Chapter 4
After Uncle Zhang and his companions left, the educated youth looked at the village ahead curiously. It seemed different from what they had imagined, and everyone was more or less disappointed.
Zhou Jiani felt mixed emotions. Her memories of this place in her past life were not pleasant. Her own inaction and stupidity led to one wrong step after another, and she became the one being compared to others, "same person but different fate".
Fortunately, she has kept her mouth shut in this life.
She kept her mouth shut, but she never expected that the male educated youth would cause a commotion.
"Is this where we're going to live from now on? This is too backward!" Zhao Weiguo shouted. "Why are these houses so dilapidated?"
Peng Guangrong followed closely behind, also expressing dissatisfaction: "Yes, these conditions are too bad!"
Zhou Jiani's eyelids jumped, but it was too late to stop them. The faces of the people who appeared behind them had already darkened.
Team leader Zhang Baosheng brought two aunts from the village and the old educated youth Han Yang to arrange them.
Zhang Baosheng said nothing. Liu Yuezhen, who was wearing a bamboo hat, said unhappily, "Hey, where did you come from, young master? You think we are poor, but we think you are coming to share our rations."
The old educated youth Han Yang was already used to it and pretended not to understand the disgust in the other person's words.
But the newcomers were embarrassed and felt uncomfortable.
Peng Guangrong blushed as he defended himself: "Why are we dividing your rations? We will earn our own share in the future. We are not eating for free."
Liu Yuzhen curled her lips and said, "Young man, have you ever been to school? Whether you come or not, we will harvest the food. With more mouths to feed, we have to share some of our food with you. You are so lazy and don't know the difference between crops, and you think we are precious!"
We also helped them build new countryside. It has been quite some time since the last batch of educated youth came here. Where is their new countryside?
As long as they don't cause trouble, they are considered to be doing good things.
Zhou Jiani looked away uncomfortably. This was Zhang Shuisheng's home. Zhang Shuisheng was the uncle Zhang who was driving the car just now.
Liu Yuezhen has a hot-tempered personality. In her previous life, she had an argument with Liu Yuezhen here. Later, Liu Yuezhen would scold her whenever she caught her being lazy, so she was a little afraid of this aunt in her heart.
The psychological shadow is so huge.
Peng Guangrong was so angry that his face turned pale. He grunted for a long time before he finally said, "Who is so lazy that he can't tell the difference between grains?"
"Alright, Peng Guangrong, you have ideological problems to begin with, and you don't allow me to criticize you anymore?" Liu Ailing stepped forward to stop them. She first sternly criticized Peng Guangrong, then said apologetically to Liu Yuezhen, "Aunt, I'm really sorry. Please don't take it personally. We've indeed caused a lot of trouble for the villagers. From now on, we will behave well, follow the guidance of the elders, accept the re-education of the poor and lower-middle peasants, and contribute to the construction of socialism."
Zhou Jiani sighed, the heroine is the heroine, even if she no longer has her shoulders to support her in this life, there are still other shoulders for her to step on.
Or let the heroine shine brightly, stand out from the crowd, be different, and become positive, so that she will immediately gain a lot of favor.
Liu Yuezhen looked at Liu Ailing with fondness in her eyes and said with a smile, "This female comrade is sensible and knows how to talk."
"Okay, everyone, cut the crap," Zhang Baosheng finally spoke. He glanced at Liu Ailing, then at the other educated youth, and said, "The decision was made suddenly. The educated youth camp isn't well-prepared to accommodate so many of you. The male educated youth camp can still accommodate two more comrades. The female educated youth and the remaining male educated youth will temporarily stay at the homes of commune members. You'll draw lots later, and whoever you draw will be the winner."
Liu Ailing smiled crisply and said, "I'm sorry to trouble you fellow villagers."
