Yu Huan slept straight through until the following morning. For once, no dreams disturbed her, and she slept peacefully until dawn.
It seemed that her mother had knocked on her door the previous evening to call her for dinner. However, Yu Huan had been too sleepy to get up. She had vaguely answered before falling asleep again.
Thinking that her daughter might be feeling unwell, her mother initially wanted to wake her. But after realizing that Yu Huan was simply exhausted, she couldn’t bear to disturb her.
That morning, she prepared two boiled eggs for Yu Huan and left her a bowl of sweet potato porridge.
After finishing breakfast, Yu Huan prepared to ride her bicycle to school to collect her graduation certificate.
There was only one main road connecting Yushui Village to the county town. After passing the large banyan tree at the village entrance, vast stretches of rice fields lined both sides of the road.
Everyone was out working at this hour. Her father was probably busy receiving the new batch of educated youths, as she hadn’t seen him when she got up that morning.
The road was relatively empty. Although it was made of packed yellow earth, it was fairly smooth. The only problem was the dust.
After cycling for more than an hour, she arrived at school and collected her graduation certificate.
Just as she was leaving the school gates, someone called out to her.
“Student Yu, my name is Zhen Yingjun. My father is the head of the logistics department at the machinery factory, and my mother works as a saleswoman at the department store. I’m currently a temporary worker at the machinery factory. I also have three older sisters…”
“Stop.”
Yu Huan looked at the young man standing before her.
He had narrow, triangular eyes, a bulbous nose, and a face covered in pockmarks. He was even a centimeter shorter than her.
This was none other than Zhen Yingjun.
It seemed that parents’ expectations were always beautiful, while reality was often cruel.
“Is there something you need?”
The man felt a little annoyed at being interrupted. But when he looked at Yu Huan’s exquisite face, his irritation immediately disappeared.
What did it matter if she interrupted him? It wasn’t important.
“Student Yu, I think you’re an exceptionally outstanding and good comrade. I’d like us to make progress together and build a deeper revolutionary friendship.”
Zhen Yingjun wore a confident smile, convinced that Yu Huan would never turn him down.
Although she was beautiful, unfortunately, she came from the countryside. He, on the other hand, had an urban household registration, and his entire family consisted of workers.
With such excellent family circumstances, plenty of women wanted to date him.
“I’m sorry, but I’m not interested.”
After saying that, Yu Huan climbed onto her bicycle and rode away.
Zhen Yingjun stood there in a daze before finally realizing what she had said.
He hurriedly tried to get on his own bicycle to chase after her, but she had already disappeared around the street corner.
Yu Huan didn’t take the incident to heart.
Over the past year or so, she had occasionally encountered men like him. Most people stopped bothering her after being rejected.
As she passed the state-run restaurant, a group of men who looked like street thugs happened to notice her riding by.
“Boss, was that an actual fairy just now?”
One of the underlings stared dreamily at her beautiful retreating figure.
“I’ve never seen anyone that beautiful in my entire life!”
“If I could marry a woman like that, I’d treat her like a goddess every single day.”
“You? Stop dreaming!”
The underlings began chattering among themselves.
Wang Yong, the leader of the group, couldn’t stop thinking about the beautiful face he had just seen.
“Go find out which family she belongs to.”
Although he was a womanizer, Wang Yong knew better than to mess with someone without first checking their background.
He wanted to make sure he knew who she was before making any moves.
Seeing their boss give an order, the underlings immediately fell silent.
Yu Huan had no idea that she had attracted unwanted attention in such a short time. She was simply cycling home.
As she approached the village entrance, she spotted a crowd gathered in the distance.
Only when she got closer did she realize that her father was standing in the middle of the crowd with a group of newly arrived educated youths.
“These educated youths from the city are all quite handsome! Especially that young man surnamed Ling. In all my years, I’ve never seen such a handsome man!”
“Exactly! He could drive countless young girls crazy!”
“Auntie Huang, isn’t your daughter about the age to start looking for a husband? You’d better keep an eye on her. Don’t let one of those educated youths steal her heart!”
The older women chattered excitedly. A group of young unmarried women and newlywed wives stood nearby, blushing shyly as they stole glances at the newcomers and whispered among themselves.
The young men in the village had also gathered together, openly commenting on the female educated youths and occasionally bursting into laughter.
Yu Huan glanced at the newcomers and immediately knew which man the women were talking about.
