During the time it took to fetch water from the cafeteria, Ning An ran into and greeted nearly all her coworkers.
The supply and marketing cooperative had five sales clerks, one accountant, two laborers, one director, and one deputy director. In other words, there were ten employees in total.
The cooperative’s goods were delivered by trucks from the county transport team, while the various brigades’ agency sales points came by ox cart to pick up their supplies. The two laborers were responsible for loading and unloading. Nearly every day, the county would deliver a truckload of goods.
After fetching water, Ning An returned to her office, scalded her enamel mug, and, as usual, brewed herself a mug of tea. The original owner drank the two-dime packets of tea sold at the cooperative. She would brew it and leave it there as decoration. Drinking it was out of the question. Even in the Wasteland Apocalypse where she had been born, she had never drunk tea this terrible!
The world Ning An had been born into was not a zombie apocalypse. Instead, mutated plants and animals ran rampant. Compared with those creatures, humanity had no advantage and was suppressed for a long time. Later, some humans awakened Supernatural Abilities, finally gaining the strength to fight the mutated plants and animals. But the difficulties were real, and so were the dangers. Anyone could end up dying in battle at any time.
But back to the matter at hand—could this stuff even be called tea? It was clearly tea dust, and tea dust that had no telling how long ago been stored at that. After all, the packaging didn’t list a production date. Who knew what year it had been made?
Ning An sat in her chair and took out the accounts the original owner had prepared. She flipped through them rapidly, affirming the original owner’s professional competence. There wasn’t a single error.
Xiao Juza thoughtfully sent her a cup of brewed Spirit Tea. The temperature was just right, and Ning An lifted the cup to take slow sips.
“Thank you, Juza.”
“You’re welcome. Hehe. I thought An’an must be thirsty.”
“Mm, a little. Juza is the most thoughtful.”
The orange cat happily rolled around in her Sea of Consciousness. Watching it, Ning An kept smiling as well.
She had arrived at exactly the right time. The male lead, Li Changwei, would not reach Erdaogou Production Brigade until that afternoon, and the two of them had yet to have any interaction. In the future, she had no intention of interacting with him either. Knowing that he was a cesspit, she should stay far away to avoid getting stench all over herself.
When carrying out missions, if the original owner’s wish included something like “win over the scumbag, then abandon him and make him suffer from unrequited love,” Ning An would definitely ignore it. Fortunately, none of the original owners she had encountered had been so muddleheaded as to make such an outrageous request.
Jiang Ning’an’s wishes had not included revenge, but Ning An still intended to teach Li Changwei a small lesson. Since he had a white moonlight in his heart, and was willing to endure hardship for her—even abandoning his moral bottom line, selling his body for benefits, and then using the money earned by selling his body to support his white moonlight’s family—he should stay away from other people and lock himself together with her properly.
No one should have to sacrifice themselves for their love.
If the two of them wanted to act out a world-shaking romance in this difficult era, then they should hold on to it properly!
She already had a preliminary plan. She would put it into action once the male lead arrived.
Ning An slacked off in the office, chatting with Xiao Juza in her head about anything and everything. The supply and marketing cooperative’s accounting job presented not the slightest difficulty to her. She could calculate everything at a glance and had no need for an abacus.
Erdaogou Shenchandui.
The commune members were busy working in the fields. It was now the very tail end of the autumn harvest. This year’s yield was good, and the busy farming season was nearly over. Everyone was beginning to relax, and they had the leisure to chat while working.
“Hey, when do you think the brigade leader and the security officer will return after going to the county to pick up the educated youths? I really want to see what those city kids look like.”
“What’s so unusual about city kids? Several production brigades around us have had them for ages. It’s only our place that’s a little behind. This is the first batch assigned here.”
“How can you call that being behind? It clearly means our brigade is lucky. Look at those educated youths—they’re all as weak as little chicks. Can they even work after coming here? They’ll only cause trouble.”
“You can’t put it that way. They’re city people, so of course they look good. Two batches of educated youths have already been sent to my parents’ village. When they first arrived, they were all fair and clean, and very pretty. They’ve lured all the village’s young men and women into wandering around the educated-youth compound whenever they have nothing else to do.”
