Chapter 12

The road from the train station to Pingzhen was extremely difficult to walk. Almost the entire way was mountainous, and not just any mountain road—it was the kind with loose soil. When a tractor passed through, clouds of dust would rise into the air.

Chen Suihuan pretended to fumble in her shoulder bag for a moment, but in reality, she took a towel out from her space and wrapped it around her face and nose. Only then did she manage to bear the dust.

Qin Fei and Gao Yue copied her example. Without towels, they pulled out pieces of clothing to wrap around their heads. The others weren’t so lucky and ended up with dust-covered faces and hair.

Just like that, they jolted along on the tractor for more than two hours before finally reaching Pingzhen. By the time they got off, Chen Suihuan could no longer feel her butt.

There were ten people heading to Shengli Brigade. Besides Chen Suihuan and the five others, there was Liu Lainan and three other male comrades who arrived at the same pickup spot.

The one who came to meet them was a man in his thirties. He looked familiar, as if he had been seen somewhere before.

Chen Suihuan was just thinking about this when Lu Xingyan walked over and called out: “Big Brother.”

When Lu Xinglong saw his younger brother, he immediately stood up with joy. “Xiaoyan, how come you’re back today? You’re finally back! You have no idea, our mother has missed you so much.”

Lu Xingyan let out a small grunt, put his backpack onto the ox cart, and said: “I got a month’s leave this time. I can finally stay at home and spend some time with her.”

“What’s the use of you spending time with her? What the old lady wants most now is for you to hurry up and marry a wife and give her a chubby grandson. Tell me, you’re already twenty-six this year and still haven’t married.

When I was your age, your oldest nephew was already five!”

This time, Lu Xingyan didn’t even lift his head. He turned and strode toward a narrow path, leaving his older brother behind, watching him with a look of disappointment.

“You’re all here for the Shengli Brigade, right? Come, come, load your luggage onto the ox cart.” Lu Xinglong no longer paid attention to his brother and instead turned to greet Chen Suihuan and the others.

The ox cart wasn’t very big. No one knew what it had been used to carry before, but it definitely didn’t smell good. With all ten people’s luggage loaded onto it, the cart was full.

“Big Brother, is this the only cart? Now that all our luggage is on it, what are we supposed to do?” Liu Lainan looked around at the other ox carts that had gradually departed and finally realized something was off. She asked Lu Xinglong.

Lu Xinglong took a drag of his cigarette, then drove the ox cart forward without even sparing her a glance. “You should feel lucky to even have an ox cart to carry your luggage. If you all got on too, what if my ox got sick from being overworked?”

In the eyes of farmers, oxen were more important than people. An ox could plow fields and grow food—worth more than a few strong laborers. If a Production Brigade had even one ox, it was a big deal.

The locals already had opinions about these educated youth from other places who couldn’t carry heavy loads or do much physical labor.

Now, seeing Liu Lainan acting like this made them even more uncomfortable and dissatisfied.

Liu Lainan looked down at her shoes, clearly reluctant to walk. But seeing that no one else spoke up, she grudgingly started walking too.

After sitting on the train for so long, then two more hours on a tractor, Chen Suihuan actually felt that walking was a nice change. Gao Yue and Qin Fei didn’t say a word either and followed along with the main group.

After walking for nearly an hour, they finally reached the Shengli Brigade. Everyone’s face looked terrible.

On this whole journey, Liu Lainan had caused a fair amount of trouble. What should have been a half-hour walk ended up taking nearly twice as long.

The other nine educated youths were all more or less displeased with her.

Lu Xinglong simply dropped them off, people and luggage together, at the entrance of the village and then hurriedly drove his precious ox back to let it graze.

It was around three in the afternoon, with the sun blazing overhead. Chen Suihuan felt like her face was burning.

“What should we do now? Should we find someone to ask where the Educated Youth Site is?” Xu Tao adjusted his glasses and offered the suggestion.

Just at that moment, the same tractor driver from earlier walked over and glanced at Chen Suihuan and the others.

“I’m the Captain of Shengli Brigade. My name is Lu Hongjun.

Your files for all ten of you arrived a few days ago. We’ve already arranged your accommodations. Follow me, I’ll take you to the Educated Youth Site.”

Chen Suihuan and the rest picked up their luggage again and followed the Captain toward the Educated Youth Site.

Gao Yue and Qin Fei came from well-off families, so they had brought the most luggage. Xu Tao and the others were already tired from the journey and helped carry some of their things, but even then, quite a bit was left.

Chen Suihuan had a good impression of these two girls, so she handed over her two bags for them to carry—her bundles were mostly quilts and clothes, so they were quite light.

She, on the other hand, helped carry the two girls’ heavier luggage.

Qin Fei clasped her hands and said dramatically to Chen Suihuan: “Thank you, heroine, for saving my life. From now on, I am yours, my lady!”

Gao Yue, panting heavily, followed suit and said: “Me too!”

Chen Suihuan smiled and nodded. “Alright.”

They hadn’t walked far before Liu Lainan came over to stir trouble again.

“Educated Youth Chen, you’re really strong, huh? My luggage is heavy too. Could you help me carry some of it?”

Chen Suihuan didn’t stop walking. She coldly tossed back a reply: “Sorry, I don’t know you that well.”

Xu Tao and the other two were also wary of Liu Lainan. Afraid she would latch onto them, they quickly dodged away and jogged to catch up with Chen Suihuan.

Captain Lu Hongjun turned back and saw that Chen Suihuan was carrying such heavy luggage and still walking so fast. His eyes were full of surprise.

Over the years, countless female educated youth had come to their production brigade. They were all like pampered young ladies, crying after just a little hard work.

Chen Suihuan looked soft and delicate, yet who would’ve thought she had so much strength? She was practically a strong laborer.

A capable laborer meant lots of work points. More work points meant more grain would be allocated to them.

Feeling more cheerful, the Captain began talking more as they walked, giving them a rough introduction to the village.

At the Educated Youth Site in the village, there were currently nine other educated youth. Quite a few had come in the past—some had returned to the city, some got married and moved out, and others had been transferred.

Now only a few remained—five men and four women.

Chen Suihuan followed the Captain while listening to him talk, and along the way, she also observed the surrounding environment.

Shengli Brigade was built against the mountain. There were quite a few households, at least over a hundred. And naturally, there was plenty of land. In a place this vast and rich in resources, land was never scarce.

Most families in the village lived in earthen houses, but there were also a few scattered brick houses.

Before long, they arrived at the Educated Youth Site.

It was called the Educated Youth Site, but in reality, it was just two connected houses—one for male educated youth, and one for female educated youth. Around it, a simple courtyard had been enclosed with mud walls.

On both sides were three rooms. Entering through the gate, the middle was a shared space that served as both a living room and a kitchen. On each side of the kitchen were two large stoves, connected to a room on each side. Each room had a kang bed.

This setup allowed for cooking in the kitchen while simultaneously heating the kangs in the rooms.