After lunch, everyone took the time to rest, as they would be getting off the train that afternoon.
Zhuang Zhimeng closed her eyes and used up her chance to draw a prize for the day.
I won fruit in the draw today – 20 jin each of apples and oranges, which is pretty good.
Fruit was hard to buy these days. She had seen it at the Beijing Supply and Marketing Cooperative, but it was all a bit shriveled and didn't look very fresh, so Zhuang Zhimeng had never bought fruit before.
The train finally arrived at the station. After sitting for so long, everyone's legs were weak when they stood up. Everyone jumped and hopped around for a while before taking their luggage and getting off the train.
Zhuang Zhimeng walked at the back, not squeezing in with the others.
After leaving the station, we went to the designated area for educated youth to complete the formalities.
Each educated youth received a subsidy of 200 yuan and 50 jin of grain, which was borrowed from their production team and repaid with work points. This was only available in the first year.
After completing the formalities, I had to take a bus. I needed to take a bus to the county seat and then transfer to another bus to the town; it was really difficult.
While waiting for the bus, I ran into Su Mengmeng, Zhang Zhiyuan, and Huang Ye. Shi Hongye was also there, along with another female educated youth.
"Mengmeng, where have you been? I've been looking for you for ages!" Shi Hongye quickly approached Zhuang Zhimeng and said ingratiatingly.
Zhuang Zhimeng walked to the side, ignoring Shi Hongye. Some people become more shameless the more you pay attention to them.
Since no one spoke, Shi Hongye could only remain silent.
Once on the bus, there were still seats available. In those days, a bus ride cost 6 cents, and most people couldn't bear to spend that money.
More than an hour later, it was finally time to get off the bus. My legs felt like they weren't even mine anymore. The bus was moving incredibly slowly, stopping and starting all the time. The worst part was that there was all sorts of stuff on the bus, and the smell was really awful. It almost made Zhuang Zhimeng throw up.
After getting off the bus, the female educated youth who had been standing next to Shi Hongye vomited. Zhuang Zhimeng thought that since she had drawn oranges today, she should get one for her, since vomiting would waste time.
He took an orange from his bag (which was actually the warehouse) and handed it to the female educated youth: "Eat an orange, and smelling the peel will stop you from vomiting!"
The young woman looked up, deeply moved. She didn't even know him, and quickly declined, "No, no, no, I can't accept your things. These oranges are so beautiful, they must cost a lot of money. How could I possibly accept this?"
"It's alright, take it! We're all educated youth, it's only right that we help each other!" Seeing Zhuang Zhimeng's sincere expression, the female educated youth accepted it.
After eating the oranges, the female educated youth felt much better. She didn't throw away the orange peels; she held them in her hand so she could smell them when she felt unwell again.
"My name is Jiang Yanxia, and I'm a sent-down youth going to Anyang Brigade! What's your name?"
"My name is Zhuang Zhimeng, and I'm also going to the Anyang brigade!"
"Oh! What a coincidence! How wonderful! We're in the same brigade!" The two chatted and laughed as they walked together.
Shi Hongye was incredibly jealous to see Zhuang Zhimeng start dating someone so quickly. "Mengmeng, wait for me!" she called out, quickly chasing after her.
"Ignore her! Let's go!" Zhuang Zhimeng pulled Jiang Yanxia and walked quickly forward.
As Shi Hongye watched Zhuang Zhimeng walk further and further away, she could only stomp her feet in frustration. Her family wouldn't send her any luggage, so she had to carry everything herself, big and small.
Shi Hongye saw the educated youth behind Zhuang Zhimeng and recognized him as the person who had spoken up for her on the train. She hurried over and asked, "Comrade, I have a lot of luggage. Could you help me carry some of it?"
Zhang Zhiyuan hadn't expected this to happen, and since he couldn't say much more about what he had already said, he could only bite the bullet and agree.
As soon as I exited the bus station, I saw many people waiting to pick up passengers. They were all oxcarts; even tractors were a rare sight.
"Anyang Brigade! Anyang Brigade, over here!"
"Jin Hua Brigade! Jin Hua Brigade is here!"
"Red Star Brigade..."
Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia walked to the front of the oxcart of Anyang Brigade, where a middle-aged man was standing.
"You must be the educated youth sent to the countryside from Anyang Brigade. I am An Baogen, the brigade leader of Anyang Brigade. Please wait here for a moment. We will go back to the village once everyone has arrived."
Zhuang Zhimeng and Jiang Yanxia nodded and stood aside.
After waiting for a while, everyone came to the oxcart.
"I'll take attendance. We'll head back once everyone's here! Zhang Zhiyuan, Huang Ye, Su Mengmeng, Zhuang Zhimeng, Jiang Yanxia, Shi Hongye!" An Baogen pulled out the list and checked it against the list.
The check was correct; it's time to head back.
"Put all the luggage on the oxcart, the women sit on it, and the men follow. It's not far, we'll get there in about half an hour."
No one else spoke, but Shi Hongye couldn't hold back any longer. "Captain, this oxcart is so dirty, how can we ride in it? We're educated youth, and they're making us ride in carts like this..."
Without saying a word, Zhuang Zhimeng put her luggage on the seat and sat down.
Jiang Yanxia quickly put her luggage on the table and sat down next to Zhuang Zhimeng.
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