Arriving at Grape Gully Brigade
What does it feel like to have someone spit in your face?
Jian Mingyue was the best person to ask.
Disgust, humiliation, and anger flooded her mind.
The phlegm was thick and carried a foul odor.
Jian Mingyue wanted nothing more than to tear the person who spat at her into pieces.
She couldn’t help but curse, “Damn it, are you sick? You spat right in my face, you blind idiot!” As soon as she shouted, the previously noisy vehicle instantly fell silent.
Everyone’s eyes turned to Jian Mingyue.
The man in front turned around and gave her a casual glance. His gaze was dark, sinister, and filled with ill intent.
Under such a stare, Jian Mingyue’s heart tightened, and her courage seemed to shrink.
The middle-aged man asked in a low voice, “What did you just say?”
Jian Mingyue replied weakly, “Nothing, you must have misheard.”
Only then did the man turn back around, and Jian Mingyue couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
She could only accept her bad luck, taking out a tissue to silently wipe her face clean.
Wen Shunu whispered to Jiang Taohua, “Tsk, this Jian Mingyue is such a cowardly bully!”
Jiang Taohua smiled. Jian Mingyue wasn’t just a cowardly bully—she was also selfish, jealous, and narrow-minded.
But she had a delicate, innocent-looking face that was highly deceptive, often attracting a crowd of young men who hovered around her.
Coupled with her female protagonist halo, Jiang Taohua was willing to bet that once they arrived at the educated youth point, eight out of ten men would fall for her.
The vehicle jolted and rattled as it moved, causing the passengers to sway from side to side.
After more than two hours, they finally arrived at Hualai County.
Wen Shunu rushed off the vehicle and threw up by a tree on the roadside.
She was a bit carsick and felt completely drained.
Jiang Taohua walked over and handed her a piece of dried tangerine peel candy.
“Here, have a candy.”
Wen Shunu took the candy, unwrapped it, and popped it into her mouth.
Two minutes later, Wen Shunu’s eyes widened in surprise. “Taohua, the candy really works! I don’t feel sick anymore. Thank you, sis!”
【Ah, this is the perfect opportunity. If I charge straight at her and knock Jiang Taohua to the ground, she’ll probably cry from the pain. I’ll just say it was an accident, and there’s nothing she can do about it.】
Jian Mingyue didn’t know that her thoughts had been heard by everyone around her, including Jiang Taohua herself.
They watched her every move like she was a clown, eager to see how she would try to harm someone.
“Ouch!!”
Just as Jian Mingyue charged forward, Jiang Taohua seemed to have eyes in the back of her head. She cleverly sidestepped, and Jian Mingyue stumbled and fell to the ground, scraping her hands and feet. The pain brought tears to her eyes.
Jiang Taohua pretended to notice Jian Mingyue only then, her face full of concern.
“Oh, Mingyue, how did you fall? Are you okay?” she said, extending a hand to help her up.
Just as Jian Mingyue was about to stand, Jiang Taohua let go, causing Jian Mingyue to fall back to the ground, suffering a second injury. Her tailbone ached sharply, and she glared fiercely at Jiang Taohua, knowing full well that this bitch wasn’t acting out of kindness.
“Congratulations, Host, for angering the female protagonist. You have earned three yuan.”
At the entrance of Hualai County Station, representatives sent by various production teams were already waiting there.
The modes of transportation were also diverse, including ox carts, donkey carts, and for the better-equipped teams, even tractors.
As the educated youth emerged carrying their large and small bags, those waiting to receive them began shouting at the top of their lungs.
“Members of the Cypress Production Team, gather here…”
“Zhangjiatun Production Team, come over quickly!”
“Educated youth for the Grape Gully Production Team, come to me!!”
Hearing “Grape Gully Production Team,” Jiang Taohua and the others walked over. The person sent to pick them up was a young man wearing a labor-cloth jacket and black pants, with patches on the seat of his trousers.
Seeing Jiang Taohua and the three others approach, the young man quickly straightened up. Especially when he caught sight of Jian Mingyue, a flash of admiration crossed his eyes. He stood there awkwardly, his face as red as a tomato.
[This country bumpkin is so disgusting, all dirty and unkempt, and his eyes are so shameless, staring at me like that. I really want to dig his eyes out.]
Hearing her inner thoughts, the young man’s face turned pale. He hurriedly averted his gaze, took the luggage from Jiang Taohua and the others, and placed it on the ox cart.
Jian Mingyue put on a sweet, feigned smile and said, “Comrade, thank you. You’re so kind!”
Suppressing the chill in his heart, the young man thought that if he hadn’t heard her inner thoughts just now, he would have believed her.
Jiang Taohua and the others found seats on the ox cart. Wen Shunu sat close to her, while the male and female protagonists sat on the other side.
This year, only six new educated youth had come to the Grape Gully Production Team. It was said that the other two had significant backgrounds and powerful family connections, with special vehicles arranged for their transportation, so they didn’t need his help at all.
As soon as everyone was seated, the young man cracked the whip, and the ox cart slowly began to move.
Wen Shunu noticed that some production teams didn’t even have ox carts, and their members had to carry their own luggage and walk to the village on foot. She patted her chest in relief and said, “Thank goodness we don’t have to walk.”
After leaving Hualai County, the ox cart traveled for half an hour before reaching the commune. The young man introduced it to them: “This is the only commune nearby, called Chunqiu Commune. It’s not far from our production team—just half an hour away. You can come here to buy daily necessities in the future.”
Passing through the commune, the surroundings grew increasingly desolate. The crops on both sides of the road had been harvested, leaving the fields bare.
The young man who had come to pick them up was the eldest son of the production team leader, named Chen Dalian. The team leader’s wife had given birth to four sons in one go, named Dalian, Er Lian, San Lian, and Si Lian.
The muddy road was full of bumps and potholes, jolting Jiang Taohua and the others until their bottoms ached.
Suddenly, a honk sounded from behind. Looking up, they saw a military-green jeep kicking up a cloud of dust as it sped past them.
Jian Mingyue waved her hand disdainfully to fan away the dust and complained, “Driving so fast, are they rushing to be reborn?”
Fortunately, the journey wasn’t too long. Before dark, Dalian drove the ox cart back to the Grape Gully Production Team.
A group of women stood chatting at the village entrance. When they saw the ox cart, they all turned to look.
“My goodness, the new educated youth this year are really good-looking!”
Another woman immediately took a liking to the female protagonist, Jian Mingyue: “This educated youth has wide hips, perfect for bearing children. She’d definitely give birth to sons. Marrying her to my son wouldn’t be a bad idea.”
Another woman said, “Li Sanba, you blockhead, you really live up to your name—such a gossip! How could a fair and delicate girl from the city ever take a liking to your son? You’re daydreaming!”
Li Sanba retorted indignantly, “You never know! What if she and my son hit it off?”
Her son was named Chen Zhushi. Hearing that some of the prettiest educated youth girls would arrive today, he had been craning his neck in anticipation.
As luck would have it, just as he was relieving himself, the educated youth arrived.
“Zhushi, the female educated youth are here, and they look stunning! Hurry up!”
Chen Zhushi frantically grabbed a clod of dirt to wipe himself, then pulled up his pants.
In those days, resources were scarce. In the countryside, people typically used clods of dirt, leaves, or sticks to clean themselves after using the latrine.
“Where are the female educated youth?”
When Chen Zhushi rushed out, all he saw in the distance was a cow’s rear end and the graceful, retreating figures of the female educated youth.
The sight left Chen Zhushi itching with longing.