Chapter 16 Chapter 16 White Rabbit Toffees

Pingquan Town has only two main streets in an "L" shape. The supply and marketing cooperative, post office, state-owned hotel, commune, G Committee, etc. are all on these two streets. There are also some small streets and alleys where the town residents live. There are also a few small factories in the outer circle of the town.

Because Pingquan Town is close to Yanjing City, the main buildings in the town appear to be well-built, with red walls and black tiles, and the sanitation is also clean and tidy.

In such a small area, a group of more than ten educated youths could walk around without getting lost.

Moreover, as the first batch of educated youth who went to the countryside on a large scale, the town residents were now curious about and welcomed them. They would help with directions without them having to ask, and runny-nosed children would follow behind them to watch the fun.

Honestly, they were a bit like monkeys in a zoo.

One of the monkeys, Ye Yu, made eye contact with a little kid, and the kid quickly dodged as if his tail was stepped on. Okay, the kid was a little shy.

She blinked her eyes and drew a map of Pingquan Town in her mind as she walked. This was a habit ingrained in her when she arrived in a strange place.

The commune was at the intersection of two L-shaped main streets. Before they got close, they saw a bright red banner hanging at the gate of the commune, which read "Welcome educated youth from all over the world to Pingquan Brigade."

Because the train arrived earlier than the car, a group of educated youth, mainly from various cities in the south, had already gathered at the gate of Pingquan Commune. There were about forty of them, plus a dozen from the city, a total of more than fifty educated youth.

Perhaps because the first batch of educated youth had the right to make their own choices, they chose either particularly harsh places or places that were said to be wealthy or desirable. The brigade near Yanjing City clearly belonged to the latter.

After the first few batches, the educated youth basically lost the right to make their own choices and could no longer do whatever they wanted.

There were a total of twelve brigades in Pingquan Commune, with an average of three to five educated youth in each brigade.

According to the deputy director of the commune, in about an hour, the brigade leader of each commune would come to the town in person or send brigade cadres to pick up the assigned educated youth.

The first batch of educated youth who went to the countryside had not yet had time to create any irreconcilable conflicts with the local people. The villagers still hoped that the educated youth could truly help build their brigade and improve local life, and most of them welcomed them.

If an extra person is assigned to a brigade, the brigade leaders will think that this means the commune values ​​them and they will be very happy.

While they were waiting, the commune also provided a free lunch for the educated youth who had come from afar. Each person received a large white flour steamed bun and two mixed-grain cakes, accompanied by salted vegetables.

This is actually well prepared.

Especially white flour steamed buns, which might not be affordable unless the autumn harvest had just passed. Although farmers grow wheat, they are reluctant to eat white flour several times a year.

The family conditions of the educated youth in the city varied greatly. No matter how rich they were, they could not say that they could eat white flour steamed buns every day, even if they had enough money, they might not have enough food coupons.

But there are always pretenders in any era.

They have not yet adapted to the countryside and have a sense of superiority coming from the city. The urban language they use to describe their hometown is a bit exaggerated. Some people are already "giving advice" on how to build a good countryside.

Some people even showed off the specialties from their hometowns, which indeed attracted many envious glances.

Among them, the most exaggerated one is the girl with an apple face and two long braids.

She brought a pencil case, which did not contain pens but was filled with White Rabbit candies. It was said that her mother worked in the nationally famous White Rabbit candy factory in Shanghai, and she grew up eating White Rabbit candy.

Suddenly became the center of attention.

The girl was not stupid enough to distribute the White Rabbit candies to everyone present. After all, with the educated youth and the commune cadres, a pencil case was not enough for the candies. So she soaked ten candies in a large pot of water and distributed some to everyone.

It has to be said that the White Rabbit milk candy of this era is really rich in milk flavor, and the legend of seven White Rabbit milk candies in a cup of milk is not groundless.

Although the ten White Rabbit candies were not soaked into milk because the pot of water was too large, the sweet milky flavor, even if very light, is a rare good thing in this era, and many people cherish it.

Ye Yu sipped the sweet water and remembered the name of this very generous girl with an apple face - Hua Feifei, who looked like a silly and cute rabbit when she smiled.

