After a day of labor, the Educated Youths returned to the Educated Youth Station.
The senior Educated Youths were already accustomed to it, but the newly arrived Educated Youths were exhausted to the point of misery.
The two female comrades returned with red eyes, tears streaming down their faces. The male comrades did not cry, but they were still visibly drained, wiping sweat from their foreheads, their clothes soaked through in large patches. It was clear they had been overworked.
Only Su Qiu remained relatively calm. However, because her clothes were stained with the smell of the pigsty, everyone deliberately sat farther away from her.
Wang Jiancheng looked at everyone and clapped his hands, saying: “Life in the countryside is like this. Everyone has gone through it. You all need to adapt as soon as possible. Now let’s talk about the matter of meals.”
“Right now, all Educated Youths eat from a communal kitchen. We cook in turns, and the grain is also shared. You newly arrived Educated Youths can decide whether to join in or cook separately. It depends on your own choice.”
Xu Xiangyang and Liu Bin, the two male comrades, did not know how to cook at all. Upon hearing this, they immediately said: “We’ll join the communal kitchen.”
Geng Jiao and Wang Xuefei also nodded. “We’ll do the same.”
Su Qiu did not immediately express her opinion. She hesitated.
She had a dimensional space; cooking alone would give her more freedom, and she would not have to eat from the communal pot. However, she also did not eat much.
Wang Jiancheng turned his gaze to Su Qiu. “Comrade Xiao Su, what about you?”
Su Qiu hesitated for a moment, then nodded. “Then I’ll do the same.”
Forget it. Living alone would be too unsociable. She had just arrived and did not yet understand the situation here, so it was better to follow the majority for now and observe.
Wang Jiancheng nodded. “Alright, then everyone will eat from the communal kitchen. For now, we’ll use our grain first. The Production Brigade will distribute your grain in a couple of days, and you’ll return it later. Grain is also linked to work points. Try to earn more work points, otherwise there may not be enough food by the end of the year.”
When it came to earning work points, the newly arrived Educated Youths all looked displeased. After working all afternoon, they were already half-dead from exhaustion, yet the work points recorder had only recorded two work points for them.
It was said that they worked too slowly and performed poorly.
Zhao Na then took over and said: “We rotate cooking and labor every day. Two people form a group, usually one male and one female. Men do more physical work, women do lighter tasks. You five comrades can see how to pair up, and the remaining one will join the senior Educated Youths later.”
Xu Xiangyang, Liu Bin, Geng Jiao, and Wang Xuefei had already become familiar with each other. Forming two male-female pairs was just right.
After discussion, Xu Xiangyang was paired with Geng Jiao, and Liu Bin was paired with Wang Xuefei.
As for Su Qiu, who was left over, Zhao Na called over another male Educated Youth.
“Chang Jun, you are alone on your side. You’ll form a team with Su Qiu. You are a senior Educated Youth, so you can also guide the young girl.”
Chang Jun was 22 years old and had come to the countryside in the same year as Zhao Na and the others. He was tall and thin, with dark skin, decent facial features, and wore glasses.
He stood up and looked at Su Qiu briefly before saying indifferently: “Hello, Comrade Su. I am Chang Jun. We will be in the same group from now on. Please cooperate well.”
Su Qiu noticed he was not very enthusiastic, but she did not mind. She calmly replied: “Alright, Comrade Chang, please guide me. We will cooperate with each other.”
Hearing this, Chang Jun looked at her again.
To be honest, he did not want to get involved with the newly arrived Educated Youths, especially since this young girl looked thin and weak—but seemed, in reality, quite troublesome.
“Alright, everything that needed to be said has been said and everything has been arranged. New Educated Youth comrades remember to check the duty schedule at the entrance and strictly follow the rotation for cooking. Everyone go back, wash up, and we’ll eat later.”
“Alright.”
“Understood.”
…
When they returned to wash up, the seven people could barely fit inside the room.
Seeing the senior Educated Youths carrying basins and towels outside, Su Qiu also took her basin and towel and followed them out.
