The outdoor temperature in Yangcheng was over thirty degrees—hot and humid. In the rice fields, there weren’t just plenty of mosquitoes; there were leeches too.
Especially those leeches—they’d burrow into the body and wouldn’t come out until they were full. Just thinking about that made Wen Qiao’s scalp tingle.
Of course, there were other farm tasks as well:
Weeding sugarcane, stripping dead leaves, applying fertilizer. Harvesting jute, planting vegetables, picking fruits in the orchard, watering and fertilizing in the vegetable fields, and pulling weeds.
Then there were side tasks, like cleaning the fish ponds, feeding the fish, raising pigs, and feeding chickens.
Most female educated youths were assigned work like this.
Male educated youths had even heavier labor tasks.
Besides double-harvesting rice, they mainly handled the farm’s infrastructure: building houses, repairing roads, digging drainage ditches, reinforcing flood embankments along the hills.
They also made bricks, fired kilns, and more.
Nothing about it was easy.
Yu Jianjun waved his hand.
“All right, you can go back and rest first!”
Wen Qiao smiled gently.
“Thank you, Director Yu. I appreciate your concern.”
Yu Jianjun nodded and called over a female educated youth.
“Tian, come here and assign a dormitory to the new Wen Qiao.”
“All right, Director Yu.”
A girl with neatly cropped short hair walked over.
Tian Shengnan radiated the warmth of an older sister. As she led Wen Qiao forward, she introduced the farm’s layout and operations.
It was just after work, and the educated youths trickled toward the dormitories in small groups.
Both boys and girls couldn’t help but stare in awe at Wen Qiao’s face.
Wen Qiao didn’t pay any attention to them, focusing instead on observing her surroundings.
The youth dormitories were extensive. Female and male dorms were separated by several hundred meters—completely distinct.
All were single-story red brick buildings with gray tiles, uniformly roofed with asphalt paper. The exterior looked brand-new and tidy.
Wen Qiao stepped inside. The dormitory wasn’t small—roughly seventy or eighty square meters—with a central aisle and large bunk beds along both sides.
Tian Shengnan led her to the innermost bed and pointed.
“This is the only one left.”
The bedboard was clean and spacious, but it was far from the window and the door—poor ventilation.
The lighting was dim, and the air was damp and stifling.
Wen Qiao stood for only a moment before feeling short of breath.
In over thirty-degree heat, with no air conditioning or fan, not a single breeze reached this spot.
Female youths began trickling in.
The smell of sweat, mildew, medicated oil, and mosquito repellent hit all at once.
Once several dozen people were inside, Wen Qiao could imagine the pungent, sour atmosphere.
This wasn’t a dorm—it was a sauna.
Though she internally grumbled, she kept her expression polite, smiling sweetly.
“Tian, are there any other accommodations here?”
“You’re late. Everything else is full. This is the only bed left.”
Wen Qiao pulled out a handful of milk candies from her bag and discreetly slipped them into Tian’s hand.
“Tian, thank you so much. I’m physically weak; staying somewhere with poor ventilation makes me short of breath. Is there a quieter place, even if the conditions aren’t as good?”
Wen Qiao emphasized the words quieter place.
Tian Shengnan glanced around quickly. Seeing that no one was paying attention, she slipped the candies into her pocket.
The new arrival, Wen Qiao, was surprisingly clever.
This handful of candies was quite a few pieces—good for saving and stretching over time.
Tian was the third child at home, with an older sister and brother. The elder sister was married, and the brother had followed their father into work, helping in a state-run hotel kitchen.
When the policy came out, she had just turned eighteen. Now it had been nearly eight years since she arrived here.
Years of rural labor had dulled her youthful sharpness.
Year after year, returning to the city seemed impossible.
At first, her family sent supplies, but after younger siblings arrived, the parcels became fewer and fewer.
Luckily, Yangcheng, located in the Pearl River Delta, was a fertile area with abundant harvests.
Every month, educated youths received a fixed ration of rice—not much, but enough to supplement with sweet potatoes or cassava to avoid going hungry.
But Tian was strong and had a big appetite. For her, the rations barely filled half her stomach—provided there was no disaster.
If a typhoon suddenly struck, as it had yesterday, rice yields would drop. Fortunately, the director foresaw it and harvested most of the rice early.
Even so, some losses were unavoidable.
After paying the public grain quota, there would be little rice left.
For the next few months, they’d likely survive mostly on sweet potatoes.
With the hard labor and lack of oil in their diet, she often woke up hungry at night.
Now, with these candies, her hunger could at least be temporarily relieved.
A faint smile appeared on Tian Shengnan’s face.
“The dormitory really only has this bed left, but there’s an old dorm over there. I’ll take you to see it.”
A short walk of just a few dozen meters brought them to a mud-brick single-story building.
The roof was covered with straw and palm leaves. The walls were weathered, and the wooden door hung crookedly half-open. The red paint on the door had faded, leaving only faint traces of slogans:
Rooted in the countryside, revolution to the end.
Pushing the door open, a damp, musty smell mixed with dust hit them.
The room wasn’t small, about several dozen square meters.
A large window, thickly coated with dust, sat in the center.
Wooden planks covered the floor, the straw mats were rotting, with black holes chewed by small animals.
A few cracked, mud-stained old cloth shoes soaked in water, and corners held broken glass jars covered in cobwebs.
Sunlight slanted through the dilapidated roof, dust silently floating in the air.
Wen Qiao glanced at the specks of light—it was still a sunlit room.
“This used to be a youth dorm too. A few years ago, when the new dorms were built, everyone moved, and this one was left unused.”
“If you tidy it up a bit, you can live here.”
“The roof leaks a little, but it’s manageable. There are plenty of empty beds; just pick one that doesn’t leak. You can put an enamel basin on the floor to catch drips.”
Wen Qiao looked at the battered roof, speechless.
If another typhoon came, she wasn’t sure if it would withstand it.
She sighed. Though dirty and broken, at least it was a single room.
At worst, she could lock the door at night and sleep in her space.
Tian Shengnan finished her instructions and prepared to leave.
“All right, I’m going to lunch. We still have work this afternoon.”
The youths followed a system where each dorm took turns cooking. If Wen Qiao returned late, she could have some food left, but only a small portion.
Barely enough to fill half her stomach—less than that, and she couldn’t manage.
Wen Qiao quickly stopped her.
“Wait, Tian, my health has always been poor, and I’m allergic to dust. Could you help me tidy this place up?”
Before Tian could respond, Wen Qiao pulled out a few meat buns wrapped in oiled paper and handed them over.
“Sorry! I’m holding up your lunch. Here are some buns—you can snack on them first.”
She also handed over a packet of peach pastries.
“If you’re still hungry, there are also these.”
“Thank you so much, Tian. I really can’t handle this room on my own.”
Seeing a flicker of hesitation in Tian’s expression, Wen Qiao affectionately grabbed her hand and shook it.
From her bag, she pulled out another handful of milk candies and stuffed them into Tian’s pocket without waiting.
Blinking her bright eyes, she smiled sweetly.
“Okay, Shengnan, please? I’m counting on you!”
Wen Qiao habitually showed her a sweet smile.
How could Tian resist her lively, charming smile, her clear, sparkling eyes, and her soft, coaxing voice?
Even a seasoned educated youth like Tian felt a blush rise.
Though Wen Qiao’s way of asking was unusual, it was endearing.
And the pocket full of candies, the large meat buns, and the peach pastries—they all smelled irresistibly good.
Of course, she wouldn’t admit she was captivated by Wen Qiao’s looks.
She was merely tempted by the food.