“But Liangliang, how are you going to get through the winter?”
“Don’t worry, Sister Xingxing. My things have already been sent over. They should arrive in the next couple of days.”
“That’s good.”
Li Xingxing didn’t ask anything further. After all, the sister she had accepted no matter what was fine by her.
Seeing Li Xingxing quiet, Ye Weiliang was even happier. She grabbed a rag and began scrubbing the kang (heated bed platform).
Li Xingxing joined in, and together they cleaned the room until it was spotless.
Next door, Yi Manyu was still sulking.
“Brother Shao Song, this place is so run-down! The toilet is unusable, and the bathing area is terrible!”
“Yi Manyu, since you chose to be sent down, you should adapt to life here and put away your spoiled girl attitude.”
“Brother Shao Song, I only came down for you!” Yi Manyu exclaimed in disbelief.
“I never asked you to come down for me,” Shao Song said coldly.
He had already had enough patience for the day.
And now she was still throwing a tantrum—he really couldn’t stand it anymore.
“If you don’t want to stay here, have your family come get you,” Shao Song said, then turned and walked away, leaving Yi Manyu crying and whining.
Ao Jiarui came and knocked on Ye Weiliang’s door.
“Weiliang, the team leader said the first meal today is at his place.”
“Okay, we’ll come right away.”
Although surprised, Ye Weiliang prepared a small amount of food to bring with them.
In this era, food was extremely scarce; no family had much to spare.
Even if the team leader was hosting, they couldn’t show up empty-handed.
“Brother Jiarui, go get some food to take to the team leader,” Ye Weiliang said, noticing his empty hands.
Ao Jiarui didn’t immediately get it, but seeing that Ye Weiliang and Li Xingxing were carrying things, he still obediently grabbed some coarse grains.
“Let’s go.”
Everyone else had already arrived; Ye Weiliang and her two companions were the last.
Yi Manyu rolled her eyes.
“Latecomers, and expect others to wait while you eat. Truly the style of a spoiled girl.”
Ye Weiliang didn’t like being nagged. She slapped Yi Manyu across the face.
“If you keep talking, I’ll hit you again.”
Everyone, including Liu Aimin and Aunt Liu, was shocked at how fierce Ye Weiliang was.
“Uncle Team Leader, Aunt Liu, even though you’re hosting, we can’t come empty-handed. This is our ration; please accept it.”
“Eh, take it back. Uncle is treating you this meal.”
“Uncle, no one’s wealthy now. Just accept it.”
Unable to argue with Ye Weiliang, Liu Aimin accepted the food and handed it to Aunt Liu.
She grew even fonder of the three girls.
The scene left the others feeling embarrassed; some even secretly wished they had saved a meal’s worth of grain.
This was the first time the educated youths came to their team. No one knew how to interact with them before. The team leader said a few words, then everyone started eating.
Ye Weiliang and her companions ate happily; Hao Jianguo and the others fared reasonably well too.
Only Yi Manyu was picky:
“What’s this? It’s all black—can it even be eaten?”
“Why is this so bland? Not a drop of oil in it.”
“…blah blah blah…”
Her complaints made Liu Aimin and Aunt Liu frown, and the eldest daughter-in-law of Aunt Liu almost jumped up to scold her.
Ye Weiliang had had enough. She slammed down her chopsticks and said to Yi Manyu:
“Eat if you can, leave if you can’t. You didn’t give the team leader a bit of food, yet you keep nagging. If you don’t want to eat, get out. You’ve spoiled yourself too much.”
At her words, Yi Manyu immediately fell silent. She neither spoke nor ate.
In the countryside, today’s meal included fish and meat—though not much, it was prepared with care.
If it doesn’t taste good, fine, but don’t just complain.
After everyone finished, some of the men carried food to the team leader’s house; only Yi Manyu wasn’t reminded.
This made the team leader think even less of her.
In their words: she was a troublemaker.
That night, lying in bed, Ye Weiliang heard the sobbing from next door and let out a cold smile.
Crying already?
By the time it was time to work in the fields, she would have been crying non-stop.
The next day, the new educated youths weren’t sent to work.
The team leader told them to get the items they would need first.
Ye Weiliang and Li Xingxing took the carriage to the county seat early in the morning; she wanted to see if her packages had arrived, and to buy a few other things.
After a two-hour ride, they finally arrived.
Li Xingxing headed to the supply and marketing cooperative, and they parted ways.
Ye Weiliang went to the post office first and asked about her package. Sure enough, it had arrived.
After getting it, she found a secluded spot, taking out the large iron pot, a set of bowls and utensils, and even her bedding—which could double as a mat.
Then she carried the heavy packages to the ox cart.
“Master Liu, I still need to buy a few things. You can hold this for now.”
She handed over a cigarette and some fruit candies as well.
“Good. Little girl, go buy your things. I’ll keep this safe and return it intact.”
“Thank you, Master Liu.”
Ye Weiliang didn’t really have much to buy—her belongings were all in her space.
She just wanted to see the county town.
Now that the Little Red Soldiers were patrolling strictly, the streets were almost empty.
As Ye Weiliang wandered, she heard a shout: “Robbery!”
Looking up, she saw a young man snatching a middle-aged woman’s bag.
“Ah! That’s my son’s life-saving money! Someone help me!”
Ye Weiliang glanced at the man rushing toward her and smirked:
“There’s a way to heaven, but he won’t take it—he insists on heading straight for hell.”
“Get out of the way, or I won’t be responsible if I hurt you!”
The man waved a knife, trying to scare her off.
Ye Weiliang smiled slightly, grabbed his wrist, and flipped him over her shoulder.
The man was stunned, confused—who was she? Where was he? Why did his back hurt so much?
“Alright~~!” cheers erupted around them.
Ye Weiliang retrieved the bag, stepping on the man’s chest:
“Auntie, check if anything’s missing.”
The woman checked: “Nothing’s missing. Thank you, young lady! Whose child are you? I haven’t seen you before.”
“Auntie, I’m an educated youth sent down yesterday.”
“Good girl, good comrade! What’s your name? Which team are you assigned to?”
Ye Weiliang had initially hesitated to say, but seeing the question, she knew it would be beneficial:
“Auntie, I’m with the Bing Beiling Team. My name is Ye Weiliang.”
“Good girl! Thank you so much! You saved my whole family’s lives!”
“You’re welcome, auntie,” Ye Weiliang smiled.
“Did anyone report this to the police?”
“Yes, yes!” the bystanders shouted.
The robber tried to get up, but found he couldn’t move.
He couldn’t believe he had been taken down by a little girl.
Soon, the police arrived and took him away. Ye Weiliang was also called to make a statement.
Her shoulder throw had even been witnessed by someone in a military vehicle.
The driver clicked his tongue:
“Wow, didn’t expect this little girl to be so strong. She doesn’t look very big.”
The man called the boss glanced at the slender girl, feeling she looked familiar but couldn’t remember from where.
“Pang Cen, let’s go,” said the man in the back seat.
Pang Cen acknowledged and drove off.