However, this kind of disdain wasn't unpleasant.
It was even a little... cute.
Shen Zhao pulled at the corner of her mouth. She had endured worse during her years of campaigning, but later, for over a decade, she lived in luxury.
It's hard to go from riches to rags; it's truly difficult to accept now.
After resting for a while, the Team Leader led everyone further inside, introducing as they walked, "The Educated Youth Dormitory currently has ten male educated youths and seven female educated youths.
Settle in this afternoon and tomorrow, and start work the day after."
As they spoke, they arrived at the Educated Youth Dormitory.
It was a row of five or six mud houses.
The left side was for the male educated youths, and the right side was for the female educated youths.
The kitchen was in the middle.
There was no courtyard wall, and in front of the entrance was a large, flat area where some unfamiliar dried vegetables were being sun-dried.
The Team Leader first knocked on the door of the female educated youth side, then on the door of the male educated youth side.
Before long, several people came out of both rooms.
The Team Leader pointed to a female educated youth and said, "Zhi Qing Zhou, you're responsible for arranging the three newcomers, these female educated youths."
A female educated youth with high cheekbones stepped forward. Upon seeing Gu Qiu and Wang Nan, a flash of jealousy crossed her eyes.
Her tone was neither warm nor cold, "My name is Zhou Xiaoyan. Follow me."
She led the three to a room and casually pointed to a corner, "The conditions at the Educated Youth Point are limited. You three can sleep there."
Gu Qiu looked at the rickety single bed and could hardly believe it, "The three of us are going to sleep on one single bed?"
Shen Zhao also frowned.
There was also a chamber pot in that corner...
She thought they could finally rest well upon arrival, but unexpectedly, there were still challenges.
Wang Nan couldn't accept it either and said angrily, "Why should we? You're bullying us."
Zhou Xiaoyan impatiently turned around, "Sleep if you want, don't sleep if you don't. This isn't your home.
I have to go to work this afternoon and don't have time to argue with you."
If she had known there would be work year-round in the south, she should have chosen Heilongjiang Province when selecting a place to go to the countryside. At least they could hibernate in winter.
Unlike now, where she's so tired every day her back can't straighten up.
Shen Zhao stood at the doorway and didn't go in.
She turned and followed Zhou Xiaoyan out of the room. Outside the door, several educated youths were eating with their bowls in hand.
Seeing her come out, they all scanned her with curiosity.
She looked around but didn't see the Team Leader.
Just as she was about to speak, someone from the neighboring male educated youth quarters also came out with a bowl.
One of them, who looked the oldest, spoke first, "You are the new educated youths? My name is Zhong Zheng, and I am the person in charge of the Educated Youth Point.
Since you've just arrived, I'll tell you our rules."
"We eat together. The female educated youths take turns cooking, washing dishes, and doing laundry. We male educated youths take turns fetching water and gathering firewood."
"We just finished our rotation yesterday. It's your turn tomorrow. Who among you three will go first?"
None of the three spoke first.
After a moment, Shen Zhao grasped the main point, "You mean we have to wash clothes for all you male educated youths?"
Zhong Zheng frowned, his expression one of taking it for granted.
"Of course. We also have to fetch water. Shouldn't you women be serving men?"
Gu Qiu seemed to finally react, her eyes widening, "You're too much! Only one person fetches water each day.
But we have to wash all your clothes. Are we your mothers?"
Wang Nan stomped her foot, "I've never even washed my dad's clothes."
Gu Qiu frowned, "This is bullying. I don't need the water you fetch, and I won't wash your clothes."
There were ten male educated youths in the Educated Youth Dormitory. How much laundry would that be every day?
This was pure bullying.
Zhong Zheng sneered, "That's not up to you. These are the rules of the Educated Youth Dormitory."
"You're talking to me about rules?"
Shen Zhao was truly angry. It was already annoying enough to have inexplicably arrived here.
Now, someone dared to step on her and talk about rules. She felt like killing them.
She took out the wooden shovel she had used to hit someone on the train from her bag and swung it backhand, hitting Zhong Zheng in the face.
