Chapter 12

Ye Huan was sleeping soundly when she was suddenly awakened. Groggily opening her eyes, the first thing she saw was a round face scowling at her. As soon as the girl saw Ye Huan was awake, she barked, “Hey, you! Who told you to sleep here?”

Ye Huan sat up, still drowsy and confused. She rubbed her eyes and blinked a few times before finally making out the face of the girl who had just yelled at her.

The girl had two braids, a round face, fine brows, and narrow eyes. She was glaring fiercely at her.

So fierce… Could this be that Lian Yanmei Zhao Sihai mentioned?

Ye Huan replied, “Zhao Sihai told me to stay here. He said whichever room had the door open, I could stay there. This was the only one with the door open, so I came in.”

“You can’t just sleep wherever you want without proper arrangement. If everyone acted like you and just picked any spot, wouldn’t it be chaos?”

She pointed at the bed next to the wall and bossily ordered, “Move over there. Sleep there.”

Ye Huan asked, “Why should I sleep there?”

“I told you to move, so move! Why are you asking so many questions? I’m telling you now—no matter how pampered you were at home, now that you’re at the farm, you have to follow the rules.”

Ye Huan, freshly out of bed, felt a chill. She put on the coat she’d taken off before going to sleep and slowly climbed down from the bed.

Xu Aixiang assumed Ye Huan had been intimidated and was going to move her bedding. She stood there with arms akimbo, waiting for Ye Huan to switch beds—only to hear her say, “I’m not moving. Unless you tell me exactly why I have to.”

Xu Aixiang: “…”

She had assumed Ye Huan, being new and delicate-looking, was probably raised in comfort and had never faced any real hardship. So she wanted to give her a hard time while no one else was in the room.

But that reasoning wouldn’t hold up out in the open.

Originally, this room was just for her and Lian Yanmei. Lian Yanmei slept on the inner bed; she took the outer one. The space next to her bed was convenient for keeping her things within easy reach.

That’s why she didn’t want Ye Huan taking this bed. It would make things less convenient for her.

But she hadn’t expected Ye Huan, who looked gentle and refined, to be so tough and unshakable.

With Lian Yanmei just outside, Xu Aixiang didn’t dare start a physical confrontation and suddenly didn’t know what to say.

Ye Huan ignored her, put on her shoes, and started to leave. Just as she reached the doorway, someone lifted the curtain and entered. She had a similarly round face, short hair cut to the ears, was more than half a head taller than Ye Huan, with dark skin and bright, black eyes full of energy.

Seeing Ye Huan, she said cheerfully, “You’re new, right? What’s your name?”

“Ye Huan.”

“I’m Lian Yanmei. Perfect timing—everyone’s back now. Come outside and meet everyone.”

After speaking, Lian Yanmei lifted the curtain and walked out again. Ye Huan heard her calling from the yard, “The educated youths have arrived! Everyone come and say hello, get to know each other!”

So this is Lian Yanmei.

That girl earlier had acted so domineering, like she ran the place. Ye Huan had thought she was Lian Yanmei.

Ye Huan glanced at Xu Aixiang, then lifted the curtain and stepped outside.

In the courtyard, a few people stood in small clusters. Lian Yanmei glanced around and, seeing only Ye Huan and another unfamiliar young man, asked, “Weren’t there supposed to be three of you? Why are there only two? Where’s the other one?”

She’d gotten the notice a few days ago—three new educated youths were being assigned: two women and one man.

But now, only two unfamiliar faces.

Ye Huan looked around the courtyard but didn’t see Yao Yajuan.

The sun was almost down. She still hadn’t arrived?

Ye Huan explained, “There’s one more named Yao Yajuan. I saw her at the office in town. She refused to take the vehicle and said she’d walk here instead. So we didn’t wait for her and took the ride.”

Li Mingjie added, “She said she wanted to show everyone that female comrades can endure hardships too, so she insisted on walking to the farm. No matter how we tried to persuade her, she wouldn’t budge. We had no choice but to come ahead by car. Who knows how she’s coming… Looks like she really is walking.”

