Chapter 20: The Era: The Innocent Educated Youth Who Was Deceived 2…
The captain shook his head and could only say that he would try to assign them some light work.
Zhou Wenquan and the others didn't know what the team leader was thinking, so they followed him to the educated youth site.
The youth cadre site was converted from several old mud houses in the team. It was small and dilapidated, so the conditions were naturally not very good. Jiang Yan immediately showed a look of disgust on her face.
The team leader pretended not to notice. Who could live better these days than the others? Many families in the village even had houses worse than those of the educated youths.
Qiao Yin had no complaints about the team leader's arrangements. The team leader of Team 3 was relatively responsible. In other production teams, there were many cases of educated youth being bullied and female educated youth being coveted.
Therefore, Qiao Yin didn't show dissatisfaction like the others. Instead, she said politely, "Thank you, Captain. You've worked hard."
The captain's expression softened a little. He thought to himself that this girl knew when to advance and when to retreat, and his impression of her improved a lot.
After the captain left, Jiang Yan muttered disdainfully, "Flatterer."
Nie Hongxia pulled Jiang Yan, her eyes flashing.
Qiao Yin was too lazy to pay attention to her and just pretended not to hear.
The veterans of the educated youth camp were all there, having already greeted each other. The oldest of the female educated youth was Xu Suyuan, who was also very welcoming and had cleared their beds in advance, leaving them clean.
Xu Suyuan liked Qiao Yin very much the moment she saw her. She had been in the countryside for almost seven or eight years and was no different from the villagers in Lushui Bay. When she saw such a fresh and pretty girl, her eyes lit up. She took extra care of her and arranged the best bed near the inside for her.
There were a total of seven female educated youth. She, Xu Suyuan and two other female educated youth who came last year lived in the same room, while Nie Hongxia lived in the same room with Jiang Yan.
Her bed was next to Xu Suyuan's, at the innermost part. After putting her things away, she sat on the bed and chatted with Xu Suyuan.
Today is their first day here, and the team leader has allowed them not to work today so that they can have a good rest.
From Xu Suyuan, Qiao Yin gained a basic understanding of the situation in Green Water Bay.
Since she is here, she might as well make the best of it. Although the conditions in Green Water Bay are a bit difficult, the country will resume the college entrance examination in a few months. As long as she can hold on for a few months in Green Water Bay and review well, she will take the college entrance examination, and her life will not be too bad.
Her confidence collapsed in an instant during dinner. The corn tortilla, which had been left out for who knows how long, was cold and hard, and it got stuck in Qiao Yin's throat, choking her so much that she could only drink a mouthful of the extremely light egg drop soup to help her swallow it.
This egg drop soup, with who knows how much water added to it, was specially prepared by the old educated youth to entertain them because it was their first day there.
There was also a dish of pickled vegetables and stir-fried shredded potatoes on the table, not much in the way of oil or water. Seeing how graciously the old educated youth ate, Qiao Yin forced herself to eat a few chopsticks of shredded potatoes before stopping.
At night, Qiao Yin was indeed hungry. She took out a stack of peach cakes wrapped in oil paper, shared a few with the female educated youth in the same room, and then ate them in small bites. She ate two in a row before she felt full.
The other female educated youth were reluctant to eat it. After going to the countryside, they had never eaten these delicious things again. No, even when they were still in the city, they rarely had the opportunity to eat them. Few people would be as generous as Qiao Yin.
Xu Suyuan kindly reminded her: "Save those precious things for yourself and eat them slowly. Don't be so generous. Working in the countryside is tiring and you don't have enough to eat every day. I see that you didn't eat much today. Save these things to fill your stomach in the future."
Qiao Yin nodded. She was only going to give it out this once. She was being so generous today because it was her first day meeting everyone. She didn't have many good things, so she would have to rely on herself from now on.
Her biological father and stepmother were both factory employees, and her family was well off. For the sake of their reputation, her biological father and stepmother did not dare to treat her badly in terms of material things. In addition, her grandfather left her some money before he died, so she could secretly buy some snacks from time to time.
When she went to the countryside, she took the opportunity to extort some money from her biological parents and stepmother, and made a fuss if they didn't give it to her. After all, her stepmother's job replaced her biological mother's, and it was originally left to her.
But now Qiao Yin just wanted to stay away from her family, so she just asked for some money and went to the countryside. She knew that life in the countryside would be hard, so before going, she bought some snacks and dry food at the supply and marketing cooperative.
However, she did not expect that on the first day in the countryside, she would be overwhelmed by the food here. When she thought about having to stay here for another two years, Qiao Yin felt terrible. She lay on the bed depressed, closed her eyes, listened to the voices of the educated youth chatting in the dark, and gradually fell asleep.
The next morning, Qiao Yin washed up quickly and went to work with the educated youth. The team leader, mindful of their initial discomfort, had assigned them lighter tasks, but only to the female comrades; Zhou Wenquan was not afforded this privilege.
Qiao Yin worked as a keeper of the threshing ground. When she came, many young men working in the fields kept stealing glances at her, and their hands slowed down their movements at the same time.
This went on for several days.
"What are you looking at? Get back to work."
Every time the team leader saw them unable to take their eyes off them, he knew that it was the educated youth Qiao who had come to work.
It's no wonder. This Zhiqing Qiao is really pretty. Not to mention them, he has never seen such a pretty girl in his forty-plus years of life. She stands there so pretty that people can't take their eyes off her.
Liu Dazhi was of course the same. He stared at Qiao Yin as she walked away, then continued plowing the field with regret. However, when he turned around, he found that Shen Xiannian, who had been making about the same progress as him, had left him far behind.