Slap!*
The coarse porcelain bowl cracked, and a full bowl of sweet potato congee spilled onto the ground.
A bright red shovel mark was imprinted on Zhong Zheng's face, and his cheek burned with pain.
Ever since he became the person in charge of the Educated Youth Point, this was the first time he had been beaten so badly by a woman.
No, it was the first time in his life he had been hit by a woman.
"Your mom's selling p*ssy, pay for my meal!"
His face was full of malice as he raised his palm, intending to teach this woman a lesson.
Gu Qiu was quick-witted.
She kicked him in the backside, making him stumble, and said fiercely, "How dare you bully my sister? I'll kill you."
Shen Zhao's face was cold. Even without understanding the words, she knew Zhong Zheng wasn't saying anything good. She swung the wooden shovel in her hand towards his head again.
Bang!*
"Great men have said that women can hold up half the sky. Why should you make us serve you?"
As she spoke, she repeatedly hit Zhong Zheng's head with a *bang bang* sound.
He had no chance to fight back.
Zhou Xiaoyan saw her boyfriend being bullied. She put her bowl down on the door frame and called out to the others.
"Are you all blind? Hurry up and help!"
Seeing this, the other old educated youths swarmed forward, shouting "Stop hitting!" but in reality, they were all hitting hard, trying to pull Shen Zhao and Gu Qiu away.
Wen Yixun and Ji Bai heard the commotion.
They rushed out from the male educated youth quarters and, seeing so many people attacking two girls, immediately charged into the fray to help.
Wang Nan had been standing aside, adopting a "don't get involved" attitude, but in the chaos, someone groped her.
Enraged, she didn't care who it was and grabbed a stick, charging into the battle.
While crying, "Please stop hitting," she hit the third leg of a male educated youth.
She then shouted, "Calm down," and hit a male educated youth's butt with another blow.
Shen Zhao was unstoppable, showing no mercy to anyone, directly escalating the fight to over twenty people.
The wooden shovel swung like a blur, like playing whack-a-mole.
Thump!* One head, then another, leaving a group of people with bumps all over their heads.
Gu Qiu fought back-to-back with her, her Nine Yin White Bone Claws dancing ferociously.
This girl looked delicate but possessed astonishing strength. With one claw strike, it was almost bone-deep.
Shen Zhao calculated the time, avoiding vital points with her strikes, but still showed no mercy.
Their gazes earlier had been truly disgusting to her.
With this commotion, it would be great if they could move out of the Educated Youth Dormitory.
Zhou Xiaoyan, after being hit twice and falling, crawled out of the crowd using her hands and feet. She ignored her disheveled hair and the injuries on her face.
Staggering, she fled towards the outside of the Educated Youth Dormitory.
"Team Leader, help!"
It was too terrifying; they were even using weapons.
He Jianping had just returned home and was eating from a large bowl in the courtyard, which was filled with sweet potatoes and only a small amount of unpolished rice.
Suddenly, his right eyelid twitched, and he heard Zhou Xiaoyan's wailing.
Immediately after, a woman like a ghost, with her hair disheveled and cotton spilling out of her cotton-padded jacket as she ran, appeared so bizarrely that he thought he was seeing a ghost in broad daylight.
"Team Leader, help!"
Zhou Xiaoyan ran, gasping for breath, supporting herself with her hands on her knees, revealing a face covered in bloodstains.
The Team Leader was so startled that the chopsticks in his hand dropped.
"What happened to you? Is a ghost chasing you?"
"Huff! Huff! Huff... Team Leader, the newcomers... the newcomers are trying to kill people. Go quickly and see."
Good heavens.
A free-for-all involving nearly twenty people; she had never witnessed anything like it in her life.
"What did you say?"
The Team Leader stood up abruptly.
His eyelid twitched violently. He quickly turned and shoved the bowl to his wife, then took off running.
Damn it, did they eat too much sweet potato congee?
Causing trouble right after arriving, they couldn't even eat in peace.
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