Ma Xiaoping grumbled, “Honestly, what kind of person is he? Just leaving us here and ignoring us like that!”
She wasn’t the only one feeling the letdown—An Yanyan and the other two felt it too. They thought Wu Honghai was looking down on them. After all, they were educated youths from the city.
Song Yunqiao, however, felt nothing about it. All she wanted was for the other educated youths to come back quickly so she could tidy up and lie down for a good rest.
No sooner had the thought crossed her mind than she heard footsteps and voices.
Soon, their owners walked into the courtyard.
There were five people in total—three men and two women. They knew new educated youths would be arriving today, but they hadn’t expected them to all be so good-looking.
Both An Yanyan and Ma Xiaoping were immediately drawn to Gu Guanghua.
Gu Guanghua had a refined appearance and a slightly slender build. At a glance, he looked like a scholarly type, the kind that young girls nowadays found especially attractive.
All five of them had been working in the fields, so there was dirt on their clothes to varying degrees. That couldn’t be helped—no one could stay perfectly clean while doing farm work. Yet Gu Guanghua was different from the rest. His clothes were unusually clean, and combined with his good looks, he caught An Yanyan and Ma Xiaoping’s attention the moment he stepped inside.
As for Song Yunqiao, she only gave him a brief glance. Having lived in the 21st century, she had seen all kinds of handsome men, so Gu Guanghua didn’t particularly amaze her at first sight. Still, she had to admit he was good-looking—just not her type.
Song Yunqiao’s skin was exceptionally fair, the kind that made her stand out instantly in a crowd. She had a classic oval face, lively almond-shaped eyes, a small, straight nose, and rosy lips. In short, when the five newcomers entered the courtyard, she was the first person they noticed.
If Song Yunqiao’s beauty was like a bright, blooming rose, then An Yanyan had a fresh and ethereal kind of beauty—one that easily stirred a man’s protective instincts.
One of the older youths stepped forward and greeted them, “Hello, I’m Wan Changsheng, the head of the educated youth dormitory. Welcome.”
Seeing that no one else spoke, Wang Guoqing introduced himself first. “Hello, my name is Wang Guoqing.”
The others came back to their senses and gave brief introductions. The girls were led to the women’s dormitory by the senior educated youths He Suxia and Sun Xiuzhen.
After the girls left, the boys went to the men’s dormitory.
The educated youth housing was the same as that of the villagers—mud-brick houses. Men and women lived separately, one in the east room and one in the west room, with a storage room in between that also served as the kitchen.
Looking at the furnishings inside, Ma Xiaoping felt deep disdain, though she didn’t show it on her face. If even she found these conditions unacceptable, then Song Yunqiao—a pampered young lady—would surely hate it even more. She shot Song Yunqiao a gloating glance, but what Song Yunqiao did next left her stunned.
“He Zhiqing, Sun Zhiqing, can I sleep over here?”
After quickly surveying the room, Song Yunqiao pointed to one end of the kang (the heated brick bed).
He Suxia paused for a moment, then nodded. “Of course. You can sleep wherever you like.”
“Thank you.”
After thanking her, Song Yunqiao took out her bedding and sheets and began making her bed so she could lie down and rest.
Her actions left the other four women in the room staring in surprise.
Song Yunqiao looked delicate and was well-dressed. He Suxia had originally thought she might complain upon seeing such crude living conditions, but she hadn’t expected her to accept it so quickly.
An Yanyan felt a bit unhappy about the living environment, but seeing that Song Yunqiao had accepted it, she didn’t say anything and began unpacking her belongings.
Ma Xiaoping had initially expected Song Yunqiao to make a fuss—maybe even secure better accommodations that she could benefit from as well. But to her surprise, Song Yunqiao accepted everything so quickly. After silently cursing a few times, she begrudgingly started sorting her things. In truth, she barely had anything—her mother favored others, so aside from an old bedsheet and a few worn clothes, she had nothing else.
He Suxia and Sun Xiuzhen both let out a sigh of relief. It seemed the three newcomers were all easy to get along with.
Early the next morning, Song Yunqiao and the others followed the senior educated youths to work. Before starting, however, they had to see the production team leader to find out what tasks would be assigned to them.
Wu Dexiang was over fifty this year. He had once been the village head, and after the commune was established, he naturally became the production team leader. Wu Honghai was his son. Even though his son had already warned him, Wu Dexiang still couldn’t help frowning slightly when he saw the delicate-looking Song Yunqiao and An Yanyan.
Song Yunqiao had come prepared today. She was wrapped up from head to toe, wearing a hat and gloves. She would rather endure the heat than be exposed to the blazing sun. It was already summer, and the sun was scorching—she could easily get sunburned.
Seeing her so heavily covered, An Yanyan thought she was making a fuss over nothing, and her impression of Song Yunqiao worsened a bit.
Ma Xiaoping, on the other hand, felt this was the Song Yunqiao she knew. She didn’t believe for a second that such a pampered girl could handle rural life.
Before leaving, He Suxia and Sun Xiuzhen had kindly warned her that dressing too warmly might cause heatstroke, but Song Yunqiao said she knew what she was doing.
“You’ll go with the senior educated youths to pull weeds,” Wu Dexiang said, assigning what he thought was the easiest task.
The educated youths worked separately from the villagers. In fact, some of the earlier arrivals had even tried to slack off by getting villagers to help them. Wu Dexiang couldn’t really control such matters—as long as nothing went wrong, he chose to turn a blind eye.
Wan Changsheng responded and led the five of them off to work.
Watching their backs, Wu Dexiang shook his head helplessly. He had a feeling the village wouldn’t stay peaceful for long. Last time, a female educated youth who wasn’t even as pretty as Song Yunqiao or An Yanyan had already caused quite a stir. Now that two such beautiful women had arrived, trouble was bound to follow.
As expected, before Song Yunqiao and the others even reached the fields, most of the people working there stopped what they were doing and stared at them.
This was the first time Wan Changsheng had felt so many eyes on him. Even though he knew they weren’t looking at him, it still made him a bit uncomfortable.
Seeing that everyone’s attention was focused on Song Yunqiao and An Yanyan, Ma Xiaoping was furious inside, though she couldn’t show it. She simply lifted her chin arrogantly.
Jiang Xueming felt very uneasy seeing the village men staring at An Yanyan. He wished he could hide her away—she belonged to him alone.
Wang Guoqing, on the other hand, was a carefree and simple-minded fellow. He even smiled cheerfully at the villagers. Aside from the poor living conditions, he thought everything else was pretty good so far. The villagers seemed friendly too—look at how they had all stopped working to watch them, as if welcoming their arrival.