Cannon Fodder Daughter Doesn't Take Over 2 - Mwah!
Her single room wasn't large; the kang (a heated brick bed) took up most of the room, and a small earthen stove was built next to the window, connected to the fire channel of the kang.
In winter, the fire pit is heated while cooking. In summer, the fire channel leading to the earthen bed is blocked with a stone slab, and then the stone slab leading to the chimney is removed.
However, the room is small, and even with the windows open, cooking inside is still very smoky.
With only six months left, Chen Xia decided to use the earthen stove to boil water, steam rice and buns, and eat the vegetables and soup from the space's reserves.
The villagers would sleep until the whistle blew, and then they would go to work at the sound of the whistle. This led to a classic rhyme: "The first whistle, no response; the second whistle, craning your neck to look; the third whistle, slowly swaying."
Chen Xia and the other educated youths were no exception. Except for those who shared a meal in the front yard, who would get up earlier when it was their turn to cook, the other educated youths would only get up yawning when the whistle blew.
Chen Xia struggled to get up from the kang (a heated brick bed), went into the space to wash up, ate breakfast, changed into her slightly worn work clothes and safety shoes, put on safety gloves, filled her kettle with warm water mixed with spiritual spring water, put a handful of milk candies in her pocket, and opened the door.
Just in time to set off with the main group from the educated youth compound, Chen Xia walked at the back of the group. Although the original owner of this body was introverted, she still had a few close friends in the educated youth compound.
Several girls huddled together whispering. Bai Ling, who was known as a gossip expert, waved to them and spoke mysteriously.
"Let me tell you something big. I heard some big news yesterday, and I couldn't sleep all night. Dong Hao's family sent him a letter saying that the college entrance examination will be reinstated in the second half of this year."
These words were like a bombshell; if the people hadn't covered their mouths in time, they probably would have screamed with excitement.
That's great! Everyone in the educated youth compound knows that Dong Hao's family has a powerful background. If his family specifically wrote him a letter, then this matter is most likely true.
Even if it's not true, we still need to prepare. It's better to be safe than sorry. If it is true, wouldn't they have to stay in the countryside for the rest of their lives if they didn't prepare in advance?
The group exchanged glances and decided that on their day off, they would go to the county bookstore or a recycling station to prepare all their high school books.
Seeing that everyone believed her and was on high alert, Bai Ling secretly breathed a sigh of relief. Thank goodness, Dong Hao's persona of having a powerful background had been established long ago; otherwise, it would have been difficult to fool him.
She wanted to help these female educated youths who got along well with her; none of them didn't long to return to the city.
But after so many years of being sent to the countryside, very few have returned to the city. Now, there is a bright, fair and just path laid out before everyone.
In addition, her gossip system also issued such a task, so she naturally had to prioritize helping those who were close to her.
Chen Xia's little system beeped twice: "A signal from a Level 2 disconnected gossip-eating system has been detected near the host. Capture and destroy?"
Chen Xia quickly refused. Neither she nor the original owner had any grudge against Bai Ling. It was just a level two gossip system. Why should she meddle in other people's business and capture and destroy it?
If a young girl were to travel back in time to this era, it would be absolutely impossible for her to thrive in the countryside without having some kind of cheat code.
Bai Ling is bound to the gossip system, which explains why she's always at the forefront of gossiping whenever something unusual happens in the educated youth compound or village.
She was the most popular female educated youth in the educated youth compound and the most beloved by the village aunties and grandmas.
When the older women saw her, they greeted her with loving smiles, as if she were their own child. Whenever Bai Ling went to eat melons or watch the show with her, she would always be pushed and squeezed to the front by those older women.
Today, Chen Xia's task was to weed. He had to bend over and crawl around in the cornfield. It was quite an experience.
Although Chen Xia took some energy-boosting pills and body-strengthening pills after entering the cornfield, her back still ached after bending over for a long time, and her legs still went numb after squatting for a long time.
Chen Xia worked at a leisurely pace all morning, just like the original owner. The scorekeeper came over with his notebook, glanced at it, and recorded 3 work points for her.
Chen Xia breathed a sigh of relief. It was a good start. If he could earn another 3 points in the afternoon, he would have 6 work points for the day. That way, he wouldn't fall behind in terms of work points over the course of a month.
Two weeks later, a letter arrived from home. In the letter, Chen's mother subtly complained that she had become stupid from working in the countryside and didn't know how to seize such a good opportunity to return to the city.
The second brother, Chen Weihua, was even more direct. In addition to the five yuan sent by their parents, he sent her ten yuan and ten jin of grain coupons to express his gratitude.
Chen Xia accepted all of this and wrote it down in his notebook. The original owner had been keeping accounts ever since he went to the countryside.
Chen Xia is a person who clearly distinguishes between gratitude and resentment. In the future, when her parents get old, she will send them support payments according to the same standard.
Time passed uneventfully day by day. In the past two years, there was less commotion in the educated youth compound. Those educated youth who couldn't endure hardship either used their connections to return to the city or found ways to marry into well-off families in the village.
Of course, there are also those like the original owner, who persevered even after years of working in the countryside. They remained single, hoping to one day return to the city.
To avoid suspicion, the educated youth usually went out together, whether they were working in the fields or shopping in the town or county.
I try to minimize contact with the young men and women in the village, not because they are paranoid, but because there have been past examples of this.
There was once a male educated youth from Jinshi. He came from a well-off family, was handsome, and had a kind heart.
He had been in the countryside for less than two months when he rescued He Erya, who had fallen into the river at the west end of the village and was crying for help. After that, he became entangled with her.
He Er Ya cried and made a scene, saying she was too ashamed to face anyone and wanted to commit suicide. The He family said he had taken liberties with the girl and that if anything happened to her, he would pay with his life.
