The spots for five pigs—no, four pigs—were snatched up by the villagers who came over. Ma Da Sao was furious; they hadn't even saved a spot for her family.
Village Chief Ma told his wife very seriously, "I am the village chief, how can I abuse my power for personal gain?"
Mrs. Ma: "..."
Yan Xiaoqiang was also having a headache. His third uncle was a stubborn old man. Once he made up his mind about something, he would never turn back, just like his old ox.
They won't even give the village chief face; they simply won't lend money. Why would they give me face?
Yan Xiaonan secretly slipped a sixty-year-old ginseng into Yan Xiaoqiang's hand, which boosted Yan Xiaoqiang's confidence.
Third Uncle opened the door and saw Yan Xiaoqiang. His face lit up with a smile: "Qiangzi, come in. Do you need to borrow the oxcart?"
Yan Xiaoqiang was a little embarrassed, so he took out the ginseng and handed it to his third uncle: "My daughter found this on the mountain. It's probably quite old. You can use it to make tea."
Good heavens, ginseng! Eating this can add decades to your life! Third Uncle was overjoyed.
"Third Uncle, the village chief gave me a task: you need to go with the accountant to pick up the educated youth the day after tomorrow. The money and work points will still be calculated." Yan Xiaoqiang said, seizing the opportunity.
"Alright, alright, I'll go the day after tomorrow. That bastard Xiao Ma, he's old and cunning. He couldn't persuade you, so I made you come and join the fun. Look, what a waste of your old ginseng." Uncle San's eyes were glued to the ginseng.
Yan Xiaoqiang quickly nodded and took his leave. Nan Nan was so clever; she solved everything with just one ginseng root.
There's plenty of ginseng in the family. In spring and summer, the Golden Cudgel always takes Nan Nan to dig up ginseng and lingzhi.
Now we usually add a little ginseng root and Ganoderma lucidum powder to our soups and broths.
The little girl also grinded the Ganoderma lucidum into powder using a stone mill, and every day she would scoop a spoonful into the water that Grandma Yan and her daughter-in-law drank, saying that it would increase their immunity.
Not knowing what immunity was, Yan Xiaonan, being young, couldn't explain it either, and simply answered that she wasn't prone to getting sick.
At first, Yan Xiaoqiang didn't believe it. How could such a dark, unremarkable thing, when ground into powder, keep people from getting sick?
But seeing his mother's spirits getting better and better, and his wife's gray hair disappearing, he couldn't help but believe it. From then on, Yan Xiaoqiang started adding Ganoderma lucidum powder to his teacup.
Two days later, the accountant rushed to Third Uncle's house early in the morning: "Third Uncle, Third Uncle, it's almost time, we have to go pick them up."
Uncle San opened the courtyard gate with a creak: "What are you doing, calling out to my soul? Where's the money? Where are the work points? Get them all accounted for!"
The accountant shrank his neck, took out a dollar and said, "Third Uncle, the money is calculated per person. There are ten people coming and going, so I'll give you a dollar. How about five centimeters?"
Uncle San snatched the dollar with a cold face and carefully put it into his pocket, but inwardly he was overjoyed, thinking he had made a fortune this time.
The oxcart slowly started moving. The accountant was a little anxious, but he dared not say a word, for fear of being kicked off by his third uncle.
When they arrived at the town's train station, there were eight young people of varying heights standing at the station entrance, all looking somewhat anxious.
Accountant Ma jumped off the carriage, took out the list, and began calling out: Li Qiang, Liu Limin, Zhang Dali, Ye Chenming, Ye Chen'er, Li Ping, Wang Yan, Tian Fang.
The eight people lined up neatly according to the accountant's calls, their voices loud and clear, their spirits high.
Accountant Ma thought to himself with admiration, "No wonder he's an intellectual from the city; he's polite and well-mannered."
With his mood improving, Accountant Ma pointed to the oxcart behind him: "This is our village's Third Uncle. The oxcart belongs to him. You can put your luggage on it."
Third Uncle was displeased to see so many people and so much luggage. He was about to speak when Accountant Ma spoke first:
“Third Uncle’s ox is very old. Those of you who can walk should walk back to the village. If you really can’t walk, you can take the oxcart.”
The old ox was really smelly, so the eight educated youths unanimously threw their luggage on it and started walking away.
For those sent-down youth who lived nearby, the train journey took several days and nights; for those who lived far away, it could take up to two weeks.
After sitting for so long, it would be more comfortable to walk around. Seeing that they were all quite sensible, Accountant Ma felt relieved.
Halfway through the journey, the four female educated youths could no longer keep up; their feet were likely blistered and were starting to hurt.
No matter how smelly the oxcart was, nothing was more important than freeing their feet, so the four female educated youths got on the oxcart.
They had gone halfway when, besides Ye Chenming and Li Qiang, two others couldn't hold on any longer.
Third Uncle nodded secretly; these two were indeed hardworking. "Young man, where are you from?"
“Third Uncle, my cousin and I came from Shanghai,” Ye Chenming answered loudly.
"You're from Shanghai?" Uncle San turned his head and glanced at him, exclaiming, "Goodness, how come you're so good-looking? You're comparable to Nan Nan from the Yan family."
Ye Chen'er became interested: "Third Uncle, I am Ye Chen'er. Who is Nan Nan? Is he even more handsome than my brother?"
Ye Chenming's appearance is among the best in Shanghai, so it's quite rare that someone in this small mountain village can rival him.
Upon hearing this, Third Uncle turned to look at Ye Chen'er again: "You're a pretty girl, but you're not as good-looking as Nan Nan."
Ye Chen'er was indignant. She was one of the most beautiful women in Shanghai. How could a country bumpkin be prettier than her? The old man must be biased towards his own people.
Accountant Ma spoke up: "Third Uncle is right, I have never seen anyone prettier than the Yan family's little girl."
Okay, Ye Chen'er shut her mouth. What's the use of saying anything? We'll find out what it's like when we take it out for a spin.
The eight educated youths' attention shifted to seeing what the Yan family girl looked like, and they stopped caring about where they were going to live.
The oxcart stopped at the entrance of the educated youth settlement, where Village Chief Ma was standing waiting for them. Looking at the group of young people, Village Chief Ma frowned.
The men are all bookish types, and the women are all pampered young ladies. How can these educated youths farm? Won't they just be a hindrance?
Feeling unhappy, he became less polite in his speech.
"Our village responded to the call and built a settlement for you educated youth, which consists of eight houses."
One is the kitchen, one is the outhouse, one is the woodshed, and you can allocate the remaining five rooms yourselves.
Each person receives 20 jin of grain per month, consisting of 5 jin of refined grain and 15 jin of coarse grain. The grain will be consumed first and then deducted from your work points.
Come to the village committee later to collect your grain. You can also ask for anything you need.
Today is a rest day. Work starts at 6 AM tomorrow. Being late, leaving early, or shirking duties will all result in a deduction of work points.
After finishing his sentence, the village chief got on his bicycle and left. He needed to find Yan Xiaoqiang to go to town to pick up the piglets, so he didn't have time to chat with them.
The eight people left behind looked at each other in bewilderment. This village chief was so fierce, and he had just said that they would be starting work tomorrow.
What kind of work are they doing? They're here to develop the countryside. Shouldn't they let the village committee office go in and work there?
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