"The villagers don't like us educated youth very much, so be careful..."
After Zhang Zhijuan finished her arrangements, she did not leave but continued to talk about other things. Sun Xiaoyan went out to cook.
He Xianqiu listened carefully to what Zhang Zhijuan said and learned some things about rural life.
However, after listening to a lot of words, He Xianqiu began to daze. He heard Zhang Zhijuan talking in his ears, but didn't pay attention to what she said.
"Okay, let's go out and eat. You don't have any food yet, so we'll give you some first. You have to return it when the captain gives you food."
After being distracted for a long time, He Xianqiu finally heard this sentence clearly.
He Xianqiu touched her stomach and found herself a little hungry. She didn’t know what was cooked, so she followed Zhang Zhijuan and others to the kitchen.
Having read a lot of literature about the period, she remembered that food was precious at that time, most people could not eat enough and were reluctant to add more oil.
When they arrived at the kitchen, everyone was already seated. A small wooden table was surrounded by a circle, leaving only some empty space for He Xianqiu and the others.
He Xianqiu's arrival silenced the other educated youth. Some of the male educated youth blushed, while others felt uncomfortable.
But He Xianqiu has always been the focus of everyone's attention, and he has become accustomed to everyone's gazes, whether they are surprised or malicious.
She naturally found an empty seat and sat down. Her bowls were already filled with rice that had been served by other people. The female educated youth had the same amount, while the male educated youth had more than the female ones. It was obvious that it was specially prepared.
He Xianqiu looked at the several plates on the table, two vegetarian dishes and one meat dish. The only meat dish had only some minced meat in it. At a glance, it was all vegetables and you could hardly see the meat inside.
These dishes don’t have much oil and look dry. Looking at the porridge in the bowl, He Xianqiu lost his appetite.
When everyone was present, they started eating. In order not to stand out from the crowd, He Xianqiu also ate some.
However, in order not to waste food, He Xianqiu said before eating that she couldn't finish it, and if she didn't mind, she could share the food in her bowl.
Zhang Zhijuan and Sun Xiaoyan said they wanted it, so He Xianqiu gave them a large portion of the meal.
Zhang Zhijuan exclaimed in surprise, "You only eat that little?"
He Xianqiu said she was hungry and wanted to eat some of the pastries she had left.
Zhang Zhijuan was relieved then, but looking at He Xianqiu's clothes and appearance, it was obvious that his family was well-off and he would not be hungry.
He Xianqiu ate in small bites. Even though the food was not to her taste and got stuck in her throat, she continued to eat without changing her expression and with an elegant posture.
Everyone was so scared by her that they didn't dare to eat fast anymore and just followed her movements to eat.
He Xianqiu felt a little uncomfortable while eating, but he finished it anyway because he didn't want to waste food.
She didn’t know if it was a psychological effect or something else, but she actually felt a little pain in her stomach after eating.
After finishing the meal, He Xianqiu introduced himself to the male educated youth and then hurried back to the dormitory.
The coarse grains of the 1970s were completely different from the coarse grains of today. They were difficult to swallow and got stuck in the throat. She went back to the dormitory and drank some water, and then she felt better.
He Xianqiu lay on the bed, his thoughts drifting away.
She remembered that the female supporting character came from a wealthy family, a military family. Her grandfather was a commander, her father was a military commander, and her maternal grandfather's family was very wealthy.
The book mentioned the identity of the female supporting role, but it didn't go into detail, so that was all she knew.
Moreover, she has no memory of the supporting female character and does not know what her family looks like.
But what surprised her was that she looked exactly like the supporting actress and was both 1.65 meters tall.
Maybe the female supporting character's family looks like her family, but this thought only flashed through her mind.
She was still thinking about what to do in the future, and she fell asleep while thinking about it.
A few hours passed in a flash, and He Xianqiu opened her eyes, and she was the only one left in the dormitory.
She put on her shoes and walked out. Only Zhou Hanmei and Yang Shuhua were outside.
She asked doubtfully, "Where are the others?"
Yang Shuhua ignored him and turned her head to look elsewhere.
Zhou Hanmei next to him said softly, "Zhang Zhiqing and the others have gone to work."
