Aunt Qian slapped her thigh: "It really is true. Maybe we were one family before. Is everyone in your Qianjia Brigade surnamed Qian?" Is this a village named after a surname?
This kind of village has its pros and cons. The good thing is that everyone shares the same surname and ancestry, fostering unity. The bad thing is that they tend to be hostile towards outsiders. I wonder if Qianjia Village is also hostile towards outsiders?
"Most of them, I guess. During the war, we received a lot of newcomers, and there were also quite a few families with other surnames in the village."
"So your son is Little Qian, the educated youth?" Qian Sanbao spends all his time in the village, and he's quite talkative. Sometimes he knows more about village affairs than his own wife does.
“If there’s only one educated youth with the surname Qian in your area, then he’s my son.”
"Then that must be it. There's only one educated youth named Qian in the educated youth compound. You've been thinking of coming over to visit, haven't you?"
"Yes, this is my youngest son. It's his first time traveling so far, and I was a little worried about him. I didn't have anything else to do, so I thought I'd come and check on him. Is he alright?" The old lady was eager to find out as soon as she met someone who recognized her son.
"It's fine. Xiao Qian, the educated youth, is just a little bad at work. Our village doesn't have high requirements for educated youth. As long as they don't cause trouble, it doesn't matter how much work they do. Just don't starve to death."
At first, the educated youth were required to work like the villagers, but later it was discovered that many of them received subsidies from their families, so even if they only gathered pig feed every day, they wouldn't starve. So the villagers stopped caring.
If educated youth don't work, they can get less grain from the village. As long as they don't cause trouble, it's fine this way.
The two people Aunt Qian met were both quite nice, so she was already half relieved. She wouldn't be able to let go of the other half until she could see them again.
The three of them chatted casually along the way and finally arrived at the village entrance in the late afternoon.
Qian Sanbao pulled the oxcart down to help Aunt Qian carry her luggage: "This is the educated youth compound. It's the best building in our village. Educated youth who are willing to spend money to pay rent can have their own room. It's even better than the houses where the villagers live."
That's absolutely true. Aunt Qian glanced around the village and saw that most of the houses were still made of mud, while her son lived in a brick and tile house. At least in terms of housing, her son wasn't suffering.
I heard from their neighbors that their son was sent to the countryside where more than a dozen people lived on a large communal bed. They argued all day long and couldn't even sleep well.
She had heard her neighbors say that the children were not getting enough to eat and were doing hard work all day. They also said that the villagers were not friendly to the educated youth. She was overjoyed if half of the things mailed to the children actually reached them. That's why she was so worried that she couldn't sleep and thought she had to come and see for herself.
Qian Sanbao carried Aunt Qian's luggage to the educated youth's courtyard: "We haven't finished work yet, so you'll have to wait a while. We'll head back now."
Aunt Qian quickly took out a bag of milk candy from her bag: "Little Qian has taken good care of me along the way, otherwise I would still be on the road right now. Take this candy back and give it to the child to sweeten his mouth."
Qian Sanbao quickly dodged away: "No need, no need, it's just on the way. You wait here, I'll go first." He quickly walked out of the educated youth compound.
Aunt Qian followed right after, and as soon as the oxcart left, she threw the candy onto it, saying, "Don't tear it apart, or I'll feel uncomfortable."
Qian Xiao glanced at the milk candy in the car but didn't refuse forcefully. She knew what the old lady was thinking, but she still needed to ask her third uncle what kind of person this Qian educated youth was before deciding whether to help take care of him.
These days, you have to protect your own family first before you can lend a helping hand to those you can.
"Alright, thank you very much, Aunt Qian," Qian Xiao waved and got into the oxcart and left.
After they had walked a little further away, Qian Sanbao asked, "Why did you accept it? It was just something you did on the side."
"Don't you understand? The old lady is thinking of taking care of her son within our capabilities. We'll have to see what kind of person he is. If he's a good person, we'll lend a hand. If he's not so good, we'll just send some local specialties to return the favor."
"Ah! So that's what it means?" Is it that complicated?
"Of course! Did you think that just because you brought it along, people would give you such a valuable gift?" This is a bag of milk candy, which isn't cheap.
Qian Sanbao scratched the back of his head and chuckled, "I thought this person was just being too polite. Why would they give me such expensive milk candy just for a ride?"
"Then, Uncle, tell me about this educated youth, what do you think of him?"
"Aside from being a little spoiled, she's much better now. You didn't see it at the beginning, she cried several times, looking just like a young girl."
Qian Xiao's lips twitched. Had she gotten the gender wrong this time? Judging from her third uncle's description, she was just a spoiled little girl.
"Seriously, when I first arrived, my hands got blisters after pulling weeds for a while, and I cried so much I had to wipe them with my hands. It's much better now, though. I can earn three or four work points a day now, and I estimate that after a while I'll be able to earn five or six work points, which will be enough to support myself."
Three or four work points? That's almost the same work as a few-year-old child in the village!
"But I heard that his family is well-off. Today I saw it for myself. His family must be quite well-off. He doesn't rely on work points to make a living, so whether he works well or not is not important."
“Your great-uncle said that as long as these educated youth don’t cause trouble and starve themselves, they can earn as many work points as they want, and it’s fine even if they don’t work.”
"My great-uncle was the wise one. Making these people work themselves to the bone is not as good as letting them figure it out themselves."
"That's right. As soon as this matter was mentioned, the villagers were satisfied, and the educated youth were also satisfied. There were only two or three educated youth in the educated youth compound who really put in the effort to work. But I heard that those were the kind of people whose families couldn't help them and who would starve to death if they didn't work."
"Wait, weren't we talking about Qian, the educated youth? That Qian was beautiful, and all the girls in the village loved to visit her when they had nothing to do. She looked so refined, and her face was so fair." How did this conversation almost turn into a split?
"He's been sunbathing like that every day, and I see his skin is peeling off, but he doesn't look tanned at all." What's the point of a man being so fair-skinned?
"Okay, as long as they're not the kind of person who likes to cause trouble. If they really have any difficulties, just put in a good word for them."
Those surnamed Qian are wealthy families; as long as they say a few kind words in their defense, no one will think of bullying them.
"By the way, I haven't asked you yet, why didn't Chengcheng come back with you? Uncle Zhou and Aunt Zhou are talking about him every day." Qian Sanbao quite liked Sun Kaicheng, and he missed him a bit after not seeing him for so long.
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