Chapter 40 Educated Youth

Four-year-old Peach Blossom is fair and tender, with chubby arms like lotus roots. After several months of feeding, Peach Blossom has become visibly plump, and she receives praise from everyone around her wherever she goes. Peach Blossom is very proud of her current appearance and walks with her little chest out, looking proud and smug.

This confident little peach blossom is even more loved by everyone, and is even cuter than the maidservant sitting under Guanyin Bodhisattva!

"Wow, I caught a fish!"

"Wow, Little Peach Blossom is amazing!"

"That's amazing, I couldn't catch it."

"Yes, Little Peach Blossom is amazing."

Little Peach Blossom smiled with her eyes narrowed: "You guys are amazing too."

"No, no, we're not as good as Little Peach Blossom."

Little Peach Blossom giggled happily after being praised.

A bullock cart swayed slowly towards them from afar. Upon seeing the children playing happily, the driver smiled and said, "Oh, everyone's having fun."

"Hello, Uncle Niu!" the children said in unison.

"Okay, all good." Lin Niu chuckled and took a puff of his cigarette.

Little Peach Blossom looked at the people on Uncle Niu's oxcart with suspicion, as she didn't recognize any of them.

Noticing Xiao Taohua's gaze, Uncle Niu laughed and said, "The people on this bus are all educated youth who have been assigned here."

"What is an educated youth?" Little Peach Blossom asked, her face full of confusion.

"The educated youth are here to work for us." Uncle Niu didn't understand any grand principles. Anyway, the higher-ups said that the educated youth were assigned to join their production teams and work for them.

"Oh," Little Peach Blossom said, indicating that she understood.

"I'm leaving now, you guys be careful."

Goodbye, Uncle Niu!

After parting ways with Little Peach Blossom and the others, Uncle Niu's smile vanished, and he glanced sideways at the five people on the oxcart.

It wasn't that Uncle Niu was in a bad mood, but rather that the five people assigned to him didn't look like they could do the work.

These five people, three men and two women, were all very thin. When Uncle Niu first saw them, he thought there was a mistake. He checked with his superiors to confirm, and it turned out that these were indeed the people.

There was no other way; the captain ordered him to go and pick up the person, and he couldn't very well refuse to do so, especially since it was an assignment from above.

To be honest, Lin Niu was not satisfied.

Even if he's not satisfied, there's nothing he can do.

Actually, it wasn't just Lin Niu who was dissatisfied; the other educated youth sitting in the cart were also unhappy. They had actively responded to the call to go to the countryside, but these villagers had come to pick them up with just an oxcart, and it wasn't even the brigade leader picking them up, just the driver. How could they be happy?

But they had no choice. If they didn't take the oxcart, were they supposed to walk all the way?

They didn't know the way and were carrying luggage, big bags and small bags, so they couldn't walk.

The initial vision of a vibrant countryside and the burning passion to work hard there were quickly dashed, leaving me feeling utterly disheartened.

The difference between imagination and reality seems quite large.

Even so, they still had to face the cold face of the driver.

If they weren't so good-tempered, they would have started a fight long ago.

Her complexion doesn't look good either.

As for Lin Niu's gentle manner towards the group of children earlier, ha, a bunch of country kids, was it really necessary?

Although Xiao Taohua is pretty and doesn't look like a country girl, they won't think highly of her; after all, she's still a peasant.

For these educated youths, being able to come here was an honor for these country folks, who were already considered superior.

Of course, they didn't dare say that.

The above statement claims to be supporting rural development, and that they went to the countryside voluntarily. If they actually said that, then they have ideological problems and would be sent to a farm for reform.

They knew exactly what kind of place the farm was; even if they went there, they might not survive to the end.

Thinking that this was someone else's territory, the group forced smiles and thanked Lin Niu after the oxcart stopped: "Thank you so much, Comrade Lin Niu."

"Hmm." Lin Niu replied indifferently, "This is where you'll be living from now on. The villagers specially made room for you. You can decide how to live here. As for the grain, the higher-ups said they'll lend it to you temporarily, and then deduct it from your work points during the autumn harvest. By the way, you're being sent to the countryside, so think things through carefully and don't make things awkward for everyone."

"No, that's a very harsh thing to say. We are just actively responding to the call!"

"oh."

"What kind of attitude is that!"

"This is my attitude. If you don't like it, you don't have to watch." Not interested in wasting time arguing with them, Lin Niu turned the cart around. He still had to herd cattle; the old man hadn't eaten his fill yet.

Respect for educated youth? That's impossible!

They weren't the kind of poor, backward production teams that were rarely seen by educated youth; once you saw them often, they became worthless.

The five educated youths stood at the door, looking at each other, holding their breath until they finally let it all out.

"Shall we assign rooms first?" someone suggested.

"Okay." No one had any objections. As for what happened next, that was a matter for the educated youth themselves.

Lin Niu drove the car back, found someone to watch his cattle, and then went to the brigade headquarters to report the matter of picking up people.

Lin Guangyi was looking at documents and didn't look up when he heard this: "How are these people?"

"Skinny as a feather, barely any meat on his bones."

Lin Guangyi raised his head, his brows furrowing: "So they're all a bunch of troublemakers."

"Then send it back?" Lin Niu suggested.

"Do you think it's possible?"

It's impossible, that's why I made the suggestion.

"Alright, I've brought the person back for you, I don't care about anything else." After saying that, Lin Niu had no desire to continue the conversation, so he simply said goodbye to Lin Guangyi and left, leaving Lin Guangyi alone with a headache.

In fact, Lin Guangyi refused to let the educated youth come. He thought his production team was doing just fine and didn't need outsiders getting involved. But it was a matter for the higher-ups, who said that intellectuals knew more and could help the villagers become better off. Other production teams around him had also been sent to work in the countryside, so he couldn't refuse even if he wanted to. He had no choice but to agree.

If these people really can't do the work, won't the rest be left to their production team? Isn't that just creating a burden for themselves?

But the deed was done, and the people had arrived. Lin Guangyi's next task was to figure out how to arrange these people and how to make them play their proper role.

These are all things Lin Guangyi needs to think about. For Xiao Taohua, today is another relaxing and happy day.

A group of children caught fish and shrimp, but instead of going home, they found firewood and started cooking on their own.

I must say, their skills are quite good.

Little Peach Blossom happily gnawed on the meat from the fish's belly, with Lin Yuqing and the other children peeling lobster tails for her beside her. She ate them one after another, finding them especially sweet.

A passerby, seeing the group of children, couldn't help but joke, "Is this another extra meal?"

A group of children quickly and cautiously blocked the food.

The person who asked the question smiled and slowly walked away, carrying his shoulder pole.

Anyway, this isn't the first time I've seen something like this. The seasonings for these kids' extra meals are all collected from different families. One family contributes a little salt, another a little oil, and they make whatever delicious food they can find themselves. It's quite a unique sight in Xiaolin Village.

(End of this chapter)