As usual, after finishing dinner, Su Huazhu and Song Luoshu sat outside the entrance of the educated youth station to rest while waiting in line for washing up.

Unexpectedly, Song Luoyun, who had gone out to find his playmates after dinner, suddenly returned.

As soon as he saw Su Huazhu, he excitedly threw a piece of explosive news at her.

“Really?!”

Could it be true?!

Su Huazhu couldn’t help but get excited.

Before she went to the countryside, her mother had told her that their family would also be sent down to a nearby production team.

There were only a couple of production teams nearby besides the one in Dashan Village where she was currently stationed.

She had been waiting and hoping every day.

Since arriving, she had never dared to complain or show exhaustion, because she was grown up now and didn’t want her parents to worry anymore.

“Cousin, I purposely went to chat with Baihu just now, and that’s when I overheard them talking about it.”

Since coming here, Song Luoyun had deliberately made friends in the production team who were about his age, so he could ask around about Aunt Qiao’s family’s arrival.

“What else did they say?!”

Su Huazhu was so excited that her eyes turned red.

She had no idea how her parents, elder brother, sister-in-law, and her two little nephews were doing—whether they had been beaten or scolded, whether they had enough to eat.

And especially—were her two little nephews scared?

“They didn’t say much, only that a whole family had arrived.”

Song Luoyun didn’t dare to ask more.

After hearing the news, he just asked one question and said nothing else.

Because the identities of the three of them were already sensitive, asking too much might raise suspicion.

“Xiao Luo, Xiao Shu, I think we should find a chance in the next few days to go see if it’s really my family.”

Su Huazhu was already getting impatient. If it weren’t so late in the evening, she would’ve rushed over to check right away.

“Cousin, let’s get prepared. It’s our turn to cook tomorrow—so maybe we can go the day after tomorrow or the day after that.”

“Yeah, we’d better head out before dawn. It’s not safe to travel at night, and we don’t know the terrain around here. Daytime will be much safer.”

Song Luoshu and Song Luoyun both fully agreed and offered suggestions.

They also wanted to see Aunt Qiao’s family and hoped they were doing well.

If the Su family was well, that meant they’d be well too.

The siblings understood that clearly—only if the Su family was okay would they, the cousins, have a better life.

Besides, ever since coming to the countryside, the two siblings actually felt that life here was better than in the capital.

Especially after their grandfather secretly told them that Aunt Qiao had given their family a sum of money, ration coupons, and enough supplies and grain to last a good while.

The sick younger siblings at home were also getting better, and Aunt Qiao had even given them medicine.

They no longer had to worry about having no money for food or medical care.

When they came down to the countryside, he received a 200 yuan settlement fund from the Educated Youth Office.

Grandpa told him to take it all, but he only took 130.

He brought so much mainly for his little sister—just in case they didn’t have enough food, he could buy some.

Or if they got sick, they’d have money for medicine.

“Then we’ll head out the day after tomorrow before dawn.”

Su Huazhu was eager, but she knew she couldn’t just take off unprepared.

They had to make some arrangements.

“I’ll ask around tomorrow about how to get to Baigou Village and how far it is.”

Song Luoyun was more detail-oriented.

He hadn’t dared ask too much earlier for fear of drawing attention, but now that they were planning to visit Aunt Qiao’s family, he had to do some serious asking.

“Alright, just be careful.”

As soon as the three of them finished discussing, Lian Ailian’s voice came from the gate behind them.

“Xiao Su, Xiao Luo, and Xiao Shu, stop chatting. It’s your turn to wash up.”

Lian Ailian had a favorable impression of these three well-behaved and non-troublesome educated youths, especially since they had some background in the production team.

She was also willing to look out for them a little.

“Coming, Sister Lian,” Su Huazhu responded.

The three of them stopped talking.

They had been speaking in low voices and were careful, so they weren’t too worried about being overheard.

“It’s still freezing out here—what are you all chatting about?”

Lian Ailian didn’t understand why the three of them always liked to stand out here chatting in the cold wind. It was so chilly that they still had the heated beds going inside.

“Sister Lian, we were talking about how many work points we want to earn. Xiao Luo wants to earn six, I’m going for four or five, and little Shu is still young—three work points should be enough for her.”

Su Huazhu smiled as she explained why they were talking privately.

It didn’t matter whether the other party believed it—they did.

“Three points a day isn’t enough for a whole year’s ration. You’ll need at least five to barely get by. But little Shu really is too young—working too hard might hurt her health.”

Lian Ailian had long noticed that these three cousins were very close.

Among them, Su Huazhu was clearly the best off, but she still looked after her younger cousin, Song Luoshu.

“Right, that’s why we’re planning to take it slow—get used to the work first, no rush, just see what we can handle.”

Before coming down, her mother had already told her about the experiences and lessons from previous sent-down youths.

Su Huazhu felt it was best to build a solid foundation first, adapt slowly, and only then figure out her limits.

No rush.

After all, they had money—enough to keep them well-fed for at least two years.

Lian Ailian hadn’t expected this freshly graduated high school girl to be so calm and measured.

Her mindset was steady and confident—only someone with real security could speak like that.

In all her years in the countryside, it was the first time she’d met an educated youth girl so composed and clear-headed.

“Yeah, we’ll just do what Cousin says,”

Song Luoyun and Song Luoshu chimed in behind her in unison.

They were nothing like the other educated youths who fretted about life in the countryside, nor did they dislike it here like many others did.

The next morning, Su Huazhu, Song Luoyun, and Song Luoshu woke up an hour earlier than everyone else.

The night before, the educated youths had already packed their breakfast and left it in the kitchen.

Su Huazhu and Song Luoshu fetched water, lit the fire, and started steaming everyone’s meal boxes on the stove rack.

Meanwhile, Song Luoyun fetched water from the courtyard well, filled the water tank, then went to chop firewood.

About half an hour later, the other educated youths gradually got up.

After washing up, breakfast was ready.

Once breakfast was done and everyone had cleaned their containers, they packed their rations for lunch and left those in the kitchen too.

At noon, Su Huazhu and Song Luoshu left work half an hour early to rush back and cook lunch for everyone.

In the afternoon, since it got dark early, they didn’t need to leave work early.

But as soon as the whistle blew for the end of the day, they and Xiao Shu rushed back to cook dinner.

After completing their cooking duties, Song Luoyun had also figured out the route to Baigou Village.

That night, the three of them went to bed early. Before dawn the next day, Su Huazhu, Song Luoshu, and Song Luoyun quietly got up and set off.