"Brother Xiannian, how come you plow so fast? You must have great physical strength, right?"
The people in their village were generally thin, but he was skinny, while Shen Xiannian was lean. Not only was he thin, but he was also tall, with arms full of tendon muscle from years of wielding a hoe. His broad shoulders and narrow waist made his coarse cloth jacket bulge out. Coupled with his sharp-edged face and frivolous smile, the girls in the village couldn't help blushing when they saw him.
Shen Xiannian snorted coldly, forced a smile, and said, "It's not that I have good physical strength, it's that someone is obsessed with looking at beautiful girls."
Liu Dazhi chuckled and didn't deny it. "I'm a crude man with little experience. I've never seen a girl as pretty as Qiao Zhiqing. Besides, every guy in this team is looking at her. You're the only one who didn't even glance at her."
Shen Xiannian paused his movements and said nothing.
Liu Dazhi seemed to have thought of something, a trace of longing appearing on his face. He said, "I'm already 19, and my mom said she'll find a partner for me this year. I don't ask for anything else. If my partner can be half as good-looking as Qiao Zhiqing, I'll be satisfied."
As he spoke, a blush appeared on Liu Dazhi's dark face. Seeing that Shen Xiannian didn't react at all, he remembered what his mother had mentioned to him and asked:
"By the way, Brother Xiannian, aren't you also looking for a partner? What kind of girl do you like?"
When Shen Xiannian heard this, his brows furrowed so tightly that they could pinch a fly to death: "My mother went to see Aunt Miao again?"
"Yes, your mother came to my house a few days ago and asked me if there were any good girls from other villages to introduce to you."
Liu Dazhi looked at Shen Xiannian's resistance and didn't understand why he didn't want to get married.
It’s so nice to have a wife. There’s someone at home who understands you and cares about you. You’ll have more energy to work. If you have a few more children, you’ll have a companion for life.
Now his brother is two years older than him. With his conditions, if he wanted to get married, he would have had children a long time ago, but he just didn't agree to meet her, and Mother Shen was very anxious.
Shen Xiannian scratched his hair, feeling a little irritated. Seeing that the work was almost done, he threw the hoe to the ground and said, "I'll go back."
The threshing ground was far away from the fields and there were not many people around. Qiao Yin sat under the shade of a tree, occasionally using a long bamboo pole to drive away sparrows.
The work was not tiring, but it was a bit sunny. After working for two hours, her delicate cheeks were sunburned red, her hair was stuck to her forehead, and sweat rolled down her collar into her clothes.
Others look messy and sloppy when they sweat, but she doesn't look messy at all, as if her sweat beads have fragrance.
Xu Erzhu was almost stunned.
He was bored and wanted to go to the next village to have some fun with Widow Zhang, but he never expected to meet such a beauty.
When had such a beautiful girl appeared in Green Water Bay? Her fair face, rosy lips, and slender, soft waist could be held in his hands. She didn't look like a girl who grew up in the village at all. Could she be an educated youth from the city?
"Are you a new educated youth? Where are you from?"
Qiao Yin was sitting under the shade of a tree thinking about something, and was startled by the sudden sound. She looked up and trembled uncontrollably when she saw Xu Erzhu, and disgust and fear suddenly surged in her heart.
Xu Erzhu, the scoundrel in the original story, the one who ruined her life, why is he here?!
Xu Erzhu approached as he spoke, his footsteps making a disgusting rustling sound on the hay, and the look in his eyes when he looked at her was extremely sticky and disgusting.
Qiao Yin took two steps back. The threshing ground was remote and there was no one in sight. Qiao Yin felt a little flustered, but she still tried to remain calm and said:
"Who are you? I don't know you." She distanced herself from him subtly while speaking.
Xu Erzhu looked at Qiao Yin's frosty little face, and his heart was even hotter. He didn't notice Qiao Yin's dislike for him, and said with a smile:
"Now we know each other, right? We're from the same village now. I live in the east end of the village. My name is Xu Erzhu. You can ask me for help if you need anything."
Xu Erzhu pretended to be enthusiastic, but he didn't know how unconvincing his shifty look was. Even if Qiao Yin didn't know his true face, she would not believe him.
Besides, Qiao Yin knew him.
His eyelids were drooping, as if he hadn't woken up yet, and his cheeks were flushed with excitement. As he spoke, saliva flew everywhere, and Qiao Yin seemed to be able to smell the sweat on his body.
"No, I don't need any help."
Xu Erzhu was used to teasing women in the village and had been treated with cold stares by many people. Qiao Yin's indifference was really nothing to him.
"Your hands are so delicate, how can you use them for work? How about this, you call me good brother, and I'll help you with your work from now on?"
As he spoke, he showed his yellow teeth and tried to pull her hand. Qiao Yin felt nauseous and wanted to vomit, so she suddenly dodged his touch.
"Don't touch me! If you come any closer I'll go find the captain."
Qiao Yin raised her voice, pretending to be calm and said something loudly, then turned and ran towards the fields.
"Hey you stinky bitch, you are so shameless..."
Xu Erzhu saw Qiao Yin was going to look for someone, so he chased after her and tried to stop her, but suddenly someone stood in front of Qiao Yin.
"What do you want to do?"
Shen Xiannian looked at him coldly, kicked the stone bar used to sharpen the sickle towards Xu Erzhu's feet, and the bluestone cracked into two pieces.
He didn't even raise his head: "Didn't I tell you not to let me see you being a hooligan again?"
As he said this, he threw the sickle in front of Xu Erzhu with an expressionless face.
The tip of the sickle suddenly pierced into the mud two inches in front of Xu Erzhu's shoe.
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