The two men chatted casually as they gathered firewood, their voices not low.
To be honest, seeing them like this, Chen Jianguo was a little anxious. They were all educated youth living in the same courtyard. If there really was no firewood, could they really just stand by and watch them struggle to move and freeze to death?
That was simply unrealistic, but seeing how relaxed they were, Chen Jianguo couldn't help but sigh again.
"If we don't hurry now, the autumn harvest will be around in about half a month. You've just arrived, and if we immediately increase the intensity of your labor, your bodies won't be able to adapt."
During the autumn harvest, people work from dawn till dusk, the labor intensity is high, and they are very tired. Not to mention whether they have time or energy, they simply don't have the energy to think about firewood. After working, they wish they could just fall asleep. I heard that even getting up to cook and eat is very difficult.
After the autumn harvest, the village collectively goes up the mountain to gather wild produce and such, which is relatively free. But while others gather wild produce, you're gathering firewood?
That's definitely not possible. After all, my stomach is more important.
"From the autumn harvest to the beginning of winter, there is only about a month at most. There is also the garden to be tidied up, winter vegetables to be prepared, and grain to be replaced in advance if there is not enough. In fact, if you think about it, there is not much time."
Chen Jianguo missed it, but Tan Yajun had experience, so copying it was quite suitable.
As they were talking, Qian Cheng and Yuan Ye, who had come with Ling Weidong, also came over. Hearing this, the three male educated youths fell silent for a moment. Looking at their clothes, their family backgrounds seemed to be quite good. Chen Jianguo then added,
"Of course, there are other ways. There are coal mines and coal yards in the north. If you have connections to buy coal, these problems will not be problems."
The three of them looked at each other, their expressions seemingly filled with helplessness.
"This doesn't seem like it will work,"
Before I came, my family repeatedly told me to stay quiet and not cause any trouble. They said things are chaotic outside, and it wouldn't be worth it to cause any real trouble just to be lazy a little.
"Let's just go and collect firewood, or we'll really freeze."
Judging from their appearance, they didn't seem like those educated youths who were just stirring up trouble; Chen Jianguo was willing to say a few more words.
"That's true. Besides, cooking and boiling water all require firewood, so the amount must be quite large."
The stoves here are all connected to the kang (heated brick bed). When you light a fire here, you can use the kang for support, which saves a lot of firewood. The winters here are very cold. When we came last year, it was already winter, and the fire in the house had to be kept burning almost all day.
However, they weren't picky about firewood; dead branches, leaves, wormwood, corn stalks after the autumn harvest, corn cobs—anything that could be burned would do.
Now that you mention it, I suddenly feel like we've come at the wrong time. Even if we were to gather firewood, it seems a bit too late.
Chen Jianguo shook his head.
"That's not true. The villagers just pick up whatever they see that can be burned whenever they see it. Every family has a lot of people. We can't compare to them."
For rooms with several people like yours, these expenses can be shared among several people, which makes things much easier.
We arrived even later last year, around the time the autumn harvest was just finished and they were heading up the mountain.
There was no other way, so I followed Jian, the educated youth, up the mountain to collect firewood every day. Even when it snowed, I went for a few more days. And so, we made it through."
Speaking of simplicity, the group was still quite curious.
"Jian Zhiqing, wasn't she one of the first batch of educated youth sent to the countryside? She doesn't look very old to me?"
When talking about his friends, Chen Jianguo became much more serious.
"That's right. Jian Zhiqing was among the first batch of people sent to the countryside from Liujiatun. She was the only one in that batch. She was only fifteen years old when she came, and she is only sixteen now."
At the time, she was all alone and didn't want to waste the resources of the educated youth compound, so she bought the small house at the entrance of the village, had someone repair it, and moved in.
It's that little house right at the entrance to the village. The yard is very high, but inside there's just a small room for one person. There's a kang (heated brick bed) right inside. When we went there, we always sat in the yard. It was so difficult to even turn around in that room.
She's so much younger than us, yet she's managed everything so well on her own. She came around this time last year, a time of great hardship when food was scarce. She brought some grain and managed to get through it all with the villagers. When we arrived, the villagers looked at her like she was their own child.
Qian Cheng exclaimed in surprise,
"She's not a prodigy; she was only fifteen last year?"
"yes,"
Chen Jianguo's gaze towards them was not without disdain.
"Let alone you guys, even the few of us didn't believe it when we came here."
later,"
Chen Jianguo simply sat down on the firewood.
"After the autumn harvest, she went up the mountain and found a large area of sweet potatoes. She didn't keep it to herself and told the village chief right away."
You didn't see it, but the villagers were so happy that many of them burst into tears on the spot.
Last year's drought meant that the harvest was not even enough to pay the grain tax. In fact, when we went up the mountain, many villagers were out of food. It was these sweet potatoes that gave everyone hope.
Then, what happened next... oh right, on the mountain, there were wild boars on the mountain. One group came down that morning, and the troops stationed at the foot of the mountain stopped them. One of them almost ran into the village, and Jian Zhiqing saw it, grabbed his big machete, and killed the wild boar on the spot.
"Kill, kill them?"
The group of men had all been trained by their families since childhood and were quite skilled, but they didn't dare to take the wild boar seriously.
Chen Jianguo was showing off with a hint of pride.
"That's right, it was early in the morning, and none of us saw it, but the village chief was the first to arrive, and I heard he was quite surprised."
I don't know if she attracted wild boars or what, but while they were slaughtering a pig and making a lively pork dish, another group of wild boars came down from the back mountain, about ten or so.
When this was mentioned, Ling Weidong and the others listened intently.
"Huh? So many wild boars?"
"Yes, there were troops stationed at the foot of the mountain, and Xiao Jian, a young educated youth, lived nearby. When he saw that it was too late to go back to the village to call for help, he grabbed his big knife and went there again. Together with several soldiers, he killed more than ten wild boars."
When the villagers and the main garrison arrived, it was said that there was blood everywhere, and wild boars were lying all over the ground.
Can you believe it? More than ten wild boars, and Xiao Jian, a young educated youth, killed half of them herself, almost all of them with a single blow.
Silence is silence.
"Little Jian, a former educated youth, has training?"
Chen Jianguo said vaguely,
"Maybe so, but it's true that she's very strong."
Qian Cheng's eyes lit up.
"Heroine, she is my idol. I want to become her disciple."
Chen Jianguo miscalculated. He only wanted to make a fuss, not cause her any trouble.
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