Water buffalo

After asking around in the compound for a long time, I found that most of the educated youth were from the province, some from the provincial capital and some from the city.

The remaining small group is from a neighboring province, which is considered quite far.

One of the educated youths from Jiang knew more about the matter. When Wang Shuitao asked if there were any educated youths from Heilongjiang Province, he said, "Those who can go to the countryside in this province are all in this province. People from Heilongjiang Province come all the way here. They must have terrible interpersonal relationships. They must have killed the father of an educated youth."

In fact, most of the educated youth sent to the countryside are still settled in nearby rural areas and farms, and they are not transferred to such distant places.

Wang Shuitao came up with this idea because many period dramas she watched featured southern educated youth going to the countryside in the three northeastern provinces, and the various stories that arose due to differences in living habits.

They assumed that the current educated youth were being randomly distributed across the country.

But now that she hasn't found it, she's a little discouraged.

The team leader couldn't help but ask, "What do you need people from Heilongjiang Province for? Does the factory have a quota?"

Wang Shuitao rattled off the story in a string of gibberish.

Jiang, the educated youth who had just spoken, seemed to want to say something but then stopped, but neither Wang Shuitao nor the brigade leader saw it and left.

Although I learned that the educated youth were likely all locals, I still had to go to the next brigade to ask.

What if, right?

Unfortunately, nothing was gained.

Wang Shuitao rushed home before dark, feeling like she had walked 100,000 steps that day. She picked up the cool boiled water that had been placed on the table and gulped it down.

After finishing her drink and wiping her mouth, Wang Shuitao remembered to ask, "Sister-in-law, is this boiled and cooled water, not well water?"

Sun Miao sat beside her, holding onto the scooter on her right, and responded.

Her sister-in-law had told her not to drink tap water, and she had always listened.

Even though her mother-in-law constantly scolded her for being a blockhead, inflexible, and saying that her sister-in-law in the county town would never understand anything about family matters.

But Sun Miao still wanted to listen to her sister-in-law. After all, it was her sister-in-law who had helped the family get enough to eat.

Even though her mother-in-law would cry and sigh every time she ate, lamenting how miserable her father-in-law's life must be, it didn't stop her from eating very quickly.

Everyone in the family has gained weight in their faces.

Last time my sister-in-law came to visit, she even helped me write a letter, saying she would send it to my brother Jinbu.

She had so much to say that she wrote five whole pages. Her mother-in-law thought she was wasting her time, but her sister-in-law didn't find it annoying at all.

The two children were already asleep in the stroller, their cheeks chubby.

My sister-in-law said it's called baby fat, and every baby has it.

Actually, this is a rare instance where my sister-in-law made a mistake, probably because she hasn't given birth yet.

Most children are skin and bones; they don't have any baby fat.

When it comes to sons and daughters, Sun Miao still feels that boys are more important, but her sister-in-law said that they should be treated equally, so she really didn't dare to disobey.

Sun Miao thought, since he's her son, he probably won't blame her, so she decided to leave it at that.

When she made this decision, she felt a strange joy, but she couldn't quite explain it.

The next day.

There is no reveille, so Wang Shuitao always gets up late whenever she gets home.

After all, even on weekends at the sugar factory, there were announcements over the loudspeaker. Although you weren't working, the canteen still served meals at set times.

She yawned as she got up; she'd have to keep wandering around today.

After finishing our meal, we first borrowed a cow from the brigade, then harnessed it to the cart, and we were ready to set off.

I asked all the nearby police stations yesterday, and I can't walk any further, so I'll borrow some tools.

The ox was a large water buffalo, the kind usually used to pull plows and harrows. It had a pair of large, shiny black horns on its head, which were extremely eye-catching.

I'm not very familiar with Wang Shuitao.

But she was prepared and took out a small dough ball from a cloth bag.

It contains various kinds of powders, such as rice flour, wheat flour, sweet potato flour, as well as brown sugar and salt.

The flour was all stir-fried and mixed with brown sugar, so the small dough balls were brown and very fragrant.

