He Hua could only go to Chen Gang to discuss what to do.
They discussed going to the village head to ask if there were any straw mats or wooden basins for sale in the village. Fortunately, some people in the village knew how to weave reed mats. They bought one for two cents each, and it only cost them four cents.
I bought two more wooden basins, five cents each, for a total of one dollar. I'll have to buy toothbrushes, towels, and bed sheets at the supply and marketing cooperative in town the next day.
As they walked, they observed everything in the village, looking at the houses and finding that most were adobe houses or a few were simple brick and tile houses.
The village roads are mostly dirt roads, narrow and uneven. They become muddy and impassable on rainy days and dusty on sunny days.
They were all resentful, because they were the ones who had been abandoned by their families.
Life in Guangdong was a bit poor, but at least they had enough to eat and wear. Here, they had to earn work points by working in the fields, and when they were hungry and cold, they felt like the sky had fallen.
He Hua noticed that everyone in the village was tanned dark. The thought of soon being like them made her want to cry.
The youth team leader, Zhou Dajun, told them to go to the brigade headquarters to collect their rural subsidy grain: thirty jin of sweet potatoes, twenty jin of corn, and ten jin of rice, and that was all.
Hearing this, the two of them hurriedly put down their mats and, relying on the villagers' directions, finally made their way to the brigade headquarters. They were afraid that if they were even a little slow, all the grain would have already been taken.
Two hours later, Su Tian woke up. Seeing her up, Zhou Dajun told her to go collect her rations. But she was new and didn't know where the brigade headquarters was.
He went to the next room and asked Zhang Tingting, "Hello, I'd like to collect the grain rations for the rural area. Do you know where the brigade headquarters is?"
“Su Zhiqing, I know, I’ll take you away,” Zhang Tingting said in a cute voice.
Seeing Zhang Tingting's adorable appearance, Su Tian was very happy: How could someone be so cute? Her round face and sweet smile made her look like a kitten, extremely adorable.
"Zhang, how long have you been in the countryside?"
"I've been working in the countryside for over a year."
"You don't look that tanned."
"Oh, really? Because I always wear a big straw hat when I'm working, and I cover my face completely with a towel."
Where did you buy the straw hat?
"I bought it in the village. If you want it, I can take you there."
"Okay, thank you for your help."
As they talked, they arrived at the brigade headquarters twenty minutes later.
They happened to see Chen Gang and He Hua struggling to carry grain. When they saw Su Tian, they thought about how strong she was and wondered if she would help them carry it back to the educated youth settlement.
That's quite a dream. Su Tian walked straight past them, received the grain from the village accountant, and carried all the grain on her shoulders with both hands.
She asked Zhang Tingting to lead the way to the villagers' homes to buy straw hats. Zhang Tingting was amazed to see how strong Su Tian was and was immediately filled with curiosity about her.
As they walked and talked, they learned from Zhang Tingting that the newly arrived educated youth could rest for a day before they had to go to work in the fields the day after tomorrow.
Su Tian bought a straw hat, and Zhang Tingting helped carry a light bag of rice. The two chatted and laughed as they walked toward the educated youth settlement.
When they returned to the educated youth settlement, they found all the educated youth sitting together. Zhou Dajun said, "You new educated youth have already brought back the grain. Are you going to cook yourselves or cook with us old educated youth?"
The female educated youth were responsible for three meals a day, while the male educated youth were responsible for gathering and chopping firewood. They were also responsible for watering the vegetable garden behind the educated youth settlement.
Chen Gang and He Hua agreed to partner with the former educated youth. They had no choice but to partner with them, as the former educated youth had no ration coupons and only a little money. They were afraid they would starve to death if they didn't partner with them.
Thinking about those two eyesores, Su Tian just wanted to cook by herself. She quickly offered to hire someone to help build the stove and that she would gather the firewood herself. Since she didn't need to fetch water, cooking by herself would be perfectly fine.
She started the fire herself, and there was nothing else for her to do. She was in a hurry to find the brigade leader to help her find someone to build the stove.
Su Tian took a small bag of brown sugar from her room and ran to the brigade headquarters.
Seeing that Captain Song Aidang was still there, she explained her purpose. Song Aidang said he would take care of it and that Su Tian only needed to give the person building the stove two cents.
Su Tian happily stuffed the brown sugar into his hand, said several words of praise, and then turned and left.
'This Su educated youth is truly a remarkable person; she knows how to get along with people and is very generous,' Song Aidang thought to himself.
When Su Tian returned to the educated youth settlement, veteran educated youth Zheng Yuanyuan was preparing dinner. She quickly asked, "Educated Youth Su, are you having dinner with us tonight?"
"No, I bought some steamed buns at a state-run restaurant when I got off the train. I'll just have steamed buns for tonight. Thank you."
"Okay, I'll get back to work now."
Around 7 p.m., Song Aidang arrived with an elderly man. Su Tian told the old man that she wanted to build the stove in the corner outside her room.
Su Tian lived in the last room of the girls' dormitory, which was just the right place to build a stove.
The mud bricks for building the stoves were already available; Old Man Song had already picked them over, and Su Tian had told him that she wanted to build two stoves.
After hearing this, Old Man Song immediately started building. In less than thirty minutes, the earthen stove was completed.
“Su Zhiqing, this earthen stove can be used tomorrow if we let it dry overnight. The temperature is high here and there is no rain, so it dries quickly.”
"Oh, thank you so much, Uncle Song, here's your wages."
Su Tian slipped two cents and two White Rabbit candies to Old Man Song, and also gave two to Brigade Leader Song Aidang.
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