He Xianqiu nodded: "Is that so."
He Xianqiu was not familiar with these two female educated youth, so he returned to the dormitory.
Now He Xianqiu was the only one in the dormitory. She took the suitcases from the end of the bed and opened them. One of the female supporting suitcases contained daily necessities and snacks, and the other contained clothes.
There were too many people today, so she opened it and took a look, but she didn't dare to open the small box that kept valuables, after all, wealth should not be exposed.
Now no one else is in the dormitory, and He Xianqiu's bed is in the innermost corner. If someone comes in, they may not be able to see it. Only then did she dare to open it.
Taking the key tied around his neck, He Xianqiu opened the small box. The small box was finely crafted and had two layers inside. The first layer contained three hundred yuan and various tickets, and the second layer contained seven hundred yuan and large-denomination tickets.
The supporting actress is a wealthy woman. Her family must love her very much, as they gave her so much money and tickets. She remembers that prices were very low at that time, and one thousand yuan was not a small amount.
He Xianqiu took out fifty dollars and some tickets, put them in a small purse and locked it.
To be honest, she felt a little awkward and struggled when she took the money. She felt that it was not her money, but now she was the supporting actress, and if she didn't take the money, she would probably starve to death.
So He Xianqiu took it in the end because she was penniless.
He Xianqiu put the suitcase back to its original place, took the basin and bucket and went out. She had been riding the ox cart all day and her body was covered in dust, so she went to boil some water for a bath.
In the kitchen, He Xianqiu was lost in thought as he stared at the stove. There was only one pot, so he had to use the same pot for both the kitchen and the bath...
There was grease on the surface of the pot, so He Xianqiu had to take it down and scrub it. After scrubbing it many times, she felt comfortable taking a hot water bath. But scrubbing the pot every day was not a solution, so she had to buy a pot specifically for hot water.
He Xianqiu squatted beside the stove. She took a match and tried to light the firewood, but it only produced thick smoke and then went out.
She was choked by the thick smoke and kept coughing, unable to open her eyes.
A little further away from the stove, she blinked her sore eyes and saline solution flowed out. She wiped them with a towel before she could open her eyes.
But this time she learned her lesson. She put the sawdust on top of the other wood and then used firewood to light it. This time it finally burned.
He Xianqiu was a little surprised, and a smile appeared on her fair and pretty face. She succeeded on the second try and felt a great sense of accomplishment.
This gave her a little confidence in living in the country. At least she was not completely useless. Although she didn't know how to do it, she could learn.
He Xianqiu heated up a large pot of water, enough for several people to wash, and she put some firewood in from time to time.
When the water was hot, He Xianqiu patted her skirt, carried half a bucket of hot water into the shower room, and then took a basin and put cold water in little by little.
After much trouble, she finally took a bath and washed her hair at the same time.
After washing it clean, I suddenly felt that carrying water was not a big deal. After all, this is the condition in the countryside now.
He Xianqiu took a shower and returned to the dormitory. After a while, someone was shouting outside, asking the new educated youth to come and get their food.
As soon as He Xianqiu went out, she saw the production team leader Lin Jianshe who came to pick them up in the morning.
The other party gently said to everyone: "Follow me."
He Xianqiu and the others followed him. When they arrived at the grain distribution area, Lin Jianshe pointed at a few bags of grain and said, "Female educated youths are given 100 kilograms of grain, and male educated youths are given 150 kilograms of grain. Find a way to take them back. This is your food for the next few months, until the grain distribution after the New Year."
He Xianqiu was thinking about how to carry it back. After all, carrying a hundred kilograms was not easy, and with her small body, she couldn't carry it all in just a few trips.
Yang Shuhua, who was standing next to her, felt that she was here to build the countryside, not to do heavy work, and she grumbled in dissatisfaction, "I'm here to build the countryside, not to work."
When other people heard this, they also thought it made sense and started talking in low voices.
"Yes, I am here to build the countryside, not to work."
“Rural construction should not be like this.”
He Xianqiu frowned as he listened. These people must have forgotten not to offend the villagers and offended the captain as soon as they arrived.
