Chapter 021

By the time the meeting was about to start, most of the villagers had arrived, and the brigade leaders had taken their seats at the main platform.

The reopening of Tanxi Primary School was the highlight of the day, so Liang Youtian, acting as host, officially announced the start of the opening ceremony.

Though “opening ceremony” sounded grand, there wasn’t much to it.

The main agenda was simple: speeches from the brigade leaders, followed by speeches from Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan.

While the brigade cadres were speaking, the ten educated youths reluctantly paid attention out of courtesy.

But once Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan started their speeches, the youths completely checked out—daydreaming, whispering among themselves, clearly uninterested.

When the speeches ended, so did the ceremony.

The brigade secretary asked everyone to applaud. The villagers cooperated with enthusiastic clapping, and a bunch of kids joined in cheering. But the ten educated youths didn’t raise their hands even once.

As soon as the ceremony ended, some of them grabbed the benches under them, clearly ready to leave the moment dismissal was announced.

But after the applause died down, Liang Youtian didn’t announce dismissal.

The truth was, they hadn’t paused all village labor and summoned every household just for the sake of the kids. As important as school was, it didn’t concern everyone.

The real reason for the meeting had to be production-related matters.

Before getting into that, though, Liang Youtian began the usual segment that every village meeting included—commendations and criticisms.

The commendations naturally went to those who were diligent, capable, and had performed well.

Unsurprisingly, among the names praised were Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, for successfully handling school admissions and getting the school reopened.

As for those being criticized, the reasons varied.

Some were lazy and avoided work. Some got into fights. Others engaged in speculative trade or theft. Minor cases just got public criticism, but serious ones would be sent to the commune’s public security or put into reeducation labor.

This time, there weren’t many being criticized—so the focus fell squarely on the ten educated youths.

Liang Youtian, voice stern and amplified by the loudspeaker, called out Han Ting by name and harshly condemned all ten youths for being lazy, gluttonous, and shameless.

Han Ting never cared much about being criticized, so even when he was called out by name, it didn’t bother him in the slightest.

Since Han Ting himself didn’t take it seriously, the other educated youths under his wing cared even less. They reacted the same way as always—letting the words go in one ear and out the other.

Liang Youtian knew their attitude well, so he didn’t waste too much breath on them.

After scolding Han Ting and the others, he adjusted his expression and tone, briefly summarized what came next, and handed the microphone over to the brigade secretary to begin the more important part of the meeting.

Secretary Liu took the microphone, found a good spot to stand, and began addressing the villagers. He first gave an update on the current situation in the village, then laid out the plans and goals for the coming year.

For farmers, the whole year depends on the spring planting.

Only by getting the spring sowing right can they hope for a good harvest and a better life in the months to come.

In addition to planting crops, he encouraged everyone to develop side businesses to improve their livelihood.

These side businesses mainly involved raising pigs and chickens, and growing their own vegetables and grains on private plots.

Speaking firmly into the microphone, Secretary Liu said, “Everyone should know that our brigade failed to meet the hog-raising quota last year. This year, no matter what, we must meet that target. Those who can manage it at home should raise at least two pigs. In order to help everyone do better with their side businesses, we’ve invited an expert from the county. Next, the expert will explain how to fatten pigs, get more eggs from chickens, and how to properly care for your crops and vegetables to raise production. We need those yields to go up!”

The real reason all ten educated youths had been summoned to this meeting wasn’t for the school opening ceremony—it was primarily to teach them how to run side businesses.

In times like these, relying solely on communal labor wasn’t enough to get by.

These young people had just graduated from middle school. They had no idea how to manage rural life.

Having grown up in the city, they knew nothing about raising pigs or chickens, or farming vegetables and grains. That’s why they had to be brought here—to hear directly from the county expert.

After Secretary Liu finished, he handed the microphone to the expert.

Without wasting time, the expert jumped straight into the material he had prepared.

The villagers listened intently.

After all, who didn’t want their hens to lay more eggs, their pigs to gain more weight, or their private plots to yield more vegetables and grains? More produce meant more money—and a better life.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan understood how important side businesses were to rural families. Even though they were now teachers, they still needed to find ways to supplement their livelihoods. Only then could they live a bit more comfortably.

So they went to the office, grabbed notebooks and pens, and began jotting down key points as they listened.

Han Ting, on the other hand, remained as indifferent as ever, clearly not taking it to heart.

To him, living a quiet, hardworking life was the most boring thing imaginable—it simply wasn’t who he was.

At this stage in life, his mind wasn’t on things like rice, oil, or firewood, but rather filled with the youthful passion and romance of being young.

The other nine educated youths naturally clustered around Han Ting. None of them had fully transitioned out of their urban-student mindset, and they hadn’t yet accepted or adjusted to their new identity as rural villagers. Unsure and disoriented, they paid little attention.

When the meeting ended, they were the first to leave—grabbing their benches and heading out in a group.

As they walked back to the educated youth housing, they grumbled about how long the meeting had gone on, how their backsides had gone numb from sitting so long.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan didn’t leave with them—they stayed behind to help clean up the venue and put the desks away.

After Liang Youtian collected the red silk cloth and the microphone, they called over a few children who’d been playing nearby and asked them to help carry the desks and benches back into the classroom.

Once the desks were back inside, the children looked toward the blackboard at the back of the classroom, and their eyes lit up. A chorus of “Wow!” broke out, each exclamation louder than the last.

Chu Xia smiled and said, “We drew that to welcome you all back to school. What do you think?”

One of the children looked up at her and said, “Comrade Educated Youth, you guys are amazing!”