Liu Yuezhen and her other aunt Zhao Xiulan gave Liu Ailing a friendly smile. If all the educated youth who came here were so sensible, it would be a lot less troublesome. But they were annoyed by those fools who were confused, put on the airs of city people, and complained about this and that. They had no ability, talked a lot of nonsense, and it was a waste of time to talk to them.
Zhou Jiani: Who are you alluding to?
The old educated youth Han Yang introduced himself and asked those who were educated youth to follow him.
Next, we start drawing lots.
Zhao Weiguo and Wang Changzheng were arrested and taken to a youth cadre training center.
The rest was distributed to other fellow villagers' homes.
Meng Hongxing, Qiu Zeming and Peng Guangrong were assigned to one group; Bai Haoyang and Wang Qianjin were assigned to another group.
If you are not satisfied, you can discuss and adjust it yourself. Bai Haoyang and Wang Qianjin immediately adjusted it with Meng Hongxing and Peng Guangrong.
As for the female educated youth, Liu Ailing and Meng Jiandi were assigned to the home of commune member Song Jiefang. No one came to Song Jiefang's home, so Liu Yuezhen took them there after a while.
Liu Ailing glanced at Zhou Jiani. She felt that Zhou Jiani must want to follow her. So when she asked to flirt with Meng Jiandi later, would she agree?
Under normal circumstances she would have agreed, but this time she felt a little uncomfortable, as she always felt that Zhou Jiani was trying to show off to her and embarrass her.
It’s better not to agree, be calm and let her think it over carefully.
But she took the initiative to ask: "Jiani, whose family did you draw?"
There was no suspense in Zhou Jiani's case. Just like in her previous life, she was first drawn to Zhang Kaishan's house, but because she wanted to live with Liu Ailing, she exchanged it with Meng Jiandi for a brand new handkerchief.
"Zhang Kaishan." Zhou Jiani looked at the note and said.
"Zhang Kaishan is also above me." Sun Ping looked at Zhou Jiani and felt a little uneasy. Secretly, she was not very happy to live with Zhou Jiani.
Although Zhou Jiani explained the reason, the preconceived impression was too deep, and she was always worried that this young lady would lose her temper again.
But she would not say such offensive words.
Yu Wanxia also drew Zhang Kaishan's family, and the three of them were considered a group.
The last one was Zhou Hongbing. She was the only one who drew Liu Yuezhen's house.
Liu Yuezhen smiled and said, "My family can only take one, so you have to squeeze in with my daughter."
Zhou Hongbing didn't really want to be alone, but he couldn't bring himself to ask for a trade. Furthermore, having seen Liu Yuezhen's aggressive demeanor just now, he didn't dare to refuse. He just bit the bullet and said, "I'll be troubling you from now on."
Liu Ailing has been keeping an eye on Zhou Jiani. From the time she drew the lots until now, she has never said anything like wanting to be with her or switch with Meng Jiandi.
She didn't want to, but she felt a little upset that Zhou Jiani didn't mention it, so she turned her head to greet Meng Jiandi, but when she glanced over there out of the corner of her eye, she found that Zhou Jiani had turned around to talk to Sun Ping and Yu Wanxia.
Liu Ailing took a breath and smiled at Meng Jiandi: "I'm very happy to be able to accompany Comrade Meng."
Meng Jiandi had a good impression of Liu Ailing and said happily, "I'm very happy too, Comrade Liu Ailing. I hope you will give me more guidance in the future."
After drawing the lots, Zhang Baosheng said loudly, "Everyone, have a good rest today and get familiar with your living quarters. Gather here at five o'clock tomorrow morning for the morning shift."
"Five o'clock? That's too early..." Zhao Weiguo was about to protest when Bai Haoyang, one of the male educated youth, patted him on the shoulder with a smile and asked, "Where are you from, buddy?"
"provincial capital."
"I'm from the capital, please take care of me in the future."
"Oh, okay!"
This interruption calmly averted the impending dispute.
