Chapter 12

The Educated Youth Courtyard

Lin Xiaoxiao, accompanied by veteran educated youth He Mei, carried a canvas bag into the room.

The bed was a large bunk made of wooden planks, already tidied up by the veteran educated youth.

Lin Xiaoxiao wiped the bedboard with a handkerchief, opened her canvas bag, and took out a wool blanket to spread on it.

Then she laid out a quilt weighing about six jin (around 3 kg).

She still had a heavier twelve-jin quilt in her storage space, but didn’t need it for now.

It was already April in Hunan Province, with temperatures over twenty degrees Celsius, so the six-jin quilt was enough.

Just as the bed was ready, Wang Jianguo clapped his hands outside and called everyone out for a meeting.

Lin Xiaoxiao followed the others out, where the veteran educated youths were already seated in the courtyard waiting.

Seeing that Lin Xiaoxiao and the other newly arrived educated youths like Huang Lihong were all present, Wang Jianguo got up and said:

“Alright, everyone’s here. I’ll just say a few things — mainly about our future life and work at the educated youth spot.

First, about cooking: everyone takes turns, one person a day. That includes gathering firewood and carrying water.

The new arrivals haven’t been allocated grain yet, so borrow from the production team and hand it to the canteen. After the autumn harvest, when grain is distributed, pay it back.

We educated youths are the same as the brigade members — we must work every day to earn work points. The more you work, the more you get.

Of course, if your family has money, you don’t have to work — you can buy grain instead.

Also, lock up valuables, so nothing goes missing and causes suspicion or bad feelings among roommates.

That’s all for now. If anyone has anything to add, speak up!”

Huang Lihong exchanged a glance with a few others, then stood up and said:

“We have no objections. It’s just that since we just arrived, when we go to borrow grain, please ask Comrade Wang to inform the production team’s storekeeper for us.”

Wang Jianguo nodded. “Alright. After dinner, I’ll go talk to the storekeeper.”

When the meeting ended, the canteen’s food was ready.

Lin Xiaoxiao, carrying her lunch tin, followed the others inside. On the stove sat a big iron pot of golden sweet potato mixed with rice.

On the chopping board were a plate of stir-fried string beans and a basin of vegetable soup.

She queued up, scooped a ladle of the sweet potato rice, picked up a few chopsticks of string beans, and went back to her room to eat.

She found today’s sweet potato porridge bland and a little scratchy on the throat.

So she poked at the porridge with her chopsticks and said to Huang Lihong with a smile:

“Lihong, how is this sweet potato mixed with rice? It’s practically sweet potato mixed with sweet potato — I can count the grains of rice in it.”

Huang Lihong sipped her porridge and said, “It’s April — the lean season. Having sweet potato porridge at all is already good. Eat up, or you won’t have the strength to work!”

The veteran educated youths had been here for months and were used to it.

They squatted on the ground, gulping the sweet potato porridge as if it were some rare delicacy.

After dinner, the male educated youths went in groups to bathe at the river at the edge of the village.

The female educated youths used branches and planks to build a makeshift bathhouse by the river.

In the countryside, even the gentlest woman became a hardy “tomboy.”

The river water in April still had a chill to it.

The women who had been here for months didn’t even heat water — they poured buckets of river water straight into the tub and washed quickly, not even using soap, just rubbing off the dirt and rinsing with river water.

Lin Xiaoxiao, being frail, couldn’t bathe in cold water.

She waited until they finished, then brought her change of clothes to the bathhouse.

Seeing no one paying attention to her, she quickly entered her storage space, first drinking a cup of milk to restore her strength.

Then she stripped and jumped into the spiritual spring.

The pure spring water was clear and blue, neither cold nor hot, just right.

After bathing, she felt refreshed, the fatigue of the journey melting away instantly.

Leaving her storage space, she saw Huang Lihong sitting at the dorm door washing clothes.

Lin Xiaoxiao took out a big apple from her storage space and handed it to her with a smile:

“Lihong, the sweet potato from dinner feels heavy — have an apple to help digest it.”

Huang Lihong, unreserved, wiped her hands on her clothes, took the apple, bit into it, and said:

“Xiaoxiao, since I’m eating your apple, I’ll help carry back the grain when we borrow it from the production team later.”

“If you help me carry grain, I’ll give you a bag of malted milk powder.”

Lin Xiaoxiao pulled a bag of malted milk powder from under her bed and placed it on Huang Lihong’s bed.

Liu Qiaozhen, seeing Lin Xiaoxiao’s bag full of clothes and food, felt envious.

She thought to herself, This skinny little Lin Xiaoxiao must be easy to bully.

Glancing at the canvas bag, she said boldly:

“Lin Xiaoxiao, tonight’s sweet potato porridge scratched my throat. I didn’t eat much. Give me a bag of malted milk powder for a midnight snack!”

She stared at Lin Xiaoxiao, waiting for her to hand it over.

But Lin Xiaoxiao didn’t give her face:

“You want malted milk powder? Fine — you have to help me carry water and cook.”

Liu Qiaozhen was taken aback. “You want me to carry water and cook just for a bag of malted milk powder? Dream on!”

“If you don’t help me, of course I won’t give you any. My money doesn’t grow on trees.”

With that, Lin Xiaoxiao tossed the malted milk powder into her canvas bag — actually into her storage space — for safekeeping.

Then she and Huang Lihong went off hand in hand to borrow grain from the production team.

Liu Qiaozhen, bitter at not getting the malted milk powder, quickly pulled Lin Xiaoxiao’s bag from under the bed after she left.

She unzipped it and reached inside, but came up empty.

Damn it, I saw her put it in here! How can it be gone?

This is freaky!

At the Brigade Leader’s Home

The brigade leader’s wife, Liang Xiuying, was in the kitchen tending the fire and cooking.

Her two grandsons, Gou Dan and Gou Sheng, hovered around the stove, complaining:

“Grandma, we’re hungry! Why aren’t we eating yet?”

“Gou Dan, Gou Sheng, wait a bit. When your third uncle comes home, we’ll eat together.” Liang Xiuying coaxed them while cracking eggs into the pot.

In the 1970s countryside, eggs were like currency — Liang Xiuying was usually reluctant to use them.

But today, her most promising son, the third child, was coming home, so she was frying four sunny-side-up eggs.

“Third Uncle’s retired! Third Uncle’s retired!”

Hearing that their most admired third uncle was home, Gou Dan and Gou Sheng ran out happily to greet him.

“You two jinxes! Your third uncle isn’t retired, he’s home on family leave!”

Liang Xiuying scolded them, adding another scoop of water to the pot of sorghum-and-rice mix.

Just then, the boys’ joyful voices came from outside:

“Third Uncle’s back! We’re so happy!”

Gu Jinchuan patted their heads. “Gou Dan, Gou Sheng, have you been good at home?”

“Good!” the boys chorused.

“Good boys. Here, five candies each.”

Gu Jinchuan took off his yellow shoulder bag, pulled out a packet of White Rabbit candies, and counted out five for each nephew.

Looking up, he saw his second sister-in-law, Liu Fang, smiling at him.

So he counted out ten more candies and handed them to her with a grin:

“Second Sister-in-law, have ten candies too…”