The room was too hot, and Geng Jiao and Wang Xuefei were crying and complaining, making it irritating to listen to.
When Su Qiu followed, Wang Li immediately pulled Yang Yan and Zhang Xiaoyue away first, clearly unwilling to interact with her.
Zhao Na saw this and shook her head helplessly, then slowed her pace and walked with Su Qiu.
“In summer, the room is too hot, and washing up with water is tiring. Usually, we go in groups to the mountain spring pool to wash. The spring water there is clear and cool, very refreshing for washing the face.”
After speaking, Zhao Na quickly lowered her voice and added: “But it’s only for washing the face, neck, and arms. You must not bathe there. Before we came, there was a female Educated Youth who went there to bathe at night. She was spotted and violated by a village fool. In the end, she ran into the mountains and jumped off a cliff, dying from the fall. The fool was arrested, but her life was still gone. So we must take this as a warning.”
Su Qiu sighed at what she heard. She also understood that Zhao Na meant well, so she nodded. “Mm, I understand, Sister Zhao. Thank you.”
Hearing this, Zhao Na smiled and gently patted her head, lowering her voice. “Although you are quite smart, you look so small and thin that it’s hard to treat you like a younger sister. Being smart and fighting for yourself is good, but you still need to be careful in everything. The Production Team Leader doesn’t have a very good reputation in the village, so you should remain vigilant.”
Su Qiu blinked after hearing this and developed a better impression of her. She smiled and held Zhao Na’s arm. “Mm, Sister Zhao, thank you. I know you are truly looking out for me.”
Zhao Na looked at her enthusiastic reaction and laughed helplessly. “Alright, enough flattery. Let’s hurry and wash up, or there won’t be any food left when we return.”
“Alright, let’s go…”
…
The next day,
Just as dawn broke, Su Qiu got up.
Work started at six o’clock, and it was not yet five.
Today it was Zhao Na and Wang Jiancheng’s turn to cook, and they had also already gotten up.
Seeing Su Qiu up so early, Zhao Na asked in a low voice: “Couldn’t sleep?”
Su Qiu shook her head and only spoke after going outside. “I promised to go to the Production Team Leader’s house to take a look. I’ll go early, otherwise I won’t have time after work starts.”
In fact, there was a break at noon, but there were too many people then, and it would not look good to bring something to the Production Team Leader’s house at that time.
Zhao Na nodded after hearing this and did not ask further. She only reminded her in a low voice: “Don’t feed them too much at once, or they’ll demand even more.”
Su Qiu clearly understood what she meant and nodded. “Sister Zhao, I understand.”
After speaking, Su Qiu returned to the room. Seeing that everyone was still asleep, she secretly took a braised chicken leg out of her dimensional space, wrapped it in oil paper, and placed it in a basket.
After coming out, she took the chicken leg and handed it to Zhao Na.
“Sister Zhao, you treat me like a younger sister. I’m treating you to a chicken leg.”
The rich aroma of braised meat rushed straight to Zhao Na’s senses, and she almost could not resist it. However, she still forced herself to return it immediately.
“I take care of you not for food. You are so thin, you should eat more meat to nourish yourself. I can usually eat meat. I’ll accept your kindness, but quickly put it away and don’t let others see.”
Hearing this, Su Qiu smiled and felt even more that she was worth befriending. She directly placed it into Zhao Na’s pocket.
“Sister Zhao, I still have more. Since coming here, only you have treated me well, so I’m willing to give it to you. Besides, if I leave it lying around it will spoil.”
After speaking, Su Qiu waved her hand and slipped away with the basket.
Zhao Na touched the palm-sized chicken leg in her pocket, and a trace of warmth also rose in her heart.
She had been at the Educated Youth Station for many years and had taken care of many people. Everyone praised her verbally, but no one had ever been as generous as Su Qiu. Despite being so small and clearly malnourished herself, she had actually shared a large chicken leg. From this alone, it could be seen that she was someone who knew gratitude.