With the snow on the streets mostly cleared, Director Zhu simply took Yu Jingqiu and her daughter Feng Mingshu to the neighborhood committee office for a detailed chat.
This "Down to the Countryside Movement" began ten years ago, in 1955, modeled after the Soviet Union's land reclamation movement. That year, a youth volunteer land reclamation team, led by a man surnamed Yang, went to the Great Northern Wilderness to reclaim wasteland. Afterwards, young people from various cities volunteered to go to the countryside.
The premise is voluntariness, relying on the ideological awareness of young people, and emphasizing "voluntarily going to rural areas with harsh conditions to train oneself".
Feng Mingshu knew clearly that in two or three years, in the winter of 1968, due to changes in the situation, the voluntary participation would become "forced" participation, and every household would have to send a child to the countryside; that was a hard quota.
Feng Mingshu didn't want to be passive, and in order to avoid the wave next year, she arrived at the neighborhood committee early.
But the idea was good; once she got to know the situation, she realized she didn't have much of a choice.
Because the current rural assignments are mainly for land reclamation and border defense, rather than for settling down in the countryside, she cannot choose to settle down in the rural areas near Bincheng. Moreover, Bincheng has a fixed rural assignment area, which is the agricultural reclamation area in the far north.
That place experiences winter for half the year, with temperatures dropping to below -30 degrees Celsius, making the conditions incredibly harsh.
Feng Mingshu was alright, but Yu Jingqiu frowned as soon as she heard about the situation in the state farm area.
She gripped her daughter's hand tightly, signaling her not to speak, and then said apologetically to Director Zhu, "Sister Zhu, I'd like to go back and discuss this with my child first."
Director Zhu naturally wanted Feng Mingshu to sign the volunteer form for going to the countryside on the spot, but this was something that couldn't be forced. Director Zhu could only repeatedly explain the policies and benefits, but Yu Jingqiu still refused to budge.
Director Zhu had no choice but to see the mother and daughter out of the office. Then, he pulled Feng Mingshu aside and instructed her, "Mingshu, the next batch of volunteers is tentatively scheduled to go to the countryside next April. You must sign up before that time, otherwise you will miss this batch, and we don't know what the policies will be for the next batch."
"Thank you, Aunt Zhu, I'll remember that."
Feng Mingshu thanked him and turned around. She inadvertently caught a glimpse of Zhang Yunxiao standing across the street with a broom, looking at her. Perhaps she had overheard her conversation with Director Zhu, for her expression was quite complicated.
"Ming Shu".
Zhang Yunxiao called her name softly, seemingly wanting to cross the road to find her, but Feng Mingshu pretended not to hear, looked away, and took her mother's hand to walk home.
Zhang Yunxiao immediately started running, but was stopped by Chu Xuanxuan who had come to find her.
"Brother Yunxiao, the ground is covered in snow and it will be slippery. You can't run," Chu Xuanxuan advised softly.
"I don't need your help!"
Zhang Yunxiao coldly shook off Chu Xuanxuan's pull, but in this delay, Feng Mingshu had already disappeared into the alley and could no longer be seen.
Zhang Yunxiao crossed the road, but instead of chasing after the Feng family, she went into the neighborhood committee and consulted Director Zhu about going to the countryside.
Director Zhu's enthusiasm for work, which had just subsided, instantly surged again. He immediately grabbed Zhang Yunxiao, and Chu Xuanxuan, who had followed him in, was also given a good talking-to.
Holding the rural service application form, Zhang Yunxiao asked, "Did Feng Mingshu sign the application form?"
Upon hearing this, Director Zhu knew perfectly well that the young man had come after the Feng family's daughter.
This girl from the Feng family is beautiful, and she attracts quite a few suitors.
She had to be ruthless and use persuasive words to get the naive boy to sign the volunteer form, thus securing a rural assignment. But she was still kind and told the boy the truth.
“The Feng family girl is willing to go to the countryside, but her mother is worried that life there will be hard, so she said she would go back to discuss it. But in these kinds of matters, once the children have made up their minds, the parents always have to back down in the end, don’t you think?”
