The educated youths were chatting inside the house when they heard a commotion outside. One by one, they filed out of the room.
Liu Hongmei was the boldest and most outspoken among the female educated youths. Without a second thought, she opened the door directly.
Seeing the dense crowd of people outside, she was startled and took a step back. Spotting the male educated youths beside her, she immediately felt reassured.
Zhuzui Ridge Production Brigade had no television and certainly no form of entertainment. Now that there was finally some excitement to witness, the bored villagers stared with burning curiosity, radiating an air of gossip.
Bai Dacheng, standing outside the door, was beaten black and blue. When he saw Bai Wei, his face lit up with relief, and he pleaded, “Sister, sister, save me! Li Juan, that crazy woman, is going to beat me to death!”
Bai Wei stiffened and stepped forward, asking, “Brother, how did you end up like this?”
Bai Dacheng was feeling miserable. Hearing her question, he poured out his grievances like beans spilling from a bamboo tube.
He recounted how Li Juan had humiliated him in front of everyone during the day, and how she still hadn’t been satisfied when they returned home at night—she’d dragged him out and given him another beating, then sent him over to demand money.
At the mention of money, Bai Wei’s expression turned somewhat unpleasant.
When she had come, her parents had given her 200 yuan. Her cousin had secretly come to the educated youth point and given her 100, and with this month’s subsidy she’d collected, she now had 310 yuan on her.
What did her cousin’s wife mean by this—trying to take back money that had already been given?
She felt displeased. From her past life, she knew this cousin’s wife was a notoriously difficult person to deal with. She didn’t want to make a scene that would be too ugly, since she had just arrived and a big blowup would reflect poorly on her.
So she looked up at the woman behind her cousin and put on a proper smile.
“Cousin’s wife, what are you all doing? Can’t whatever it is be discussed properly at home? Why must outsiders know about it? As they say, family scandals shouldn’t be aired in public. You’re a smart woman, cousin’s wife—you don’t want to make this too embarrassing either, do you?”
Hearing the warning in Bai Wei’s words, Li Juan sneered inwardly. This scheming bitch—every time her cousin gave her money, she never refused. She took all the benefits, so why should others suffer? That was her hard-earned money!
With that thought, Li Juan gave a cold laugh. “Bai Wei, cut the crap. Your cousin, that ungrateful bastard, secretly gave you a hundred yuan. Hand it over—that was money I saved up.”
Bai Wei’s heart sank. She quickly denied it. “Cousin’s wife, I don’t know what you’re talking about. What hundred yuan? What does that have to do with me?”
Li Juan narrowed her eyes at her. She really had underestimated this woman. She looked so innocent when she lied—the villagers who didn’t know the truth were all pointing and whispering about Bai Wei.
Bai Dacheng also stared at her in shock. Was this still his simple, kind-hearted cousin? How could she lie? He had clearly given her a hundred yuan yesterday.
But then he felt relieved—his cousin must have her own difficulties.
Li Juan scoffed. “Fine. Since you won’t admit it, I’ll just call the police. This is a hundred yuan, you know. Who knows how many years in prison the police would give you for this?”
Bai Wei was furious inside—it wasn’t like she had stolen it; her cousin had given it willingly. At the same time, she was afraid. She was terrified of actually going to prison—that would ruin her life forever.
“Cousin’s wife, let’s talk this out properly. My memory’s bad—I just suddenly remembered that cousin did give me a hundred yuan yesterday. Wait here, I’ll go get it for you.”
With that, she turned and hurried back inside the house.
The villagers who had just been sympathizing with Bai Wei now whispered among themselves, all thinking this woman was utterly shameless. In this day and age, nobody’s money came from the wind. She’d been putting on an innocent act just moments ago, but she really had taken someone’s money.
Bai Wei dawdled for a long time before finally pulling out ten big-denomination notes and handing them over.
Li Juan took them, counted them, and then tucked them into her coat pocket.
She smoothed her hair and looked at Bai Wei, speaking slowly. “Don’t call me cousin’s wife anymore. Tomorrow I’m jumping out of this fiery pit—I’m divorcing your cousin.”
These words struck like a thunderbolt. Bai Wei felt as if she’d been hit by lightning. She didn’t even notice when Li Juan left or when the crowd dispersed.
Her mind echoed with one phrase over and over:
They’re getting divorced.
They’re actually getting divorced.