Even the usually indifferent Niu Niu smelled it, and its large nostrils twitched twice.

Wang Shuitao popped a popper into her mouth first, and then Niu Niu stared at her with her big, watery eyes and long eyelashes.

I quickly took out another one and fed it to it. After feeding it five in a row, I patted its bottom and let it jump into the car.

"drive!"

A clear sound echoed across the wilderness. The water buffalo, familiar with this feeling, let out a long, high-pitched bellow.

"Moo—"

When the oxcart started moving, Wang Shuitao leaned back slightly, but she felt much better after grabbing the cart.

Although it was bumpy, it was slow and spacious enough that I didn't get seasick in the oxcart, which was great.

Unfortunately, although Niu Niu was obedient, well-behaved, and useful, they just couldn't find any educated youth from the three northeastern provinces.

After four or five days, Wang Shuitao had no choice but to give up.

He was torn between fabricating stories for himself and only letting the upcoming drivers try them out.

But then there was a knock on the door.

Wang Shuitao opened the door and asked, "Is there something you need, Jiang Zhiqing?"

Jiang, a educated youth, was named Jiang Mancang. He was among the first group of people sent to the countryside and came willingly to build up the rural areas. He was content with just being able to feed himself and his family, so he had no regrets.

It's a pity that my skills are not very useful in the countryside. Besides deeply understanding the truth of the saying "a scholar is useless", I have also developed a good skill in doing farm work.

He was accompanied by a female educated youth. You know, even now, women still face great risks when going to the countryside.

Don't say that the first batch of people didn't know before going; everyone has relatives in the countryside and understands the customs of rural areas.

In particular, these villages named after surnames place great importance on clan concepts, and if someone is bullied, no one will side with an outsider.

Even so, Jiang Manyun still came without hesitation.

Jiang Mancang and she were cousins, and he had eaten at her house when he was a child.

He remembered his aunt, who was Man Yun's mother, who made a particularly delicious chicken stew with mushrooms, which she called a hometown dish.

Her hometown is Heilongjiang Province.

However, Jiang Manyun had already found a revolutionary partner a few years ago and married into the village.

Jiang Mancang and his uncle disagreed, but his aunt voted in favor, and with his mother's support, Manyun happily held the wedding.

After listening to Jiang Zhiqing's long-winded rambling, Wang Shuitao went with him to Jiang Manyun's house.

This family has a simple population: a husband and wife, three daughters and one son. The older sisters have all married out.

Surprisingly, Jiang Manyun, who had no local connections and only a cousin who wasn't very useful, was the one in charge of the family.

Upon hearing Wang Shuitao's purpose, she quickly agreed.

Clearly, after marrying into the family, she seized the position of head of the household and no longer needed to ask anyone else for help.

Not to mention her mother-in-law, her father-in-law also has to listen to her, and of course, her husband even more so.

After Wang Shuitao saw through this, she couldn't help but feel a deep respect.

Families who are pursuing their sons often have outdated views, and it's clear that it's not voluntary for a daughter-in-law to be allowed to trample on them.

Having successfully completed her mission, Wang Shuitao prepared to take Jiang Manyun to the county town to prepare a feast for the leaders to taste.

To avoid taking all the blame if something goes wrong later.

Especially that petty Wu Dong, who is best at being sarcastic and sarcastic.

She had to do everything perfectly so that Director Wu wouldn't find fault with her, since he was her immediate superior. Wang Shuitao didn't want to drag Factory Director Sun into every confrontation.

It makes her seem incompetent.

Passing by the Zhunu River, Wang Shuitao bowed to Him again. Despite the twists and turns, she finally got what she wanted.

At the sugar factory, Meng Songying shook the box in her hand, and the delicate candies inside began to roll.

It still looks like a peach, with a touch of pink spreading down from the tip to the bottom, where it becomes transparent again.

It looks exceptionally good, much more realistic than the all-pink peaches from last time.

He made it out of boredom, one a day, all handmade.

Today, there are already seven plump peach candies in the box.