Chapter 13: He Came to Pick Her Up

“Comrade Zhao, there are still steamed buns here. Would you like one?”

Oh my god, finally someone remembered that he existed!

Zhao Qianjin gratefully nodded. His dry rations had run out last night, and counting this morning, he hadn’t eaten for two meals. He was starving!

Looking at them eating so deliciously, he was practically swallowing his own saliva…

“Don’t worry, once we get to the place and I have a confirmed address, my family can send me a package. When that happens, I’ll treat you all to the sesame twists my mother makes!”

The group ate and chatted merrily. Before afternoon arrived, people from the various production teams came to pick up the educated youths one after another.

Fewer and fewer educated youths remained at the Educated Youth Office.

A bullock cart from the Sikanzi brigade production team arrived. The driver wore a straw hat, obscuring half his face.

After helping them load their luggage onto the cart, he sat silently in the driver’s seat, waiting for them to get settled.

With a flick of his whip, the bullock cart slowly pulled away from the Educated Youth Office.

The three women continued their lively chatter, but the only man felt lonely and isolated. Although he found the driver rather taciturn and seemingly unfriendly, he was so bored that he mustered his courage to strike up a conversation.

“Fellow villager! You’ve worked hard coming all this way to pick us up. Do you smoke? Want a cigarette?”

“No, thank you, I don’t smoke.”

A cold gust of wind swept past Zhao Qianjin’s head.

Undeterred, he continued, “Fellow villager… have all the fields in our village been harvested?”

Driver: “Yes!”

Thinking it might sound abrupt, he added: “They’re all harvested!”

Zhao Qianjin…

Well, this conversation was going nowhere.

The three women, engrossed in their conversation, didn’t notice Zhao Qianjin’s gloomy mood. Wanru, overjoyed at making new friends, was even less aware of the increasingly somber atmosphere surrounding the driver.

“What’s going on? Wanru! Where are you going?”

“Xiaodu? Xiaodu!! You’re finally awake! I’ve been so worried about you these past few days!”

Xiaodu: A little exaggeration, isn’t it? I feel like you’re in a fantastic mood right now.

“Xiaobei, Meiting, I didn’t sleep well last night, I’ll take a nap! Wake me when we get there!”

The driver’s brow furrowed. Just didn’t sleep well? Didn’t she catch a cold those two nights in the mountains?

“Okay, do you want to lean on my shoulder?” Qiao Xiaobei generously patted her thin shoulder.

“No, the bullock cart is wide enough. I’ll lean against my luggage.”

Adjusting her luggage roll to a comfortable angle, Wanru curled up in a corner of the bullock cart, her back against her luggage, closing her eyes to communicate with Xiaodu.

“Xiaodu! You’re not going to suddenly go silent again, are you?”

“Shouldn’t happen. First, tell me what you’ve been up to these past two days. I noticed my points have increased~”

So, the system, originally needing a month of sleep, sensing danger, automatically deducted points and added them to its nearly depleted energy bar in the form of an energy potion!

Although not fully replenished, it couldn’t use large-scale abilities like time travel, but maintaining consciousness wasn’t a problem.

Wanru was a little puzzled.

“I didn’t do anything! I just got lost in the woods, and I met a hunter going into the mountains, and he led me out…”

Wanru rambled on about her experiences. Of course, she omitted the overly intimate details like the man pinching her cheek and carrying her out of the mountains.

She transformed the story into a tale of hardship, emphasizing the blisters on her feet as she followed the man out of the mountains.

It’s best to avoid any implication of inappropriate closeness, in case Xiaodu thinks she’s not a good girl.

This edited and sanitized account completely confused the system!

It sounded perfectly normal.

Did the Yao Fei system automatically switch channels? Did it become a farming system or a get-rich system?

Well…

It seems it needs to do some serious research!

Zhao Qianjin, alone in the bumpy bullock cart, drifted off to sleep again.

What’s going on? How many times have I fallen asleep? We haven’t even arrived yet? It’s so far!

Why does it feel like the bullock cart is getting slower…

By the time the bullock cart entered the Sikanzi brigade production team in Yushu Gou, it was completely dark.

Li Jiubao, the secretary and team leader, had already visited the Educated Youth Office several times—this was the fifth time!

“Hongjun! Haven’t the new educated youths arrived yet?”

“Not yet, Uncle Li! Chunsheng and Chunfa have gone to meet them twice, but they haven’t seen a trace of them. Something must have delayed them. Don’t worry, they’ll probably be back soon!”

Zhang Chunsheng and Zhang Chunfa were brothers, both saved by Lu Yao that year. Now, one was a squad leader in Team 3, and the other in Team 4.

They had also invested in Yu Zhen’s gambling operation in the city.

Today, Brother Yao suddenly felt like doing something, so he took over Old Man Wu’s job of picking up the educated youths from the county. The two brothers knew something was up, so after work, they quickly grabbed a bowl of porridge, a steamed bun, and a piece of pickled vegetable, and waited anxiously at the Educated Youth Office.

They even went out twice on their bicycles to look for them, unable to wait any longer.

“Uncle Li, go inside and wait. I’ll call you when the cart arrives.”

What else could Li Jiubao do but wait?

He wished he hadn’t let Lu Yao go. That kid had a fierce look, even the villagers were afraid of him. What if the city educated youths thought he looked like a bad guy and wouldn’t dare to ride his bullock cart?

That’s ridiculous!

No, he should go out and meet them.

Just as he was about to ask Liu Hongjun to borrow his bicycle, Liu Hongjun exclaimed, “Here it comes, here it comes, Team Leader, the bullock cart is entering the village!”

Hearing the news, the Zhang brothers rushed out to meet them.

The veteran educated youths who had been waiting at the Educated Youth Office after dinner also came out of their rooms.

Liu Hongjun took Wanru’s luggage roll. Other male educated youths took the luggage of the other female comrades.

Zhao Qianjin still carried his own luggage, remaining completely unnoticed.

Even after everyone entered the Educated Youth Office, there was no eye contact. Lu Yao, equally gloomy at being completely ignored, tossed the bullock cart to Zhang Chunsheng and walked away with a thundercloud on his face.

Leaving the gossipy Zhang brothers staring at each other, wondering which of the three female educated youths…

Inside the Educated Youth Office!

“I’m Liu Hongjun, the oldest brother here. I arrived in ‘67. If you have any questions, ask me or Comrade Tian Xilan. She’s the oldest sister here.”

“This is Comrade Song Honglian, Comrade Zhang Weihong, Comrade Guan Jun…”

“Now, let’s welcome our new comrades, Qiao Xiaobei, Ji Wanru, Du Meiting, and Zhao Qianjin! A round of applause!”

Clap clap clap…

A burst of enthusiastic applause erupted.

Wanru excitedly clapped along, her face flushed.

In her life, she had never received such a warm welcome. She felt like a precious commodity, everyone coming to greet her!

Qiao Xiaobei: We’ll be working in the fields tomorrow. I never would have guessed this delicate little girl would be so eager to work!

People in this era are so positive!

Even after entering the room and sitting on what they called the kang (heated bed), she was still overwhelmed…