Although there was a place to live, there was only a small passageway leading to the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed); the rest of the space was piled with things.
There were other educated youth's daily necessities and their own food, all tied up with ropes. I felt like I didn't know where to put my things.
Tang Baozhu chose a spot at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed), and another newly arrived educated youth slept next to her. It seemed that if they squeezed in, they could still fit so many people.
However, it would be difficult if new educated youth came.
However, Tang Baozhu felt that when the new educated youth arrived next year, she would definitely get rid of those people in the village.
That way, you won't have to worry about not having a place to stay.
"Hello, my name is Ye Li. I was chosen by everyone to be in charge of our female educated youth group. I suppose you haven't had lunch yet. Luckily, we've cooked some outside. This is our first meal to welcome you new educated youths. It's on us old educated youths."
Ye Li is a particularly fair and just person, probably because she is in charge of the female educated youth group, so she is particularly responsible.
In addition, she was quite meticulous, so the female educated youth all respected her and listened to what she said.
"Thank you very much. My name is Tang Baozhu. But I won't eat for nothing. I suppose you've already had lunch. When we have dinner tonight, I'll offer you a piece of cured meat as a treat."
Upon hearing that Tang Baozhu was so generous, the other people who hadn't started work yet were especially happy. They hadn't had any meat for a long time, so it was no wonder they were overjoyed to finally have some.
Then everyone started introducing themselves, and after that, they were considered to have gotten to know each other.
"My name is Mei Fangfang, it's nice to meet you."
"My name is Gu Min, it's nice to meet you."
"My name is Qiu Lanfang."
"My name is Cao Yanhong."
"My name is Xue Meihua, it's nice to meet you."
"My name is Lin Xuemei, it's nice to meet you."
After all the former educated youth had introduced themselves, Tang Baozhu had memorized the names of the others. Some of them seemed shy and quiet, while most of them had a sorrowful expression on their faces.
However, considering the situation in this village, I can understand why they look so distressed.
"Hello, my name is Tang Baozhu. Please take care of me in the future."
After Tang Baozhu introduced herself, the girl who had come to the countryside with her quickly introduced herself as well, "Hello, my name is Ji Fanghua, it's nice to meet you."
After saying that, he fell silent again.
It seems like he's another person who doesn't like to talk.
"Alright, now that we all know each other, let's not waste any more time. You two should go out and eat. Although the conditions here aren't great, we won't starve."
"Thank you, Sister Ye."
She looked several years older than me, so calling her "sister" wouldn't be an exaggeration. Besides, I heard others call her Sister Ye, so I guess that's what everyone calls her.
After going out, I got to know the male educated youth and the three new male comrades. After learning their names, I immediately forgot about them. None of them were particularly striking, even though some of them were quite handsome.
There were six former educated youths on the male side: Xue Dashan, Li Qingyun, Tang Jianhua, Jiang Chen, Qin Jianguo, and Zheng Yang.
The three new male comrades are named Zhao Xuyang, Sun Kangwen, and Zhou Hua.
I heard that Xue Dashan and Xue Meihua are cousins. Since someone in their family needed to go to the countryside, they signed up together so they could look after each other.
After everyone got to know each other, most people simply walked away. After all, they were afraid that the new educated youth would feel awkward if they sat together while eating.
Tang Baozhu thought she was quite thick-skinned; even with people surrounding her, she wouldn't lose her appetite. She only ate one pancake, and then there wasn't much else to eat.
It seems that the educated youth here really had a very hard life. I knew from my memories that it was indeed very hard, but after experiencing it firsthand, I realized that the life could not be simply summarized by the word "hard".
After finishing their meal, although they might not be full, they were just as Ye Li had said—not starving. Then all the educated youth prepared to set off together to the brigade headquarters to buy grain.
Now everyone goes together wherever they go, because we're worried that if someone gets separated from the group, something might happen.
I don't know why the girl went up the mountain to pick mushrooms alone. Didn't that just give other people a chance?
When I arrived at the brigade headquarters, almost all the village cadres were there, including the village's women's director.
I originally thought that since the women's director was a woman herself, she would be easier to talk to. But just by looking at her face, I knew she was the kind of person who was difficult to get along with, so I didn't have much hope.
No one else spoke, but Tang Jianhua, the person in charge of the male educated youth, spoke first. It seems that he was in charge of external affairs, and the male comrades were indeed a bit better off.
"Captain, these are newly arrived educated youth. They don't have any food and would like to buy some from you. I wonder what the price of food is now?"
The captain laughed, revealing a mouthful of yellow teeth. He held his long pipe in his hand and tapped the stool next to him to knock out the ash.
Then he said slowly, "You old educated youth should know this already. Grain is quite expensive here. If you can't afford it, then forget it."
Tang Baozhu originally thought that if that was the case, they could buy it elsewhere.
However, the other older educated youths turned pale instantly, clearly indicating that something was amiss, so they stopped saying anything.
"The brigade leader is joking. These newly arrived educated youth will definitely starve to death if they don't buy food. It just so happens that the brigade headquarters is closer, so let's just buy it here. Although it's a bit more expensive, it's worth it because we don't have to go all the way to other places."
The brigade leader nodded in satisfaction, noticing that Tang Jianhua was quite sensible and that none of the newly arrived educated youth had uttered a sound.
"Alright, you wanted to buy this yourselves. When I bring out the grain, don't say I forced you to buy it."
"Yes, yes, the brigade leader is kind-hearted. Knowing that they had no food, he specially gave away the village's grain. He is already a very good person. How could he have forced them?"
At this moment, Tang Jianhua was nothing like the refined person he was at the educated youth settlement. He was even more of a lackey than a sycophant. Looking at him, one can only imagine how many times the old educated youth had been bullied before they had abandoned all their pride and refinement.
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