After the members of the Revolutionary Committee left, life in the village returned to its previous tranquility.
Considering that everyone has almost collected the mountain products and firewood, the villagers decided to distribute the food before the snow falls, so that it will be convenient for everyone to prepare food for the winter.
It was not until the day of grain distribution that everyone discovered that the two educated youth in the village, Liu Jinfeng and Meng Kun, were missing. In the past, this couple was very active in distributing grain, and would even spend money to exchange grain with families in the village who had more grain. Although the two did not have a good reputation in the village, the families who sold grain to them every year still liked their generosity when giving money.
On the threshing floor, looking at the educated youth standing together, someone asked, "Why didn't Liu Zhiqing and Meng Zhiqing come over?"
"Hey, don't tell me, it feels like I haven't seen them in a while."
The people standing on the threshing ground thought that no one seemed to have seen them recently. According to their usual practice, the couple would go to the mountains to pick up some mountain products and firewood. After all, winter is cold and long, and they are not stupid.
"Yes, usually Liu Zhiqing was the most active in distributing food."
The crowd was clamoring, and the village chief and the party secretary standing on the stage naturally heard it. They had known some time ago that the two had committed a crime, but at that time, for the sake of the village's reputation, how could they dare to say anything when all the young girls and boys were looking at each other.
Shen Anning looked at the unpredictable faces of the two old men on the stage, and thought of what Cao Jingheng had told her about Meng Kun's greed for money and how he got himself into trouble. It was no wonder that the branch secretary and the village chief didn't want to say it. It was embarrassing, and he was obviously not a villager, but he was also affecting the village.
"Quiet, quiet."
He looked up at the sky, cleared his throat, and then spoke: "Liu and Meng, the educated youth, have made mistakes and have been taken away by the police for investigation. This matter ends here. Everyone in our village, listen carefully! You are not allowed to have opinions about other educated youth, and don't spread this matter around. It's not a glorious thing."
"Alright, that's it. Let's divide the food and stop discussing it. Let's take care of our own affairs first. The New Year is coming soon, so we have time to tidy up the house."
They were not close friends to begin with, so the villagers just talked about it as a topic of conversation and no one paid much attention to it. However, the few people on the educated youth's side looked at each other with helplessness in their eyes. They didn't know what was going on with the educated youth this year. It felt like they were in conflict with something, with one thing after another.
As for the female educated youth, Sister Qian Hui had previously passed the exam to become a worker. She usually rented a house in the county and only came back during holidays. This year, she will still return to the educated youth site for the New Year. After all, she has been here for several years and all her acquaintances are here.
Ever since Li Haotian went to work in the county, Yang Zhengcheng has gradually become friends with several people at the educated youth site. Cao Yu and Zhao Jie no longer have the arrogance they used to have. The documents about their family situation had arrived in the town a long time ago, and the village chief and the party secretary had also met with them individually.
Growing up in a family with many children, they had long learned to judge the situation. The current situation was very unfavorable for them. Compared with people outside, the villagers were more simple and honest, and most of them were not the kind of people who would look for trouble. This could be seen from the fact that the village chief and the branch secretary did not tell anyone about their actual situation.
Without the regular remittances of money and supplies from home, the savings they had were only enough to sustain them for a year at best, so the two of them were clinging tightly to Li Haotian and Yang Zhengcheng.
Cao Yu stood by, looking at his elder brother Zhao Aiguo, and said softly: "Zhao Zhiqing, Yang Zhiqing, I'll have to trouble you to help transport our rations later."
"Okay, no problem. Physical work should be done by us men." Before Zhao Aiguo could say anything, Yang Zhengcheng quickly took over.
"Yes, we are all educated youth. We should help each other."
Cao Yu thought about the rent they had to pay every month for their current place of residence, and they couldn't even eat all the food rations themselves. After thinking about it, she said to Shen Anning, "Shen Zhiqing, now that Qian Hui has passed the examination and moved out, I was thinking about whether the empty bed at the female Zhiqing's place could be used by Zhao Jie and me to live there?"
Shen Anning looked at Cao Yu with sarcasm in her eyes, shooting straight at her, "It's a bit inappropriate for you to ask me this. First of all, you are a member of the educated youth, and you have the right to live there. Secondly, I don't live in the educated youth site. Are you asking me to ask you to move back?"
"You really think too much."
After saying this, they didn't give them any face at all. Everyone looked at Shen Anning and said nothing.
Not to mention that Xu Hongxia had a falling out with them over this matter before, even the other people living in the educated youth site were not happy to live with these two big Buddhas, even though the two of them seemed to have changed now.
But it’s hard to change one’s nature, who knows about such things!
Xu Hongxia looked at Cao Yu as if she was a piece of trash. Her attitude was self-evident. The other girls at the educated youth point were also a little frightened. After all, even though Cao Yu and Zhao Jie had fallen out with them when they first came to the village, they still wanted to live a peaceful life.
Zhao Aiguo and several other male educated youth noticed the sparks between the girls, but they were smart enough not to say anything. This attitude actually showed that they supported Xu Hongxia's side. In terms of friendship, the one who came first was not deeper than the one who came later.
This matter was rejected in everyone's silence.
Although Cao Yu and Zhao Jie were unwilling, there was nothing they could do. After all, they were the ones who offended others first. Now it was not so easy to erase this gap.
Shen Anning and Xu Hongxia looked at each other, lowered their heads and smiled, their shoulders shaking slightly, telling everyone how happy they were.
Zhao Aiguo was looking at the two of them from behind, feeling a bit overwhelmed. Xu Hongxia was a well-known straightforward female educated youth, with a quick temper and a strong sense of loyalty. As for Shen Anning, she looked harmless on the surface, but if anyone provoked her, they would definitely be in big trouble.
This year, Shen Anyu and An Xuan did more work and earned more work points than last year. Together with the head rations, they filled four sacks in a few years, which was much more than what other educated youth earned.
Several households in the village that were struggling to make ends meet became jealous when they saw so much grain.
Jealous!
Shen Anning ignored other people's looks. The male educated youth helped her load the food onto the cart, and together with the female educated youth, they took a trip first.
In the evening, Shen Anyu and Shen Anxuan came back with their final exam transcripts, both with smiles on their faces. Shen Anning looked at their expressions and knew without guessing that her sister Anxuan had won again.
Before this exam, the two of them made a bet with their respective savings, a huge sum of five dollars was bet, and Ana Shen was just waiting to watch the fun.
Sure enough, as soon as I got on the kang, I heard Shen Anxuan smiling and stretching out his hand: “Brother, give me the money!”
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