Zhang Yunxiao gave a somewhat dazed "hmm" and her gaze fell on the rural volunteer form.
Feng Mingshu didn't sign the previous college application form. Now, can their names be signed together on this form?
Seeing that Zhang Yunxiao was interested, Chu Xuanxuan panicked and snatched the application form away: "Brother Yunxiao, you can't go to the countryside! We agreed to take the college entrance exam together!"
"I never made a promise with you to take the college entrance exam together, and I don't need to explain to you what I do," Zhang Yunxiao said coldly, reaching out her hand. "Give me back my watch!"
"Yes, you don't need to explain to me. I'm the one pestering you, but don't even think about going to the countryside with Feng Mingshu. I'd rather tear this up than give it to you!"
Chu Xuanxuan, in a fit of desperation, forcefully tore apart the application form. Zhang Yunxiao's expression changed, and he reached out to snatch it, but Chu Xuanxuan bumped into him, and the two fell down together, causing chaos at the scene.
Even the well-informed Director Zhu felt his eyes had been opened: "You young people, don't make a scene at the neighborhood committee if you have any relationship problems. What kind of behavior is this?"
Feng Mingshu was unaware of the farce at the neighborhood committee. When she got home, just as she was about to try to persuade her mother, Yu Jingqiu waved her hand and said, "It's almost eight o'clock. I have to rush to work. We can talk about your trip to the countryside when I get back."
Yu Jingqiu is an accountant at the department store. This job was assigned to her by the government after the Feng family's business was merged into a public-private enterprise. Now that it's the end of the year and the accounts need to be settled, it's not convenient for her to take leave.
Feng Mingshu clung to her mother's arm and said sweetly, "Mom, I'll go with you and be your assistant, okay? I'm really good at accounting."
Yu Jingqiu gave her a reproachful look: "If you don't mind the fatigue, then come along."
Feng Mingshu, not minding the effort, happily carried her mother's bag.
When she arrived at the department store, she saw long lines of people waiting anxiously for it to open.
The Lunar New Year is just around the corner, and everyone has to scramble to buy New Year's goods, otherwise they won't be able to afford anything for the holiday, and their neighbors will laugh at them.
It must have snowed all night last night, otherwise people would have been wrapped in quilts and carrying stools to line up at three or four in the morning.
The Feng family was spared this punishment because Yu Jingqiu was an employee of the department store and could buy scarce goods from inside. She could also occasionally bring some back for her neighbors, which was one of the reasons why Yu Jingqiu was well-liked in the neighborhood.
After entering the department store through the internal passage, Feng Mingshu glanced at the crowds outside and, thinking of the New Year's goods that had already been prepared at home, couldn't help but sigh, "Mom, it's so good to have you working at the department store."
Yu Jingqiu glanced at her with a smile: "If you think my job is good, why don't you come and take over?"
Feng Mingshu shook his head repeatedly: "No, I still want to go to the countryside."
Going to the countryside was a fallback option. She went to explore first. If, despite various arrangements, her mother and younger siblings still couldn't escape the movement, she could let them escape Bincheng under the pretext of visiting relatives. Then she would find a way to settle them in a village near the farm, so that the family could be reunited.
She was about to explain in detail, but her mother didn't respond.
Yu Jingqiu said calmly, "Let's go into the office, it's time to get busy."
They were indeed very busy. All the settlement slips from the various counters in the mall had to be submitted to Yu Jingqiu. The mother and daughter were busy from morning until noon, and they barely had time to drink water. Naturally, Feng Mingshu couldn't talk to her mother about going to the countryside.
When it was time to eat, Feng Mingshu wanted to mention something, and a colleague of her mother's came into the accountant's office with a lunchbox.
"Mingshu, this is your Aunt Huang. Her second daughter is working in the northern agricultural reclamation area," Yu Jingqiu introduced her to her daughter, her words carrying a deeper meaning.
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