The loess plateau is characterized by its ridges, hills, and valleys.
After driving the tractor on the dirt road for about ten minutes, the terrain became uneven.
Sometimes the slope was too steep and the horsepower was insufficient to go up, so two men had to go down to help push it.
The further they went, the closer they got to the ravines they had seen when they left the county town, the more depressed the educated youth became.
It seems that traveling will be somewhat inconvenient in the future.
Qin Hanshu had two bicycles stored in her space, one belonging to Hu Dayong and the other to Yang Aizhen.
We can find an opportunity to use Yang Aizhen's women's car.
Hu Dayong should just sell his car; it's just taking up space anyway.
Another half hour passed, and a river came into view.
The plain between the two mountains is called "Chuan," and the river flows through "Chuan."
Niu Erdan turned around, pointed to the bend in the river, and shouted, "That's Haowan Village, that's our village!"
Haowan Village, now called Haowan Village Brigade, is located on a riverbank, close to a water source. It has a large plain area and many paddy fields, making it the village with the best geographical location in the entire commune. It is also known as the "rice and grain village".
Upon hearing Niu Erdan's words, the educated youth all turned to look at him.
The plains in the valley are lush and green, reflected in the river, making the calm, still water look like a piece of emerald.
On the east bank of the river are vast fields of farmland, where millet is heading at this time of year, displaying a vibrant yellow-green color.
Beyond the farmland lies the village where humans live.
Hundreds of households are scattered among the ridges and hills away from the plain, arranged in a staggered yet compact manner, and from a distance, only patches of yellow mud walls can be seen.
Suddenly, a moving, winding white line appeared in everyone's sight. Upon closer inspection, they realized it was a flock of sheep.
The whole scene suddenly became more vivid and lively.
A beautiful scene comparable to the water towns of southern China appeared on the Loess Plateau, which greatly boosted the spirits of the educated youth.
The thought that this would be where they would live in the future made them even more excited.
Ma Chaoyang, clinging to Lin Zhiheng's shoulder, stood up and shouted with high spirits, "The vast world offers endless possibilities! Haowan Village, here I come—"
No sooner had he shouted than the tractor jolted violently, nearly knocking him off Lin Zhiheng. Lin Zhiheng pushed him away in disgust, which made the others laugh.
The village looked close, but it actually took them almost an hour to get there.
The man named Gao Ming seemed to be suffering from tractor sickness; as soon as he got off, he turned pale and vomited by the roadside.
Zhang Kangmei glanced at her sideways and said disdainfully, "With this kind of physical condition, how will you do farm work in the future? Don't drag us educated youth down."
Jin Bo hurriedly explained, "He was an active member of the labor movement at school, always eager to do the work, and he did it quickly and well. The only problem is that he gets motion sickness; he threw up several times on the train."
Zhang Kangmei scoffed, rolled her eyes, and walked away.
Zhao Ru was very worried about her unfriendly demeanor and said to Qin Hanshu, "She doesn't seem easy to get along with. Please don't let her be assigned to the same dormitory as you."
Qin Hanshu casually said, "It's fine if she gets assigned to us, just ignore her."
Zhao Ru nodded worriedly and sighed, "I wish I could live with you."
Qin Hanshu didn't reply; she was determined to live alone no matter what.
But they were overthinking it; there were no dorm rooms to be assigned at all.
They are the third batch of educated youth sent to Haowan Village. The first batch consisted of five people who came down from the capital two years ago. The second batch consisted of two people from Yizhou who arrived last year.
The first group of five people were arranged to stay with a fellow villager, and they are still there today.
The conflict between the educated youth living in the villagers' homes and the original residents had long been fully revealed, and no one was willing to let the educated youth live in their homes anymore.
So the team vacated two of the three cave dwellings in the team headquarters to accommodate the second group of educated youth.
The team leaders haven't yet provided a solution to the accommodation problem for Qin Hanshu's group.
Originally, they were going to Niuwang Village on the plateau. Niuwang Village initially agreed readily, but at the last minute they cried and complained that their crops had suffered a major drought this year and that they were facing a poor harvest, so they could not accept the educated youth.
The commune then temporarily assigned Qin Hanshu and six others to Haowan Village.
At this time, the brigade's Party Secretary and accountant were still discussing how to resettle them in the cave dwelling.
Several educated youths waited in the courtyard under the scorching sun.
Zhang Kangmei seemed impatient; after pacing around a couple of times in agitation, she put her hands on her hips and yelled at the cave office:
"The accommodation issue should have been arranged before we arrived! They suddenly decided to embrace Buddhism! And after discussing it for so long, there's still no result! How can such an inefficient leadership team lead us in agricultural production?!"
The others exchanged glances, admiring Zhang Kangmei's fearlessness.
From now on, whether they want to visit relatives, return to the city, or even go to the county seat, they will have to apply to the brigade. It is no exaggeration to say that their fate is in the hands of the brigade.
In this sweltering heat, doesn't anyone have any complaints? They just don't say it out loud.
Sure enough, Zhang Kangmei's loud "criticism" soon brought out the Party Secretary and the accountant.
The village secretary of Haowan Village is Zhou Chang'an. He is about fifty years old, very tall, and has a rather upright and refined appearance. He is said to be the most educated person of his generation in the village—he attended a private school for three years.
The accountant's surname is Niu, and he is Niu Erdan's older brother. He looks very young, at most thirty years old.
The Party Secretary's attire was unremarkable: a white jacket with a front opening, loose-fitting trousers like everyone else in the village, and thick-soled cloth shoes.
The accountant was dressed much more respectably, in a white shirt and black trousers, with two pens clipped to his shirt pocket, black-rimmed glasses perched on his nose, and a serious expression on his face.
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