Chapter 3

There are three children in the family, two daughters and one son. People often say that the eldest daughter is the youngest son, but the second child, He Yueyang, is not valued. Her family registered for going to the countryside without telling her.

Chu Sangning didn’t know what to say. Just talk and don’t touch me. He even wanted to put his arm around her, so she subconsciously dodged to the side.

“Not very good. These things were bought for me by my dad who saved money.”

Chu Sangning was right in saying this. Although Chu Yuanlin had a good job, he couldn’t bear the high expenses. It might be because his daughter had lost her mother, and Chu Yuanlin always felt that he owed his daughter.

Delicious food and drinks, as well as the most beautiful and expensive clothes in the supply store, as long as Chu Sangning wanted, Chu Yuanlin would buy it.

So I spend almost all my monthly salary just to make my daughter happy.

Hearing the rejection in Chu Sangning’s words, He Yueyang still wanted to go forward and beg for it. Her parents didn’t care about her, so naturally they wouldn’t prepare anything good for her. The two multi-grain pancakes had already been eaten in the car.

Chu Sangning frowned and before he could speak, he heard a female voice in front of him: “Yueyang, I have candy, I’ll give you mine.”

It was Zhao Jiayun who was speaking. Zhao Jiayun’s family was just like that. Although they had a city hukou, their life was similar to that of He Yueyang’s family. The reason why she was willing to give the candy to He Yueyang was because of what happened later.

If Zhao Jiayun remembered correctly, there were not enough houses for the educated youth in the village, so one person would live in a small room by himself.

Don’t think it’s a good thing. A house dug in a hole is similar to the cave dwellings in the neighboring province. That’s why Zhao Jiayun doesn’t want to go there. What if some snake or insect runs into the house late at night?

“Zhao Zhiqing, you are so nice, you are such a good person.” He Yueyang saw that the candy in Zhao Jiayun’s hand was the cheapest, and curled his lips in disdain, but still put it in his mouth.

It would be a waste not to eat it. Since there is a good person around her, He Yueyang is willing to be with her.

Nowadays, relationships between men and women are still strictly controlled. The other two male educated youth did not come forward either. From this point of view, Chu Sangning seemed to be the one who was isolated.

In just an hour, Changxing Village appeared in front of everyone. There was a wooden bridge in front of the village. After crossing the river, you would reach the village entrance.

Jiang Zongzheng signaled the educated youth to pick up their packages and follow him, and also told the oxcart driver: “The oxen have worked hard today. Let someone feed them more grass tomorrow.”

Along the way, the educated youth looked at the environment in front of them and worried about their future. Even Wu Guangqian couldn’t smile.

The ground was full of mud and water. Every time you stepped into a hole, you would fall down. If you were not careful, you would fall.

Jiang Zongzheng could also sense the mood of the educated youths, and said, “Normally this area is fine, but it rained a few days ago and water accumulated here. It will be fine in a few days. Follow me closely, I will take you to have a hot meal first.”

The educated youth followed Jiang Zongzhen and continued to move forward. They were relieved when they crossed the dirt road and saw the houses of every household. They just hoped that they were not leaky thatched houses, and there were even several brick houses.

“Captain, whose family is that?” Wu Guangqian asked.

“That’s my brother’s house. Look, this is my house. If you have any problems in the future, come to my house and find me.”

Jiang Zongzheng brought the six educated youths back to his home. His wife had been waiting for him. When she heard the noise, she opened the door early and asked angrily, “Why are you here so late this time? It’s already dark.”

“The road was difficult to travel on and the cows were acting grumpy, so we wasted some time.”

Jiang Zongzheng’s wife Li Chunfen smiled and said nothing more. She enthusiastically invited the educated youth to come in. “Come in quickly. You must be tired after walking all the way. I’ll go get you some water.”

The sudden enthusiasm made everyone feel flattered. Wu Guangqian declined: “Auntie, we won’t eat it. We won’t eat it.”

The grain harvest was not very good. If the six of them really ate all the food, there would not be enough for the captain’s family.

Jiang Zongzheng sat on a bench and knocked on the table with his pipe: “You can eat without worry, these things are yours too.”

“You just arrived, so you definitely won’t get any food from the brigade. It’s still several months before the food is distributed. I can’t say that I won’t let you eat, even if you are borrowing it.”

“Each of you will get 15 kilograms of coarse grains. If you want to eat fine grains, you can exchange them with the village at the rate of two and a half kilograms of coarse grains for one kilogram of fine grains.”

The educated youth also agreed.

Although Jiang Zongzhen was the team leader, what he ate was no different from that of ordinary people. Because of this group of educated youth, Li Chunfen reluctantly made a pot of egg soup for herself to drink to keep warm.

“Come and eat, everyone.” Jiang Zongzheng invited them to eat. Chu Sangning smiled and sat aside.

He Yueyang and Zhao Jiayun also sat down beside her. They ignored Chu Sangning even though they had only met for a few days, but they were as close as sisters.

Chu Sangning didn’t care about this kind of trick. His calm and composed look made Zhao Jiayun very angry.

Everyone sat together to eat, and Li Chunfen also served a bowl of soup to her old man. The harvest was not good this year, and they were reluctant to waste two eggs to cook a pot of egg soup.

“I don’t want to drink it anymore. Save it for Dabao.” Jiang Zongzheng waved his hand, signaling his wife to take the soup away. He just wanted to eat some vegetables and steamed buns.

Dabao is their grandson, the only child in the Jiang family. He is weak due to premature birth. He would have a fever or a cold for several days if he was exposed to the wind or rain. Jiang Zongzhen loves this grandson as if he were the apple of his eye.

Li Chunfen also loves her grandson, but she also has to take care of her old man. After listening, she whispered: “Dabao has some, you can drink it.”

The educated youth kept refusing the bowl of egg soup, and they were too embarrassed to interrupt. They just ate a few bites of the eggs in silence and were reluctant to touch any of the vegetables.

After dinner, Jiang Zongzheng groped his way towards the place where the educated youth lived. No one had lived there for a long time. The windows were broken and the door creaked.

As Wu Guangqian pushed open the door, a gust of dust blew in his face. “Cough, cough, cough.”

“We’ll just make do today and clean up tomorrow.” Jiang Zongzheng pointed to the room with the low wall, “The wall over there is low and it’s not very safe. Male educated youth, you guys can live over there.”

If some second-rate guy got drunk and climbed over the wall to get in, the male educated youth wouldn’t care, but it would be bad for the reputation of the female educated youth.

That’s why Jiang Zongzhen made such arrangements. The educated youth in the past also slept like this.

However…the number of educated youth this time is not right. There is only one small bed in the room, which can only accommodate two people, so one female educated youth will be left alone.

“Well, there’s only room for two people. Why don’t you just make do with it for the night? I’ll ask someone to make a bed for you tomorrow.”

He Yueyang was immediately furious. The three of them were sleeping in a small bed, so one of them had to sleep on the floor. The Youth League Institute had not been cleaned for such a long time, and there might even be rat droppings on the floor. She didn’t want to do that.