After another two hours of bumpy travel on the tractor, the group finally saw the village in the distance.

As its name suggests, Qingshan Brigade is nestled against the Daqingshan Mountain. Looking out, the lush green mountains are reflected in the sky, which is dyed red by the last rays of the setting sun. The clear stream meanders down from the high green mountains like a jade ribbon, and the scattered adobe houses are like yellow gems at the foot of the mountains. From a distance, it looks like a beautiful landscape painting.

If it weren't for the fact that we live in an era of scarcity, just looking at these beautiful mountains and clear waters, Chen Shuning would have to say that the people living here are truly blessed.

The tractor stopped at the entrance of the brigade headquarters in the village. Brigade leader Shen called everyone to get off the vehicle. After instructing Wang Wenzheng to drive the tractor to the brigade headquarters and park it, he led the group towards the educated youth settlement located at the end of the village.

As for why we didn't just take them directly to the educated youth settlement by tractor, well, do you know how hard it is to get diesel fuel these days? Their brigade only had a limited quota for the whole year, which they had to save for the autumn harvest and when delivering grain to the state. Getting more diesel fuel was a real struggle, like begging and pleading.

If the commune secretary hadn't personally instructed him to requisition the team's tractor to pick up the educated youth today, and hadn't provided a barrel of diesel fuel as a subsidy, he wouldn't have been willing to drive this precious vehicle out.

However, not everyone understood the brigade leader's thoughts. When they saw the tractor drive away and heard that they still had to walk a distance to reach the educated youth settlement, some people became unwilling.

"Captain, why don't you just have the tractor deliver it to us? How are we supposed to walk all this luggage?"

To Chen Shuning's surprise, the first person to jump out was not Yang Wanqiu, who had the most luggage, but Yang Xiaohong, who only had two small bags besides the bedding.

The brigade leader was naturally unhappy to hear this. At this moment, all he could think about was how to arrange these educated youths. When he heard Yang Xiaohong's words, his face darkened: "Why do you have to take a tractor for such a short distance? Don't you know how precious diesel is? I usually take an oxcart when I go to meetings in the county. How dare you take a tractor for such a short distance?"

Captain Shen knew that these educated youths had endured so many days on the train, so he only said a few words and then stopped. He reached out and took a bag from Yang Wanqiu, who looked like she was having a hard time walking, and strode towards the educated youth settlement.

Although it gets dark later in summer, it was already past seven o'clock when they arrived at the village, and it was already getting dark.

However, perhaps because of the hot weather, when they reached the large locust tree in the center of the village, they still saw many villagers sitting under the tree enjoying the shade.

When they reached the tree, everyone stopped talking. A thin, dark-skinned woman chuckled and asked, "Oh, Captain, these are the new educated youth from the city. Why are there so many girls here?"

"I'm not trying to be mean, but last year's female educated youth were all useless; why did we bring in these older ones this year? Look at that girl with the braided pigtails, oh my, she's so pretty! I wonder how many young men in the village will be envious of her."

The woman's voice was shrill. Her shout caused the people who were chatting under the tree to start whispering among themselves, and many young men also looked at Yang Wanqiu and pointed at her.

"Pah, she looks like a vixen. I don't know who she's here to seduce. Besides, what's the use of being good-looking? She can't carry anything and can't lift anything. She's just here to take our food for nothing."

Before the captain could speak, a tall, strong woman with prominent cheekbones and many patches on her clothes echoed his words.

Yang Wanqiu, who was already feeling dizzy from motion sickness, turned red with anger. However, she was only a sixteen or seventeen-year-old girl. Although she was angry, she couldn't say a word in rebuttal in such an unfamiliar environment and in front of these village women.

"What do you mean by that, ladies? We educated youth went to the countryside in response to the instructions of the higher leaders to receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants and to support the construction of the countryside. We also have to participate in labor. We earn work points and get grain based on how much work we do. Do you mean that the brigade leader's distribution is unfair, or are you questioning the decision of the higher leaders? Why don't we go and talk to the commune leaders together?"

Although Chen Shuning didn't like Yang Wanqiu, as a fellow educated youth, she couldn't let the village women think they were easy to bully right from the start.

After speaking, he turned back to the brigade leader and asked, "Brigade leader, I wonder how the work points are recorded in our village, and how the grain is distributed? Is it really as these two old ladies say, that we educated youth came to the countryside to take advantage of the villagers? If that's the case, then please don't make things difficult for us. Quickly send us back to the commune before it gets dark, and also report the situation to the commune leaders. It turns out that the villagers have such a big opinion about us educated youth coming to the countryside. I wonder if the leaders know about this?"

Although Chen Shuning's words were gentle, the underlying meaning sent a chill down Shen Baogen's spine. What a joke! The idea that educated youth should go to the countryside to receive re-education from poor and lower-middle peasants was something the top leaders said, and who would dare to object? If word got out that someone in their village had objections to national policies, then his job as the brigade leader would be over.

Thinking of this, Shen Baogen broke out in a cold sweat in the middle of summer, and his gaze toward the two women who were speaking turned cold.

"What nonsense are you two spouting? Sending educated youth to the countryside is a national policy. What, do you think you're so capable that you dare to disagree with national policies? I bet you two can't be happy unless you're causing trouble. Starting tomorrow, you two will be carrying pig manure for a month. Let's see who dares to spout nonsense after that."

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