As Xu Mo arrived at the entrance of the Youth Camp, he saw Xu Ning washing clothes by the well, with a backpack placed beside her.

Noticing there weren’t many people around, he walked over and repeated what Xiao Wang had said earlier.

Xu Ning nodded and smiled, saying, “Xiao Mo, I know. It’s fine. She used to do that too. Your second brother made buns today; I just took some to Grandpa Qi. You should eat a few more tonight. Now hurry inside and wash your face to cool off.”

When Wang Juanjuan returned, Gu Wenping and Lin Miao were busy cooking. After their marriage, Gu Wenping had moved into Lin Miao’s house.

Now, Yang Wenli lived alone in a room and didn’t socialize much with anyone. Every day after work, he would just read in his room.

Watching the two of them from behind, hatred surged within her.

Gu Wenjing was sticking the pancakes onto the pan and was about to light the fire when she noticed Wang Juanjuan had returned and asked, “Juanjuan, why are you back so late?”

Wang Juanjuan’s expression changed immediately as she smiled and said, “I was just delayed on the way. Have you started cooking? I’ll go light the fire.”

The next day, when Wang Juanjuan went to work, she noticed that several children kept their distance from her, but she didn’t think much of it.

She had always found the children’s chattering annoying, and now that they were far away, it suited her just fine.

That day, she planned to take it slow. After all, she earned four work points a day, and there was no rule about how much she had to pick. She could work for a while and then rest under the tree.

Seeing her act so shamelessly, the children were quite displeased. When work ended, they went home to tell the adults that she hardly worked at all that day and just sat resting under the tree.

The villagers were outraged; their own young children would hurry to collect grains from the fields and wouldn’t dare take a break, earning only two work points for the whole day.

But here was Wang Juanjuan, a grown woman, sitting under the tree and playing every day while still racking up four points. Several parents approached the village head to complain, and the village head was exasperated.

The next day, they sought her out and imposed a quota on her: she would earn points based on how much she actually picked.

Wang Juanjuan was infuriated. What she didn’t realize was that her reputation in the village had been utterly tarnished.

When she turned in the grains she had collected at the end of the workday, the team leader recorded only two points for her.

On her way back to the camp, she saw Lin Miao cooking meat and noticed Gu Wenjing sticking pancakes to the pan. Furious, she skipped dinner entirely.

Lin Miao also noticed Wang Juanjuan’s unusual behavior. Having come from a different time, she knew what Wang Juanjuan’s partner did for a living and was afraid of leaving any incriminating evidence. She had already tidied up the things in the house.

What Wang Juanjuan didn’t know was that now, in the entire Youth Commune, everyone except Jiaohua and Gu Wenjing was wary of her.

When the autumn harvest ended, Xu Ning was in the yard hanging up clothes when she heard a commotion coming from the youth compound. Remembering Wang Juanjuan’s gloomy face during this time, she decided to go take a look.

Several youths wearing red armbands arrived at the camp. They barged in, their demeanor aggressive, stating that someone had reported the presence of banned books and that they needed to search the place.

The group first entered Gu Wenping and Lin Miao’s room, rummaging through everything and making a mess. After about ten minutes, they found a few family letters and a book of leadership quotes.

Gu Wenping, furious, exclaimed, “What do you think you’re doing? You can’t just barge into someone’s home and search it like this! On what basis do you think you can do this?”

The leader of the group sneered and replied, “We received a report, so we have to conduct a search. It’s our duty.”

After saying that, he and a few subordinates headed to Chen Xiangdong and Wei Lanlan’s room.

Chen Xiangdong knew that reasoning with these people was futile, so he had Wei Lanlan bring the child out while he followed the group into the room, watching as they turned everything inside out and examined it closely.

Wang Juanjuan stood there watching as the group emerged from Lin Miao’s room, empty-handed, and thought it was impossible.

Just a few days ago, she had seen several books in their room, all belonging to Gu Wenping, who had loved reading such miscellaneous books since childhood. He had even brought several with him when he came to the countryside. How could they not be there?

When Xu Ning arrived, she saw the group entering Chen Xiangdong’s room to search. Realizing that they were the people Wang Juanjuan’s partner had called over, she quickly turned around and went back home.

In Chen Xiangdong and Wei Lanlan’s room, there was hardly anything—only a book of leadership quotes.

The leader of the group then proceeded to search the male and female youth’s rooms.

They found nothing in the male youth’s room, but in the female youth’s room, they discovered a miscellaneous book belonging to Jiaohua, which had a shoe template tucked inside.

The leader asked, “Whose is this?”

Jiaohua’s face turned pale with fear as she stammered, “I don’t know. I just use it to hold a shoe template.”

This book was something she had brought from home; it belonged to her nephew. She thought the cover looked nice, and it contained short stories, so she brought it along to the countryside, never expecting that such a book would be prohibited.

The man didn’t respond but took the book and instructed one of his subordinates to keep an eye on Jiaohua.

He then cast a subtle glance at Wang Juanjuan, who casually scanned the yard behind the compound.

The man asked, “Are all the youth living here?”

Jiaohua, trembling with fear, quickly replied, “There are two others living in the back yard.”

Wei Lanlan and Yang Xiaomei shot her an annoyed glare.

The group went to the back yard to take a look. A tall wall blocked their view, and squinting slightly, the man asked, “That wall is quite high! Where’s the entrance?”

Gu Wenjing replied, “It’s outside. They built their own houses separately and don’t live with us.”

The village head was discussing grain delivery matters with the accountant when his wife rushed over, telling him that members of the committees had gone to the youth camp.

Hurrying over, the village head saw the youth camp in disarray, with several people heading towards Xu Ning’s direction. He quickly asked, “Comrades, what’s going on?”

The leader glanced at him and said, “You must be the village head. We are from the committee assembly. My surname is Feng. We received a report that some youths in your village are hoarding banned books, so the leadership sent us to verify the situation. Since you’re here, let’s take a look together.”

When they arrived, Xu Ning’s door was wide open, and she was in the yard tidying up the vegetable cellar.

Seeing them approach, she feigned surprise and asked, “Village Head, is there something wrong?”

The village head replied, “Xu Ning, these are members from the committee assembly. They received reports about youths hoarding banned books and are here to conduct a search.”

Xu Ning nodded and said, “Well, you can go in and take a look!”

She maintained a very pleasant demeanor.

The man with the surname Feng scrutinized her from head to toe, glancing around the yard as well. He remarked, “Your little yard is quite tidy. It seems like you’re living well in the countryside.”

Xu Ning, excited, looked at him and said, “Comrade, you’re absolutely right! Ever since my brother and I came here to work in the countryside, we’ve been earning ten work points every day. It feels incredibly fulfilling, so my brother and I decided to dedicate ourselves to this land and pour our sweat into it.”

After saying that, she glanced at the young people wearing red armbands and earnestly continued, “Comrades, I suggest you come to the countryside to experience it for yourselves. Just as the leadership said, we should integrate with our farmer brothers, unite together, and help build our home.”