The male educated youth never expected that after saving someone, he would not only not receive thanks, but would instead be falsely accused of being a lecherous man who had taken liberties with a village girl, and even threatened with being reported for indecent assault, which terrified him.
After much persuasion, the male educated youth reluctantly married He Erya. He Erya thought she had him under her control, but unexpectedly, the following year, the male educated youth took the opportunity of returning to the city to visit relatives and disappeared without a trace.
He married He Er Ya unwillingly at the time; they only held a wedding banquet and did not obtain a marriage certificate. Legally speaking, their marriage was illegal.
Although common-law marriage is valued nowadays, the key issue is that the male educated youth never went back to his hometown to visit his family; nobody knows where he went.
He Erya's whole family was quite daring; they went directly to the man's house to make a scene.
But his mother died early, and his father remarried. The male educated youth had severed ties with his father when he was sent to the countryside. No matter how much she made a fuss, it was to no avail.
He Erya's story greatly shocked the educated youth in the educated youth compound.
From then on, whenever they left the educated youth compound, the educated youth would call out to each other, and when they went to the river to wash clothes, they would go in groups of three or five. Even if someone drowned in front of them, they wouldn't even glance at them.
It wasn't that they were heartless, but that they were genuinely afraid. The other educated youth in the educated youth compound could especially empathize with the male educated youth's resolute decision.
It's not that they look down on rural people, but that He Erya is just a toad trying to eat swan meat; she's ugly but has unrealistic dreams.
He Er Ya's reputation for being ugly and lazy was known to everyone in the surrounding villages, and no one wanted to marry her.
The male educated youth she ruined was a well-known handsome young man in the educated youth compound. Many girls in the village secretly admired him, but He Er Ya completely ruined him. If this had happened to anyone else, they would have run away too.
Originally, the educated youth got along quite well with the village, but after He Erya, that bad apple, the educated youth became afraid.
Apart from those who were already married, all the others, even those who had mutual feelings for young men and women in the village, were separated.
The educated youth huddled together, like frightened birds, looking at everyone with ill intentions. Even when going up the mountain to collect firewood, the male and female educated youth went together, especially the female educated youth like Chen Xia, who always dragged the male educated youth along for courage no matter what they did.
Not only did the educated youth ostracize the villagers, but the villagers were also unwilling to let their daughters (sons) associate with the educated youth.
He Er Ya's marriage was already a major problem, and after this incident, it will be even more difficult for her to get married in the future.
In their view, regardless of why the male educated youth married He Erya, the two were already husband and wife. A single night of marriage carries a hundred nights of debt, and now that the male educated youth had run away, He Erya's life was ruined by him.
After the male educated youth ran away, He Erya threatened suicide, causing chaos in the He family. The aunties and older women in the village were all still fearful, afraid that their own children would follow in He Erya's footsteps.
The commotion in the village had almost no impact on Chen Xia.
After she arrived, she maintained the original owner's unassuming and unassuming nature, and usually only interacted with a few female educated youths with whom she had a good relationship.
Whether going to work or going out, I always follow the group. My life is no different from everyone else's; I just go online for extra meals each time.
She ate and lived alone, and hardly interacted with others, so no one noticed that she was any different from before.
In addition, the educated youth learned that the college entrance examination would be reinstated, and they were so busy that they didn't have time to think about anything else. The atmosphere in the educated youth compound immediately improved, and everyone worked together towards a common goal.
Although no one can be sure that the college entrance examination will be reinstated, it's better to be safe than sorry. If it is reinstated and they fail to seize this opportunity, they will be furious with themselves, even without anyone telling them.
But everyone tacitly kept it a secret, including the female educated youth who had married into the village and the male educated youth who had married local girls.
It wasn't that they deliberately kept it from them, but rather that they already had their own families. If their leaking information led to one of them getting into university and abandoning their partner, none of them could bear such a responsibility.
Anyway, according to what they've heard, the resumption of the college entrance examination isn't far off. Besides, many people have their own selfish motives; the more people who know, the more competitors they'll face in the future.
Therefore, they went to work during the day and hid in their rooms to read after dinner. Even if someone saw them, they would make up an excuse that they had nothing to do and were just reading to pass the time.
This continued until mid-to-late October 1977, when news of the resumption of the college entrance examination was broadcast on the radio.
The group of educated youth in the educated youth compound jumped and danced with excitement, laughing and then covering their mouths and crying.
After crying, they wiped away their tears and buried themselves in their studies. Upon hearing the news, they used their free time to go to bookstores and scrap yards in town and county to collect all their high school textbooks.
Not only that, the group also gathered several sets of self-study books on mathematics, physics, and chemistry, and created a review schedule based on their own circumstances.
Although the progress was both fast and slow, it was still much more time than others who only started preparing after learning that the college entrance examination had been reinstated.
Winter comes early to Heilongjiang Province and is cold, so Chen Xia and her classmates don't even go out, focusing on studying at home.
There were quite a few unmarried young men and women in the village who had graduated from junior high school. After hearing the news of the resumption of the college entrance examination on the radio, they excitedly ran to the educated youth compound to borrow textbooks.
Very few people are willing to lend their textbooks. This is not the time to be generous. If the textbooks are lent out, how will they review them?
Bai Ling enthusiastically advised them to try their luck at the county bookstore and scrap yard. If they found something they liked, they were overjoyed; if not, they shamelessly borrowed books to copy at home.
Considering that they would still have to deal with the village, the educated youth put together a set of textbooks and gave them to the brigade leader. Those who couldn't buy textbooks went to the village primary school to copy them.
Their hard work inspired the educated youth to feel an even greater sense of urgency, and they all worked even harder, studying late into the night until dawn.
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