A male educated youth was gulping water from a large tea mug and choked when he heard that, coughing hard.

Lian Yanmei frowned. “Even if she’s walking, she should’ve arrived by now. I bet she got lost. Zhao Pingtao, Han Qianglei, Li Guangchen—you three come with me to the field office. Let’s check if Yao Yajuan is there. If not, we’ll go out and look for her.”

It was the end of March, and the early spring chill still lingered. It didn’t feel cold in the sun during the day, but once night fell, the temperature dropped quickly. A gust of wind could freeze someone to the bone.

Plus, there were several forks in the road between the town and the farm. Yao Yajuan wasn’t familiar with the area—she could easily have taken the wrong path.

If she got frostbite, or worse, ran into some unsavory characters… a girl all by herself…

Lian Yanmei didn’t dare think further. She called the three male educated youths, and the four of them jogged off to the field office.

***

At the field office entrance, they nearly ran into Liu Quangui, who was rushing out.

Back when Yao Yajuan had refused to get on the vehicle and insisted on walking, Liu Quangui got mad and left her behind, driving the tractor to the agricultural supply station to pick up fertilizer.

At the station, he was told there was no fertilizer left. “We already sent someone to fetch more from the county. If you’re in a hurry, you’ll have to wait about an hour.”

The farm wasn’t in urgent need, but Liu Quangui figured since he was already here picking up the educated youths, he might as well bring the fertilizer back too and save another trip.

Another trip would cost extra fuel, and he didn’t want to waste it. After confirming with the station that the fertilizer would definitely arrive that day, he decided to wait.

He was too restless to sit around. Seeing the supply station was unloading goods, he pitched in to help.

Nearly two hours later, the fertilizer from the county finally arrived. Liu Quangui loaded it up and returned to the farm.

After unloading the fertilizer, he did some more work around the farm before heading back to the field office.

Xu Guochao had just wrapped up a production meeting and was parched from talking. He picked up his tea mug, spotted Liu Quangui returning, and asked, “Did you bring the fertilizer back?”

Liu Quangui, thirsty himself, grabbed Xu Guochao’s tea mug and gulped down more than half before replying, “It’s back. Old Luo said he’ll distribute it first thing in the morning.”

Xu Guochao casually asked, “What about the girl who was supposed to be with you on the tractor? Haven’t seen her. Did you drop her off at the Zhiqing Compound? She hasn’t registered yet. Let her know she needs to come to the office and sign in with Sihai.”

Liu Quangui had been so busy unloading fertilizer and working that he had completely forgotten about Yao Yajuan. When Xu Guochao asked, he suddenly remembered and exclaimed in shock, “You mean that educated youth named Yao Yajuan? She’s not here yet?!”

Xu Guochao was stunned. “I think that’s her name. Wasn’t she supposed to ride with you?”

“She didn’t get on the tractor!”

Liu Quangui recounted everything in detail. Xu Guochao was instantly furious. “She said she wouldn’t get on, and you just let her walk alone? A girl, unfamiliar with the area—what if something happened to her? How would you explain that to her parents?! Can you take responsibility for that?”

Liu Quangui had only ignored her out of spite earlier. Now, hearing that she still hadn’t arrived, he broke out in a cold sweat and didn’t even bother responding. He turned and ran. “I’m going to look for her!”

Xu Guochao shouted after him, “Check the Zhiqing Compound first—see if she went straight there!”

Liu Quangui responded as he ran. Just as he reached the door, he saw Lian Yanmei approaching with the three male educated youths.

He shouted to her, “Comrade Lian! Is that girl named Yao Yajuan at the compound?”

“She’s not there—I was just coming here to check if she was at the field office!”

“She’s not here either.”

Not at the compound, not at the field office—she clearly hadn’t arrived yet.

The sky was growing dim. Everyone started to panic.