After things had settled down, when Shūxīn went out to work in the fields again, she heard that educated youths—zhīqīng—were coming to the village. No wonder Granny had said she could go out without being disturbed: there was a new topic to discuss now.
Time had flown by. It was already 1968, the large-scale movement sending urban youths to the countryside had begun, and the storm was slowly approaching.
Before this, Liúlín brigade had never had zhīqīng. Shūxīn didn’t know if the new arrivals were the same batch that might trouble her brother. She had just settled her sister’s affairs, and now her brother’s troubles were arriving in succession. Could she get a break?
Though she grumbled in her heart, her body was dutiful. She went to the brigade leader to get the situation straight.
Liú Shuānggēn, seeing Shūxīn asking about the zhīqīng, said directly—there was nothing to hide.
“Our county has had educated youths coming for years. In the past few years, I managed to defer them, but this year they really can’t be pushed away. This time, five or six have been assigned to Liúlín brigade. I don’t know the exact people yet—we’ll see when they’re distributed.”
“Perfect. Shūxīn, since you have time, tomorrow you can go with Uncle Niu to meet them. Hopefully, these city kids are low-maintenance and won’t hold our team back.”
Shūxīn agreed. She was also curious to see if Zhao Lì, the female lead from Our Educated Youth Years, was among them.
The next morning, Shūxīn rode on Uncle Niu’s ox cart, jolting along to the commune to pick up the zhīqīng. Their commune was called Dàxīng, which oversaw more than thirty village brigades. The brigade leader said that over half of the villages would be receiving educated youths this time.
When they arrived at the zhīqīng office, most other villages’ representatives had already arrived. People who knew each other gathered to smoke and chat. The zhīqīng hadn’t appeared yet. Shūxīn and Uncle Niu parked the ox cart, Uncle Niu chatting with acquaintances while Shūxīn leaned against the cart and pretended to nap.
Soon, a large group of youths arrived at the commune’s zhīqīng office. Roughly seventy to eighty people, dressed brightly and looking smooth-skinned and refined.
Shūxīn had already received the list of those assigned to their brigade and saw Zhao Lì was included, along with her “backup” candidates, numbers one and two. The male lead Guō Míngyuǎn wasn’t there—probably in the next batch of arrivals.
Liúlín brigade had five zhīqīng this time: the female lead Zhao Lì, her first backup Zhao Péng, her second backup Zhāng Hóngliàng, and two others who didn’t appear in the story—likely just random extras.
Shūxīn studied the three boys and two girls approaching, trying to identify Zhao Lì. When they came forward to give their names, it became clear. Zhao Lì was attractive, exuding a gentle aura, dressed well in a white dress highlighting her soft temperament.
Honestly, this batch of zhīqīng all looked good. Besides Zhao Lì, the other girl, Wáng Méi, also had a delicate charm, and the three boys were handsome. Especially the random extra, Luò Yuè—he exceeded her expectations.
He didn’t have the rugged, masculine look typical of urban men, appearing delicate and fragile. His white shirt had one button undone, revealing skin paler than most women’s. Black pants, black shoes, perfectly normal male attire—but somehow he exuded an air of refined fragility.
His features were exquisite: arched eyebrows, long lashes, clear lips, a well-defined nose, flawless face. Shūxīn didn’t know why she instinctively described him with words usually used for women’s beauty—but at first sight, he looked like a tear-streaked heroine from a story, and yet he was a man.
While Shūxīn sized up the zhīqīng, they were also examining her. Being called the most beautiful girl in the surrounding villages, her looks spoke for themselves. She also had money and decent clothes, so she didn’t fall short in presentation.
The boys didn’t think much, just noting she was pretty. But female leads tend to compare themselves with other attractive females. Zhao Lì realized she couldn’t outshine Shūxīn in looks or figure, and even her family background, a small advantage, was diminishing.
Uncle Niu didn’t care what the zhīqīng thought. He loaded their luggage onto the ox cart, while the youths themselves walked. They were unfamiliar with the area, so they followed instructions, trudging slowly behind the cart. After a short while, Zhao Lì and Luò Yuè were exhausted, bent over with hands on knees, gasping for air.
Shūxīn looked at Luò Yuè, the handsome extra, struggling to breathe and thought to herself: beautiful people are just beautiful—even breathing has a delicate charm.
Out of pity, Shūxīn offered them a turn to sit on the edge of the ox cart. Luò Yuè quickly climbed up, leaning against the luggage and exhaling loudly, barely managing a thank-you. Shūxīn didn’t mind—beautiful people had privileges.
Finally, they arrived at Liúlín brigade. Shūxīn saw a crowd gathered at the village entrance and, wiping sweat from her brow, could already guess what they were saying. For the next few days, the conversation would revolve entirely around the zhīqīng.
Shūxīn sympathized with the newcomers. They were still catching their breath, unaware they were about to become the center of the village’s gossip. When they realized the crowd, they were stunned.
“Aunt Hua, look! That boy is so handsome! And those two girls aren’t bad either!”
“Not just that, look at the rest of these city kids—dressed nicely too.”
“Look at these pampered city kids! How will they handle the fields?”
“Will they cry? I heard the kids in the next village cried the first time they worked in the fields—terribly.”
The aunts whispered excitedly, voices carrying. The zhīqīng felt both embarrassed and annoyed. Just as they were about to lose patience, the brigade leader arrived and dispersed the crowd.
They handed the list to the brigade leader, planning to slip away. The zhīqīng were received, Zhao Lì looked over things, and it was time to go home for a meal. The rest was up to the brigade leader.
Walking along, Shūxīn thought over the situation. She had observed Zhao Lì carefully. She had her schemes, and backup number one was clearly familiar with her—Zhao Péng and Zhao Lì were childhood sweethearts from the same household.
Backup number two, Zhāng Hóngliàng, probably met her on the train and also had some interest in Zhao Lì, helping her along the way.
That’s why she was the female lead—Zhāng Hóngliàng barely knew her for a few days and was already hooked. Zhao Péng didn’t even realize his goddess had added another rival.
Luò Yuè was still puzzling to Shūxīn. He looked good and probably came from a decent family, but the female lead hadn’t made a move, nor did he appear in the story. Maybe Zhao Lì tried and he was too smart, or maybe he was simply an unpredictable factor.
Shūxīn decided not to overthink. As long as her brother was safe, the rest didn’t concern her. Whatever was going on with Luò Yuè was none of her business.
That evening, the Liú family also discussed the newcomers. Shūxīn saw her brother talking too, mainly about the appearances of the zhīqīng. Her brother wasn’t yet smitten with Zhao Lì.
To prevent her brother from forming a disastrous attachment, Shūxīn joined the conversation, emphasizing Zhao Lì’s relationship with her backups, reinforcing the point with her brother.
She wasn’t about to let her brother fall for Zhao Lì after she had already exposed her tricks.