Chapter 11 Housing Conditions
Captain Jiang got even more angry after hearing this. "What do you think? You are so delicate. Why do you all go to the countryside? It would be better if you all stayed at home. You go to the countryside to support the construction. How can you support the construction without enduring hardships? What? Do you want our team to serve you?
You are more expensive than a cow. Do you know that a cow can do what you can do? How dare you compare yourself with a cow?
You know, our team only has three cows. During the busy farming season, these three cows have done so much work for our team. They are all great contributors.
If you don't come down, I'll go find the person in charge of the educated youth camp right now and tell them you're seeking comfort and refusing to obey orders, and I'll just send you back."
The educated youth who are being sent back now do not return them to their hometowns, but are being reallocated to more difficult places in the countryside after being sent back to the educated youth sites.
Lin Yue was so frightened when she heard the captain's words that she quickly climbed down from the ox cart in a panic.
"Why didn't you just behave yourself earlier? You made me say such harsh words and it wasted our time. Okay, it's getting late, let's go." Captain Jiang didn't have a good impression of the educated youth to begin with, and after Lin Yue's behavior, he became even more annoyed with them.
Shi Luo and six other people, along with the team leader, followed the ox cart and slowly walked towards the Red Star Team.
After leaving the commune, you will step onto a winding dirt road. Most of the houses around are mud houses, and there are very few brick houses. Further in the distance are stretches of land.
Shi Luo looked at the surroundings and suddenly understood the days of lack of food and drink described in novels and TV dramas. He began to miss his first life which he had not cherished.
It took the group more than an hour to reach the Red Star Brigade.
We continued walking inside, and when we arrived at the Youth League Home, a few villagers followed us.
The educated youth have been going to the countryside for several years, and the villagers have gotten used to it. Now the few aunts following behind just like to watch the fun.
Auntie A: "Oh, they really picked the right time. They came after the busy farming season, and yet there are so many of them. None of them can do much work, so now they are just waiting to eat for free."
Auntie B: "Who says it's not true? Look at that female educated youth, she's so charming and seductive, and she looks restless. She's afraid she won't flirt with the men in our brigade."
Auntie C: "You said that the second son of the Zhang family married that educated youth, the one named Li Xiang. I heard that she doesn't even cook at home and treats her like an ancestor. Why would they marry such a daughter-in-law?"
Auntie B: "Humph, you're just after that tender skin. The girls in the city are just more tender than the girls in our village. They're all like foxy girls."
Aunt Ding said, "Hey, look at those three male educated youths. They're all wearing watches. The shorter one looks even younger than the women. He doesn't look very old, but I wonder if he can earn enough to eat."
Auntie C: "We don't need to worry about whether they have enough to eat or not. They each received a subsidy of 180 yuan to go to the countryside. Look at the bags they carry.
Oh, look at us, our whole family works so hard for a whole year and still doesn’t get this much money, and they just give it to us when we come to the countryside. It’s really unfair.”
"What are you looking at? Have you finished your chores at home? Have you stored enough goods from the mountain? Have you stored enough firewood for the winter? You're just watching the fun. It's already noon. If you don't go back to cook, be careful that your men will come down from the mountain and punish you without food."
Captain Jiang was so frightened when he heard these women talking more and more outrageously and even starting to discuss policies from higher levels that he quickly drove them away.
Although the women were unwilling to accept the captain's words, they still dispersed.
"Come in with your luggage. This is the educated youth dormitory of our brigade. It is divided into two courtyards, the front and the back. There are three rooms in the front courtyard, one for male educated youth and one for female educated youth. They all have large bunk beds and a shared kitchen.
The small house in the corner of the yard is the toilet. There are two rooms in total, one for men on the left and one for women on the right. Next to the toilet is a shed where you can store firewood for the winter. Our team is close to the mountains, so it is very convenient for everyone to collect firewood.
The area near the wall over there is your private plot. You can discuss with the old educated youth what you want to plant.
The backyard is a single room, with a total of five rooms, each about 20 square meters, with a kang and a small earthen stove. There is a toilet in the corner of the yard, the same as the one in the front yard.
If you want to live in a single room, you have to buy the pot and other things yourself. Of course, you can also live in a single room and eat with the old educated youth. It's up to you.
By the way, all the houses in the Youth League are made of adobe, even the single rooms.”
Su Niannian looked at the adobe house in front of her with disdain. When she heard there was a single room, she thought that even if it was made of adobe, it was better than a large bunk bed.
"I want a single room"
Captain Jiang nodded and said, "There are four single rooms left. One of them is already occupied by a female educated youth. If you want to move in, just choose one and pay eight yuan. This eight yuan is for a year. If you still want to stay at this time next year, you can continue to pay."
"Why do we have to pay? Shouldn't your team provide us with free accommodation? Tell me, don't you think we shouldn't pay this money?" Su Niannian was unhappy when she heard that she had to pay money. She only brought 30 yuan with her when she went to the countryside this time, and the rest of the subsidy was taken away by her mother. She had to pay 8 yuan, which was equivalent to one-third of all her assets.
If you don't want to pay but want to live in a single room, you can try to get other people to join you in the protest. Maybe if you make a fuss, you can live there for free.
Sure enough, when Su Niannian asked this, Lin Yue became stiff again. "That's right, we went to the countryside to support construction, and your team provided us with accommodation and still wanted to charge us. That's simply unreasonable."
Seeing that the other four people were silent, the captain nodded in satisfaction before continuing, "There are free accommodations, just large bunk beds. You can stay there if you want. You will be charged for the private rooms anyway, so whoever wants to stay there should pay up quickly."
This single room was built to increase the brigade's income. If it could be lived in for free, why build it? The brigade can save money by just building a large bunk bed.
Shi Luo took out the ten or so yuan in change from his pocket, counted out eight yuan and handed them to the team leader.
I had 15.98 yuan left before boarding the train, but after I had a few meals on the train, I had 13.18 yuan left. Meals on the train don't require a ticket but they are expensive, so after paying 8 yuan, I had 5.18 yuan left.
Shi Luo stuffed the remaining money into his pocket and waited for others to pay.
There were three people who paid the money, Xie Chen, Xia Tian and Shi Luo.
Li Zhe and Xie Chen discussed it and decided that the two of them would live in a single room together, paying four dollars each. Xie Chen agreed, and Li Zhe gave Xie Chen four dollars, so in the end there were four people living in the single room.
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