Chapter 225: Receiving Educated Youth
The 13 brigades under the Taoyuan Commune were not too far from the commune headquarters. The farthest was only 30 miles away, and the nearest Taoyuan brigade was less than 2 miles away.
Even the Taoyuan Brigade drove tractors to cover these two miles.
Ji Xiang and Yan Guixiang joked with Xiao Du, the driver from the Taoyuan Brigade: "It's only two steps away, is it worth driving all the way here?"
Xiao Du said, "If everyone else drives and I don't, what will the educated youth who visit our brigade think? They might think our brigade is poor and we don't have cars, and think we're not hardworking, which would give them a bad impression. If they come to our brigade and find that we have a car but don't drive to pick them up, their impression of us will be even worse."
Ji Xiang: “…”
Yan Guixiang: “…”
It actually sounds like there is some truth to it.
Ji Xiang told the educated youth, "You still have time. You can walk around the commune, take a look, and get to know our Taoyuan Commune. If you want to buy something, you can go to the supply and marketing cooperative. If you want to pick up a package, go to the post office. You can also go to the post office to make a phone call. The two places are next to each other, so you will see. Each of our brigades also has a sales outlet. You can buy what you need on a daily basis there. If you want to shop, go there. If you don't want to shop, just go directly to the brigade. You can come back if you want to."
When the educated youth heard this, they all decided to go out and take a look.
When you arrive in an unfamiliar place and have the opportunity to familiarize yourself with the environment, you naturally want to do so.
They left their luggage in the commune courtyard and walked together to the commune's most prosperous central street.
The central street is paved with asphalt, very flat and wide, roughly equivalent to a three-lane road. On both sides of the street are supply and marketing cooperatives, grocery stores, post offices, bookstores, credit unions, resource recycling stations, and agricultural machinery stations. Kindergartens, primary schools, junior high schools, and high schools are distributed at the north and south ends and in the middle.
Let’s put it this way, all the public units of the commune are concentrated here.
Ren Xiuzhen was quite surprised. This commune was very different from what she knew in her previous life. It was not as backward as she had imagined. It was a bit like a township in the 1980s.
The educated youth walked and looked around, chatting non-stop, mainly talking about what they were good at, how they should perform after arriving, and how they should play their role.
Ren Xiuzhen felt a small shock again. These young people had a truly strong sense of ownership! They truly regarded the commune and the brigade as their own home, and their only concern was how to build their own homes and improve their living standards.
She thought that Liu Chengjun, whom she had met before, was a special case, but she didn't expect it to be a common situation.
After the tour, we returned to the commune and the tractor drivers who came to pick us up began to invite the educated youth to get on the bus.
The tractor driver from Liushutun Brigade was Yan Yuying. She greeted them warmly, "Comrades Ren Xiuzhen and Tao Siqi, who have come to Liushutun to work in the countryside, please come over to me."
Ren Xiuzhen quickly walked over to her side. Coming with her was another female educated youth with short hair that reached her ears. She looked to be less than 20 years old.
Yan Yuying asked them, "Are you still going to shop? If not, we'll leave."
Ren Xiuzhen shook her head and said, "I'm not going to go shopping anymore."
Tao Siqi asked her, "Comrade, what's your name?"
"My name is Yan Yuying. You can call me Comrade Yan, Comrade Yan Yuying, or Sister Yuying. I'm older than you. I'm 28 this year."
"Sister Yuying, I'm Tao Siqi, I'm 18 years old, and I'm from Dong Province, Jiangbei City."
Yan Yuying smiled and shook her hand, saying, "Hello, Siqi."
Then she extended her hand to Ren Xiuzhen: "Then you are Comrade Ren Xiuzhen. I will call you Xiuzhen too. Welcome."
Ren Xiuzhen extended her hand and shook Yan Yuying's, smiling and saying, "Hello, Sister Yuying. I'm from Shanghai and I'm 21."
Yan Yuying smiled and said, "You are all younger than me. Just treat me as your sister. When you come to Liushu Village, we are all family. If you have any problems, come to me. You can also find others. We in Liushu Village are all helpful people."
She helped Ren Xiuzhen and Tao Siqi load their luggage onto the tractor, let them get on, cranked the engine, and then got into the driver's seat. She waved to Yan Guixiang and Ji Xiang, "Secretary Ji, Director Yan, we're leaving first."
"Let's go. Drive slowly."
"Why."
Not long after the car drove out, Tao Siqi asked Yan Yuying, "Are Secretary Ji and Director Yan from the commune?"