Besides, we should find a way to move the food back ourselves. I don’t know what they are talking about.
He Xianqiu raised his eyes to look at Captain Lin. He didn't show anything on his face, but his tone became lighter: "What else is there in the countryside besides farm work? Besides, if you don't work and don't get work points, what will you eat? The food we give you now is still given to you by the team for free. What are you doing in the countryside if you don't do anything?"
"Also, I haven't even assigned you any work yet, and you're already complaining. Otherwise, I'll write a report and send you back. The team doesn't need so many educated youth."
When they heard about reporting, the people who had just spoken dared not say a word. What was the point of reporting? It was obvious that it was the educated youth's problem, and they would not have a good time when they returned.
Seeing that the educated youths were silent, Lin Jianshe was satisfied. "Find a way to bring the food back. I won't say much. I will arrange work for you tomorrow."
The educated youth were full of trouble, and most of them thought they were superior to others and looked down on the country people.
Having said that, he ignored the opinions of the educated youth and left with his hands behind his back, leaving He Xianqiu and the others standing there alone.
He Xianqiu looked at the food with worry, and heard Yang Shuhua arrogantly say to the male educated youth: "You male educated youth are stronger, help me carry it back."
The male educated youth were naturally unhappy about this. They didn't even know what to do with their own things, so who would move other people's things?
“We don’t know what to do on our own.”
As they spoke, the male educated youth ignored her and walked away carrying a large sack of grain.
Yang Shuhua angrily cursed: "These male educated youth are so stingy."
He Xianqiu was speechless and really wanted to ask this girl how she could be so righteous as to let strangers who were not related to her in any way do things for her.
He Xianqiu didn't have any bags on her to carry back food in batches. When she was thinking about where to look for food, she saw a few boys about 11 or 12 years old who were walking far away from them and looking at them. Her eyes lit up.
He Xianqiu waved to them: "Come here, kids."
A few young boys saw her movements but did not go over, as if they were wondering what she was going to do.
Seeing that none of them came over, He Xianqiu walked towards them.
Several young men looked at He Xianqiu and asked warily, "Why did you come to see us?"
He Xianqiu smiled, showing her little canine teeth: "Sister wants you to do a favor." She pointed to the sack of food and said, "You will be rewarded later, three White Rabbit candies each."
The boys looked at each other, hesitated and asked, "Not lying?"
He Xianqiu nodded: "No lie."
"That's fine."
He Xianqiu directed them to carry sacks and walk to the educated youth site.
The boys were used to farm work and did not find the sack heavy, so they carried it to the educated youth point steadily.
He Xianqiu asked them to move to the kitchen, and when they all came out, she closed the kitchen door.
He Xianqiu looked at them and said, "Thank you. Wait a moment while I get the candy."
As she said that, she quickly walked towards the dormitory. A few minutes later, He Xianqiu came out with a handful of White Rabbit milk candies to share with them.
"Four people, three each."
He Xianqiu shared the candies with them, and they put them in their pockets with great care before leaving the educated youth site.
He Xianqiu returned to the educated youth point, while the other two female educated youth were still at the food storage point.
Yang Shuhua was very dissatisfied with He Xianqiu for asking a few country kids to move things without taking them with them.
"What's the point of being pretty? You have a black heart. You asked them to move back without taking us with you."
Zhou Hanmei smiled and said nothing. She seemed to agree with what Yang Shuhua said.
When Yang Shuhua saw the country kids who had just moved He Xianqiu's things, disdain flashed in her eyes, but she still cleared her throat and shouted, "Those guys come over and help me move."
Several teenagers asked, "What will you pay us then?"
"One piece of fruit candy per person."
As she said this she was still a few steps away from the boys, seeming to be disgusted.
The teenagers were not blind. They saw that this was a sign of disdain for the country folks, so they immediately said, "We won't help."
After saying that, several people left quickly. It was obvious that the female educated youth despised them. They didn't care about the fruit candy anymore. Besides, the beautiful female educated youth had just given each of them three White Rabbit milk candies. Who would be interested in this one candy?
Yang Shuhua said unhappily, "I gave them candy but they didn't want it. Country people are just country people."
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