Chapter 3: Eating at the Captain's House and Coming to the Youth Institute

There were three children in the family, two daughters and one son. People often said that the eldest daughter came first and the youngest son came last. Only He Yueyang, the second child, was not valued. Her family had secretly registered her to go to the countryside.

Chu Sangning didn't know what to say. Just talk and don't make any movements. He even wanted to put his arm around her. She subconsciously dodged to the side.

"Not very good. My dad saved money to buy these for me."

Chu Sangning was right. Although Chu Yuanlin had a good job, he couldn't bear the high expenses. It might be because the young lady had lost her mother. Chu Yuanlin always felt that he owed the young lady something.

Delicious food and drinks, as well as the most beautiful and expensive clothes in the supply store, as long as Chu Sangning wanted it, Chu Yuanlin would buy it.

So he spent almost all his monthly salary just to make his daughter happy.

Hearing the refusal in Chu Sangning's words, He Yueyang still wanted to go forward and ask for it. Her parents didn't care about her, so naturally they wouldn't prepare anything good for her. The two mixed-grain cakes had already been eaten in the car.

Chu Sangning frowned, but before she could say anything, she heard a female voice in front of her: "Yueyang, I have candy. Mine is for you."

It was Zhao Jiayun who was speaking. Zhao Jiayun's family was just like that. Although he had a city hukou, his life was similar to that of He Yueyang's family. The reason why he was willing to give the candy to He Yueyang was because of what happened later.

If Zhao Jiayun remembered correctly, there were not enough houses for the educated youth in the village, so one person lived alone in a small room.

Don't think it's a good thing. A house dug out of a hole is similar to the kiln caves in the neighboring province. Zhao Jiayun is unwilling to go there. What if some snakes or insects run into the house in the middle of the night?

"Zhao Zhiqing, you are so nice, you are such a good person." He Yueyang saw that the candy in Zhao Jiayun's hand was the cheapest, and curled his lips in disdain, but still stuffed it into his mouth.

It would be a waste not to eat it. Since there is a good person around her, He Yueyang is willing to be with her.

Nowadays, relationships between men and women are still quite strict, and the other two male educated youth did not step forward. From this perspective, Chu Sangning seemed to be the isolated one.

In just one hour, Changxing Village appeared in front of everyone. There was a wooden bridge in front of the village. After crossing the river, we arrived at the village entrance.

Jiang Zongzheng signaled the educated youth to pick up their packages and follow him, and also told the driver of the ox cart: "The oxen have worked hard today. Let's feed them more grass tomorrow."

Along the way, the educated youth looked at the environment in front of them and worried about their future. Even Wu Guangqian couldn't laugh.

The ground was full of mud and water. Every time you stepped on it, you would find a big pit. If you were not careful, you would fall down.

Jiang Zongzheng could also sense the mood of the educated youths and said, "Normally this area is fine, but it rained a few days ago and water has accumulated here. It will be fine in a few days. Follow me closely, I will take you to have a hot meal first."

The educated youth followed Jiang Zongzhen and continued to move forward. They were relieved when they crossed the dirt road and saw the houses of every household. They just wanted to know if they were not leaky thatched houses. There were even several brick and tile houses.

"Captain, whose family is that?" Wu Guangqian asked.

"That's my brother's house. Look, this is my house. If you have any problems in the future, come to my house and find me."

Jiang Zongzheng brought the six educated youths back to his home. His wife had been waiting for them. When she heard the noise, she opened the door early and asked angrily, "Why are you here so late this time? It's already dark."

"The road was difficult to walk on and the cows were grumpy, so we were delayed for some time."

Jiang Zongzheng's wife Li Chunfen smiled and said nothing more. She enthusiastically invited the educated youth to come in. "Come in quickly. You must be tired after walking all the way. I'll go get you some water."

The sudden enthusiasm made everyone feel flattered. Wu Guangqian declined: "Auntie, we won't eat it. We won't eat it."

The grain harvest was not very good. If the six of them really ate all the food, there would not be enough for the captain's family.

Jiang Zongzheng sat on a bench and knocked on the table with his pipe: "Just eat without worry, these things are yours too."

"You have just arrived, so you will definitely not be able to get any rations from the brigade. It is still several months before the rations are distributed. We cannot deny you food, even if you are borrowing it."

"Each of you is entitled to fifteen catties of miscellaneous grains. If you want to eat fine grains, you can exchange them with the village at the rate of two and a half catties of miscellaneous grains for one catty of fine grains."

The educated youth also agreed.

Although Jiang Zongzhen was the team leader, the food he ate was no different from that of ordinary people. Because of this group of educated youth, Li Chunfen reluctantly made a pot of egg soup and drank it to warm herself up.

"Come and eat, everyone." Jiang Zongzheng invited them to eat. Chu Sangning smiled and sat aside.

He Yueyang and Zhao Jiayun also sat down beside her. The two of them treated Chu Sangning as air. Even though they had only met for a few days, they were as close as good sisters.

Chu Sangning didn't take this kind of trick seriously. His calm and composed look made Zhao Jiayun very angry.

Everyone sat together to eat, and Li Chunfen also served a bowl of soup to her old man. The harvest was not good this year, and they were reluctant to waste two eggs to make a pot of egg soup.

"I don't want to drink it anymore. I'll save it for Dabao." Jiang Zongzheng waved his hand, signaling his wife to take the soup away. He just needed to eat some dishes and some soup.

Dabao is their grandson and the only child in the Jiang family. Due to being born prematurely, he is weak and would have a fever or a cold for several days if he was exposed to the wind or rain. Jiang Zongzhen loves this grandson as if he were the apple of his eye.

Li Chunfen loved her grandson, but she also had to take care of her own old man. After listening to him, she whispered, "Dabao, there's some. Drink it."

The bowl of egg soup was passed back and forth, and the educated youth were too embarrassed to interrupt, so they just ate a few mouthfuls of it in silence, not even touching the vegetables.

After dinner, Jiang Zongzheng groped his way towards the place where the educated youth lived. No one had lived there for a long time. The windows were broken and the door creaked.

Wu Guangqian just pushed open the door and a puff of dust blew in his face, "Cough cough cough."

"Let's do some work today and clean up tomorrow." Jiang Zongzheng pointed to the room with the low wall. "The wall over there is low and it's not very safe. Male educated youth should live there."

If some drunken scoundrel climbed over the wall and got in, it wouldn't matter to the male educated youth, but it would be bad for the reputation of the female educated youth.

That’s why Jiang Zongzhen made such arrangements. The educated youth in the past also slept like this.

However...the number of educated youth this time is not right. There is only one small bed in the room, which can only accommodate two people, so one female educated youth will be left alone.

"Well, there's only room for two people in there. How about you guys just stay here for the night and I'll ask someone to make a bed for you tomorrow."

He Yueyang was furious. The three of them were to sleep in one small bed, so someone would have to sleep on the floor. The Youth Hostel had not been cleaned for such a long time, and there might even be rat droppings on the floor. She didn't want that.