Chapter 19.1: Act Despicably

Zhao Village wasn’t large, and the gossip spread quickly from house to house, even before a meal was finished.

The educated youth point and the homes of Zhao Er Nai and his family were on the same path. The educated youths didn’t get close to watch but stood outside the educated youth point, observing.

Once the crowd dispersed, they had basically figured out what had happened.

The older educated youth, Deng Haixin, was quite disdainful. “These villagers, always bickering over trivial matters.”

Another older educated youth, Liu Xingxue, looked unconcerned, agreeing, “They haven’t had much education, that’s why they’re so crude.”

Su Limei also complained in a coquettish tone, “Before going to the countryside, I’d never seen such a remote place. As soon as I entered the village, everything was broken and dirty…”

“Your thoughts are not correct.”

Fang Jing’s words suddenly interrupted, and the atmosphere became tense.

Fang Jing glanced at the male educated youth’s room, and more sternly criticized, “The documents say that educated youths are sent to the countryside to take root, reduce, and eliminate differences. The harsher the conditions, the more we should take on the responsibility of an educated youth, helping the farmers. How can you complain?”

Although it was Deng Haixin and Liu Xingxue who started the complaints, she chose to target Su Limei, the new female educated youth.

Su Limei was both angry and wronged.

She was delicate and always gentle in front of the young men, now looking on the verge of tears, which made her appear even more pitiable.

Deng Haixin and Liu Xingxue both looked at her with sympathy.

Liu Xingxue spoke up to defend Su Limei: “Fang Jing, Limei is just speaking her mind, don’t make a big deal out of it.”

Deng Haixin also defended her.

With the defense, Su Limei’s mood softened, and she retorted, “What did I say? Isn’t it the truth? Should we just ignore the truth and spout nonsense?”

At that moment, Zhuang Lan came out of the house and tried to smooth things over: “Alright, alright, we all live together. Don’t argue and ruin the mood.”

Su Limei pouted, “It’s not me causing trouble…”

Fang Jing’s eyes lowered in displeasure, but when her gaze shifted to the house, she seemed satisfied.

Fu Zhiqing was different from these ordinary young men—he wouldn’t be swayed by a woman like Su Limei.

She silently returned to her room.

Su Limei, watching her odd behavior, stomped her foot angrily. “She doesn’t respect anyone.”

Zhuang Lan tugged at her wrist, “Calm down.”

Su Limei had to maintain her image in front of the male educated youths. She tugged at Zhuang Lan’s hand and walked outside, then started complaining again, “It’s as if she doesn’t mind, but she won’t even look us in the eye. Doesn’t she just want to stick to Fu Zhiqing because his conditions are better?”

Zhuang Lan didn’t know how to respond and could only persuade her, “Maybe you should say less. We’ve all come to the countryside, don’t overthink it. The most important thing is to settle down in the Production Team first.”

Su Limei was in a bad mood, “I want to go back to the city. Don’t you?”

Zhuang Lan fell silent, “I don’t know where to go back to.”

The family that gave birth to her had no place for her; they were eager to sweep her out the door.

Su Limei thought of Zhuang Lan’s simple belongings when she came to the countryside and the fact that she had never received a letter from her family. Feeling slightly awkward, she tried to comfort her, “If you find a good match, it’s fine to build a family here in the countryside. That Zhao Feng, who seems to care about you, actually isn’t bad…”

Zhuang Lan’s face flushed slightly, then she shook her head, “I want to be self-sufficient first.”

As long as the topic was changed, that would be fine… Su Limei secretly sighed in relief and noticed that Zhuang Lan was holding a notebook. She asked, “Are you going out?”

Zhuang Lan nodded, “I need to return the lesson plan.”

She said that, then went back into the yard, picked up the basket under the eaves, and walked toward Zhao Ke’s house.

At Zhao Ke’s house, the firewood was neatly stacked outside the wall, forming a high pile that clearly showed the family’s organized lifestyle.

Zhuang Lan had already inquired about the location of Zhao Ke’s house, so she found it accurately. Standing outside the yard, she raised her voice and called, “Is anyone home?”

Zhao Feng heard the voice and immediately ran out of the house, overjoyed. “Zhuang Zhiqing?! Come in!”

His eyes were so bright, like a dog seeing a bone, and Zhuang Lan found it a bit overwhelming. She averted her gaze and waved her hand, “I’m looking for your second sister, I won’t go in.”

Zhao Feng instantly looked disappointed, “You’re not looking for me?”

“Ahem,” Zhuang Lan suppressed the inexplicable guilt she felt and nodded.

Zhao Feng turned around and called out in a strange tone to Zhao Ke’s room, “Director Zhao, someone’s looking for you.”

Zhao Ke didn’t appear right away, but her voice came from inside the house, “Zhao Feng, are you itching for a beating?”

Zhao Feng was more than itching, his teeth were aching too, sour.