Qiu Zeming glanced at Han Yang, walked over to shake his hand, and said with a smile, "The fact that the old educated youth group sent Comrade Han as a representative shows that everyone respects you. We're new here and don't know some of the rules. As the elder brother, you have to take care of us."
Han Yang met Qiu Zeming's gaze, and for some reason, he shuddered guiltily, then smiled awkwardly, "Okay, okay."
Zhao Xiulan waited until they finished their greetings before calling out, "Men, follow me except for those going to the educated youth camp. Even if it's not my home, I'll take you there too."
Han Yang quickly took Zhao Weiguo and Wang Changzheng back to the educated youth site.
Just as Liu Yuezhen was about to greet the female educated youth, a little girl ran over with sweat all over her brow.
"Huihui, you're just in time." Liu Yuezhen quickly pointed at Zhou Jiani and the other two, "This is yours. Take it over quickly so I don't have to make a trip."
The little girl, who looked about seven or eight years old, was pale and thin, with her hair like dry grass tied into two pigtails. She looked at Zhou Jiani and the others with a bit of curiosity, and whispered nervously, "My father's name is Zhang Kaishan. Sisters, come with me!"
Zhou Jiani knew this little girl. She was the daughter of Zhang Kaishan and Zhao Mei, the couple's only child.
She bent down and greeted with a smile: "Your name is Huihui, right? My name is Zhou Jiani, you can call me Sister Jiani."
Zhang Huihui was worried that the new educated youth would dislike her family or be aggressive, but she didn't expect this beautiful sister to be so kind. She smiled shyly and said softly, "Sister Jiani, my full name is Zhang Huihui."
Zhou Jiani smiled and said, "Comrade Zhang Huihui, thank you very much for taking us to your home."
They went to get their luggage.
Liu Ailing's jaw dropped. Didn't Zhou Jiani always dislike children? And the little girl was so dirty, with sweat streaking down her face. A pair of tiny, black hands even tried to grab Zhou Jiani's bag, and yet Zhou Jiani didn't get mad?
Zhang Huihui had a preconceived impression that she was a little close to Zhou Jiani. When she saw Zhou Jiani going to get her luggage, she quickly reached out to help: "Sister Jiani, let me help you."
The large package and two handbags were very heavy, and Zhou Jiani couldn't bear to refuse the little girl's kindness. She handed over the empty thermos and basin and said with a smile, "Huihui, please help me carry this. It's hard for me to carry it."
The little girl had never been accepted like this by outsiders. Her face turned red with excitement and she nodded with bright eyes. She took it and ran forward. After running a few steps, she stopped and waited for them.
Sun Ping and several others quickly followed, carrying bags on their shoulders.
In the back, Liu Ailing waited until Liu Yuezhen finished greeting her before stepping forward and asking with a smile, "Auntie, is Huihui's house very big?"
It can actually accommodate three educated youths.
Liu Yuezhen sighed and said, "It's not big, but it's still a poor family."
Seeing that the girls who had followed her showed a desire to listen, she continued, "Zhang Kaishan is in poor health. He gets out of breath after walking a few steps. They say he has a serious heart disease, but his family is poor and can't afford treatment, so they can only take care of him. His brother and sister-in-law disliked them as a burden, so they split up the family property, and they were left with a room and a shed."
"We temporarily helped the village solve the resettlement problem for the educated youth, offering work points as compensation. Zhao Mei... Huihui's mother, took the initiative to contact the village and said that her family of three had moved into a shed and that they were vacating the house for the educated youth to live in, hoping that the village would take care of them."
Liu Ailing frowned and casually said to Meng Jiandi, "There's a patient at that hospital. I'm not sure if Jiani would accept it. If I had known, I would have switched with her."
Although Zhou Jiani had improved, Meng Jiandi still had a deep preconceived impression of her, and subconsciously said with concern, "Ah, please don't make a fuss!"
Liu Yuezhen's face turned pale. She said, "What do you mean? Who has so many problems? His disease is not contagious..."
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