the problem in time. Otherwise, if they had found out only at the last moment, they might really have had to go to Beidahuang.
Liang Yuanjun didn’t care about niceties—he demanded sternly:
“What is the Youth Registration Office going to do about this?”
“This is entirely your fault. If you cannot give us a satisfactory solution, the Liang and Yun families will jointly report your office.”
Liang Jingya, standing beside him, glared fiercely at Zhou Dongmei. Suddenly, she remembered another issue: the rural work subsidies.
She said coldly:
“What about our subsidies? I heard that each youth receives 240 yuan for rural work. That’s 720 yuan for the three of us. Also, we cannot go to Beidahuang—that’s someone’s scheme against us. You must change the work location back; we want to go to Hei Province. The specific commune can be arranged by you.”
Liang Yuanchao was also furious. Thinking about their home being robbed and someone registering them for rural work, assigning them to Beidahuang—this was practically a death sentence.
“My brother and sister are right. You must handle this matter properly.”
Yun Zhenguo and Yun Youran naturally understood the situation. The Liang siblings had been set up just like their own family.
Thinking this, they felt a bit relieved, realizing they might still recover the 480 yuan. They also chimed in:
“That’s right—you must fix this!”
At that moment, Kang Lina, the director of the Youth Registration Office, entered. She had originally come just to check if there were enough youths registered for rural work.
As soon as she reached the door, she heard shouting inside and thought someone was causing trouble.
But upon getting closer, she realized it was her own staff who had made a serious mistake.
She quickly walked to Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei, lowering her voice to ask:
“What exactly is going on here?”
Seeing the director, the two women were slightly flustered.
But faced with the current predicament, they decided to answer honestly:
“Director, the situation is like this…”
After listening to them, Kang Lina immediately understood: Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei had been tricked. In other words, the Yun siblings and the Liang siblings had been set up.
If this matter wasn’t handled properly, there would be serious trouble!
She quickly turned to Yun Zhenguo, Yun Youran, and the Liang siblings:
“Comrades, I am Kang Lina, director of the Youth Registration Office. Regarding the information you’ve mentioned, our office needs to carefully verify it before making any judgments. You have no objections to that, right?”
The Yun siblings and the three Liang siblings understood that the director would not take their words at face value. They could only nod. Yun Zhenguo reminded her:
“Director Kang, we trust you. However, we are scheduled to go to the countryside in nine days. You must resolve this matter within five days. Otherwise, our two families will jointly report your office.”
Liang Yuanjun nodded solemnly:
“What my brother said is correct. We will give your office at most five days. If there’s no resolution by then, on the sixth day, we will report your office to the police station and the Revolutionary Committee.”
Hearing this, Kang Lina understood that this was the families’ bottom line—they would not back down.
After thinking for a moment, she decided that five days would be enough to investigate thoroughly.
She nodded lightly and then looked at Yun Zhenguo and Liang Yuanjun:
“Alright! Five days it is. You can go home now. On the sixth morning, come back to the Youth Office. We will inform you of the facts and the results of our investigation.”
She paused and continued:
“Also, if someone did impersonate your mothers to register you for rural work, we will reissue your rural work subsidies, and your work location will be changed to Hei Province as you wish. The specific commune, however, cannot be decided yet. But if the facts show that it was indeed your mothers who registered you, both families must publicly apologize to our staff.”
Hearing Kang Lina’s words, Liang Yuanchao narrowed his eyes, gritted his teeth, and said clearly:
“We can meet your demands.”
This shocked the other four people.
Liang Jingya almost jumped up, shouting:
“Second brother, do you even know what you’re saying? Their office never said we had to publicly apologize—why should we agree to their terms?”
Yun Youran, standing nearby, didn’t say anything but furrowed her brows.
Liang Yuanchao certainly understood his fiancée’s meaning. He gave her a subtle nod.
Kang Lina hadn’t expected them to agree to her terms, and the more they agreed, the more nervous she became.
But the next second, Liang Yuanchao continued:
“Director Kang, since you made your demands, I will make mine. If the investigation proves they were at fault, they must also publicly apologize to all five of us. The punishment cannot fall on just us.”
Hearing this, Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei realized things were looking very grim.
They looked at Director Kang Lina, shaking their heads desperately, their eyes full of refusal.
Unfortunately, Kang Lina had her back to them and didn’t see their pleading.
She considered their request reasonable and nodded in agreement:
“Alright, I agree. You can go back now! I will have someone start the investigation immediately.”
Hearing this, the Yun siblings and the three Liang siblings thought of other matters and said in unison:
“Okay, we’ll come back in six days.”
After speaking, the five of them left.
Watching them walk away, Kang Lina finally turned to Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei and scolded coldly:
“Starting today, neither of you need to come to the Youth Office anymore. You should already understand the consequences—the families have plenty of witnesses, and the police can serve as proof.”
She paused, then added:
“When you go home, prepare their rural work subsidies. Otherwise, you two might end up behind bars.”
Hearing Kang Lina’s words, Song Hongmei and Zhou Dongmei finally realized their fate.
Actually, they had guessed this outcome from the start. But they had no money!
When it came to money, their parents would likely decisively choose to let them face the consequences.