When Zhao Ke stepped out and saw it was Zhuang Lan, she faced his resentful gaze and walked to the yard. “Zhuang Zhiqing, here to return the book?”

Zhuang Lan acted as though Zhao Feng didn’t exist, trying her best to ignore his gaze, and thanked Zhao Ke, “Thank you for the book. I thought you might need it, so I returned it as soon as possible.”

Zhao Ke took it and glanced down. 

It was well-maintained.

Zhuang Lan hurriedly handed over the basket, “I picked some wild vegetables.”

The basket only contained half a load of wild vegetables, and they weren’t very big. Zhao Ke guessed that it must have been hard for Zhuang Lan to gather them, so she politely declined. “It’s fine, no need to be so polite, just keep them.”

Zhuang Lan insisted, “Please take them. Otherwise, I’ll feel bad coming to bother you in the future.”

Zhao Ke found the words familiar. She’d said similar things herself when trying to build relationships with others.

Zhuang Lan nervously gripped the handle of the basket.

Zhao Feng wanted to speak, but seeing his second sister’s authoritative gaze, he held back.

Zhao Ke finally decided to accept Zhuang Lan’s gesture of goodwill. “Well then, thank you.” She reached out to take the basket and casually handed it to Zhao Feng.

Zhuang Lan smiled. “No, no. I don’t have anything else to give as a thank you. As long as you don’t mind.”

Zhao Feng went inside to dispose of the wild vegetables, and Zhao Ke casually asked, “There aren’t many wild vegetables around the village. Where did you pick these?”

Zhuang Lan answered, “I had to walk about one or two miles east to find these.”

“By yourself?”

Zhuang Lan nodded.

Later in the novel, Zhuang Lan would have an encounter at the commune, where she almost got into trouble in a remote area. 

It was surprising that she still dared to go alone to pick wild vegetables now… She really had no sense of safety.

Out of concern, Zhao Ke warned her, “There are more idle people around the countryside these days. You’re new here, and you’re a young woman. It’s better to go with others when leaving the village, not alone.”

“I thought it’d be fine during the day…” Zhuang Lan hesitated, then, almost as if trying to take advantage of the situation, said shyly, “I haven’t been here long, and I’m not familiar with the villagers. Could I join you in the future?”

The more proactive someone is, the more opportunities they can seize.

However, this time, Zhao Ke didn’t agree. “I’ll be going to the team committee more often in the future. I’ll probably be spending less time with them. If you want to go with others, you’ll have to ask the village girls.”

Zhuang Lan understood that fitting in with the village might not be so easy. She felt disappointed but not overly so.

Zhao Feng returned with the basket, handing it over to Zhuang Lan in a somewhat shy manner.

Zhuang Lan didn’t look inside the basket when she took it, said goodbye to the siblings, and walked a little distance before she noticed there were two hard candies inside.

It must have been Zhao Feng who put them in.

She had kept the candies Zhao Feng gave her before, without eating them.

Zhuang Lan quickly turned around, intending to return the candies, but the siblings had already disappeared from the yard.

Should she throw them back into the yard?

An older woman from the neighboring yard had been eyeing her for a while. Zhuang Lan hesitated for a moment, then decided to keep walking, still holding the two candies.

It wasn’t until she was halfway down the road and no one was watching that she looked down at the candies in her hand.

After a long moment, she slowly unwrapped the candy and popped it into her mouth.

Instantly, her mouth filled with saliva.

Zhuang Lan’s eyes felt a little teary.

When she was a child, only her brother got to eat the candy at home. She had only secretly picked up his candy wrappers and licked a bit of it.

She remembered it being very sweet.

And now it was really, very sweet…

·

At Zhao Ke’s house—

As soon as Zhuang Lan left, Yu Xiulan came out of the house and asked unhappily, “How did you two get involved with the new educated youth?”

Zhao Feng’s guilt was written all over his face.

His emotions were obvious, and he couldn’t hide it.

Yu Xiulan’s gaze immediately locked onto him, demanding, “Zhao Feng, tell me, what’s going on?”

Zhao Feng felt enormous pressure and looked at his sister for help.

“Mom, every time a new group of educated youth comes, people in the Production Team, young and old, always get curious. He won’t be going to the educated youth point again,” Zhao Ke seized the opportunity to cover for her brother, “Right, Zhao Feng?”

Zhao Feng wanted to deny it, but looking at his mother’s stern face, he reluctantly nodded.

Yu Xiulan remained stern, “You better not let me catch you involved with those educated youth, or I’ll break your legs!”

Zhao Feng chuckled awkwardly, “It’s not that serious, right?”

“Don’t act like a fool! Those educated youth just want to go back to the city. Whenever they get the chance, they leave without a second thought. They don’t have an ounce of conscience.”

Zhao Feng retorted, “Not all of them are like that. Principal Gu and Teacher Wu are pretty good.”

