Chapter 4: Although the courtyard is small, it determines the national policy

  "You, Liu Xiaohei, have become a grandfather in the blink of an eye. Quickly take us to see your grandson." Among the dozen or so people, a short but spirited old man walked at the front, followed closely by several other elderly men who were equally impressive.

  "Grandpa Deng, please come in and take a seat. It's not often that we have the honor of your personal visit for just one small child like ours." Mr. Ye, Mr. Li, Mr. Gu, and Mr. Wan, please hurry up and come on in! Liu Dongfang had thought it was only Grandpa Deng coming, but he didn't expect so many elderly leaders to arrive all at once.

  "Grandpa Deng is good..." a tender and childish voice entered everyone's ears.

  "Little Shuangxi, hello, you're so clever to be talking at such a young age. Who told you I'm Grandpa Deng?" Old Deng remembered that he had only given this little friend a name a few months ago, and now she was already calling him grandpa.

  "It was my little aunt who told me that in the past two days, a grandfather of a young child came to our house." Hmm, Liu Shuangxi is too young to sell cute and it doesn't matter, the old man likes it and hasn't come yet. But Liu Guoli's face turned red all of a sudden as soon as she followed him into the room. Do I dare say that? I don't dare, there's no gap in the ground at home, forget it, let me see if the water has boiled to prepare tea... this little thing will be dealt with by me later...

  "I also know that Grandpa Deng is a wise man, can Grandpa Deng introduce me to these few grandpas around you?" Alas, look at Liu Shuangxi's flattery, Old Deng was already in a good mood recently, and being praised by the child made him even happier.

  "Okay, okay, good kid, let me introduce you. This is Uncle Ye, Uncle Li, Uncle Gu and Uncle Wan. We all came to celebrate your 100th day, although we're a few days late, but you have to understand that we're all quite busy, so it's great that we could make it today." Old Deng explained with a smile.

  "Grandpa Ye is good, Grandpa Li is good, Grandpa Gu is good, and even Grandpa Wan is good. Everyone is good." Meng ba, anyway I'm the youngest, Meng has arrived, this whole house is full of important people, the more lovely they are, the more likable they become.

  "Old brothers, how is it? This little Double Happiness isn't bad, right. Hey, Fang younger brother, you've given this treasure to this young girl, but didn't you spare your own grandson? This makes us several empty-handed guests feel embarrassed." Deng Lao had just seen the Tian Huang jade pendant on Liu Shuangxi's chest, and with his many years of friendship with Fang Xiong, he naturally knew the origin and value of this jade pendant.

  "Deng big brother, I gave the jade pendant to him. Firstly, it's to express my gratitude for Master's teachings back then, and secondly, I also hope that our children can remember that piece of history and pass down some things that might be forgotten." Old Master Fang was reminded of his master and his expression became somewhat agitated.

  "Yes, yes, Xiaofang you're right. I came to see Xiaoshuangxi today and indeed miss Liu Gege. If it weren't for Liu Gege and his wife sacrificing themselves to save us back then, who knows how many of these old guys would have gone to meet Marx prematurely? Unfortunately, Liu Gege can't see this scene today." Deng Lao couldn't help but feel a tinge of regret and emotion as he reminisced about the past.

  "Grandpa Deng, are you talking about my great-grandfather? Can you tell me more? My grandfather and parents have never told me anything about it." Liu Shuangxi also knew that the Deng and Liu families were close friends, but he wasn't really clear on the specific reasons.

  "Little Double Happiness, this story is quite long, how about I tell it to you slowly at my place another time? Today, several old friends came to find me, and I specifically brought them to your place to discuss a few things. You're the youngest, so you'll definitely outlive us. It's also good for you to bear witness for us old folks."

  As soon as he got the ticket to Deng Lao's house, Liu Shuangxi was overjoyed and seemed like several old people had something big to discuss, and he could become a witness to history. Liu Shuangxi quickly snuggled into his grandfather Liu Dongfang's arms, behaving unusually well.

  "Director Ye, Old Li, I understand why you've come to see me. I'm still capable of working for the country and I want to work for the country. But these past few days, I've been thinking that if I were to start working again, what would be the first thing I should do? You need to know that over the past 10 years, our country has fallen behind by far too much. Originally, the gap between us and Western countries, including our former 'big brother', was already large, and we couldn't even catch up if we ran. But instead, we've regressed by 10 years. I'm already over 70 years old, I don't know how many more years I can work, what will happen when I can no longer do it? Even if we work hard, how much of this gap can we make up for, and how can we even surpass them?" As he spoke on this topic, even the wise old man's face was filled with worry.

  "Old Deng, this is not just your own idea, we are also worried." said Ye Laozong, who had been silent all along. "Our country has fallen behind in many ways, some things have reached a very serious level, not to mention domestically, even some small southwestern countries that used to be friendly with us have started to disobey, and recently they've become quite troublesome."

  "Let's put aside the foreign issues for now, they are just a few disobedient kids. We don't have the energy to deal with them right now. Let's focus on domestic issues instead. Let's explore the reasons behind the decline, what's key and how to solve it."

  "Deng, since you mentioned backwardness, is it the backwardness of knowledge and talent?" An elderly man who was thinking on the side also chimed in.

  "Yes, it can be said that in the seventeen years since the founding of our country, we have made great progress, but over the past decade, we put our energy in the wrong direction, wrongly knocking down everything and doubting everything! These ten years almost caused a break in our scientific knowledge and talent reserves. If we want to recover as soon as possible, we must respect knowledge, respect talent, pay attention to science and technology, and pay attention to education. Personally, I hope that if I can resume work, let me first take charge of the work of science and education."

