Chapter 11: Death by Laziness

In the blink of an eye, the day arrived for them to take the train. Tan’s Father and Tan’s Mother both took a half-day off and borrowed two bicycles to escort Tan Yanlu and Jiang Pan Yu to the train station.

They set off at five in the morning and arrived at the train station close to noon. After the two girls entered the station and checked their tickets, Tan’s parents, who had been watching the luggage on the platform, finally handed their bags through the train window.

They repeatedly reminded the girls to take turns resting and keeping an eye on their belongings, to which Jiang Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu naturally agreed with nods.

The train slowly departed, carrying the two girls away from the place where they had grown up and toward an unknown future.

The journey from Hongcheng to Beisheng took about two days and one night. On the train, there were many Educated Youth like Jiang Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu who were heading to the countryside.

Soon after boarding, these young Educated Youth became acquainted with one another and began identifying their future “fellow villagers.”

Tan Yanlu and Jiang Pan Yu also met two fellow villagers, who were actually local aunties. Their sons were serving in the military, and they had taken advantage of the farming season to visit their sons in the army. Now, they were returning to their hometown, coincidentally on the same train as Jiang Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu.

The two aunties, Yang Guiying and Chen Lamei, were typical rural women with a penchant for gossip.

After taking the Nerve Repairing Agent and resting for half a month, Jiang Pan Yu had fully recovered and could now chatter nonstop: “Aunties, could you tell us what our village is like? We’re going there as strangers, and it’s rare to meet locals like you. If you could share some local customs, we’d feel less anxious.”

Yang Guiying slapped her thigh and said, “What’s there to be anxious about? In the countryside, when you’re working in the fields, you can’t be lazy or pick the easy tasks. As long as you’re honest and hardworking, even if you don’t know much, people will respect you. But if you can’t do anything and still like to stir up trouble, not only will you be disliked in the village, but even in the city, no one would like you.”

“That makes sense, Auntie. Could you tell us how the Work Points are calculated? Look at my thin arms and legs—do you think I can support myself?” Jiang Pan Yu continued chatting with them.

Yang Guiying and Chen Lamei glanced at Jiang Pan Yu’s malnourished and underdeveloped frame and offered their assessment: “Well, in the countryside, as long as you’re not lazy, even digging for wild vegetables can keep you fed. Whether you live well or not depends on how diligent you are. In our area, no one has ever starved to death, but there have been cases of people dying from laziness.”

“Oh! What do you mean? People can die from laziness?” Chen Lamei’s remark instantly caught the attention of Jiang Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu. It was the first time they had ever heard of someone dying from laziness, and Jiang Pan Yu urged Chen Lamei to elaborate.

As two pairs of bright, curious eyes turned toward them, Yang Guiying and Chen Lamei’s gossip-loving hearts were instantly ignited. They began recounting a story from the past, taking turns to add details.

“Back in the day, there was a wealthy landlord in our town whose family had only one son for generations. By his generation, he had seven or eight daughters before finally having a son.

When he finally had a son, he was already nearing forty. He cherished this son as if he were a fragile treasure, cradling him in his hands for fear he might fall, and holding him in his mouth for fear he might spoil. The boy was raised as the apple of his eye, the very core of his heart.

By the time the child was seven or eight years old, he still had to be carried around. He grew up with a lazy disposition, with everything done for him by others.

Later, after liberation, when everyone was declared equal, the wealthy family lost their property and servants.

The landlord continued to serve his lazy son with his wife. The landlord was the first to pass away, and he went with some dignity, as his wife was still alive to handle his funeral arrangements.

When it came to the landlord’s wife, she wasn’t so fortunate. The old lady lay in bed, called out once, and never woke up. Her lazy son was just a door away.

A mere three steps away, his mother had returned to her room to sleep and never came out. Yet, he didn’t think to get up and check on her.

The lazy son ate everything within reach. When there was nothing left to eat, he lay in bed without moving, and when he couldn’t hold it anymore, he relieved himself right there in bed.

It wasn’t until the landlord’s daughter came to visit her mother that she discovered the old lady had passed away, her body already stiff.

Their lazy brother was nearly starved to death, covered in filth and excrement.

The daughters were furious. After arranging their mother’s funeral, they ignored their lazy brother, who eventually starved to death in their family’s courtyard.

However, people said he died of laziness. Otherwise, with the kitchen right there and food available, he just didn’t want to work, and thus, he ended up dead. If not from laziness, then what else could it be?”

The entire carriage listened with great interest. Jiang Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu couldn’t help but admire the story, realizing that there are always more extraordinary people out there, and that no matter where you go, you can’t escape such peculiarities.

After the train had been running for half a day, it stopped again, and more people with luggage boarded. Jiang Pan Yu and Tan Yanlu found themselves with new companions sitting beside them.

A young man and woman, both in their teens, clearly Educated Youth heading to the countryside. The young man carried a lot of baggage and, after unloading, sat next to Tan Yanlu.

The girl, on the other hand, traveled light and sat next to Jiang Pan Yu. The young man and girl introduced themselves; the young man was named Duan Zheng, and the girl was Shen Shilei. They were neighbors and had some family ties, so they were going to the countryside together.

Duan Zheng was quite the conversationalist. After introducing himself, he started chatting with Jiang Pan Yu and the others, talking about the climate differences: “I’ve heard that the winters in the northern province are extremely cold, so cold that water freezes instantly. Here, even at the end of June, it’s still unbearably hot.

I’ve heard that in the northern province, by late July and August, people are already wearing long sleeves at night.”

Yang Guiying agreed: “Indeed, it’s much colder there. If you’ve never seen snow before, it can be quite a shock at first.”

Tan Yanlu nodded: “Yes, I’ve heard that the winters there are icy and snowy. You can’t go out without bundling up like a dumpling, it’s that cold.

I’ve brought a lot of padded jackets and two quilts, worried that it might be too cold to sleep at night. But now I’m worried because I’ve brought too much, and I can’t carry all this stuff by myself.”

Walking at such a slow pace, like a turtle, if anyone fell behind midway, they would truly be left helpless, with no one to call for help.”

Duan Zheng, Jiang Pan Yu, and those around them chuckled kindly.

Shen Shilei, who had been quiet all along, suddenly spoke up, “I didn’t bring that much luggage. My family said they’d mail it to the northern province for me. Although it cost a bit more in postage, it’s much easier on me. If you’re not willing to pay for postage, you’ll just have to manage on your own!”

As Shen Shilei said this, a faint smug smile appeared on her face, as if she felt superior to the others.

To be honest, she didn’t seem very clever.

Tan Yanlu smiled, seemingly unfazed by Shen Shilei’s comment, but in her heart, she had already marked this person as someone not worth befriending.

Duan Zheng also stopped bringing up the previous topic. He took out a newspaper and began reading, while Jiang Pan Yu leaned back in her chair and chatted with Yang Guiying and Chen Lamei.

Seeing that the three of them were no longer paying attention to her, Shen Shilei pouted and quieted down, staring out the window at the scenery.

Her gaze inadvertently fell on Jiang Pan Yu sitting beside her. Noticing the patched-up clothes Jiang Pan Yu was wearing, Shen Shilei’s eyes filled with disdain, and she shifted further inward, as if afraid of being touched by Jiang Pan Yu.

Meanwhile, Jiang Pan Yu was busy listening to the aunties’ lively chatter and didn’t notice Shen Shilei’s look of contempt.