“Did any of them succeed?”
“Bullshit! Can a girl like that work after marrying into your family? Can you eat your fill after marrying a young man like that? Looking is fine, but if anyone dares get serious, their parents will break their legs first.”
A group of women burst into giggles.
After laughing, someone said, “No matter what, they’re still city people. If they return to the city someday, it won’t matter whether they can work, right? Once they go back, they’ll eat state rations and won’t have to work.”
“Whether they can return to the city is hard to say, but the hardship right in front of them is plain to see. You can’t live well here by marrying an educated youth, unless that educated youth’s family is well-off and willing to send money and goods to support them. Otherwise, relying on the few work points educated youths earn, they’re bound to go hungry.”
“Exactly. I heard that those educated youths earn fewer work points than the food they consume. Every one of them owes the production brigade work points. Who knows when they’ll be able to pay them back?”
“Two years ago, wasn’t there an expert from the provincial hospital who came here to plant sweet potatoes? He went back after working for only half a month. Maybe these educated youths will be able to return soon too.”
“That expert was a special case. Maybe whatever trouble he got into wasn’t serious, so he could go back. Look at the others sent down to the other brigades. Which one hasn’t stayed for several years? They’re still working in the fields like us. When they arrived, they were younger and better-looking than us. After working for a few years, every one of them is now stooped, and they look even more dispirited than we do.”
“Xuegong’s wife, why aren’t you saying anything? Your An’an is eighteen this year, right? It’s time to find her a match. What kind of man do you want?”
“There’s no rush. We want to keep her with us for a couple more years. Times aren’t like they were when we were young. Back then, plenty of girls married at sixteen or seventeen. Now eighteen is only just old enough to marry. Why hurry?”
“That’s true. Your An’an is even prettier than city people, and she has a formal job. Those muddy-legged men from our village really aren’t worthy of her.”
Although she said that aloud, she was thinking that the Xuegong couple would probably want a uxorilocal marriage. They had finally raised such a golden phoenix—could they really let her fly into someone else’s family?
“Don’t say things like that. What’s wrong with being muddy-legged? City people still have to come to the countryside and receive reeducation from us poor and lower-middle peasants. We muddy-legged folks stand straight and proud. We can talk about An’an’s marriage in a couple more years. As long as she’s willing, that’s enough.”
The couple had finally managed to have one daughter. Although they urged An’an to marry whenever they spoke, in truth, they could not bear to let her go.
During the first few years of their marriage, Zhao Fengxia gave birth to two sons, but neither survived. When she became pregnant with Jiang Ning’an, the couple were extremely cautious. From the moment she conceived, they went to the county hospital for examinations. More than half a month before her due date, they moved into the hospital. Jiang Ning’an was born right on schedule, and everything went smoothly. She remained in the hospital for more than ten days before finally taking the child home.
They had no choice—they had been frightened by what happened before. Their two sons had both been born at home. Everything had gone well during the births, and the babies had seemed perfectly healthy, yet neither had lived past a week. Both had suddenly died in infancy.
The family named the child Ning An, hoping she would live a peaceful and safe life. The name embodied the whole family’s beautiful hopes for her.
After giving birth to Jiang Ning’an, Zhao Fengxia never conceived again. At the time, her mother-in-law was still alive. The old woman was broad-minded and comforted the young couple, saying that one’s fate with children was predetermined, and perhaps the two of them were simply destined to have no sons.
Zhao Fengxia could not decide whether to laugh or cry at the consolation.
The three adults devoted themselves wholeheartedly to raising Jiang Ning’an.
Moreover, the child seemed to possess a bit of good fortune.
Her husband’s job at the coal mine had also been found in the year Ning An was born. At that time, Zhao Fengxia was hospitalized in the county, and her husband had gone to care for her. As luck would have it, the county coal mine was recruiting workers, and he learned about it. He applied, was accepted, and from then on became a state employee.