"Yes, Secretary Ji's name is Ji Xiang, and he's the top leader of our commune. Director Yan's name is Yan Guixiang, and she's the commune director and second in command. Director Yan is from Liushutun. Although she's the commune director, she still lives in the brigade every day. You can talk to her if you have any questions. She used to be the women's director of our Liushutun brigade, and she was transferred there not long ago. Secretary Ji used to be in charge of organizational work in the commune."
Tao Siqi praised them, "They are so simple. I thought they were the brigade coming to pick up someone, or maybe they were helping out at the commune. I didn't expect they were two leaders."
Ren Xiuzhen was surprised. Isn't this equivalent to the town party secretary and mayor? These two women are quite impressive!
Yan Yuying laughed heartily. "Leaders are ordinary people too. Both of our leaders are down-to-earth, coming from poor and lower-middle peasant families. They can get along well with them and are genuinely concerned about the suffering of the people. You'll understand as you get to know them more. We even have a deputy county head in Liushu Village! She hasn't moved away either, but has returned to live in the brigade. It's just that she's been busy with work lately, living and eating at the company, so she can't go back every day. It will be fine after she's done with her work for a while."
The news of Xie Yun becoming deputy county magistrate eventually spread throughout the brigade, causing a stir. However, over time, everyone grew accustomed to it. Deputy County Magistrate Xie was still the Xie Binbin they knew, unchanged.
The entire team now doesn't consider the deputy county magistrate a cadre.
Ren Xiuzhen: “…”
Times have indeed changed. The deputy county magistrate lived in the village, just like ordinary people. This was simply impossible in later times.
Tao Siqi took this well. The city party secretary there often rode a 28-inch bicycle to the vegetable market to buy vegetables, smiling and greeting everyone he met. Other city leaders were similar, living like ordinary people.
Ren Xiuzhen asked, "Sister Yuying, Director Yan has been transferred here. Who will be the director of women's affairs in Liushu Village?"
"Me. I'm the women's director of Liushu Village now."
Ren Xiuzhen: “…”
Yan Yuying continued, "Since you two are the women coming this time, I'll be the one to pick you up. It will be easier for us to communicate. If it were a male educated youth, Director Zhao would be the one to pick you up. Director Zhao is the brigade's director of public security and Director Yan's husband. He's still in the brigade."
Ren Xiuzhen said, "I've seen that the educated youth assigned to the brigade are either two men or two women, never one man and one woman."
Yan Yuying smiled and said, "You're quite observant. That's indeed the case. This arrangement is to help you educated youth build friendships and adapt to the new environment as quickly as possible. Just like you and Siqi, two women of similar age, you can chat as soon as you meet. If you want to ask me anything, just ask directly, and I will answer directly. Last year, there were two male educated youth in our brigade, and this year there are two female educated youth. Overall, the number of men and women is about the same."
Ren Xiuzhen nodded, so that's how it is.
Tao Siqi asked, "Sister Yuying, where are we going to live?"
"There are educated youth settlements, one for men and one for women. Previously, they all chose to live together in the settlements. If you want to live alone, that's fine too. The brigade has vacant houses and can provide them free of charge. You receive a housing allowance, and the brigade will be responsible for helping you solve your housing problems. Don't worry about that."
You can go to the educated youth camp first and then consider living alone if you don't want to. The female educated youth who came before were all willing to live together. At first, the place wasn't big enough, so they preferred to squeeze in. Later, it was expanded, and now it's big enough for us."
Tao Siqi said: "I live with everyone. I came to join the team because I wanted to experience collective life."
Yan Yuying smiled and said, "The female educated youth work together very well. They help each other, give in to each other, and encourage each other. They are doing a great job."
Ren Xiuzhen didn't say anything. In her previous life, she had lived on campus. There were four girls in the university dormitory, and they all had a lot of conflicts. Someone's alarm clock rang too often, someone's phone call was too loud, someone took too long in the bathroom... They were all problems. She didn't quite believe that there were no conflicts in shared accommodation.
But she could also see that Tao Siqi really yearned for it, and what Yan Yuying said was very sincere, and it didn't seem like something she had made up.
She asked, "Hasn't anyone ever lived alone?"
Yan Yuying shook her head. "No. The first female educated youth to come here was called Qian Gaoyun. She had a carefree personality. To put it nicely, she was simple; to put it bluntly, she was a little silly. Gaoyun herself said so. She was the only one at the time. Our Director Yan, who was still the Women's Director of the brigade at the time, saw through her character at a glance. She was worried about her living alone, so she arranged for her to live with a pair of sisters in our brigade and asked them to take care of her.
Unexpectedly, it later became a routine. A center for educated youth was developed based on their home, and when the house wasn't big enough, they added several more rooms. Now, the older sister is employed at the county pharmaceutical factory, and the younger sister is deputy director of the county animal husbandry bureau. Their home has completely become a center for educated youth.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
