After speaking, she pursed her lips slightly, as if struggling with something but feeling compelled to continue.
“Isn’t this a departure from the masses? And… if everyone follows your example and builds their own houses to live in, won’t the educated youth point become an empty shell? What about the spirit of collectivism? Wouldn’t others accuse us of being disunited?”
The accusation was heavy, perfectly fitting the linguistic style of the era.
Many educated youths, stirred by her words, chimed in to persuade.
“Comrade Jiang is right, we are a collective.”
“We can’t engage in special treatment.”
Hearing others echo her sentiments, Jiang Muxue’s lips curved almost imperceptibly.
Shen Qingyu looked at them, having long anticipated that Jiang Muxue would use this matter to pin another label on her.
Her expression remained unchanged; she even smiled faintly as she turned to Jiang Muxue. “Comrade Jiang, you’ve misunderstood. This isn’t about distancing myself from the collective. On the contrary, it’s about better integrating into it.”
“If, due to health reasons, I’m unable to contribute fully like everyone else and become a burden to the collective, that would truly be a departure from the collective.”
She paused, her gaze sweeping over the crowd before continuing. “As for everyone following my example… first, not everyone has the financial means or practical need to do so.”
“Second, if any comrade genuinely faces similar difficulties and can resolve their housing issues with their own funds, without burdening the collective and even generating income for the team, wouldn’t that be an act of considering the bigger picture?”
“Isn’t that better than stubbornly enduring hardships until falling ill and dragging down the collective?”
“Don’t you agree, Comrade Jiang?”
Jiang Muxue’s expression stiffened: “…”
Her logic was clear and reasonable.
What could she say? What more could she say?
Mu Yue spoke up softly at this moment. “I… I also suffer from neurasthenia. Even the slightest noise at night keeps me awake.”
Her voice was quiet but firm. “If Comrade Shen’s method is feasible, I’d like to apply to the team as well.”
Seeing Mu Yue speak up, Lu Ye whistled and chimed in.
“Hey, not a bad idea. I’m sick of listening to a bunch of snoring and farting! How nice it’d be to have my own little nest.”
He then nudged Su Yixuan beside him. “What do you think, scholar?”
Su Yixuan adjusted his glasses and analyzed calmly. “From an economic perspective, individuals investing in improving their living conditions without consuming collective resources could indeed enhance individual efficiency and potentially have a positive impact on the collective’s overall output.”
Gu Huainian leaned against the wall, still silent, but his gaze lingered noticeably longer on Shen Qingyu’s face.
Ji Yiqing frowned slightly. As a traditional intellectual at heart, he harbored an instinctive aversion to “special treatment.”
Yet Shen Qingyu’s argument about “not burdening the collective” struck him as reasonable, leaving him momentarily unsure how to respond.
Wang Tiezhu was getting a headache from all the arguing among the educated youths. Uneducated himself, he felt there was some sense in what this female educated youth named Shen Qingyu said, but something about it still felt off.
“Enough arguing!” he said irritably. “I can’t decide this. We’ll wait for the team leader’s decision tomorrow.”
Shen Qingyu gracefully let the matter drop and didn’t press further.
“Then let’s wait until tomorrow. For tonight, everyone will have to make do. From what I saw earlier, the roof beam needs support and the mold stains need to be dealt with. Captain Wang, could you find some wood and lime? This is for everyone’s safety and health.”
She steered the conversation back to practical matters, adopting a humble stance with solid reasoning.
Wang Tiezhu glanced at the truly intimidating roof beam, then at the mold stains in the corner, and finally nodded. “I’ll go look.”
With that, he turned and left.
Shen Qingyu addressed the group in a gentle tone, “Everyone, please start by tidying up your own sleeping areas. Once the materials arrive, we’ll need the male comrades to help support the roof beam, and the female comrades to handle the mold stains and cleaning. Since we’re here, we should make the best of our lives.”
Perhaps her tone was too gentle, carrying a natural leadership quality that made people unconsciously willing to follow.
Jiang Muxue tightened her grip on the broom, her fingertips turning pale from the force. This Shen Qingyu was too good with words! Every time, she stood on the side of “what’s best for the collective,” leaving no room for criticism.
In the following time, Shen Qingyu didn’t command anyone else. Instead, she took the lead herself, finding a few relatively flat wooden boards and starting to clean the straw mat on her own sleeping area. Then, she took out an old bedsheet from her bag, her movements skilled and without a hint of affectation.
Mu Yue, whose sleeping area was next to hers, followed her example in tidying up. Though her movements were somewhat clumsy, she managed to do a decent job.
The two girls, who didn’t talk much, exchanged a smile, a sense of tacit understanding flowing between them.
Led by the boisterous Lu Ye, the male educated youths also began to tidy up. Although Gu Huainian remained silent, he did his share of work without fail, and he did it quickly and well.
Ji Yiqing took the initiative to take on the task of fetching water from the well.
By the time Wang Tiezhu returned with a few old wooden stakes and a small bag of quicklime, the warehouse had already taken on a preliminary shape. Though still simple, it was at least much cleaner and tidier.
Wang Tiezhu’s impression of these newly arrived educated youths improved slightly. As long as they knew how to work and weren’t here to hold everyone back, it was fine.
After handing over the materials, Wang Tiezhu left.
Under Gu Huainian’s guidance, the male educated youths used the wooden stakes to temporarily support the roof beam that seemed ready to collapse at any moment.
Shen Qingyu, meanwhile, led the female educated youths in treating the mold stains with quicklime water and opened the windows for ventilation.
Watching Shen Qingyu organize everything methodically, Jiang Muxue felt an increasing sense of crisis.
In her previous life, Shen Qingyu should have been crying and complaining about the environment at this time, only to be isolated by everyone.
How had she instead become the organizer now?
Regardless of what Jiang Muxue was thinking, Shen Qingyu just wanted to quickly finish cleaning up, then tidy herself up and get a good rest. After three days and two nights on the train, followed by two hours on a bumpy truck ride over potholed roads, her entire body felt as if it were falling apart.
Upon arrival, she still had to clean the room and deal with Jiang Muxue.
She could say she was both physically and mentally exhausted.
Even if the Spatial Spring Water could relieve fatigue, she was starting to feel overwhelmed.
It wasn’t until late afternoon, when the sky began to darken, that everyone finally had time to tidy themselves up.
The food rations allocated to them by the production brigade also arrived, delivered once again by Captain Wang.
They were all packed in bags.
“The team leader said, this grain is lent to you. When you earn work points and receive your share of grain later, it must be repaid.”
“Each person gets fifty pounds of coarse grain and ten pounds of fine grain. Come and collect it now.”
Zhao Dagang asked the most crucial question: “Then where do we cook?”
They had been busy in this rundown place for half a day but hadn’t seen any cooking area.
It was only then that everyone remembered—they had been here all afternoon and still hadn’t spotted a place to cook.