  "Lao Deng, you've chosen a good entry point, no wonder the Premier thought of you as his successor back then." Ye Lao knew what Deng Lao was thinking and after some careful consideration, he found it made sense, so he immediately spoke out in support.

  "Yes, Comrade Ye, I think that the work of science and education is currently the most important task. Starting from 1975, I have been considering the rectification of the educational front, but at that time it was not feasible to do so. So I thought of letting the army take the lead in establishing a National Defense Science and Technology University, recruiting students directly from high school. Now it seems that this is still not enough, and we should further develop education. Education must walk on two legs, with emphasis on both general education and specialized education. Universities should recruit students from among workers, peasants, and soldiers, while key schools can recruit from among new high school graduates. The foundation of education is mathematics, physics, chemistry, and foreign languages, which can be learned from a young age, starting with ABCs. To develop science and technology, to achieve modernization, we must have knowledge and talent, and we must go through strict examinations to concentrate the most outstanding people in key middle schools and universities."

  "Old Deng, are you going to restore the college entrance examination? But this will conflict with the current central ideology." Yeh Lao, still in charge of work, was more aware of the problems that would arise from restoring the college entrance examination.

  "Leaves are old, no matter what the central idea is, this problem must be solved. Even if it can't be solved immediately, we should prepare in advance and communicate with each other. We can also find some comrades, experts and scholars to discuss this issue. Today I invited you here mainly to talk about this topic. Looking at these young people, I also want to tell everyone that Chairman Mao once said a word: 'This world ultimately belongs to them, only by cultivating them into talents will our country have hope and future.'"

  "Alright, Old Deng, I understand your intention. I will carefully consider this matter. We still have work to do, you can stay and sit for a while." Ye Lao replied cautiously to Old Deng's request, and hastily left with the other elderly people.

  "Grandpa Deng, are you going to take the college entrance exam again? I've been studying hard lately." After seeing a few other elderly people leave, Liu Guoli returned to the house and resumed her innocent and lovely appearance.

  "Grandpa Deng, Little Aunt is cheating, she's so stupid, can't even recite 'A Record of Yueyang Tower'." Before Liu Shuangxi had fully digested the conversation between the elderly people, he found an opportunity to attack Little Aunt and immediately seized it. Liu Guoli was also pitiful, just because she spread a few words about our Shuangxi brother, she suffered consecutive blows.

  "Oh, you even know the couplet from 'A Record of Yueyang Tower', that's impressive!" At this moment, Old Deng temporarily lost his worried look and was completely a kind-hearted old man.

  "Grandpa Deng, I don't just know it, I can recite it too!" Then a clear and crisp child's voice echoed throughout the entire room.

  In the spring of the fourth year of the Qingli era, Teng Zijing was demoted to govern the Balin Prefecture. The next year, politics were clear and people were harmonious, and all that had been neglected was restored. He then rebuilt the Yueyang Tower, increasing its original size, and engraved poems and writings by Tang scholars and contemporary figures on it. He asked me to write a text to commemorate this... Do not rejoice because of material things, do not grieve for personal reasons; when residing in high halls, worry about the people; when living far away from the capital, worry about the ruler. Whether advancing or retreating, there is always worry. Then what time can be enjoyed? It must be said that "before the world's worries, I worry, and after the world's joys, I rejoice". Alas! If it were not for this kind of person, who would I share my feelings with?

  This "Record of the Yueyang Tower" was almost memorized by Liu Shuangxi in his previous life, and although he had forgotten some parts later on, during this period of rebirth, occasionally hearing his younger sister recite it, the breakpoints in between were also completely recalled.

  Clap, clap, clap! All the adults in the room were amazed by Liu Shuangxi's wonderful performance. If they didn't know better, no one would believe that this was a child of just over 100 days old. Deng Gong was so delighted that he took Liu Shuangxi from Liu Dongfang's arms and asked: "Shuangxi, did you learn this yourself? You're really amazing!"

  "It was my dad who taught me, I saw my little aunt learning it, so I asked my dad to teach me too. After two practices, I remembered everything. My dad also said that a few sentences in here are most suitable for Grandpa Deng, but I still don't know what they mean."

  What? Liu Guoqing was stunned, when did I teach you, it's clear that you pestered me into reading it twice, this doesn't count as teaching, does it? And another thing, when did I ever say there was something suitable for Deng Gong? Forget it, forget it, seeing how happy Deng Gong looks, I won't bother arguing with you.

  "Comrade Deng, let's eat first, these dishes have been warmed up again. Just now, Old Ye and the others didn't stay to have a bite either."

  "Alright, alright, let's eat first. It's been a long time since I've had a drink with Fang Ge. Later, we'll get Liu Shuangxi to have a cup too, haha! Is today supposed to be a celebration for him?" Deng Lao was so excited that he forgot about the issue of whether Liu Shuangxi was old enough to drink or not.

  Liu Shuangxi's face turned green at that time, bro isn't good at this, okay? I'm still young, is there a juvenile protection law or not? Um, actually, there isn't one now. By the time Liu Shuangxi came out, he was no longer a minor.

  The whole family had a lively and harmonious dinner party, and in the end, Liu Shuangxi didn't get drunk, just pretending to be drunk and saying a few nonsense words. As a result, Deng Lao developed a habit of asking this little wise guy for advice on many things when making decisions.