They were still chatting when someone shouted, “They’re here! They’re here! The brigade leader has brought the educated youths back.”
The commune members working in the fields all straightened up and craned their necks toward the main road beside the fields. A bullock cart carrying several young people was approaching from the distance, and the young people on it were even smiling and waving at the commune members.
Everyone exchanged glances.
“My goodness, city people really are different. They smile like flowers, and their teeth are so white.”
“There aren’t any patches on their clothes. They’re all wearing Liberation shoes.”
“Your eyes are awfully sharp, seeing that from here!”
“There are five of them in total—three men and two women.”
“Did you see that young man? The one sitting in the back. Thick eyebrows, big eyes—he looks so spirited.”
The speaker glanced at Zhao Fengxia and said, “Putting looks aside, he seems like a good match for your An’an.”
Zhao Fengxia was displeased, but said aloud, “Don’t talk nonsense. If some gossipmongers hear you, you’ll ruin our An’an’s reputation.”
The speaker quickly covered her mouth. “Look at me and this mouth of mine!”
Zhao Fengxia was not angry. She knew this person well; it had truly been an offhand remark, without any malicious intent. Fortunately, the people working alongside her were all upright people whom she trusted, so she did not have to worry too much.
“I wonder what these fellows will be able to do after they arrive!”
“Whatever they do has nothing to do with us. The brigade leader will assign them their tasks.”
To welcome this batch of educated youths, the production brigade had prepared houses for them in advance—new rooms built from adobe bricks. Apparently, the commune had allocated special funds to the production brigade, enough to build the houses.
The bullock cart carrying the educated youths slowly moved away, but the commune members’ enthusiasm did not diminish. They continued chatting while working, adding a little flavor to their monotonous labor.
Meanwhile, the brigade leader and the security officer drove the bullock cart to the entrance of the educated-youth compound. From the moment they entered the village, several children had followed behind the cart, and their numbers had steadily increased.
The security officer tried to drive them away. “Don’t get so close. Who’ll be responsible if you get hurt?”
The children were not afraid at all. They grinned and said, “You will.”
“Hey! State your name. Whose kid are you?”
“Not telling you. Nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah-nyah~”
The brigade leader laughed. “Can’t you tell? Doesn’t he look exactly like Second Liu from the back street?”
The security officer took a look. Well, would you look at that! Those distinctive little green-bean eyes gleaming with cunning really were identical.
After joking with the children for a while, the two men reached the entrance of the educated-youth compound.
“This is the place,” the brigade leader said. “There are plenty of rooms, so for now, each of you can have one. After choosing your rooms and putting down your luggage, go to the brigade to collect your grain ration. You don’t need to work tomorrow. Take the day to familiarize yourselves with the area. If you need to buy anything, there’s an agency sales point in the village and a supply and marketing cooperative in the commune. If you need to send letters or make phone calls, go to the commune, where there’s a post office. The morning after tomorrow, you’ll work alongside the commune members. There’s a kitchen in the compound, but only one cooking pot. If you want to cook separately, you’ll have to figure that out yourselves. Is everything clear?”
“Clear. Thank you, Brigade Leader.”
“If there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask the commune members, or come to the brigade headquarters and ask us. Since you’ve come here, and none of us knows how long you’ll be staying, you need to adapt as quickly as possible.”
After saying this, the brigade leader waved for them to enter on their own. He and the security officer drove away, needing to return the ox to the cowshed quickly and give it a good meal after a full day of work.
The security officer said, “I wonder whether these kids will be able to handle the work.”
The brigade leader laughed. “You actually expect them to work? As long as they don’t cause trouble and honestly stay put, that’s enough. They earn as many work points as they eat food; we don’t need to worry about much else. The policy says we can’t let people starve to death, but it never said we had to make sure they ate their fill. If they can’t work properly and fail to earn enough work points, they can’t blame us.”
“I wonder whether the young men and women in our brigade will come over to gawk at these city kids every day, like the people from the nearby brigades.”
“They’re young. It’s normal for them to take a look. As long as they don’t do anything reckless, it’s fine.”