From the moment Xu Ningyan arrived at the threshing ground, she felt that someone was watching her, but there were too many people and she couldn't tell who it was.
It wasn't until the brigade leader finished arranging things for tomorrow and the crowd slowly dispersed that they saw a dozen or so young people, both men and women, standing at the very edge of the threshing ground. They looked completely out of place with the Tuanjie Brigade.
They were sent-down youth.
These educated youths all lived in a separate courtyard on the west side of the production brigade.
This courtyard was originally the old residence of a landlord in the Tuanjie Brigade.
When the land was redistributed from the wealthy, this old house was given to many poor people who had nowhere to live.
However, because the landlord had hanged himself in this house, everyone felt it was unlucky.
Some families even dismantled the roofs and walls allocated to them and built new houses elsewhere.
There was also a family that was bold and fearless and did not move away. As a result, when the trouble was at its worst a few years ago, the man of that family who did not move away was reported by someone and accused of being a lackey of the landlord.
He was arrested and denounced by the Red Guards. Unable to bear the humiliation, he was locked in a room alone at night. When no one was around, he repeatedly slashed his neck with an abandoned, rusty hoe until he died.
Blood was everywhere; it was a truly horrific scene.
Everyone in the production team who witnessed this scene vomited! They had nightmares for several nights in a row!
After that incident, the brigade leader, the party secretary, and the production brigade staff became afraid and never allowed any more criticism or struggle sessions to happen again.
The man of that family died, leaving behind the woman and children. Some went insane, some fell ill, and within a year, the entire family was gone.
The house has remained empty ever since, with no one daring to live there.
When the educated youth were sent to the countryside, the brigade had nowhere to settle them, so they simply renovated that family's house and used it as a settlement for the educated youth.
These educated youths later vaguely heard about the origins of this educated youth settlement, and naturally they were unhappy about it.
I have some opinions about the brigade leader and the branch secretary.
The brigade leader and the village secretary initially welcomed these educated youth, hoping that these people from the city would be of help to them in the countryside.
The result, however, greatly disappointed the production team members.
They're the type who's good for nothing but talk a big game.
They can't do farm work, yet they constantly complain that the production brigade mistreats and deducts their wages, and they threaten to go to the commune to find the leaders every few days.
The brigade leader and the party secretary are both old foxes. Dealing with these greenhorns like educated youth is a piece of cake for them.
After several lessons, these educated youths became obedient, and stopped jumping around and complaining.
But then other strange things started happening.
They've never done farm work before. They rarely get a break throughout the year.
The work points I earned weren't even enough to support myself, and at the end of the year, when I tallied up the accounts, I even had to pay money back to the brigade.
Not to mention eating coarse grains every day, after working in the fields, even the most vibrant young women have turned into withered, dried-out vegetables.
Some of the educated youth who couldn't endure hardship started having other ideas.
He started getting along well with the young people in the brigade he used to look down on.
They coaxed the young men in the brigade to do chores for the female educated youth, and they coaxed the young women in the brigade to wash clothes and deliver eggs to the male educated youth.
If they're truly in love, that's fine; they're not unreasonable people.
The educated youth, however, only coaxed people into doing chores for them and improving their lives, without mentioning marriage at all.
It was a complete mess.
In the end, it almost resulted in another death. Taking advantage of this incident, the brigade leader and the party secretary gave the educated youth two options: either marry someone from the brigade or report it directly to the local educated youth office and the revolutionary committee.
The educated youth just didn't like to work, they weren't stupid.
Reluctantly, she gritted her teeth and married a local.
However, their married life was not good, and they became the laughing stock of the village.
From then on, the Tuanjie Brigade basically prohibited the production team members and educated youth from having too much contact.
If there were children of marriageable age in the family, their parents would repeatedly warn them not to date any educated youth, or they would break their legs!
There were some good people among the later educated youth, but the members of the Tuanjie Brigade suffered losses twice, which almost became a rule, and they were all quite indifferent to the educated youth.
The educated youth all came from the city, and they carried an air of arrogance, unwilling to lower themselves to please the commune members.
Over time, this established a custom of keeping to themselves.
If there were any important matters concerning the educated youth, they would announce them over the loudspeaker; otherwise, they were never allowed to get involved.
The educated youth got used to it. Although the whole brigade ostracized them, they didn't bully them too much, and things were peaceful.
The educated youth had naturally heard about such big gossip as that between Xu Ningyan and Gu Zhiyuan.
They had seen Gu Zhiyuan clearing land alone on the mountainside from afar, and knew that he had been sent down from the capital to this place.
The fact that they were forced by rumors to marry such an inconspicuous village girl made these educated youths feel a sense of shared sorrow.
Especially when they saw that Gu Zhiyuan had actually paid for a house and furniture, saying that he had decided to stay and be a farmer.
This caused a huge uproar among the educated youth.
Those educated youth who had not yet lost hope and still dreamed of returning to the city naturally couldn't stand Gu Zhiyuan's spinelessness. He had only been sent down to the countryside for less than a year, yet he had already decided to completely become a peasant.
The other group consists of educated youth who went to the countryside early and had no hope of returning to the city. Farm work was too tiring and difficult, and they struggled to even have enough to eat all year round.
The support from home is decreasing, and has even disappeared.
Seeing that Gu Zhiyuan had been defeated by reality and had found a village girl, their hearts began to waver. They wondered if they could also find a wife or a man in the local area, have someone to help them, and that their lives wouldn't be so hard in the future.
With their own complicated thoughts, they kept glancing at Gu Zhiyuan and Xu Ningyan after they arrived at the threshing ground.
When Xu Ningyan noticed them and looked over, some of the educated youth nodded shyly in their direction.
Some snorted and turned away.
Others looked at her and Gu Zhiyuan with complicated expressions, their eyes revealing pity and sympathy.
Xu Ningyan couldn't stand those looks. She was living a miserable life herself, and she didn't know where she got the nerve to sympathize with others.
Too lazy to pay attention, she pulled Gu Zhiyuan and headed home.
Gu Zhiyuan had never participated in the double harvest season, so he didn't know, but Xu Ningyan knew from Siya's memories how hard it was.
With only half a day left and so much preparation work to do, I really didn't have the energy to care about anyone else.
Gu Zhiyuan's arm wasn't fully healed yet. When the brigade leader saw him and Xu Ningyan, he called them over and gave them a few words of advice. He told them that they wouldn't need to do physical labor like carrying wheat to the threshing ground for tomorrow's double harvest. Since one hand couldn't exert any force, but the other hand was fine, they could go and cut the wheat.
To take care of him, he was allowed to stay with Xu Ningyan.
Xu Ningyan originally wanted to try to get Gu Zhiyuan to rest at home, but then she realized that it was unrealistic.
At this time, even the village dogs would be eager to be driven to work in the fields, let alone a person?
Besides, if I really take a break, who knows which people with conjunctivitis will complain about it?
If he stays with me, I can just take better care of him.
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