Chapter 7: Shimatou Village

After a long, bumpy journey, they finally got off the train by the evening of the third day.

As soon as the Huo family stepped out of the train station, they saw a crowd of people holding signs, waiting to pick someone up.

Su Miaomiao immediately noticed a young man with dark skin, high cheekbones, and a thin build holding a crooked sign that read: Huo Jianguo.

“Dad, that looks like the one here to pick us up,” Huo Zhenbo said.

Huo Jianguo led the family toward the young man.

“Hello, are you from Shimatou Village?” Huo Jianguo asked.

“Yes, yes! I’m from Shimatou Village. You’re the Huo family, right?” the young man nodded repeatedly.

“Yes,” Huo Jianguo replied.

“Finally! I’ve been waiting for ages. I was starting to think you wouldn’t arrive today. Let’s hurry—if we don’t leave now, we won’t make it back to the village before dark,” the young man urged.

As his gaze accidentally landed on Su Miaomiao, his pupils suddenly trembled, and his dark face flushed red, the color quickly spreading to the tips of his ears.

The mix of black and red made him look like a perfectly ripe black plum.

Huo Zhenbo noticed the look in his eyes and instinctively stepped in front of Su Miaomiao.

He knew his sister was pretty—back in the capital, no one would dare touch someone from the Huo family.

But now that they were in the countryside, he’d have to stay alert and guard her carefully.

“Uh… let’s head out first,” the young man mumbled, realizing his reaction had been inappropriate, and quickly looked away, stammering as he led the way.

Fortunately, the person sent to pick up the eldest uncle’s family had also arrived, and the two families separated at that point.

The young man who came for the Huo family was named Shanya Zi, a native of Shimatou Village.

Outside the train station, a donkey cart was tied up in the square. Once Shanya Zi recovered from his earlier embarrassment, he became very enthusiastic and helped the Huo family onto the cart before driving it back toward the village.

Along the way, he explained a bit about Shimatou Village:

“Our village is under the Anyang Brigade. There are twelve villages like ours in the brigade.”

“Right now is the busiest time of the autumn harvest. You guys came at just the right moment. If you’d come a few days later, the harvest would be over, and it would be even harder to earn work points. Without points, there’s no grain, and then you’ll be starving by winter.”

“But don’t worry, our villagers are all pretty kind. Over the years, we’ve welcomed quite a few families like yours for re-education. As long as you’re serious about reform, the villagers will be happy to accept you.”

---

Shanya Zi was a talker. He practically told the Huo family everything about Shimatou Village along the way.

But the more Huo Jianguo listened, the more his brows furrowed.

He didn’t need to hear much—just one look at Shanya Zi was enough to tell the village’s situation wasn’t good.

They probably couldn’t even meet basic needs. Otherwise, how could a young man like this be so scrawny?

The men could endure it, but there were two elderly people in the family.

His wife had always been pampered—whether at her maiden home or in the Huo family, she had never done a day of labor.

And their daughter? So thin already—if she couldn’t even eat properly, she’d waste away.

Huo Jianguo was already making plans. Once he got into the brigade, he’d get familiar with the work quickly and earn more labor points so his parents, wife, and child could all have enough to eat.

---

After a long ride filled with small talk, they finally arrived at Shimatou Village just as night completely fell.

At the entrance of the village, under an old pagoda tree, stood a man in his fifties, holding a long-stemmed dry tobacco pipe and puffing away with soft pa-ta, pa-ta sounds.

When he saw Shanya Zi return with the donkey cart, he finally let out a sigh of relief.

“Village Chief,” Shanya Zi quickly pulled the reins and stopped the cart, jumping down nimbly.

“Mm.” Village chief Wang Hongjie nodded.

“Village Chief.” Huo Jianguo and the others jumped down from the donkey cart and greeted him politely.

“You’re the Huo family, right?” Wang Hongjie’s tone was fairly mild.

“Yes,” Huo Jianguo replied with a nod.

Wang Hongjie walked in a circle around the Huo family, assessing them. Eight people total — aside from the two elderly who were clearly no longer capable of labor, the rest were all young and able-bodied.

That would definitely boost the village’s labor force, especially helpful for easing the shortage of hands during the current autumn harvest.

“Come with me, I’ll take you to your housing first.” Wang Hongjie turned and led the way.

The Huo family followed behind.

Shanya Zi tied the donkey cart to the large pagoda tree and enthusiastically helped carry the Huo family’s luggage.

“I’ll walk you over.”

Naturally, Huo Jianguo didn’t refuse the kindness.

Wang Hongjie led the group for about ten minutes before finally stopping in front of a dilapidated cowshed.

Inside the rundown cowshed was a skinny water buffalo. Beside it were two rickety wooden huts, clearly thrown together haphazardly.

Aside from that, the area was deserted.

Tang Chunlan took one look at the scene before her and felt her vision go black.

She had mentally prepared herself before coming, but seeing it with her own eyes still filled her with overwhelming despair.

This place was clearly meant for livestock, how could they expect people to live here?

Wang Hongjie, fully aware of what they were thinking, took another puff from his pipe and said:

“The village does have proper housing for the educated youth, but those are only for the educated youth. You’re here for reformation, and according to the rules, this is where you’ll live.”

“But yes, the place is pretty rundown. Luckily, the weather’s still not too cold. After the harvest, I’ll send some folks over to help repair it a bit. Just make do for now.”

Tang Chunlan opened her mouth to speak, but Huo Jianguo gently pulled her back and simply smiled as he nodded to the village chief.

“Thank you for the trouble, Village Chief.”

“No need to be polite. I’ll have someone deliver some food rations shortly. Rest for the night—starting tomorrow, you’ll begin working with us.” Wang Hongjie was clearly pleased with Huo Jianguo’s cooperative attitude.

Shimatou Village had taken in other reformation cases before.

The last person who came had made a fuss, refusing to live here and even tried to pull rank. Now, the weeds on their grave were two meters high.

Wang Hongjie’s biggest hope was peace in the village. If these new arrivals could behave, he’d be more than satisfied. He had no interest in trouble.

He gave them a few more reminders before turning to leave.

“I’ve put your things here. I’ll head back now,” said Shanya Zi, quickly setting down the luggage and preparing to leave.

But before he went, he couldn’t help but glance again at Su Miaomiao, who stood quietly at the back of the group.

It really wasn’t his fault. In his entire life, he had never seen a girl so beautiful.

Skin white as snow, eyes bright like stars.

He used to think the educated girls sent from the city were already like fairies. But after seeing Su Miaomiao, he finally understood what a real fairy looked like.

It was just too bad that even a fairy like her had ended up as a reformation case.

He only hoped that, unlike the previous ones, they wouldn’t stir up trouble in the village.

After all, with someone so pleasant to look at, he wouldn’t mind seeing her every day—it would surely brighten his mood.