In the dead of winter, a green train was running on the rails. A train full of educated youth going to the countryside entered the station. Su Jin was awakened by the noise in the carriage and looked out the window in confusion. She was born in Jiangsu and Zhejiang for both of her lives and had never seen heavy snow with her own eyes.
Su Jin heard the educated youth next to her push her: "I'm Wang Dahong, going to Songjiang Commune. Haven't you seen snow?"
"My name is Su Jin. I also went to Songjiang Commune. It's my first time seeing snow..." Su Jin's cheeks flushed, and Wang Dahong's heart softened when she saw her. "I was born in Jiangsu and Zhejiang, and I've never been to the north."
Wang Dahong hummed, "This carriage is full of women. Wrap your scarves tightly when you get off the train. Be careful when you're out there. Here..."
Su Jin smiled and nodded obediently: "I know."
"I'm 18 this year, and you look under 16, right?" The two female educated youth sitting across from them joined the conversation. "My name is Lu Shan, and I'm from Ontario. I also went to Songjiang Commune."
"We are from the same commune. My name is Liu Ying, I am 19 years old, and I am from Sichuan Province." The girl opposite Su Jin said cheerfully.
"It would be great if the four of us could be in the same team," Wang Dahong said happily. "I'm the eldest sister now. I'm 20 years old."
"I'm 17, the youngest." Su Jin chuckled, and the three of them were stunned by his smile.
"Big sister is right. You'd better protect your face with a scarf. First, see what the people in the commune think. If it doesn't work after winter, just smear some dust on your face." Liu Ying agreed, "You have outstanding looks. It would be bad if someone in the village had ulterior motives to target you."
Wang Dahong's family favors boys over girls. Several of her brothers are still unmarried, and her mother has always been thinking of tricking girls into marrying her.
"That's what my mother thought. I have three sisters. My eldest and second oldest sisters went to the countryside to replace my eldest and second oldest brothers. They were only 16 years old when they went there. Within two years, they were tricked back home by village bullies. Life was hard there. I went to the countryside to replace my third oldest brother," Wang Dahong whispered. "I have a connection with the three of you. It would be good for us to live together."
Su Jin traveled from the future. Her parents died in a car accident while on a business trip. She was already extremely sad, so when she opened her eyes, she turned into Su Jin from the future. They had the same name, and Su Jin wanted to live on for her.
Unexpectedly, before Su Jin recovered, her neighbor Aunt Qi plotted against her. She wanted to use the excuse of taking care of her to marry Su Jin to Qi's stupid son, and at the same time wipe out the Su family.
Su Jin's parents were both engineers. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, they became a dual-working family with a good financial situation, so they wanted to bring all the children into their home.
Qi Ru never had enough to eat at home, and Su Jin's mother had been secretly taking care of her. When she heard her mother's plan, she immediately told Su Jin.
At that time, the street women's director was also at Su Jin's house. Director Jin took Su Jin home to take care of her, which made the Qi family's plan fail. The two sons of the Jin family were both soldiers, so in order to avoid giving people a chance to talk, they signed up to go to the countryside.
Director Jin found a place with fertile land, which was better off than other rural areas and at least he could have enough to eat.
Before leaving, Su Jin sold the house to Director Jin. Except for the furniture and items in the house that Su Jin took away, the rest were moved to the warehouse in Director Jin's house.
Director Jin's family is grateful. After getting the Su family's house, they will also help Su Jin.
The four little girls sat on the hard seats, talking about their own situations. Su Jin chatted with them while looking at the snow scene outside the window.
"We'll have to take another whole day to get there, and it will probably be night by the time we get back to the brigade," Wang Dahong said. "I'll load a kettle of hot water in the car and buy a meal. We'll eat and go to bed tonight."
Wang Dahong had taken a bus before and suffered losses after getting off the bus. He was hungry all night before he had anything to eat.
"Okay!" The three of them quickly agreed.
Su Jin thought that there were a lot of food in the two large backpacks. Director Jin exchanged the Su family's rations for food coupons a few days in advance, and made meat and eggs into dried meat and dried eggs for easy storage so that she could use more.
Before getting off the train, Su Jin changed two kettles of boiling water, and then went to the dining car to buy steamed buns, pancakes and some pickles, and put them in her schoolbag.
She secretly thanked her lucky day that she set off in winter, otherwise, the things would not last for many days after arriving at the brigade.
As night fell, the train slowly pulled into the train station. Lu Shiyi, wearing a clean military uniform and a military coat, was waiting in front of the train station. His uncle was the captain of the Fourth Brigade. He worked in the armed forces department in the city and happened to be helping to lead the educated youth back.
"Brother, did my father give you the list?" Lu Shiqian asked in a low voice.
Lu Shiqian is the captain's second son, and he drove over specifically to pick someone up.
"I brought them with me. There are four female educated youth and six male educated youth." Lu Shiyi frowned slightly, thinking that after returning to the village, he would go to the back mountain to dig traps at night, so that the old leader could at least have enough food and clothing during the New Year.
Su Jin was carrying a big bag on her back, one in her left hand and one in her right hand. The things were very heavy, and she struggled to lift them.
Lu Shiyi watched the educated youth get off the bus, and then looked at the last petite figure who was moving with difficulty. He strode forward and took the two large bags.
Su Jin was startled by his sudden action. She was wrapped in a hat and scarf, revealing only a pair of frightened deer eyes. Lu Shiyi's heart softened when he was stared at by her wet deer eyes.
"I'm from the Fourth Brigade and I'm here to pick up the educated youth. You're too slow." Lu Shiyi lowered his voice as he looked at the deer eyes.
"I am Su Jin, an educated youth from the Fourth Brigade." Su Jin's soft voice sounded in his ears, softening his cold heart.
Lu Shiyi grinned and said, "Welcome to the Fourth Brigade. I'll carry these two bags for you. Go and sign up."
Su Jin looked at Lu Shiyi for a long time, then looked at his military uniform before moving forward with peace of mind.
Lu Shiyi looked at the small figure not far ahead, and felt a touch of warmth in his heart.
"Fourth brother, this is Su Jin." Lu Shiyi put her bag on the ox cart, then walked over and took off the bag she was carrying.
Su Jin stood there somewhat embarrassedly. Lu Shiqian looked at Lu Shiyi's actions in astonishment. He had never heard Lu Shiyi speak so gently.
After the roll call, the educated youth went to the ox carts of their respective brigades.
The middle of the ox cart of the Fourth Brigade was filled with packages, and in the end only nine educated youth could fit on it.
"Brother, one of the educated youth can't fit on the bicycle. Why don't you let the smallest one sit on your bicycle and take him back?" Lu Shiqian looked at Su Jin and said in embarrassment while looking at the ox cart.
The weather was too cold, and the educated youth sat in the car covered with a large, torn quilt, and no one wanted to move.
"Su Jin, just take the bicycle. The car has no stability." The educated youth looked at each other and Wang Dahong said hurriedly.
The other educated youths agreed one after another, and Su Jin had no choice but to follow Lu Shiyi to the parking lot.
Lu Shiyi kept his eyes on Su Jin. He used to walk very fast, and for every one of his steps, the little girl had to take several steps. He slowed down and waited for her to catch up.
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