Xu Zijiang keenly noticed the intensity in Yu Jiu's gaze. He looked up and searched for her, and their eyes met in mid-air.
Her eyes were round and her eyelashes were long, but she seemed frightened. She pursed her red lips and stared with her round eyes without blinking, like a small animal observing the enemy, alert and cautious.
Xu Zijiang was immediately drawn to her clear and beautiful eyes. Why were her eyes so wide open? Was she afraid of him?
He raised an eyebrow, a slight smile playing on his lips, softening his sharp features considerably.
Zhang Yan noticed that she kept staring at a man, and couldn't help but nudge her shoulder.
"You've taken a liking to him? That's impressive, you're quite bold. He's so tall and strong, and looks fierce. The two of you are not a good match in terms of physique. Aren't you afraid that he will bully you in the future and you won't be able to fight back? But I don't know if he has a girlfriend."
"I didn't mean that, don't overthink it."
Yu Jiu shook her head, both amused and exasperated. She was startled to see an old friend so suddenly and glanced at him a few more times. To avoid any misunderstanding, Yu Jiu looked away and stared at the floor.
At this moment, the commune secretary cleared his throat and began to speak.
"Everyone's here. You can choose. There are six brigades. Choose three people from each brigade. There must be both men and women. No discrimination allowed. Female educated youth are no less capable than male educated youth. Women hold up half the sky."
Come on, rural women can hold up half the sky, but pampered city girls can't even lift a hoe, how can they do any work, how can they hold up half the sky?
The team leaders pursed their lips, not even having time to complain, and hurried over to recruit people, trying to select two male educated youths to pair with one female educated youth. If they picked two female educated youths to take back, oh dear, the grain production would be halved! Wouldn't that mean they would lose to the other brigades?
Xu Zijiang was the captain of the Beitang production team. He had the same idea before, but this time, he did not choose the male educated youth first, but went straight to Yu Jiu.
"I want her."
Xu Zi raised his chin and said in a deep, magnetic voice that could make a person's legs tremble. Good-looking is one thing, but a voice this beautiful is another—it's simply too much!
Yu Jiu's eyes widened instantly, and the commune secretary also looked at him in surprise.
"Captain Xu, are you sure? Aren't you going to choose a male comrade first?"
"What's the point of choosing? Doesn't every team have at least one guy?"
Xu Zijiang's indifference to the Dao.
But that's not how it works. There are 18 people, 9 men and 9 women. Although the genders are evenly distributed, there are 6 brigades. It's inevitable that there will be three brigades with the best combination of two male educated youth and one female educated youth. If the selection is slow, the only option will be a combination of one male and two females.
Moreover, the male and female educated youth could be carefully selected, choosing the tall and strong ones, as they were stronger and could do farm work. The weak and frail ones were the ones everyone disliked the most.
Of course, fat people like Chen Yuan are also disliked by everyone. Being fat doesn't necessarily mean being strong, but it certainly means eating a lot!
"Captain, I've managed to snag a male educated youth! He's not too skinny, he should be alright, right?"
Another young man from the Beitang team also came along. Seeing that his team leader was doing something, he quickly came over and grabbed a male educated youth to take his place.
"Um."
Xu Zi glanced at him lazily, his mind not on the man at all.
When the commune secretary saw that they had selected a boy, he stopped caring and registered the remaining wine under the Beitang production team.
Soon, everyone had made their choices, and in the end, only Chen Yuan and Li Nannan remained.
Li Nannan stood there, awkwardly clutching her backpack strap. She couldn't understand why she was left out when even Yu Jiu had someone else chosen!
There's a reason for this. She was the prettiest in the group, which made her a target for attention. She wasn't tall or strong enough, so she might be weak and not good at work. Everyone else had luggage, big bags and small bags, but she had nothing. She looked like a naive young lady going on a spring outing, not like someone going to the countryside to work.
Therefore, to avoid trouble, these team leaders preferred to select ordinary female educated youths who were not good at work, but at least they were easy to manage in life.
Chen Yuan was also left out. He clenched his fists in embarrassment, but still tried his best to comfort Li Nannan.
"These people don't know what's good for them, Comrade Li, don't be sad."
As soon as he finished speaking, Xu Zijiang pointed at Li Nannan.
"Let's go with her, we don't have any other choice."
"Sigh, then I guess I'll have to choose the fat guy."
The leader of another production team said regretfully, "If I had known, I wouldn't have hesitated. I felt that the female educated youth was better; she wouldn't consume as much food to feed."
Chen Yuan was so ashamed and indignant that he felt like he was worse than a pig, being picked on like this!
Hmm? My wish came true?
Yu Jiu smiled with a hint of happiness. She would rather be in the same brigade as Li Nannan than in the same brigade as Chen Yuan, so she had been praying the whole time.
Seeing the young educated youth in front of him so happy, Xu Zi couldn't help but smile, his mood greatly improved. For some reason, he seemed to have suddenly understood her feelings; she didn't seem to like that fat man, and now it seemed he wasn't wrong.
"Dog, help me with the luggage. You three come with me back to the brigade."
"Okay, you're Qiao, right? You have the most stuff. Let me help you with one. Yu, you can give me one of your bags too."
Gouzi wasn't sexist at all. He eagerly helped the male educated youth Qiao Cheng carry a large suitcase, and then helped Yu Jiu carry one as well, showing no favoritism.
“Mine is light, I can carry it myself. You carry it for Qiao Zhiqing, his is heavy.”
Yu Jiu declined, feeling embarrassed. After all, Gouzi was only about the same height as her, maybe 170cm at most, and looked skinny. She couldn't bring herself to take advantage of him.
"It's okay, it's not heavy. Give me one. It's a long way to go. We have to walk back, it'll take at least an hour. If you guys can walk back to the team, you'll pass the test."
"Dogzi said cheerfully, snatching Yu Jiu's bundle and slinging it over his shoulder, looking quite relaxed. Seeing this, Yu Jiu didn't refuse anymore, quietly thanked him, and followed him outside."
Of the three educated youths, she was surprised to find that Li Nannan, who seemed the prettiest, was being ignored. She felt a little uncomfortable, but didn't say anything. Instead, she took the initiative to ask.
"So, where will we stay when we get to the team? Will it be one room per person?"
“My dear sister, what are you thinking? I’m still sharing a bed with my brother. You educated youth want to have your own room? You can’t even dream about it. You should all stay at the educated youth settlement. Male educated youth in one room, female educated youth in one room, one bed each.”
"It's already very kind of us not to provide you with a large dormitory. Our team leader specially built you a big room, otherwise it would be even more crowded."
The dog's cry of "Sister!" was so funny it made Yu Jiu's lips curl into a slight smile, her eyebrows relaxed, and her eyes sparkled.
nice.
Xu Zijiang, who had been secretly watching Yu Jiu, couldn't help but lick his dry lips, his large Adam's apple bobbing up and down. As he wiped the beads of sweat from his forehead with his fingertips, he secretly felt a flutter in his heart.
This young educated youth has such a beautiful smile!
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