As the train started to rumble along, the passengers settled down. She looked at the train from the 1970s and realized it really did look like the ones shown on TV.
Someone suggested, "Let's introduce ourselves; maybe we can even be assigned to the same commune."
When she reached Yun Ningyan, she simply said, "Yun Ningyan, from Shanghai."
For the rest of the journey, everyone lost the enthusiasm they had when they first boarded the train. They were listless, and the carriage was filled with various unpleasant smells: food, cigarette smoke, and sweat, which made everyone extremely irritable!
Only Yun Ningyan looked as if she had just gotten on the bus. She went to the bathroom and then into her spatial dimension to take a quick shower and change clothes, which prevented her from spoiling like the others.
After a long three days and two nights, the train finally arrived at the station.
Everyone was carrying large and small bags as they walked out, while she easily followed behind the crowd with just a small bundle in her hand.
Breathing in the fresh air outside, Yun Ningyan took a few deep breaths. With a gentle breeze, she felt as if she had finally come back to life.
After several twists and turns, they arrived at the location designated by the commune for their rendezvous and were assigned to the Red Star Brigade of the Red Flag Commune.
Half an hour later, an oxcart slowly arrived.
"Little ones, let's go! Yun Ningyan, Song Pandi, Lin Mengmeng, Zhang Qiang, Sun Pengfei, Zhao Weiguo, is that you guys?"
The others nodded excitedly as they looked at the oxcart, but Yun Ningyan laughed. She had never seen such a thing in her past life. It seemed they had really messed up this time.
The male educated youth helped drag the luggage upstairs, when a voice called out from behind, "Wait for me, I'm not there yet!"
Panting, Song Pandi carried the luggage onto the oxcart. She quickly sat down, exhausted from the journey.
Before she could even settle in, the brigade leader glared at her and shouted angrily, "Who told you to sit here? Get off! This oxcart isn't for you!"
Song Pandi pouted and had no choice but to get down. She noticed that Yun Ningyan was laughing at her, which made her so angry that she glared at Yun Ningyan.
The brigade leader drove the oxcart ahead, and they followed sparsely behind. Finally, the brigade leader stopped before dark.
The brigade leader led the group towards the educated youth dormitory. The older educated youth were already cooking. When they saw the brigade leader returning with the new recruits, the older educated youth Liu Zhijun smiled and invited them in, saying, "Brigade leader, you can leave them to me. We will take good care of them."
"Okay, you can go to the brigade headquarters to collect your rations later."
The brigade leader took out a match, lit his pipe with a tearing sound, turned around, spoke to the new educated youth, and walked away smoking his pipe.
Yun Ningyan carried her luggage into the house, but was stopped. Liu Zhijun looked at them leisurely and said, "Same as always, wash the dirty clothes over there, and then you can come in."
Yun Ningyan looked in the direction he was pointing and saw a large basin of dirty clothes piled up, clearly men's clothes.
"Why should we do your laundry? What gives you the nerve to ask us to wash your clothes?"
She glanced at Liu Zhijun. Did he think they were pushovers? Impossible!
Liu Zhijun didn't expect that the prettiest female educated youth would be the first to jump out. Without saying a word, he picked up Yun Ningyan's luggage and threw it outside the door.
"You'd better pick it up, or don't blame me for being impolite!" She glared fiercely at Liu Zhijun.
Liu Zhijun has been able to dominate here for quite some time. He is from Beijing, comes from a wealthy family, and has always been a spoiled rich kid. No one dares to mess with him.
Song Pandi was secretly pleased that Yun Ningyan had offended someone as soon as she arrived. She advised, "Ningning, don't be stubborn. Hurry up and go do the laundry. Don't waste everyone's time!"
When Song Pandi said this, everyone felt that it was Yun Ningyan's fault that she was being harassed, and they all started to criticize her.
"That's right, that's right, hurry up and go do the laundry."
"Being with you is really unlucky!"
"Don't waste time, hurry up and go wash!"
Yun Ningyan shook her hand irritably, feeling like hitting someone again.
Liu Zhijun was already impatient. He waved his hand and said, "I'll let you wash today, or you'll be sleeping outside!"
Yun Ningyan suddenly produced a wooden stick and started hitting Liu Zhijun. Liu Zhijun was surprised that she actually dared to hit him and was beaten so badly that he ran all over the yard.
Finally, someone called the brigade leader. Yun Ningyan's eyes reddened, and she cried to the brigade leader, "Is the brigade leader not going to do anything? Then I'm going to the commune to report him. I don't believe no one can control him."
When the brigade leader heard that someone was going to file a complaint, he was alarmed. With such a big incident happening in the brigade, they would not be able to be recognized as an advanced brigade this year.
He didn't know that this Liu Zhiqing, who usually seemed so amiable, was actually like this in private, and his face immediately darkened.
He sternly criticized Liu, “You’ve made a serious mistake. If you admit it now, you still have a chance. Otherwise, I can’t save you. Quickly apologize to Yun and get her luggage back. Your behavior will get you sent to the farm for reform, or worse, you might be taken away for trial.”
Seeing that the brigade leader didn't seem to be faking it, Liu Zhijun was alarmed. His family was well-off, but the current situation was bad. If he were to be labeled, it would implicate his family, and they would no longer care about him.
He immediately picked up his luggage, apologized with an embarrassed smile, and bowed 90 degrees, saying, "Comrade Yun, I'm sorry."
Yun Ningyan took the package. She didn't want to make a big fuss; she just wanted to live a peaceful life here.
She gave him a cold glance and warned, "If you do it again, I won't let you off!"
Carrying their luggage, they entered the female educated youth's room and, without even resting, went to the brigade headquarters to collect their grain.
After asking several people and wandering around the village, he didn't realize he had gone the wrong way.
As she tried to ask for directions for the sixth time, a large black dog charged at her, its jaws wide open, grabbing her clothes and pulling her forward. She screamed in terror, "Ahhh... Get away! Get away..."
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