Old Deng is reborn in the 1980s, and he starts by severing his father-son relationship!

Seeing that the elderly couple had fallen for his trick, Chen Jianguo smiled knowingly, secretly pleased with himself. He explained in a serious tone, "Grandpa, a section chief is like the head of a department in a factory, managing dozens of people! As for bureau-level officials, they're even more powerful. Here, they're like district heads or municipal bureau chiefs. In a small city, they'd be the mayor!"

"My goodness, such a high-ranking official?" The old man's eyes lit up, his face full of surprise.

Grandma Shen's gaze was cautious, and she suddenly asked, "There's no such thing as a free lunch. Don't just give me nice things to hear. Are there any other conditions?"

Chen Jianguo nodded quickly, a smile plastered on his face: "Of course there are conditions, but don't worry, I've met them all."

"Then what are you waiting for? Go for it! It's a good thing!" The old man slapped his thigh, expressing his strong approval.

If Chen Jianguo could really become a district chief in the future, that would be a great honor for his ancestors, and he would walk with his head held high.

Grandma Shen, however, was not so optimistic. She glanced at Chen Jianguo, her mind perfectly clear.

This kid probably couldn't get money from Chen Deshun, so he's set his sights on those two old guys. He's got a good plan.

Chen Jianguo secretly pondered: He couldn't ask his grandparents for money directly now. The most urgent thing was to get the savings book back from his father. Once he had the savings book, he could ask his grandparents for some money to cover his studies, and then work things out gradually.

Having figured this out, he immediately adopted a sour expression and sighed, saying, "Sir, this was supposed to be a good thing, but the problem is my dad..."

He deliberately left his sentence unfinished, as if he wanted to say something but stopped, and put on a wronged look.

"What's wrong with your dad? Just say it directly, don't be vague and leave things unsaid." The old man immediately pressed for an answer, like a straight man in a comedy duo.

Chen Jianguo sighed and composed himself: "Yesterday, my dad inexplicably showed up at my workplace and made a scene, forcing me to hand over our bankbook. The money in there was for my further education and some social obligations."

As he spoke, he coughed lightly, somewhat embarrassed, "I really had no other choice but to bring you two here."

Upon hearing that money was to be paid, the old man immediately waved his hand, shaking his head like a rattle drum: "No, no, your grandma and I are living at your uncle's house now, we're as clean as dirt, we have no money to help you."

Grandma Shen pursed her lips and chuckled to herself.

Okay, now I understand. So Chen Jianguo is trying to use the old couple as pawns to get money from Chen Deshun.

"Grandpa, Grandma, I don't want to ask you for money," Chen Jianguo quickly explained upon seeing this. "I just want to ask if you could talk to my dad and ask him to return my bankbook?"

Grandma Shen's eyes darted around, and she asked curiously, "How much money is in your bankbook?"

Chen Jianguo hesitated, not wanting to say it, afraid that his grandparents would worry about him.

But now he was in a bind, and he couldn't stay silent either. After holding it in for a long time, he finally managed to squeeze out, "About 1,300."

"What the hell? 1300!?" The old man's eyes widened in shock.

He worked himself to the bone in the village, and after deducting food and drink, he could only manage to save a hundred or two hundred yuan a year at most.

How could Chen Jianguo save so much money in just two years of working?

Grandma Shen also looked at Chen Jianguo with an incredulous gaze, and suddenly understood why Chen Deshun disliked his eldest son so much.

"I'm asking you, do you know how much debt your father has? And who has most of that money been spent on?"

Chen Jianguo isn't a high-ranking official, so how did he accumulate so much money? On the contrary, Chen Deshun, who works in a large factory and earns a much higher salary than Chen Jianguo, should be living a life of luxury, but he's burdened with debt and spends every day working to earn money. He hasn't been back to the village for two years. It's heartbreaking to think about.

Chen Jianguo blushed with embarrassment when questioned, and forced a defense, saying, "Grandma, as long as we get through these few years, everything will be fine once I get a promotion and a raise. Besides, our company now offers government-sponsored overseas training programs. There's gold everywhere overseas; we'll be picking up sacks of money! Our family will be rich and powerful then, and we'll completely change our lives!"

"Is she even speaking human language?" Before Old Mrs. Shen could even speak, the old man next to her exploded.

"No way! Foreign countries are for capitalists. If you dare to go abroad, you'll never be surnamed Chen again!" The old man blew his beard and glared, scolding him.

Grandma Shen glanced at the old man and sighed inwardly. He really hadn't let go of that matter.

Chen Jianguo was completely bewildered, startled by his grandfather's sudden and strong reaction.

In his memory, his grandfather had always been gentle and had never lost his temper or said anything harsh to him. Had he taken the wrong medicine today?

He couldn't help but think to himself: What era are we living in? The country established diplomatic relations with Japan eight years ago, and it also established diplomatic relations with the United States last New Year's Day. These country bumpkins are so ignorant. They think foreign countries are so great, and they have such strong hostility towards them for no reason.

Old Mrs. Shen saw through Chen Jianguo's thoughts and gave him a cold look: "People should be down-to-earth and work hard, instead of always thinking about crooked ways. As long as the leaders appreciate you, you can rise in rank even if you haven't gone to school. Think about the past, how many people went to school? Yet, plenty of people still became high-ranking officials. No matter how high or low your rank, you are all serving the people. Taking shortcuts is not the right way."

Chen Jianguo was stunned and looked surprised. He didn't expect that his grandmother, an old woman from the countryside, could come up with such a set of twisted logic, and it was quite convincing.

He carefully chose his words before speaking: "Grandma, what you're saying is all outdated. Now we've reformed and opened up, and universities have resumed enrollment. The competition will only get fiercer in the future. Besides, how can officials of different ranks be treated the same? A higher rank can crush you; the difference in salary, benefits, and connections is enormous!"

As for those high-ranking officials who never went to school, as his grandmother mentioned, he knew a few of them, the most typical of whom was Chen Yonggui.

Born into a poor peasant family, he herded cattle for landlords when he was young. He never went to school and was completely illiterate.

He was only able to read documents after studying them, and his report writing skills were even worse than his.

After that, he worked as a farmer in Dazhai, Xiyang County. Later, he made some achievements and, thanks to the "Learn from Dazhai in Agriculture" movement, he was promoted to Zhongyang as a representative of workers, peasants and soldiers.

But what era was that? What time period was that? It's completely different from now!

If we don't see eye to eye, even half a sentence is too much!

Grandma Shen was too lazy to argue with him about these trivial matters. She gestured with her chin behind him and said, "Alright, don't bother with my and your grandfather's lectures. You won't understand anyway. Here comes your father. Go argue with him."

Chen Jianguo's heart tightened. He turned around and saw Chen Deshun walking towards him. He panicked and immediately wanted to ask his grandparents for help to get the passbook back.

But when I turned around, I was dumbfounded. It was empty. My grandparents, who had been beside me just moments before, had suddenly disappeared.

He turned slightly and saw his grandparents sneaking into the ward as if their feet were greased, leaving him all alone in the same spot. He felt a pang of misery.