Time flew by, and it was January 1971.

Zhan Chunlan and Xiao Cheng have been here for a month. Today is New Year's Day, and Xiangshu Brigade gave them a day off.

In fact, as an important industrial city and one of the core cities of the Third Front construction, Jiangcheng has a particularly heavy task of "promoting production".

In Wuhan, workers voluntarily "work overtime during the holiday to contribute to the country," and no unit or individual takes a day off on this day.

However, in Xiangshu Brigade, it was too remote, somewhat like a paradise, so there was no strong production atmosphere like in big cities. Everyone just needed to go to work on time and complete the tasks assigned by the organization.

"Xiao Cheng, come out here, I'll take you somewhere."

Having been here for a month, Xiao Cheng has developed the habit of waking up early. By the time Zhan Chunlan gets up, he has already finished eating breakfast.

Hearing Zhan Chunlan's call, he went out.

Along the way, Xiao Cheng didn't ask where they were going. It was a rare day off from work, and as he looked at the misty mountains in the distance, his artistic soul, suppressed by labor, began to revive. "I hadn't noticed before, but the scenery here is really beautiful."

Following his gaze, Zhan Chunlan saw that it was indeed beautiful. The mountains were dark green and shrouded in mist. Everywhere she looked, it was like a traditional Chinese ink painting. She had thought that painters of the past were freehand, but now she realized that it was actually realistic!

The two stood there, admiring the scenery for a while, until the cold wind roused their empty heads.

Today, Zhan Chunlan took him to the educated youth compound for a visit.

During the month I was here, except for the first half of the month when I could occasionally hear Xiao Cheng mentioning his "Shanshan," I rarely heard him mention her afterward.

I don't know if it's buried deep in my heart or if I'm preoccupied with the heavy workload, but I don't know if I've received the letter I sent to Ms. Fang Yun. I don't know if I'll receive a reply from her before I go back.

Xiao Cheng had met other educated youth before, and they liked to chat with him. However, a few of them were jealous that he wasn't an educated youth and resented that he voluntarily went to the countryside to work even though he didn't have to. They secretly told him about many of the benefits of being an educated youth:

There were quotas for worker-peasant-soldier universities during the rural educated youth program; so-and-so was recommended to a university through this program. There were also fixed quotas for local work units; so-and-so went to work in the city after only a year in the countryside. Another educated youth, because he saved someone, was featured in the newspaper, not only got into university but was also pre-booked by a work unit and started working after graduation. And yet another educated youth met his destined lover in the countryside, formed a revolutionary friendship, and now has a one-year-old child…

Xiao Cheng is definitely a love-struck fool. He has a brain that's 2.5 pounds full of love. The previous things, like university and work, didn't leave a trace in his mind. But the last sentence, "forming a revolutionary friendship," hit the bullseye perfectly. He almost fell for the trick.

When he excitedly ran back to tell her, Zhan Chunlan was so angry for Ms. Fang Yun that she wanted to lift him upside down and shake him hard to get all the love-struck thoughts out of his head.

Today, Zhan Chunlan took her directly to see real educated youth.

This courtyard, which is about the same size as the Zhan family's, housed nearly 40 people. Eight people were crammed into each small room, and people also lived in the main room.

When they arrived, the educated youth in the educated youth compound were still queuing up to wash up. They finally had a day off, and basically everyone was boiling water and queuing up to wash their hair and take a bath.

After washing up, the educated youth stood, sat, or lay in the courtyard, drying their hair. The cold wind howled, but it did not extinguish the fiery hearts of these young people. Zhan Chunlan noticed that several of the educated youth were still holding books and reading.

Seeing this scene, Zhan Chunlan was truly moved.

Previously, some people fantasized about traveling back to the 1970s, thinking that with their foresight, they could study hard and become one of the first college students after the resumption of the college entrance examination.

But what they didn't see was that even in the days when there was no hope, many people still did not put down their books. They were able to get into university not because the questions were easy, nor because there were not many people at the time, but because they never gave up on themselves or their country, no matter when or where.

Even in the darkest times, they firmly believed that the country would recover and that the country's development could not be separated from talent. All they could do was to enrich themselves and grow into the kind of talent the country needed, so that when the country needed them, they could step forward and take up their posts immediately!

We cannot ignore the living, breathing people in history just because we have historical memories or a God's-eye view.

While Zhan Chunlan was lamenting to herself, Xiao Cheng had already gone up and mingled with some of the educated youth.

There are good people in every group.

These educated youths all knew him. They were all smart people. He didn't have to go to the countryside as an educated youth, but he came here and worked with the local commune members. Everyone had already guessed what his purpose was.

Many educated youths also tried to persuade him from their own perspectives, saying that although going to the countryside was a call from the country, talented people could still make a name for themselves even if they went to the countryside. However, there were still more opportunities in the city. Under the same conditions, one could only achieve small successes in the countryside, but could achieve greater things in the city.

Some people showed him before-and-after photos of his time in the countryside. He was a spirited young man before, but now he was listless, hunched over, and lifeless, which really frightened him.

However, seeing that even in their situation, they still hadn't put down their books, something began to take root in his heart. It seemed that his decision to go to the countryside for the sake of so-called "love" seemed so ridiculous in their presence.

He followed Zhan Chunlan blankly.

That day, Zhan Chunlan even took him to the commune market. There was such a "market" every month here, and the officials turned a blind eye to it.

Because this place is so remote, exchanging goods is difficult. Deep in the mountains, there are many more villages where people rely on this market to exchange for necessities. Villagers from the surrounding areas bring out what they've saved; it's nominally an "exchange," and mostly it is. Nobody has much money or coupons. Of course, some city dwellers also participate, using a small amount of money and coupons.

Zhan Chunlan took Xiao Cheng for a stroll, letting him experience the simple, down-to-earth atmosphere of the place.

Her main concern was that the recent trip to the educated youth compound might have shattered Xiao Cheng's Dao heart, which would have been a grave sin for her. She only wanted to sever his emotional ties and guide him to cultivate the Path of Ruthlessness; she couldn't let his striving spirit be broken.

This market trip broadened Zhan Chunlan's horizons considerably. As she and Xiao Cheng looked at the many handicrafts on the stalls, their restless hearts calmed down.

However, if you think that rural people are simple and honest, you are very wrong. On the way back, Zhan Chunlan overheard her second uncle and others chatting about how so-and-so was selling his sticky rice as glutinous rice, and how so-and-so was selling white sugar as honey. All sorts of fraudulent methods were emerging one after another.

Xiao Cheng laughed as he listened. This damn life of ups and downs, did it have to give him so many intense emotions in one day?