Font Size:
Chapter 4 – The Educated Youth
The train was about to arrive.
Surprisingly, An Ran hadn’t encountered a single unbearable person or weirdo along the way.
“What a shame,” she thought with a sigh. “Kind of a letdown, honestly.”
When they reached the final stop, everyone began to disembark—this was the end of the line, after all.
An Ran hauled her bedding and luggage down with effort.
**Thankfully, her super strength had made the trip with her—**otherwise, just looking at the pile of things she carried was enough to make her want to cry.
She still didn’t quite understand what kind of physique she had. Outwardly, she looked like a soft, delicate young woman, but in reality—she was strong as an ox.
Back home, Grandma had loved farming. Every planting season, she would take An Ran to their old house in the countryside to grow vegetables and fruit. Because of An Ran’s strength, Grandma would always get her to help dig and haul and carry.
They spent a chunk of every year living rurally, so An Ran was no stranger to country life.
Thinking of Grandma made her heart ache a little.
After getting off the train, all the new arrivals gathered at the Educated Youth Office to wait for their assigned production brigades to pick them up.
Soon enough, team leaders and village heads began arriving, and the office director started reading off names and brigade assignments.
An Ran was placed in Qingshan Village, part of the Erjiazi Brigade.
Coincidentally—or maybe not—she was assigned to the same group as the heroine, Wang Xixi, along with Huang Jianshe, Zheng Xiuhong, Xu Zhaodi, and two other male youths who hadn’t been in the same train car earlier.
One was short and chubby, named Wang Mingzhi. The other was tall and lanky, named Zhang Jiahua.
“Well, great,” An Ran mused. “It’s like the real-life version of the Fat and Skinny Monks from ‘The Deer and the Cauldron.'”
Then she caught herself.
“Ugh, An Ran, stop judging people by appearances. That’s rude.”
The three male and four female youths picked up their luggage and followed the village head of Qingshan, a stern-faced man named Xiao Erzhu.
Maybe he was unhappy about getting too many new arrivals—or maybe something else had upset him—but either way, his expression was thunderous.
“This is the heroine’s future father-in-law,” An Ran reminded herself.
“Tread carefully.”
She kept her head down and her expression neutral, eyes fixed on her nose, nose pointed inward—classic “model youth” demeanor.
Anyone who didn’t know her would think she was a shy, obedient girl.
No one would’ve guessed that, inside, she was monologuing like a live comment section during a drama finale.
They came upon an ox cart parked at the side of the road.
The village head barked:
“Put all your luggage on the cart. You all can walk. This ox belongs to the production team—can’t afford to wear it out.”
“…”
An Ran was speechless.
She remembered Grandma once mentioning that back in the ’70s, livestock were more valuable than people.
But seeing it play out in real life? She didn’t know whether to laugh or cry.
“Hmph. Who says I’m not a treasure too?” she muttered internally as she trudged along.
Suddenly, Xu Zhaodi perked up:
“Let’s sing a song together! Show the team leader the spirit of the educated youth!”
“…Seriously?” An Ran blinked.
Where do these people get all this energy?
Huang Jianshe eagerly agreed.
“Comrade Xu, what a great idea! If no one minds, I’ll start us off!”
Without waiting for a response, he launched into a revolutionary tune.
An Ran swore she hadn’t felt this awkward in ages.
By the fourth song, just as she was running out of ways to pretend she didn’t exist, the impromptu “sing-along session” finally came to a merciful end.
Once again, she felt completely out of sync with everyone around her.
After walking for nearly an hour, a village finally came into view.
An Ran had never been this desperate to arrive somewhere in her life—not even that time the salesgirl called to say her dream limited-edition designer bag had arrived in stock.
“Paddle faster, my little boat of hope…”
At the village entrance, some children were playing, while a few older women sat doing needlework.
One of them squinted up and called out:
“Village Head! The new educated youth are here! Look at these boys and girls—so fresh-faced!”
An Ran didn’t let their seemingly kind attitudes fool her.
These grannies might look warm and welcoming, but they were the backbone of the village, queens of authority in every household.
She recalled the rural folklore: The Four Rural Nightmares—
Lucky her—she had just met one of them.
Offend? Absolutely not.
Appease? Definitely.
An Ran gave them a sweet, well-mannered smile—and stayed quiet.
Meanwhile, Wang Xixi held her head high with quiet pride, a hint of aloofness and disdain in her gaze.
From the sidelines, the old women whispered:
“See that? Not a single one of these educated youth look easy to deal with.”
“That round-faced one—kinda reminds me of that cartoon tiger. I like her.”
“…Was that supposed to be a compliment?”
An Ran felt a thousand arrows pierce her soul.
Following the village head into the village proper, An Ran took in the scenery—most of the houses were made of mud bricks, doors wide open, with wild vegetables and other foodstuffs hanging out to dry.
The air was thick with the scent of life.
Eventually, they reached a brick courtyard house.
The village head unlocked the door and gestured for them to unload their things.
“This will be your living space. This house used to belong to a landlord, but it’s been repurposed for you. There are two rooms and a storage area. Sort yourselves out however you like.”
Then he added:
“Your food rations will be recorded by the village. When it’s time to distribute, we’ll deduct your share from your work points. If you’ve got questions, come to the first house on that road—I live there. Once you’re done settling in, come over to my place. Dinner’s on me tonight. Oh, and you can rest tomorrow. Work starts the day after.”
With that, he turned and started pulling the ox cart away.
“Poor thing’s worn out too. You take a break tomorrow too, buddy.”
An Ran: “…”
The other youths: “…”