Chapter 30: The Reason

Tang Wan returned to the sent-down youth (zhiqing) settlement and told them what had happened. Sister Yanhong didn’t hesitate; she found the key, opened the cupboard, told everyone, and set aside Tang Wan’s portion of food.

There wasn’t much food to begin with. After all, once the autumn harvest came, there would be another round of distribution. These supplies were just to help them get by for now.

Sister Yanhong packed it up — about half a small cloth sack filled with cornmeal.

Tang Wan took the food but didn’t rush to Grandma Bai’s place.

After several busy days, today Tang Wan planned to wash the clothes she had worn while watering the fields these past few days. Everyone else was exhausted and had been falling asleep as soon as they returned.

By now, most others had finished washing their clothes.

Water was scarce at the sent-down youth settlement, so washing clothes meant going to the river at the village.

When Tang Wan was carrying her basin to the riverbank, she happened to meet Luo Ying there.

Luo Ying was the only daughter at home and was still somewhat pampered, but washing clothes was basically her responsibility.

Tang Wan squatted down in the space beside her. Luo Ying silently slid over a little to make room but didn’t look up.

“What are you thinking about? If you keep hitting the clothes like that, you’ll tear them apart,” Tang Wan said, watching Luo Ying rhythmically beating the clothes.

Startled by Tang Wan’s voice, Luo Ying quickly turned to look at her.

“Why are you here?” Luo Ying asked. “Oh right, I almost forgot you went back to the zhiqing settlement. You can only wash your clothes here now.”

“What are you thinking about alone here?” Tang Wan set down the basin in a good spot that wouldn’t get too much sun.

“Just spacing out,” Luo Ying said, bored.

Not many people were washing clothes right now — usually, they gathered in small groups. The others were married women living downstream, so Luo Ying washing alone here felt a bit lonely.

“You’re going to ruin those clothes,” Tang Wan pointed to the clothes Luo Ying was still pounding.

Luo Ying took the clothes out and switched to another piece. “I heard you’re going to eat meals together at Grandma Bai’s house?”

“You already know?” Tang Wan was shocked at how fast the news traveled — there were no phones here.

“When you came out with the clothes, my aunt and the others were talking about it. Grandma Bai’s meals must be pretty good, right?” Luo Ying perked up talking about this.

“A bit better than the zhiqing settlement’s,” Tang Wan said cautiously.

“Of course! Grandma Bai’s sometimes even serves white flour noodles. She doesn’t have kids at home, and Qin Zheng can still bring some things from outside,” Luo Ying said with a bit of envy when mentioning white noodles.

“You really know the details,” Tang Wan teased with a smile.

“Well, Grandma Bai’s even has buns sometimes. My family’s white flour is all being saved by my mom for when my brother gets married,” Luo Ying sighed.

Luo Ying meant no offense. She had two brothers and was still very much favored at home. Plus, her father was the village accountant, so she had much better living standards than most girls.

Still, eating white flour buns even once was a rare treat.

“Your family’s meals are good too — definitely better than the zhiqing settlement’s.”

“That’s true. Mainly because you zhiqing girls aren’t very capable,” Luo Ying said bluntly without thinking much.

After saying that, she suddenly realized Tang Wan might be the least capable of them all.

“I’m not talking about you, just this batch. The previous zhiqing could usually get eight work points, but now many can barely get five or six,” Luo Ying said, knowing this because of her father’s position — she probably overheard it at home.

Tang Wan didn’t respond. She roughly understood the reason. Most of the early sent-down youth had volunteered and came with high hopes to build up the countryside, so they were highly motivated.

Now, most zhiqing were sent down unwillingly, and they knew that once sent down, like the earlier generation, there was no hope of returning to the city. Their goal was just to support themselves.

There were other reasons, but nothing too important.

“That’s true,” Tang Wan agreed. The sent-down youth were still much worse at work than the villagers.

“But those zhiqing hadn’t been here long either,” Luo Ying added.

The ones who came earlier had mostly settled down in the village.

The girls married into local families directly, and the boys either lived in by marriage or found land in the village to build houses. The current zhiqing in the settlement had only arrived in the last year or two.

“How’s your boyfriend search going?” Tang Wan changed the subject.

“Still early. Just looking around for now,” Luo Ying’s mood dropped a bit talking about it.

“My mom says this year she’ll definitely find someone,” Luo Ying added without holding back.

She was already eighteen, and most girls her age were married. If she waited longer, she’d become an old maid.

Girls in the village married young — at her age, not being married was only because her family doted on her and didn’t want to let her go.

“There’s still more than half a year. If you have thoughts, talk to your mom, listen to her opinion. She loves you and wants to hear what you think,” Tang Wan tried to comfort her.

Luo Ying was obviously thinking about Dongzi.

Tang Wan decided to ask Grandma Bai and Qin Zheng about Dongzi after she got back — to see what his situation was.

More importantly, whether Dongzi had any intention of settling down. If the girl’s feelings were one-sided, there was nothing to say.

“I know, but my dad definitely won’t agree. He wants me to find someone from the city so I don’t have to work the fields,” Luo Ying’s face showed some worry.

“Your parents want what’s best for you. If Dongzi can let you live well, they won’t object — but you need to prove that to convince them. Do you know his family situation?”

“A little. It’s one of those ‘one person eats full, whole family not hungry’ kind of things, but he’s a good person,” Luo Ying emphasized again.

“How do you know he’s a good person?” Tang Wan asked. This was the second time she heard Luo Ying call Dongzi a good person.

Hearing this, Luo Ying’s face slowly flushed red with a shy expression.

She looked back, glanced at the people washing clothes nearby to make sure they weren’t listening, then quietly told Tang Wan, “He saved me.”

Just four words — but they made Luo Ying shyly look down.

“When?” Tang Wan was curious.

No wonder Luo Ying liked Dongzi and kept insisting he was a good person, even though they barely interacted — there was a reason.

“Once, when I went to town with my mom, we got separated. I ended up in some alley and someone… and then he appeared. He recognized me as from the next village and scared that person away,” Luo Ying said vaguely, but Tang Wan understood clearly.

A hero saving a beauty like that — it was hard not to be moved.