Chapter 5 Another one
Although Jinzhou is the capital of Jiangzhou Province, it is located in the central part of Xiahua State. It is far inferior to the coastal cities and the two cities of Beihu in terms of transportation and economy.
Seeing the dilapidated, dirty, and desolate streets with barely any 28-inch bicycles, everyone was dumbfounded. If the provincial capital was like this, what about the villages below!
They belatedly realized that devoting themselves to rural development and construction was not just a simple slogan.
It is now the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month. The winter in Tianjin and Zhou combines the howling cold of the north and the lingering cold of the south, so that even if people wrap themselves tightly in cotton coats, they still cannot feel much warmth.
The place that the An brothers and sisters were going to was quite far away. They had to take a three-hour bus ride to the Yanzhen Youth League Institute to meet up with their fellow villagers. It was also said that they had to walk 15 kilometers of mountain roads!
"The bus leaves in two hours. Let's check our luggage and go buy some daily necessities together. The supply and marketing cooperative in the town below must not have a complete range of goods." Qi Yunlan suggested with a chuckle, and everyone agreed.
Time was tight, so everyone decided to act separately. The An brothers and sisters looked at each other. They had already made a detailed list on the train. Now they each took their money and rushed to the supply and marketing cooperatives, grain stations, etc. with everyone else.
An Zhixia was wearing shabby clothes, and the other girls looked at her with a certain amount of contempt and alienation. After all, no one wanted to put too much thought into a relationship that had no purpose.
Qi Yunlan, on the other hand, took her arm affectionately and said with a smile, "I was worried that I would be alone when I got there, but I didn't expect that I would have a little sister. We must take care of each other in the future."
The others who had eaten Qi Yunlan's snacks in the car echoed and said to An Zhixia: "You are so lucky. Comrade Qi Yunlan is gentle, beautiful, generous, and very talented. I don't know how many people want to be in the same group with her."
An Zhixia had a wooden face and pulled her arm out. "Didn't you say time was tight? You guys keep on boasting here, I'm going to go buy something." Then she strode to catch up with her brother and ran to the supply and marketing cooperative first.
"With her poor and ugly appearance, she still has the nerve to pick on Qiao?"
"Don't I have a brother who flatters me?"
A group of girls burst into laughter after hearing this. In the school, the An siblings had a very good reputation for being poor. Except for a few careless boys who were close to An Zhiqiu, the rest of the people simply ignored them.
Qi Yunlan shook her head helplessly: "You can't choose your family's conditions, but who can say they won't have a future? Isn't there a saying in the book that says don't despise the poor young people?"
Thinking of the handsome and tall figure in her mind, her fair face turned redder and her eyes were determined.
"Okay, okay, we know you have a good heart and can't bear to see others embarrassed," the other girls laughed and took her arms, "Anyway, our places are not far away, so we should keep in touch after we get familiar with the place!"
Not knowing the situation in the countryside, the brother and sister decided to keep a low profile and buy some necessities first, such as cloth, cotton, wool, needles and thread for making quilts, clothes, shoes and hats, daily necessities: toothbrushes, toothpaste, vanishing cream, glycerin, enamel basins, thermos, soap, etc., food: brown sugar, milk powder, biscuits, cakes, fried noodles, noodles, pickles, etc., as well as pens, notebooks, dictionaries, etc. that the brother and sister had been eyeing for a long time. In this way, they had two more bags of gifts.
From the prosperous and bustling Kyoto in the eyes of the world, we arrived at the dark and quiet Hetang Village surrounded by mountains.
While the outside world is in turmoil, this place remains as quiet as yesterday, like an ink painting of mountains and green trees that has never been invaded by modern times. Under the winter sunset, it has stunning beauty, but also an inescapable helplessness and faint despair.
From the villagers, they got a general idea of the situation in Hetang Village. It was indeed the place where Kang Xiaohua had taken great pains to send them. It was an extremely backward mountain village. The villagers depended on the weather for their livelihood and lived a poor life. Except for the secretary's son who had a worker's son and built a brick house, the village chief's house was just a mud house with a tiled roof.
The curling smoke from the cooking stove could not dispel the chilled hearts of several people. The ox cart stopped in front of a small courtyard. The people inside heard the noise and opened the doors and walked out.
"You're finally here. You must be cold, right? Come in and warm up. Uncle Wang Liu, please don't leave. We have prepared dinner for you," an older sister with short hair greeted them warmly, and the men helped to unload the luggage with a smile.
Wang Liu was an honest man. He waved his hands repeatedly, and when he saw that everything on the car was unloaded, he waved the whip and left.
"Don't be fooled by the harsh conditions in Hetang Village, but the villagers are warm and sincere, few of them are cunning, and the beautiful scenery here is unmatched elsewhere. After a while, you will like this place too," the eldest sister dragged a girl into the main hall with one hand, and introduced as she walked: "My name is Liu Yiyue, you can just call me Sister Yiyue."
The two girls quickly shouted, "Sister January."
"Hey, the one who just came in is my husband Zheng Lizhi. We are both from Ji City. We have been here for five years and live in a small room next to the kitchen. Our baby Zheng Jiaming is two years old and is sleeping in the room.
Also in the same group were Qin Dapeng and Shan Teng from Anshi, and Fei Zheng from Jinshi.
Two years later, three of them came over from Shanghai: Chen Sike, Hang Xianglei, and Nie Yichang.
The people whose names were called either smiled or nodded.
An Zhixia memorized it silently in her heart. When she was talking about Hang Xianglei, Qi Yunlan happened to introduce herself. One was tall, strong and handsome, and the other was petite, gentle and elegant. They both had the ability to make people around them become the background. She felt that something was overlooked by her.
"What's wrong?" Seeing the girl staring at the man in a daze, An Zhiqiu stood in front of her calmly and asked worriedly, "Are you tired?"
"It's nothing. I just smelled the food and felt hungry," she smiled with curved eyebrows. She had just arrived in this strange world for a few days and didn't know the people in front of her at all. What was so strange about that?
She must be overthinking it.
However, Nie Yichang, who was beside Hang Xianglei, nudged his friend with his elbow in an ambiguous way and whispered, "One problem hasn't been solved yet, and another one has come."
The latter glared at him impatiently and turned to go into the house.
"Let's eat first," Fei Zheng served the last corn paste and said with a smile, "The village chief sent the food and autumn vegetables for the four of you during the day. The food will be deducted from your work points when the food is distributed next time. There's nothing delicious in our countryside, so you must adapt as soon as possible."
On the small round table was a large bamboo basket filled with blackened steamed buns made of mixed flour. Each person had a bowl of corn paste, half a bowl of cabbage vermicelli, and half a bowl of fried potatoes and diced meat.
It seemed that such a meal was already a good meal for entertaining guests. Everyone ate with gusto and did not forget to tell the newlyweds about the rules here.
The situation of the educated youth was complicated. Except for the busy farming season and occasional gatherings, they did not eat together. Some shared meals with the villagers, while others cooked their own meals. However, everyone would take turns fetching water, boiling water, sweeping the floor, and collecting firewood.
(End of this chapter)
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