While waiting for the captain, they also sent telegrams to their families to let them know they were safe. In that era, there were no telephones and a telegram cost 1.3 cents per word, so many people tried to be as concise as possible.

Especially for someone like Ye Yu, whose family already knew which commune she was working for, she followed the crowd and sent the word "An" back home.

When the people from each brigade arrived, it was usually the brigade commander who came in person. If the brigade commander did not have time, he would send the cadre brigade accountant or the militia company commander to come in his place.

The one who came from Wangjiagou was the team leader Wang Zhiming, a sturdy man with a broad back and strong arms. He looked to be in his thirties and was definitely young among all the team leaders.

Not only was he strong, he was also very tall, estimated to be over 1.80 meters tall. He was wearing a long army green cotton coat, the same style that soldiers wear. His back looked straight and his face was stern, making him look quite intimidating.

Perhaps because Wang Zhiming had served in the army, the deputy director of the commune was quite polite to him. However, not all of the other commune captains, who stood out from the crowd, were convinced by him. Several of them even glared at each other while they were chatting.

With her superhuman hearing, Ye Yu could even hear someone muttering, "What a big deal."

???

My popularity is a bit poor.

Wang Zhiming ignored the other whispers and chatted with the vice president for a few words before calling out, "Ye Yu."

"Here." Ye Yu raised his hand and walked towards the captain carrying the luggage.

Because the Youth League Office had informed Wang Zhiming in advance, he knew that Ye Yu was the daughter of a married girl in the village, and he frowned when he saw Ye Yu for the first time.

I just think she is too thin. Her skin is whiter than anyone else present, and she has delicate skin and tender flesh. You can tell at first glance that she is from the city. I wonder if she can handle the farm work.

It was not until I saw Ye Yu carrying the luggage easily that I understood what it meant to “don’t judge a book by its cover”. She looked so energetic and spirited, worthy of being the girl from Wangjiagou (?)!

"Put your luggage on the donkey cart," Wang Zhiming introduced an old villager standing next to the donkey cart, "This is Comrade Wang Jingcai. Comrade Wang Jingcai takes good care of the cows and donkeys in the team. You can call him Uncle Cai."

Ye Yu called out, "Uncle Cai."

Wang Zhiming called the next one: "Hua Feifei."

Coincidentally, it was the girl with the apple face.

Hua Feifei's luggage was also full of large and small bags. She was not thin, but she was small in stature and not very strong. She could not lift so many packages at once. However, due to the connections she had made at the White Rabbit Milk Candy store, there were many people around to help her.

"Han Jing, Xu Fei."

The remaining two educated youth were young men. Among them, Han Jing was from Yanjing City. Don’t ask Ye Yu how he knew this, because he was the young passerby who was in the same car with Ye Yu.

Han Jing is tall, only slightly shorter than the team leader Wang Zhiming, but probably because he is growing during puberty, he is very thin, as thin as a bamboo pole, and has a few pimples on his face that cannot be hidden. He is in the awkward period of being an ugly duckling.

As for Xu Fei, he is 1.7 meters tall, wears glasses, and looks like a gentle scholar, but his personality does not seem to be that way. He often smiles and shows a row of neat white teeth.

Both of them were outgoing. They called out in loud voices: "Captain, Uncle Cai." They also greeted Ye Yu and Hua Feifei in a familiar manner.

Hua Feifei is also a very outgoing person, and the three of them fell in love with each other.

Han Jing, Xu Fei: "Comrade Hua Feifei, thank you for the White Rabbit candy just now."

Hua Feifei: "You're welcome. Han Jing, you're from Yanjing, right? Did you go to see the flag-raising ceremony? I signed up for a commune near Yanjing specifically for this reason."

Xu Fei: "Me too, me too, and the Great Wall..."

Han Jing asked: "Comrade Ye Yu, how did you develop such strength?"

Hua Feifei: "Yes, yes, you look so relaxed carrying your luggage, but your luggage is not light at all."

Ye Yu: "It's natural."

Hua Feifei, Han Jing, Xu Fei: "Awesome!"

Ye Yu: "..."