The man stood tall and straight, exceptionally handsome and captivating. His temperament was cold and aloof, giving off an air of restraint and abstinence. He naturally became the center of attention wherever he went.
He seemed somewhat impatient with the situation. His expression grew increasingly cold, and an icy aura radiated from him, causing the people around him to instinctively move a little farther away.
Yu Huan was also captivated by his appearance.
She hadn’t expected that even in this era, there could be such an outstanding man. Compared with the men she had seen in her cultivation dreams, he was even more impressive.
Ling Yuan noticed Yu Huan’s gaze and turned his dark, deep phoenix-shaped eyes toward her.
Their eyes met, and Yu Huan’s heart skipped a beat.
At that moment, the midday sunlight filtered through the gaps between the leaves, casting a golden glow over Yu Huan as she stood in the light.
She looked like a celestial goddess descended from the heavens, so dazzling that it was almost impossible to look away.
A flicker of astonishment passed through Ling Yuan’s eyes. But it disappeared almost immediately, and his expression returned to its usual calmness.
He lowered his eyelashes and looked away.
No one knew what was going through his mind at that moment. However, the icy aura surrounding him seemed to have softened slightly.
Ling Yuan wasn’t the only one who noticed Yu Huan.
After all, with her extraordinary beauty, she stood out in any crowd like a brilliant ray of light.
The female educated youths looked at her with surprise, jealousy, and disdain, while the male educated youths stared at her in admiration and fascination.
Just as everyone was momentarily distracted, the village chief’s loud voice rang out, bringing them back to their senses.
“All right, break it up! Everyone, go home! You still have work this afternoon!”
Of course, Yu Huan’s father had also noticed his daughter.
He wanted to finish settling the newly arrived educated youths as quickly as possible so he could go home with her.
The villagers gradually dispersed, chattering as they made their way home.
“Zhou Xiangqian, take these educated youths to the educated youth compound. You can arrange their accommodations yourselves. As for their grain rations, have them collect those from the brigade headquarters this afternoon. Come to me if you run into any problems.”
Without waiting for Zhou Xiangqian to respond, he walked straight over to Yu Huan.
“Huahuan, why are you only coming back now? Come on, let’s hurry home and have lunch!”
Her father took her bicycle and led the way home with his daughter.
Yu Huan paid no further attention to the educated youths behind her. Her stomach was already growling, and lunch was far more important.
After the village chief had walked away, Zhou Xiangqian turned toward the newcomers and introduced himself.
“My name is Zhou Xiangqian. I’m also an educated youth, but I’ve been here for several years longer than you. I’m currently in charge of the educated youth compound. Come with me.”
After introducing himself, Zhou Xiangqian motioned for everyone to pick up their luggage and follow him.
Looking at Zhou Xiangqian, who had become almost indistinguishable from the ordinary villagers, the newly arrived educated youths couldn’t help feeling gloomy and discouraged.
“Brother, are we going to end up like him in the future?”
“If my handsome face gets ruined, my mother will probably cry herself to death!”
“Brother, you’re lucky. No matter how much you’re exposed to the sun, you never get tanned.”
“Brother, did you see the village chief’s daughter just now? I never imagined there would be such a heavenly beauty in a rural village. She’s even prettier than the number one beauty in Beijing!”
“Brother…”
Ling Yuan shot Song Yujie a cold glance.
“Can you be quiet for a while?”
Song Yujie immediately stopped talking.
His brother thought he was being too noisy. He understood.
Before long, they arrived at the educated youth compound at the edge of the village.
The older educated youths had already prepared lunch.
They had received notice from the village chief the previous day that a new batch would arrive today. After estimating their arrival time, they had prepared extra food.
Everyone introduced themselves to one another before sitting down to eat.
After lunch, the older educated youths returned to their respective rooms to rest.
There was no need to rush. They would have plenty of time to get to know one another in the days ahead.
The courtyard had originally been built by a landlord to house his hired laborers. It consisted of five bedrooms, all constructed with earthen walls and tiled roofs.
Each room accommodated four people.
The kitchen was located beside the main building, while the toilet was a separate structure at the back of the courtyard.
Before the newcomers arrived, the educated youth compound had housed twelve people: eight men and four women.
The new arrivals consisted of three men and three women, making the room arrangements convenient, with one room for each gender.
After assigning the rooms, Zhou Xiangqian told the newcomers where they could collect their grain rations.
Then he went off to take his afternoon nap. After all, he still had to report for work that afternoon.