Chapter 505

The educated youths in Five Gate Village had already heard whispers from Emma and Dylan, but when the official announcement finally came, they couldn't hold back tears of joy. After years of desperate attempts to return to the city—their true home—they had clung to every shred of hope, only to be met with crushing disappointment time and again. In stark contrast, the villagers stood bewildered. Many of these educated youths, having long given up hope of going back, had resigned themselves to rural life—marrying locals, raising children. Whether by choice or circumstance, their lives had become deeply entwined with the village. Now, if they passed the reinstated college entrance exams, they would inevitably leave for the city. But their spouses, barred by the lack of urban household registration, couldn’t follow—at least not until policies loosened. Worse still, some returnees would abandon their rural families altogether, leaving broken homes and orphaned children in their wake. "You k