This table was specially made by Liu Guangming; it's big enough.
A pot of stewed chicken with mushrooms and potatoes, a stir-fried egg with toon sprouts, a spinach dish, a mixed dish of wild garlic, a plate of canned meat, a plate of canned yellow peaches, a few small pickled vegetables, and a small basket of freshly made flatbread mixed with wild vegetables—the whole table was covered in white.
The chicks were simply taken; the eggs and spinach were traded between Li Yan and a few other women in the village, as the ones planted in their private plots were too late and hadn't grown up yet.
The toon sprouts were picked by themselves, and the wild garlic was given to them by Heidan.
This table is where they themselves ate; they hadn't even been able to afford to eat like this all spring, let alone the six new educated youth who had been swaying on the bus for several days.
Faced with such delicious food, Su Hong and Wang Hongmei only glared at each other a few times, but didn't start fighting, for fear of missing out on the food.
The first batch was simple, the second batch included Li Yan, Lin Zhaodi, and Chen Jianguo, and Tan Yajun was transferred over in the middle. Including the six who came today, there are a total of eleven educated youth in Liujiatun, which is not a small number.
Seeing that they were all like ingrates, Chen Jianguo swallowed back what he was about to say. To make a long story short…
"This meal is to welcome you new educated youth. The staple food and dishes are all thanks to the support of us old educated youth and villagers. You've been working hard for several days. Let's eat first, and we can discuss other things afterward."
Suddenly, chopsticks flew all over the table.
The group sat close together, and although they had taken precautions and quickly put a few bites into their bowls, they still underestimated the allure of the food. The table was so big, and they even got several oil splatters on their clothes.
As a result, the group of former educated youth, who had been busy all day, ate a large flatbread with a few plates of pickled vegetables.
The only one who looked somewhat presentable was Lin Dongfang. He was extremely embarrassed after finishing his meal, as he had no idea he would ever be so disheveled while fighting for food.
Wang Hongmei and Tang Cui ate until they were burping, but they were reluctant to put down their chopsticks. Su Hong finished her meal first, and while patting her chest, she couldn't help but complain about the others.
"Acting like you haven't seen food in ages, aren't you ashamed?"
"Aren't you ashamed? You talk as if you didn't eat?"
"you?"
"What do you mean, 'you'? Wasn't that you who overturned that plate just now?"
After just a few moments, they felt a tightness in their chest and instinctively scooted back onto their chairs.
Chen Jianguo ignored them and looked at everyone.
"Our group of educated youth is growing stronger and stronger. I understand that we all come from different places, and our customs and habits are naturally very different, so we don't have any special requirements."
To avoid further conflict, you should each form your own teams, and who partners in the food service can be decided as long as both parties agree.
Originally, it was supposed to be a choice between two options, but Chen Jianguo immediately passed on it. The group had been very polite and reasonable when they ate together before, but suddenly they turned out to be bandits. Not to mention the female educated youth, even Chen Jianguo, a rough man, found it hard to accept.
"The kitchen utensils we have now were all purchased by a few of us former educated youth. If you need wooden ones, you can exchange them at Uncle Liu's house in the village. He's the one who drove the cart when you came here."
Since his family doesn't have it, and he has the day off tomorrow, he can go with the bus to the commune's supply and marketing cooperative to take a look and make sure he has time to get everything he needs.
The farm work isn't too demanding lately, so you can get used to it. And I think the village chief will make arrangements in that regard.
However, I would like to add that we educated youth are a whole, and the relationship between the educated youth and the villagers in Liujiatun is very good. You can say that your foundation is very good. As you all saw just now, that boy named Heidan is the village chief's grandson. He is very dependent on Jian, the educated youth, and there is no sign of rejection towards us educated youth for the time being.
I won't go into details, but as long as everyone knows, most of this grassroots support is thanks to Jian Zhiqing. You may not appreciate it or be grateful, but please don't trample on it or squander it recklessly.
Finally, we were educated youth sent to the countryside. Our mission was to support rural development, not to enjoy ourselves, not to complain, not to interfere, not to undermine the unity between educated youth and villagers, and not to disrupt the internal relations among the masses.
Last year was a severe drought, and Jian Zhiqing happened to be there. It can be said that she survived the drought along with everyone in Liujiatun.
However, this year is clearly a year of favorable weather and abundant harvests. Regardless of any difficulties, things are much better now. It can be said that everyone has had a good time.
I won't say more. We're all adults here. But to say something you might not like, if you're allowed to go to the countryside, and you've already done so, then no matter what your family's situation is, you should at least have the ability to support yourself. Don't spend the whole year earning so few work points that you can't even fill your own stomach.
Now that things have come to this, how we live our lives from now on is up to each of us.
Putting everything else aside, the topic of cooking was quite lively. Wang Hongmei, forgetting the moment Chen Jianguo had ignored her, brought up the subject again.
"Chen Zhiqing, can I cook with you?"
Not worried at all about Chen Jianguo's betrayal, she simply stared at him with a few bright eyes.
Chen Jianguo spoke with righteous indignation and stern words.
“Wang Zhiqing, our lifestyles and tastes are different, so we are not suitable to cook together. Besides, I am just mooching off someone else.”
Upon hearing this, Li Yan immediately puffed out her chest.
“You’re right. Chen, the educated youth, will cook with us. You should find someone else.”
Otherwise, you could team up. You've been traveling together and know each other well, so you'll probably adapt to group life more quickly.
The new educated youth looked at each other with disdain, but it was clear that since the older educated youth wouldn't budge, they really had no other choice.
Lin Dongfang spoke calmly.
"Don't count me in, I'll cook for myself."
Wang Hongmei's eyes lit up again.
"you?"
Lin Dongfang pretended not to see it and turned to look at Chen Jianguo.
"Chen Zhiqing, I have something I'd like to ask you. Is this a convenient time?"
Glancing at Wang Hongmei's angry gaze out of the corner of his eye, Chen Jianguo stood up with a sense of pleasure.
"Okay, come to my room."
Li Yan and the others got up to clear the table, and Su Hong and Tang Cui quickly offered their help. Wang Hongmei was still angry and felt embarrassed to just stand by and watch, so she reluctantly got up and took two bowls. Before she could take two steps, her hand slipped, and *splat!* It broke!
Li Yan and the others immediately turned pale and simply put the dish on the table.
"Wang Zhiqing, what do you mean by this? This is the property of our educated youth compound. You are deliberately damaging it!"
Whether your dissatisfaction stems from the educated youth compound or from the policies governing educated youth, we can help you relay your concerns to the educated youth affairs office. However, please do not use our compound's valuable assets for malicious revenge.
Wang Hongmei was also dumbfounded. She really wanted to help, but for some reason, her hand suddenly slipped, and no matter how unreasonable she was, the bowl was broken.
My heart aches!
She didn't have much money, and she hadn't done anything yet. Two bowls were gone, and she hadn't gotten anything in return.
A few people covered their mouths and laughed behind the kitchen door.
"Isn't this just a paper tiger? All it does is bluff!"
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