Lin Guanghui had been assigned after retirement to become the director of the newly built machinery factory in the county. He had only just taken office two days ago.
Since it was a newly established factory, everything had to be figured out from scratch. He was so busy that he became overwhelmed and didn’t appear in front of Tang Tang for several days.
Tang Tang didn’t mind.
She was very busy too, alright?
There was a huge garden behind her house. She planned to plant it next spring, so she needed to turn the soil first.
The land had been left unused before, so the soil quality was definitely poor. She would decide what to plant next year, but it would probably take several years to properly nourish the soil.
Still, she had planted the wild grape vines she brought back from the mountain. She did it casually, without caring whether the season was right.
Sometimes, she visited her neighbors to maintain friendly relations. When their back garden was being harvested, she helped for two days, calling it “learning for next year.”
The educated youths at the station were also decent people. Sometimes they went together to collect firewood near the mountain foot.
Her days were quite fulfilling.
The pheasants and roe deer she had caught in the mountains last time, as well as the ginseng she dug up, were still in her space. She hadn’t dealt with them yet.
They could only move around within a small area anyway, so she wasn’t worried about them damaging anything else.
She lacked nothing right now, so she hadn’t thought about how to handle them.
Since they had a place to stay, they could just stay there.
Lin Guanghui returned from town and brought her a letter.
The little girl was extremely surprised.
“For me?”
The three people in her family would never write to her. The original owner also didn’t have any close friends.
So who would send her a letter?
She took the envelope.
Judging by the handwriting, it was strong and powerful. It didn’t seem like a girl’s handwriting.
A trace of doubt rose in her heart, but her hands didn’t stop.
She pulled out the letter and first looked at the signature.
Yuan Hongwei???
After reading from the beginning, she finally realized who it was.
This was the original owner’s cousin from her maternal uncle’s family.
He was twenty this year, and the two cousins had been closest since childhood.
However, he had gone to the countryside two years earlier than the original owner.
Not long after he went down, the original owner’s mother began falling ill on and off, eventually bedridden. Soon after, she passed away.
During that time, the original owner had to care for her mother, manage the household, and attend school, so their contact gradually faded.
Recently, Yuan Hongwei had learned through letters with family that this young cousin had been angered by her family and had gone to the countryside.
He was furious.
But since things had already been settled, Yuan Hongwei could only feel sorry for his younger sister. He found her address through several turns and wrote to ask about her situation.
What he never expected was that the place his younger cousin had been sent to was only one county away from him.
When he received the news, it was during the autumn harvest, and he couldn’t ask for leave.
With no other option, the excited Yuan Hongwei could only write a letter first to test the situation.
Tang Tang looked at the address.
Hongxing Production Team.
“How far is it?”
Lin Guanghui immediately understood.
“You want to go?”
“Mm. Since he can’t come, I’ll go see him. There’s nothing much happening anyway.”
So there was still one relative who cared about her.
The little girl had always been the type to treat others well if they treated her well.
Lin Guanghui believed he understood her somewhat and didn’t try to stop her.
“Take the bus from town to the county. Then transfer to a train heading to the neighboring Wang County. After getting off the train, take another bus to Kaoshan Town, then walk to Hongxing Production Team.”
After calculating the journey, he added:
“If you leave in the morning, it’ll probably be almost dark by the time you arrive. You may need to stay overnight in Wang County or Kaoshan Town, then go to Hongxing Production Team the next day.”
“That far?”
“It’s not especially far. It’s just inconvenient because of all the transfers.”
The little girl thought for a moment, stuffed the letter into her pocket, and turned back to close the courtyard gate.
“I understand. I’ll go ask Village Chief Uncle for an introduction letter.”
“Let’s go. Ask for several days. I really can’t free myself on that side, so I can’t accompany you. When you go out alone, you must pay attention to safety…”
He continued rambling on and on.
The little girl turned to look at the man beside her.
Even in rough cloth clothes, his bearing was impossible to hide.
Was he possessed by an old mother now?
There wasn’t much work lately, and because the little girl had always been generous toward the villagers and never caused trouble, the village chief readily granted her ten days of leave.
He even prepared a stack of blank introduction letters, all stamped with bright red official seals, for her to use as backup.
He repeatedly reminded her to be careful about this and that while outside.
After all, the little girl wasn’t truly sixteen. She kept agreeing with a smile, her eyes curving sweetly.
The village chief truly was a good person.
There wasn’t much for the little girl to pack at home.
Anything that might spoil was already inside her space anyway.
Early the next morning, the little girl carried her basket and was escorted by Lin Guanghui, who nagged the entire way, onto the bus heading to the county.
Although it was called a county town, it wasn’t much better than the town.
It was only a little bigger.
Her first impression was simple:
Poor.
The people coming and going all looked hurried.
The little girl’s gray outfit did not stand out at all.
While waiting for the train, she wandered around nearby.
Everyone she saw looked pale and thin.
The peaceful life in her village sometimes made her forget what kind of era she was living in.
She still hadn’t seen the crueler side of life.
After changing vehicles three times, the bus finally swayed into Kaoshan Town at four in the afternoon.
After an entire day of traveling, the child was already a little listless.
Holding her introduction letter, she stayed overnight at the only guesthouse in town.
Early the next morning, she ate breakfast in her room, checked out, and asked for directions while walking.
By the time she arrived at Hongxing Production Team, it was already eight in the morning.
This area had also just finished the autumn harvest, and the commune members had been given three days off.
Three days later, they would go up the mountain to gather firewood and mountain goods.
Tang Tang had come at the perfect time.