It was a bit noisy, but it was quite enjoyable. In a short period of time, the three of them got to know many other educated youth, especially Hua Feifei, who did not forget to say goodbye to them and made an appointment to visit each other's brigades.

The captain found it quite interesting to listen to their conversation, probably because this group of young people brought a different kind of vitality to Pingquan Town. It was just like when he first joined the army as a rookie. Only later did he understand the hardships and fatigue of the military camp.

He urged, "Come on, come on. If you don't leave now, the sun will have set by the time you get back to the village."

Several people hurriedly climbed onto the donkey cart.

After the donkey cart carried them for a short distance on flat ground, when they started to climb a slope, the team leader got off the donkey cart and changed from riding to walking.

Others:

???

Uncle Cai just said: "It's too heavy, I'm afraid the donkey can't bear it."

In fact, one or two people could still sit on it, but the captain thought that these educated youth were just like the new recruits who had just entered the camp and needed exercise. The local villagers gathered together and everyone could walk back and forth for thirty or forty miles without breathing. Even a ten-year-old child could do it, so they must be able to do it.

Besides, a donkey cart cannot carry so many people on mountain roads, and donkeys are very valuable these days.

So except for the rich uncle who was driving the donkey cart, everyone else started walking. When they encountered a steep downhill slope, they needed to hold down the luggage, and when they encountered a steep uphill slope, they needed help pushing the cart.

The same goes for the captain.

They also found that the captain had a problem with one of his legs. When he walked, one leg was higher than the other. This might be the reason why he retired. But even with a limp, his speed of going uphill and downhill was not slow at all.

Hua Feifei and the others didn't know what to say and could only keep walking forward.

The mountain roads of this era are different from the mountain roads built by the infrastructure maniacs of the future. There are many sections of roads that are basically what Xun Ge'er said, "When many people walk on it, it becomes a road." In short, it is quite difficult to walk on, and some tips are required when walking.

Han Jing, Xu Fei and Hua Feifei grew up in the city. Except for Xu Fei who had seen many mountains in his hometown, it was the first time for the other two to see such a mountain road, not to mention walking on it, they had no skills at all.

It rained last night and there are many mud pits on the mountain.

Their shoes were soon covered in mud and the autumn dew soaked into them, making them feel cold.

All three of them had fallen to varying degrees, with Hua Feifei falling the most times. As a result, her beautiful leather shoes and the white shirt under her cotton-padded jacket were all dirty.

Hua Feifei had suffered so much before. Her stomach, legs, waist, buttocks, and whole body ached, and her eyes were filled with tears. But except for Han Jing and Xu Fei, the two brothers in distress, who could encourage her with a word or two (making it more like a hindrance to them to help), everyone else's hearts seemed to be made of cold iron.

Uncle Cai, let alone driving, requires concentration, and he is always serious about his work;

The captain usually kept his eyes straight ahead, and would only tell them to be careful on this stretch of road if he was afraid they would really fall off a cliff. He also rejected Hua Feifei's repeated requests for a rest, and the entire journey followed his own pace.

As for Ye Yu, not only was her strength extremely inconsistent with her appearance, but her physical strength was also the same. She walked on the rugged mountain road more easily than the team leader. She flew over such a big mud pit in a flash and landed lightly on the stone on the opposite side.

That's really flying!

If feudal superstition was not an absolute ban nowadays, Hua Feifei would have wanted to ask if she was a fairy from the mountains, since she looked like one.

Except for the soles of her shoes, Ye Yu looked exactly the same as before she set out. She was clean and tidy. People who didn't know the situation would think she was on a picnic, which really disappointed her teammates.

Ye Yu was unaware of the resentment and complaints of her teammates, and she would not care even if she knew. To use a Versailles phrase, she was not only walking on the mountain road, she was also drawing a map in her mind.

With a slight twitch of his ears, his superhuman hearing enabled him to detect the sounds of game... no, wild animals coming from the distant forest.

Ye Yu suddenly asked: "Captain, are there wolves in the mountains?"

What?

Wolf!

Tears welled up in Hua Feifei's red rabbit eyes again. Han Jing and Li Fei's legs went weak and they almost fell down.