The wives of other families in the county government compound were hoping that Su Yu would come again to get closer to them and give them a chance to inquire about the children of military personnel. However, Su Yu stayed there the entire time, until dark, without ever leaving the house.
They asked Director Zhu from the Women's Federation to inquire with County Head Song, and learned that she was studying at home and didn't have time to go out.
Upon hearing this news, everyone was utterly disappointed. They wondered whether they should go to the person's home to confront them, but they were also worried that if Secretary Lin's family saw them, they might misunderstand.
After all, there's a difference between someone inviting you to their home and someone else going to your home to seek you out.
Su Yu occasionally glanced out the window at the people coming and going. She saw some people enter the compound, glance in her direction, smile, and then continue reading.
That evening, Song Dongzheng brought back dinner and placed it on the table for Su Yu to eat.
"We'll watch it after we finish eating."
Song Dongzheng greeted him.
Su Yu folded a corner of the book she could see. She put the book on the desk and came over to eat. Seeing the food on the table, she sighed, "This communal cooking is so different from home. Aunt Liu must have made something delicious for home again today. It's a pity I can't eat it."
Song Dongzheng: "..." He placed the chopsticks in Su Yu's hand, "I'll cook tomorrow. I'm not prepared today."
The key concern was that he was worried his cooking wouldn't taste as good as the master chef's, and that Su Yu wouldn't be satisfied.
Su Yu smiled and said, "I want to eat braised fish. You should know how to make it, right?"
"Yes!" He's been eating this dish for years, how could he not know how to cook it?
Having received the promise, Su Yu stopped bothering him and obediently ate with Song Dongzheng. While munching on a cornbread, she said, "I wonder how things are going with Li Ping and the others. They're definitely going to cause trouble today."
Song Dongzheng, munching on a pancake, laughed and said, "We already called the commune. When we finished work, everyone was begging to go home."
Although Su Yu was somewhat worried, she and Li Ping had already anticipated these consequences and had given Li Ping some advice. Therefore, they didn't plan to help.
Moreover, she also wanted to test Li Ping's abilities. As the student council president, managing so many people, a bunch of kids, she should be able to keep them in line.
Inside the militia dormitory in He Commune, a group of children were eating their lunchboxes while wiping away tears.
They were all teenagers. The youngest was twelve, and the oldest was Li Ping, who was nineteen.
This was the first time for any of them to leave home. Although they had lived in the countryside before, they had never actually done farm work.
We were immediately put to hard labor upon arrival. At first, everyone was full of enthusiasm, feeling very capable and great. But as we worked, we started to feel overwhelmed.
Even a twelve-year-old child holding a hoe doesn't have to exert much effort; all they need to do is break up large clods of earth, and they still find it tiring and boring.
When they finished work, the children felt completely exhausted. They were tired and hungry. Especially as it got dark, they started wanting to go home.
However, after seeing what dinner would be served that evening, this thought became even stronger.
These heartless bastards actually made them eat corn porridge and cornbread!
The corn porridge was different from what they ate at home. At home, the porridge was very refined, but this corn porridge was a little hard to swallow. It seemed like there was some kind of foreign object in it.
The steamed corn bread was also black and dry.
But if we don't eat, there's nothing else to eat.
"I'm not eating anymore. I don't care, I'm going home. This isn't about helping out, it's about risking our lives. Even if we're doing this for free, at least give us a proper meal!"
Li Aihong angrily put the lunchbox on the bed and stood in the crowd shouting.
This is a way of speaking out. Before, they dared not speak out in anger, but now that someone has taken the lead, and it's the Li family themselves, everyone has opened up and shouted, "I want to go home, I want to eat!"
"I miss home. The work is so tiring, and I can't even get enough to eat. This life is worse than that of the farmhands who were oppressed by the landlords."
"I need to go to the commune to make a phone call. I have to go back!"
Seeing everyone making a fuss, Li Aihong winked at Li Aijun, signaling her to join in. However, Li Aijun didn't dare. She worried that if things went wrong, she'd lose her laundry job. Now that it was warmer, clothes were easier to wash, and they'd survived the harsh winter; there was no reason to lose her job now.
Seeing that she wouldn't listen, Li Aihong looked at Li Aidang and said, "Aidang, say something. Aren't you tired?"
Li Aidang was annoyed by the noise and wanted to go home. He felt it was even worse here than in the military region. At least in the military region, it was a familiar environment, and after tiring training, there were always decent meals. But here, there was nothing but endless fields and wasteland, and endless work. The food was terrible, and he slept in such a dilapidated place at night…
But he is the vice-captain after all, and if he causes a scene, the situation will become even more chaotic.
As a disciplined person, he dared not cause trouble.
So he looked at Li Ping cautiously.
"sister……"
"Call me Captain." Li Ping finished the last bite of her cornbread, then placed her bowl and chopsticks on her seat and stood up.
"……team leader."
Li Ping looked at everyone seriously and asked, "Do you all feel it's very tough?"
“Of course it’s tough!” Li Aihong said.
Everyone else nodded.
Li Ping asked, "Do you feel like you're eating very poorly?"
“Very bad!” Li Aihong continued.
Li Ping said, "It's already late, and even if we want to go back, we'll have to wait until tomorrow. I see that none of you can sleep, so I'll take you to see how real farmers live. That way, our trip won't be in vain. After we've seen it, we can talk about going back."
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