In her past life, her cousin had been just as useless, living off his wife at home. Li Juan had borne everything without complaint, raised the children, and even into their fifties and sixties with graying hair, the two had never divorced.
Why was it different this time? Could other things change too?
Suddenly, she felt afraid.
Afraid she wouldn’t be able to marry Gongsun Shinian like she had in her past life.
Bai Wei rarely suffered from insomnia, but that night she lay in bed tossing and turning like a pancake being flipped in a pan, unable to fall asleep.
She had barely drifted off when she was jolted awake by the crisp ringing of the village bell.
The new educated youths were going to the fields today to earn work points.
Every brigade had an iron bell. Zhuzui Ridge’s iron bell hung from a large tree, with a long rope dangling down from it. Every day before work, the bell was rung—first one strike, then two quick strikes in succession, repeated over and over.
The brigade leader was the earliest riser in the entire brigade. The first thing he did after getting up was go ring the bell.
At the sound of the bell, the old educated youths instinctively began to get up. The female educated youths put on their clothes and shoes, quickly braided their hair, grabbed a cold corn cake, and headed toward the brigade headquarters.
They ate while rubbing their sleepy eyes with their hands.
Occasionally, they could hear the commune members chatting about last night’s gossip, occasionally casting furtive glances at Bai Wei.
Bai Wei was the female lead in the book. Although she wasn’t as beautiful as Li Qingge, she still had fair skin and a fresh, lively appearance. One look from those eyes was enough to steal the souls of unmarried young men.
They looked at Bai Wei, then at Li Qingge, feeling like they didn’t have enough eyes to take in both.
The girls from the city were beautiful, unlike the women in their village, who had dark, rough skin and were crude and uneducated in their manners.
If they could marry one of the female educated youths, wouldn’t their future children become educated people too?
With that thought, their gazes toward the female educated youths grew increasingly fervent.
The aunties in the brigade, seeing their sons’ pathetic expressions, twisted their ears hard with ruthless force.
That Bai educated youth didn’t seem like a good person—they’d have to keep their sons far away from her.
Village Party Secretary Shen Ping’an was a 40-year-old middle-aged man with thick eyebrows and big eyes. In his youth, he had been a famously handsome young man in the area. To climb the ranks, he had married the old village chief’s ugly daughter.
After marrying, he climbed to the position of village party secretary. As he aged, his wandering thoughts multiplied. The moment he saw Li Qingge, he was struck with awe.
Inside, his heart churned like stormy waves, but outwardly he concealed it well, appearing perfectly proper and serious.
The commune members and educated youths had all gathered. The brigade captain stood on the steps with a megaphone, cleared his throat, and began his mobilization speech.
“Fellow commune members, the harvest season has arrived once again. Labor is most glorious. We must work hard to contribute to socialist construction. Diligence brings progress; laziness brings backwardness. We must be conscientious commune members, progressing together and supervising one another.”
With that, the brigade captain began dividing everyone into groups.
The commune members were split into six teams. The old educated youths formed the seventh team, and the five newly arrived educated youths were assigned directly to the same team as the old ones.
The brigade captain, not entirely at ease, specifically instructed Dang Aiguo and Liu Hongmei to take good care of the new educated youths.
Everyone distributed their farming tools and headed toward the fields in twos and threes.
Before they even got close, a golden ocean spread out before their eyes. Heavy ears of grain swayed in the wind. Against the blue sky, the gold and azure formed a beautiful oil painting that left one in awe.
Everyone found their positions according to their assigned groups.
It was their first day working and they had no experience. The old educated youths demonstrated a few times and then left them to it. Li Qingge, being strong, picked up a sickle and began clumsily cutting the rice.
At first, she was slow, but the more she cut, the more skilled she became. The only problem was that she had to keep bending over, and her back ached from the strain.
Whether it was her imagination or not, she kept feeling a malicious gaze sizing her up.
Baldy Wang Lan was diagonally ahead of Li Qingge, positioned between Party Secretary Shen Ping’an and Li Qingge—the three of them formed a straight line.
Wang Lan bit her thick lips, her face full of springtime longing. Why did the village party secretary keep looking at her? Could he have been captivated by her beauty?
She shook her head. There was no helping it—she was just too beautiful. This damn charm.
As the sun climbed higher, her bald head gleamed with oil under the sunlight, shining like a lightbulb.