Chu Xia laughed and replied, “No more calling us ‘Comrade Educated Youth.’ My surname is Tang…”

She then pointed at Lin Xiaohan, “His surname is Lin. From now on, just call us Teacher Tang and Teacher Lin.”

The kids responded in unison with cheerful enthusiasm, “Okay! Teacher Tang! Teacher Lin!”

Of course, kids couldn’t sit still for long—after playing a bit in the classroom, they dashed off again.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan stayed behind, adjusting the desks and benches carefully, lining everything up neatly and making sure they were as close to the blackboard as possible.

After tidying everything up, they left the classroom and happened to run into Liang Youtian again.

He was carrying a black horse-head mantel clock in his arms. When he reached them, he said, “I found the clock, but it’s not working. Even when I wind it up, it won’t run.”

Lin Xiaohan reached out to take the clock. “Let me take a look.”

Liang Youtian also handed over a small bottle the size of a fingertip. “This is watch oil I borrowed from the secretary’s house. Use it if you can, but use it sparingly—don’t waste it. If you can’t fix the clock, I’ll take it to the county to get it repaired. We don’t have any clockmakers here in the commune.”

Lin Xiaohan took the oil and nodded. “Got it, Captain Liang. I’ll give it a try.”

Liang Youtian added, “If you need any tools, check in the brigade office. I don’t know if we’ve got anything that’ll help, though. These things are complicated—I don’t understand them myself.”

Lin Xiaohan nodded again, “Alright.”

Then Liang Youtian said, “No need to fix it right away. Take the clock to the office first. You and Comrade Xia come with me—the brigade has marked out a plot of private land for you two. I’ll take you to have a look.”

Lin Xiaohan responded right away, hurriedly took the horse-head clock back to the office, put it away, and then left the school with Chu Xia, both carrying their backpacks, following Liang Youtian out.

Of course, Liang Youtian didn’t take them directly to see the land.

The land had been allocated collectively to all twelve of the educated youths, so all twelve had to go see it together.

On the way to the educated youths’ quarters, Liang Youtian explained to Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, “The private plots are divided per person. In our brigade, it’s one fen of land per person. You twelve get a total of one mu and two fen. Since you arrived late, there isn’t much proper farmland left to assign to you. The plots that have already been tended by villagers won’t be given up. So you’ll have to put in extra effort—clear out all the weeds and stones, dig deep when loosening the soil so it stays soft and breathable. Then level it with fertilizer and plant whatever’s in season. That should be enough. The expert already explained how to plant things and how deep to sow the seeds, so I won’t repeat it.” ^[1]1 mu (亩) is a common unit of land area in China, equal to approximately 666.7 square meters (or 0.165 acres).1 fen (分) is one-tenth of a mu, which is about 66.67 square meters (or 0.0165 … Continue reading

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan listened carefully, memorizing every word.

By the time they arrived at the educated youths’ quarters, Liang Youtian didn’t bother checking what Han Ting and the others were up to. He wasn’t in the mood to worry about their business. He just stepped into the courtyard and shouted, “All of you, come out!”

The ten other youths were in the boys’ dorm and came out together upon hearing his voice.

Once they were outside, Gu Yuzhu asked, “Captain Liang, what now?”

That “what now” carried a hint of impatience.

Liang Youtian ignored it and got straight to the point. “At the meeting just now, the expert taught you how to farm and take on side jobs. The brigade has assigned you a private plot. I’m taking you to see it. These plots are for your own use. Whether you farm or not, what you plant and how you plant—it’s all up to you.”

For farmers, land holds extraordinary meaning. People often fight tooth and nail over even an inch of boundary. But for these ten city-born teenagers, being given land didn’t excite them at all. They didn’t care how much or how little they got.

With indifferent expressions, they followed Liang Youtian to view the land.

It was a rough patch of ground, on a sloped bank by the river. The incline faced the water, and the entire area was covered in a mix of dead and fresh weeds.

They stood on the riverbank, looking at the overgrown strip of land below.

Li Qiao frowned and said, “Captain Liang, you’re not joking with us, are you? Can anything even grow here?”

Liang Youtian looked over and replied, “As long as it’s land, something can be planted. There’s no other idle land in the village to assign to you. This is the only piece left.”

Then, without wasting any more time or entertaining complaints, he took out the measuring rope he had prepared and got to work.

He measured 6.7 meters from the riverbank vertically, then 10 meters along the bank for each fen of land. For twelve people, that meant twelve sections of ten meters each—totaling 120 meters.

Once the measurements were done, he marked out the boundaries.

“This is one mu and two fen in total,” he said. “Whether you farm it together or separately is up to you. We won’t interfere.”

Before anyone else could speak, Chu Xia immediately said, “I want the easternmost section. I’ll farm it on my own.”

Lin Xiaohan followed right after. “I’ll also farm my own, right next to Tang Chu Xia.”

Han Ting and the others glanced over at Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan but said nothing.

Liang Youtian didn’t interfere either. “Alright then, that’s settled. What you do from here is up to you. If you don’t know something, go find someone and ask.”

With that, Liang Youtian turned and left without another word.

There were still things he needed to take care of at the school. There was no rush to start working the land, so Lin Xiaohan didn’t linger at the riverside either.

Without saying anything to anyone, he simply turned and walked away.

Seeing him leave, Chu Xia quickly turned and caught up, walking with him.

The other ten watched the two of them go.

Gu Yuzhu muttered, “She really has turned into Lin Xiaohan’s little shadow, huh?”

Han Ting’s gaze stayed fixed on Chu Xia walking beside Lin Xiaohan, his expression gradually darkening.

His chest felt tight. The tall and short figures disappeared from view, but he still didn’t look away.