The next morning, as dawn broke, the Johor Bahru brigade awoke from its silence.
Golden sunlight shone through the gaps in the clouds, illuminating the land.
The crops and green hills are draped in a golden veil, and people begin their day's work in the morning breeze.
At this moment, everyone at the educated youth settlement finally regained some spirits.
The work of picking corn had left everyone exhausted.
If it weren't for the fact that everyone wanted to keep the kang (heated brick bed) warm during the winter, they would have liked to stop their midday firewood-gathering task.
Although they still arrange their lives according to their previous schedule.
Overall, my physical condition is not as good as it is during the off-season, and even the amount of firewood I collect each day has decreased significantly.
Seeing how energetic everyone was when they got up early, Zhu Yang couldn't help but think of the laziness they had indulged in a few days ago.
Just thinking about how much firewood they still need makes me anxious.
"Since everyone is so energetic, let me tell you something first."
As the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, Zhu Yang inevitably had to remind everyone.
"When we were busy the past two days, we were pretty perfunctory in gathering firewood. Now that we're not so busy, we need to work harder."
The good mood of everyone was instantly ruined after hearing what Zhu Yang said.
Dingxiang couldn't help but mutter, "When will this ever end? I'm so tired every day."
Zhuang Xue originally wanted to comfort Ding Xiang, but after hearing her words, she fell silent.
When these educated youths first went to the countryside, they all thought they would be able to go home soon.
As a result, they stayed in the countryside for several years without any news of being able to return to the city.
Although many of the educated youth from their Xinshan Brigade returned to the city, it was their families who made the arrangements.
Either she buys a job, or she goes back to the city to get married.
She herself is the eldest child in her family.
As soon as the policy of sending educated youth to the countryside was introduced, she knew that she only had one path to take, and that was to go to the countryside.
The family couldn't bear to send their younger brother to the countryside, and their younger sister was still too young.
She wasn't particularly opposed to going to the countryside, since she wasn't the most favored one at home anyway.
They were simply far away from their families, having come to a completely unfamiliar place in Johor Bahru.
In addition, the work in the fields was very hard, and some of the educated youth were troublesome.
Not only am I physically exhausted every day, but I'm also mentally exhausted when I get back to the educated youth settlement.
She's been working in the Johor Bahru brigade for four years now, but she still hasn't adapted.
However, she knew about her family's situation.
Her parents would spend money to buy her brother a job, but they would never want to spend a penny more on themselves.
For the first year or two after I arrived, my younger brother was still in school.
Perhaps her parents felt indebted to her, because they would send her money every one or two months.
But ever since I heard from my parents last year that my younger brother was getting married, I sent him a set of pillowcases.
This past year, there hasn't been a single word spoken at home.
Zhuang Xue glanced at Wei Sheng, who was washing up beside her, and her eyes instantly blurred with tears.
I used to be reluctant to waste the train fare, but this year I'm going home to put my mind at ease.
If so, she should get married and settle down here, with Wei Sheng.
The group, who were originally full of energy, were thinking about how to gather firewood first.
Dingxiang's words silenced them all.
These people have been in the Xinshan Brigade for more than two years and haven't been able to go back.
They all came from very poor families, and their parents were unable to afford to send them back to the city.
Or they are people who are not favored at home and whose parents don't care about them at all.
Zhu Yang realized that his words had made everyone feel down, so he started joking with Shen Mu Ning and the others who lived alone.
“I’m telling you, Zhang Jiayang, you people who live alone need to work even harder.”
Zhu Yang's words instantly made Zhang Jiayang even more distressed.
He looked pale and speechless as he glanced at Zhu Yang. "Thank you so much for reminding me."
I finally managed to recover yesterday, but another heavy burden has fallen on me today.
When Zhao Chuan and the others saw Zhang Jiayang's bitter face, they realized that the educated youth living alone had to collect far more firewood than they did.
Now they can make fun of Zhang Jiayang, which makes them feel much better.
Why think so much? Their lives will still go on the same way.
Life won't suddenly shower you with good fortune just because you're overthinking things now.
Besides, the current harmonious educated youth settlement is much better than the previous one with those troublemakers.
Before, they never had a peaceful time doing anything; there was always someone sabotaging them.
Right now, apart from He Xiaolan being a bit clueless, everyone is getting along very well.
If that's the case, why are they looking so gloomy?
Looking at Chu Mingxu, Zhang Jiayang, Lin Siqi, and Shen Muling, they have relatively good conditions.
Aren't we just like them, struggling in this rural area, working hard every day to make a living?
"I know I'm still far from ready, but there are still more than two months left, why the rush?"
When Zhang Jiayang first decided to come to Xinshan Brigade for rural work, his family asked around about the situation there.
So he knew that the Johor Bahru brigade hibernates for up to four months every year.
Once it starts snowing here, it basically snows for days and nights straight.
At that time, they will not be able to go up the Daxuefeng Mountain.
As for wanting to join the main group, that's fine too, as long as you're not afraid of walking in knee-deep snow.
When it's time to hibernate, they all have to keep the kang (a heated brick bed) burning and stay indoors.
Outside, people can't withstand the cold.
Although Lin Siqi, Shen Muning, and he, the three of them living alone, probably didn't save up much firewood.
However, he noticed that the older educated youth had already accumulated quite a lot of firewood.
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