Today was the first day of rest.
When the villager leading the way brought the little girl to the educated youth station, none of the educated youths were there except Yuan Hongwei.
Since they had finally gotten some rest, the others had gone to town to buy daily necessities or pick up parcels mailed from home.
Yuan Hongwei had only written a letter and asked them to mail it for him.
Life at home was becoming harder and harder. His younger siblings were still small, and his grandmother was old.
Because of that, he never spoke of his own difficulties.
Last year, when things were a little better, he had still managed to exchange for some items and mail them home.
This year, he feared he would need to mix half his food with wild vegetables just to avoid starving.
Looking at the little girl in front of him, Yuan Hongwei’s mind went completely blank.
No, wait.
Why was his younger sister here?
He had been planning to exchange for some money next month so he could take a ride to visit her!
“Brother? Brother Hongwei?”
The little girl waved her hand.
Was this brother of hers stupid?
Or did he not welcome her?
“Ah, yes, yes! Come here quickly.”
After thanking the villager who led her there, Yuan Hongwei brought his younger sister inside.
“Tang Tang, why did you come? I was thinking of visiting you in a few days! The road is so dangerous. How can a little girl like you be so bold?
Wouldn’t it have been better for you to stay in the city and find a job? Why be angry with them? Just ignore them and be done with it. Is the countryside a place for a little girl like you to stay?
How are things on your side? Are the villagers easy to get along with? Do you still have grain? Brother will pack some for you…”
The little girl looked at her endlessly nagging brother.
This was what family felt like.
“Brother Hongwei.”
She interrupted him.
“Things are very good on my side. I have enough grain to eat. Don’t worry.”
“Do you cook together with the others?”
“Mm.”
Yuan Hongwei didn’t say that he only had the grain he earned from working in the production team, while the others occasionally received support from home.
“Brother is doing quite well here. Don’t worry, little girl.”
He was already this thin, and he still called it well?
He was a tall man of 1.8 meters, yet thin enough to sway when he moved.
His patched clothes hung loosely on his body.
There was no flesh on his face, only a pair of bright eyes that had not yet been defeated by life.
“Brother, are the educated youths here easy to get along with?”
“They’re all fine. You little girl, don’t worry so much.”
Looking at the calluses covering his hands, the little girl felt uncomfortable.
In her impression, this brother had always studied well and had a sharp mind. Since childhood, he had been the kind of child everyone else envied.
His hands should have been hands that held pens.
Hands used for research.
Not hands forced to scrape food from the earth.
He should not be like this.
As the little girl silently considered a solution, Yuan Hongwei became anxious.
“Tang Tang, what’s wrong? Don’t scare your brother.”
The little girl lifted her head and stared at him.
“Wh-what is it?”
“Brother, how are the villagers here? Are they good to you?”
Her voice was soft, almost carrying a strange persuasive power.
“They’re alright, just average. We educated youths are outsiders, so it’s normal for people not to welcome us. Being excluded is normal too. After such a long time, there haven’t been any major conflicts.”
Hongxing Production Team was relatively united and wary of outsiders.
It wasn’t that the villagers were bad people.
They simply weren’t as honest and simple as Xiangyang Production Team.
The little girl understood.
Her brother didn’t like this place.
Of course.
Why should someone as bright and upright as her brother suffer grievances here?
Hmph.
“Brother, do you want to leave this place?”
“Leave? Go where? Returning to the city is hopeless. Besides, educated youths can’t just transfer locations casually. Don’t you know that?”
He pinched his younger sister’s little face.
Of course she knew returning to the city was hopeless.
At least for more than ten years.
Without background or connections, the only path back to the city would be waiting for the college entrance examination to be restored and returning through exams.
But she was unwilling to let her brother suffer here for another ten-plus years.
“What about factory recruitment?”
What?
Factory recruitment?
Had his little sister gone silly?
“How could it be that simple?”
Not to mention how precious recruitment quotas were, difficult to obtain even if people fought over them.
Just news of recruitment itself was usually handled internally. Outsiders generally wouldn’t even know about it.
“Brother, just tell me. If there were a factory recruitment quota, would you want to go?”
“If there’s a factory recruitment quota, then you should go. Don’t give it to your brother. A little girl shouldn’t stay in the countryside doing rough work forever.”
Confirmed.
This was a real brother.
“I have one. I don’t want to go. My production team is very good.”
That was true.
She really didn’t want to go.
“…”
“Alright, alright. If there really is recruitment, then your brother will go.”
His tone clearly showed he was coaxing a child.
The siblings joked around for a while before Yuan Hongwei planned to take his younger sister around the village.
Mm.
The area near the mountain foot had nice air and was quiet.
The siblings walked out side by side.
Before they reached the mountain foot, a truck came roaring over, kicking up dust all along the road.
The siblings hurriedly moved to the roadside.
Someone inside the truck glanced out and thought he was seeing things.
He quickly shouted to the driver:
“Stop! Stop the truck!”
The driver was startled and slammed on the brakes.
The truck jolted violently before stopping.
The man rushed straight toward the two of them, shouting loudly:
“Sister! Sister!”
The little girl paused.
That voice sounded familiar.
When she turned around, the man had already run up to them.
“Hey, why are you here?”
How could she run into Jiang Tao here?
But…
This was perfect.
She had originally planned to find him again after returning.
Now, perhaps she could solve her brother’s problem in one go.
“I should be asking you that, little sister. Why did you come all the way here? Did you come by yourself? And this is?”
Another old-mother-style nagger.
“My brother. I came to see my brother.”
Her tone was extremely proud.