“How many people are like Principal Gu and Teacher Wu?” Yu Xiulan’s tone grew sharper, “Wang Yinghui from across the street caused her parents to die from worry because of an educated youth. Now she’s raising a child on her own, and her life’s so hard. Liu Guangzhi from the west side married an educated youth, and she left him with a dumb son and ran off. And Zhao Fangfang married Hu Hezhi, and even though she’s pregnant, she still has to take care of him…”

Every example she mentioned was a reason the villagers of Zhao Village had a bias against most educated youth.

Zhao Feng wanted to argue further, but Zhao Ke interrupted, “Mom’s right. We’re from different worlds than those educated youth. We won’t get along.”

“I wasn’t talking to you.” Yu Xiulan turned her gaze to the lesson plan book in Zhao Ke’s hand and poked her forehead twice, “Why are you so generous? Why are you lending your sister’s things to others? She’s competing with you.”

“She would lend them too, if I didn’t.”

“If you didn’t let her borrow it, she wouldn’t have lent it.” Yu Xiulan glared at her, her tone fierce, “Give it to me! I’m taking it!”

Zhao Ke: “…”

If she wanted the lesson plan book, she could just ask directly. Why go through all these roundabout ways and bring up old matters?

“Now give me the textbooks.”

Zhao Ke obediently went inside to fetch the textbooks and handed them over.

Yu Xiulan flipped through the books a couple of times, unconsciously frowning. She looked up and found that both Zhao Ke and Zhao Feng were watching her. Embarrassed and angry, she snapped, “Why are you two still standing here? Go do what you need to do!”

Zhao Ke and Zhao Feng immediately moved, each heading in opposite directions, almost colliding face-to-face. 

They quickly steadied themselves, each stepping aside to avoid the other and hurriedly went back into the house.

Once they were no longer in view, Yu Xiulan turned her attention back to the textbooks, frowning as she sighed.

How am I supposed to teach this? I can’t let the children fall behind, can I?

Unable to hold it in, Yu Xiulan muttered to herself, “What is this all about…”

·

Meanwhile, at Shuangshan Commune—

Li Dasheng, looking neat and polished, appeared outside the bearing factory gate. He kept glancing into the factory, edging closer and closer to the gate.

“You! Where did you come from?!”

The gatekeeper had been keeping an eye on him since he first appeared. Just as Li Dasheng was about to step into the gate, the gatekeeper shouted, “No outsiders are allowed in here!”

Li Dasheng, startled, immediately withdrew his foot and stepped back several paces. Straightening his collar, he lifted his chin and said, “I’m here to find my fiancée.”

The gatekeeper asked, “Who’s your fiancée?”

Li Dasheng, not showing any signs of guilt, replied loudly, “My fiancée is Zhao Mian, from Zhao Village’s Production Team.”

“Zhao Mian?!”

As soon as Zhao Mian entered the factory, she caught the attention of all the young men and women. The gatekeeper saw her every day and was naturally familiar with her. He sized up Li Dasheng with suspicion, “Are you really her fiancée? Isn’t Zhao Mian single?”

Li Dasheng had a reflexive reaction to such a look, feeling like his dignity was being questioned. He clenched his fists, holding back his anger, though his tone remained sharp, “What? Did Zhao Mian say she’s single?”

Of course, Zhao Mian hadn’t said that; it was all rumors passed around by other workers.

However, seeing Li Dasheng’s reaction, the gatekeeper couldn’t help but wonder: Could it be that Zhao Mian does have a fiancé but is keeping it a secret?

Time passed as the gatekeeper stole occasional glances at the “Zhao Mian’s fiancé” and Li Dasheng, who was eagerly waiting.

The factory whistle blew, signaling the end of the workday, and workers in blue uniforms streamed out of the factory.

This blue work uniform symbolized a steady job, a “steel rice bowl,” and even walking on the road would make people envious.

When the bearing factory set up a branch, it had chosen Shuangshan Commune, crossing several counties, due to its advantageous location, which helped drive the development of the entire commune.

Many of the factory workers were veterans who had been assigned jobs, with the remaining positions open to the public.

Shuangshan Commune had a large geographic area, and it was rare for workers to get a spot in the factory from each Production Team. Even in Li Village’s Production Team, there was only one spot, and every time the team members talked about it, they couldn’t help but praise him in admiration.

Li Dasheng had once been envious and jealous, but now, thinking about how he too would have such a glamorous life, he smiled brighter and strained his neck to look inside.

Some workers who didn’t know him passed by, casting a curious glance at him before continuing on their way.

There were also people who recognized him—Li Dafu, the head of Li Village’s Production Team, saw him and stopped to ask, “Li Dasheng, what are you doing here?”

They were several years apart, and Li Dafu was from another family, so they weren’t very familiar with each other.

Li Dasheng, however, couldn’t resist showing off. “I’m here to wait for my fiancée.”

“Your fiancée?” 

Li Dasheng nodded proudly. When he saw the graceful figure walking out of the factory, his eyes lit up. He waved his hand and called out loudly, “Zhao Mian! Zhao Mian! I’ve come to see you!”