While Hu Jiaojiao was still reminding herself to keep a low profile, chaos erupted back at the Hu household.
“That damn girl! She must hate us—how did she even carry off so much stuff?!” Mother Hu shouted angrily, slamming her spatula down.
Fourth Brother cried out, “Mom, my water canteen is gone too!”
From the other side came Third Sister’s voice, “My clothes! My bag! They’re all gone!”
Hearing this, Mother Hu rushed back into the room. Sure enough, the fabric she had saved, the gloves—even the two pairs of defective socks she had planned to give her niece as part of a dowry—were all gone.
Even the sewing basket had been cleaned out—thread spools, thimble, scissors, even two needles were missing.
Who would have thought that the usually quiet second daughter would drop such a bomb?
A neighbor peeked over the wall to watch the commotion and asked what was going on. Mother Hu brushed it off with a few vague words—she didn’t want to lose face in the alley.
That evening on the train, the male and female leads had already become familiar enough to go to the dining car together.
Meanwhile, Hu Jiaojiao quietly took out a coarse pancake and ate it with spicy sauce from her apartment. If the heroine were paying attention, she would definitely recognize the taste—it was that famous chili sauce from later generations.
Beside her, Zhang Yan was still nibbling on her pancake, using the aroma of the spicy sauce to make it more palatable.
Across from them, each person held a white-flour steamed bun.
Lin Yang spoke up, “Comrade Hu, could we have a bit of your chili sauce? We won’t take it for free—we’ll give you a bun.”
Hu Jiaojiao said nothing. She pushed the chili sauce over and took the bun, stuffing it into her bag.
The others felt too embarrassed to take much—each only picked up two chopsticks’ worth before stopping.
Hu Jiaojiao quickly put her chili sauce away and continued eating her pancake.
After eating her fill, she leaned back and looked out the window—though all she could really see was the dark glass reflecting people moving back and forth.
Before long, the male and female leads returned. It seemed their relationship had grown closer. Sure enough, in the dining car, Su Yi had encountered a pickpocket, and Gu Chenye had stepped in to deal with it. His decisive action moved her, and now he subtly shielded her from prying gazes.
Watching this, Hu Jiaojiao drifted off to sleep.
When she opened her eyes again, it was the next day.
The person beside her was no longer Zhang Yan but an old lady with her grandson. Looking up, she saw Zhang Yan standing nearby with a wronged expression.
It turned out that Zhang Yan had only gone to the restroom, and when she came back, her seat had been taken by the old woman. The woman claimed she would just rest for a bit, but it had already been nearly two hours. Whenever Zhang Yan urged her, the old woman would reply, “I’m an old lady—don’t argue with me.”
So Zhang Yan could only stand there, swallowing her frustration.
Meanwhile, Su Yi remained completely unaffected, calmly taking out a tea egg and eating it.
The grandson couldn’t take it anymore. “Grandma, I want eggs! I want eggs!”
The old woman waited, expecting Su Yi to offer something—but when she didn’t, she glanced at the tall and imposing Gu Chenye nearby and swallowed her words.
Instead, she took out an egg from her own pocket and gave it to her grandson.
The boy grabbed it eagerly and devoured it as if he hadn’t eaten eggs in ages.
Hu Jiaojiao quickly picked up her canteen and pretended to drink water.
The old woman awkwardly withdrew her hand, then grabbed Zhang Yan’s enamel mug to give her grandson some water. Shamelessly, she added, “This mug is nice. My grandson used it—if you don’t mind, I’ll just—”
Before she could finish, Zhang Yan snatched it back. “I don’t mind,” she said stiffly—but clearly, she did.
You take my seat and now want my mug too?
The old woman muttered something about stinginess.
Seeing Zhang Yan’s situation, Lin Xue offered, “Come squeeze in with me.” The old woman, seeing this, sat even more comfortably.
She had already sized everyone up—these city kids were thin-skinned; she could easily take advantage of them.
She even glanced at Hu Jiaojiao, thinking this thin, small girl would be easy to bully.
But when the old woman was eating her mixed-grain bun, Hu Jiaojiao slowly ate her own coarse bun. When the old woman switched to coarse food, Hu Jiaojiao drank water and ate pickles.
The old woman looked at her disdainfully—Dressed neatly without patches, but actually poor.
Zhang Yan, meanwhile, silently noted the tactic.
Lin Xue and the others were impressed.
Whenever they ate, the old woman would act pitiful and ask for food. They felt too embarrassed to refuse, which made things awkward.
Hu Jiaojiao’s only thought: If you care too much about saving face, you’ll just suffer yourself.
Soon, the train arrived at the station.
The old woman got off as well—Could she be heading to the same place?
Fortunately, she boarded a bus to another city.
After getting off the train, they squeezed onto a bus for another two hours. By the time Hu Jiaojiao got off, she was dizzy and disoriented. She rushed off the bus and stood by the roadside, gasping for air.
The journey from city to county was truly exhausting.
Looking up, she saw several ox carts parked by the roadside, along with a tractor.
They first checked in at the educated youth office, then went to find their respective brigades. By the time Hu Jiaojiao reached the Dasheng Commune vehicle, several educated youths were already there.
Once everyone had arrived, the commune secretary called for them to load their luggage onto the ox cart and let the female comrades sit.
As the cart started moving, Su Yi began asking the secretary about the area. Hu Jiaojiao listened quietly.
It would take another two hours by ox cart to reach the commune, and another hour from there to the village.
It was already 4 p.m.—nightfall would come soon.
Swaying with the cart, Hu Jiaojiao leaned against the luggage and fell asleep.
When they reached the commune, it was time to assign the educated youths. The allocations had actually been decided earlier by drawing lots to prevent disputes.
The brigade leader of Wuyuan Village read out the list:
“Cheng Chen, Lin Yang, Lin Xue, Zhang Yan, Su Yi, Hu Jiaojiao, Gu Chenye.”
Looking at the group, his dissatisfaction was obvious—though his expression softened slightly when he saw Gu Chenye and Lin Yang.
He glanced at Hu Jiaojiao and thought, This girl is so thin—can she even earn enough food for herself?
As for the others: those two clearly came from good families—they’d have support if needed. Another girl seemed to come from a poorer background—she might endure. But that bespectacled Cheng Chen… so frail—could he even survive the autumn harvest?
What bad luck, the leader thought. Three female educated youths this time.
He called them onto the ox cart and started heading back. This time, only the luggage was loaded; no one else was allowed to ride.
He had already cut off any complaints—autumn harvest was just a month away, and the oxen needed to be well cared for.
Seeing that even the leader himself was walking alongside the ox, Lin Xue swallowed her complaints.
Hu Jiaojiao followed at her usual unhurried pace, listening as Su Yi continued asking about Wuyuan Village.
The leader replied, “As long as you work hard, you’ll have enough to eat. Our brigade conditions are pretty good. If you’re willing to work, you won’t be treated badly.”
Gradually, the conversation died down, replaced only by the sound of heavy breathing.
Just as Hu Jiaojiao felt she couldn’t take it anymore, they finally arrived.
The ox cart turned a corner and stopped behind the brigade headquarters—a large enclosed courtyard with houses all around.
The leader called out, “Wang Qing! Lu Yu! Come out—new educated youths have arrived!”
Two doors opened at once. “Brigade leader,” they responded in unison.
“These are the seven new educated youths. Arrange them. Tomorrow, take them to collect grain. You don’t need to work tomorrow—rest for two days.”
With that, the leader drove the ox cart away.