Soon, several young people gathered around Uncle Lao Gen and his group. They were carrying packages and their faces were full of energy. Although they had been on the train for several days, they did not look tired.
It's so good to be young.
This year, Wuzihe Commune was assigned a total of 25 educated youth. Uncle Lao Gen first took them to the county's educated youth office to register, and then waited for the tractor sent by the commune to arrive.
“You’re lucky. You happened to catch a tractor that was available. In the past, you would have to take an oxcart or walk there.”
Uncle Laogen sighed. During farming season, the tractor was busy as a spinning top, but today he happened to have some free time, which allowed him to benefit from the opportunity.
The train station in this industrial city was bustling and well-developed. The educated youth were initially excited, but after leaving, they arrived in a county town that was clearly less prosperous. It didn't matter; they could still be here.
But from what Uncle Lao Gen said, they would have to ride the tractor for a while before they could get off. Some of the city kids were unhappy. Why was it so remote? Wasn't this supposed to be an industrial city with factories everywhere?
Their family arranged for them to come here, and they deliberately avoided sending them to the Great Northern Wilderness to reclaim wasteland, not to some dilapidated rural area.
Finally, the tractor arrived. They had been working in the fields this morning, and the tractor was covered in mud and grass. Everyone hesitated as they carried their luggage.
"Why is it so dirty? They didn't even clean up after knowing we were coming today."
"That's right, wasn't it said that we should cooperate well with the work of the educated youth?"
Three tractors came to pick up people. The three tractor drivers were usually the envy of everyone in the brigade. Normally, they wouldn't be given this kind of job picking people up.
In other words, their leaders were vain and wanted to show off in front of the educated youth, saying that their commune had a high degree of mechanization.
As you can see, they didn't appreciate it at all.
Uncle Lao Gen and Liu Jiandong had already climbed up quickly. If they didn't sit down, they would have to walk down, and he didn't believe they would have the strength to walk for several hours.
Each tractor driver had a seat next to him, while the rest of the drivers had to sit in the back. Uncle Lao Gen and Liu Jiandong took two seats, and Lu Ronghui took advantage of everyone's hesitation to throw her luggage onto the seat.
"Hey girl, can you climb up here?"
The tractor driver thought the group of educated youth would complain for a while, but he didn't expect one of them to be so perceptive.
“I can do it.” Lu Ronghui grabbed the handle and quickly climbed onto the high seat, leaving the other educated youth stunned.
No, aren't we all on the same side? How come she switched sides so quickly?
"If you want to sit, please come up quickly. If not, we'll be leaving now."
They just wanted to express their dissatisfaction, but they didn't want to walk for several hours. They were still a little hesitant, wondering if Uncle Lao Gen and the others would look down on them if they went up like this.
Can I leave my luggage with you?
The girl who struck up a conversation on the train didn't want her luggage to come into contact with the dirty stuff on the back of the train, whether it was mud or feces, she didn't know.
Lu Ronghui nodded; there was still room for one more person on her thigh.
Everyone else quickly climbed up, and soon the sputtering tractor took the group of educated youth to the commune.
"It's finally your turn this year, Lao Gen."
People from other brigades were already waiting in the commune office, and when they saw Lao Gen come in, they all started teasing him.
This time, Yanghe Village was assigned 11 educated youth. Since the leaders had already decided on the male-to-female ratio, he quickly picked people to go back, as there was still work to be done in the fields.
Everyone hoped to be assigned to male educated youth, because they were capable of working, unlike female educated youth, who not only worked slowly, but you also had to worry about their safety.
Uncle Lao Gen looked around and picked out six boys who looked like they could endure hardship. Zhou Han was among them. He was a little nervous, afraid that Bai Rongjun would be assigned to another brigade.
The boys easily made their choices, but the girls started to worry.
The educated youth were all quite unhappy, after all, they were all junior and senior high school graduates, but they were sent to the countryside as educated youth and had to stand there like goods for people to choose from.
It's just that Uncle Lao Gen is old and has a relaxed skin, so he didn't show any disgust on his face; otherwise, they would have been even angrier.
Lao Gen wanted to choose a girl who was strong and capable of doing farm work, but the six boys he had just chosen were already the best among the batch of boys, and the others refused to let him choose first.
This year, Yanghe Village has a lot of educated youth under its jurisdiction, so everyone should give way to you. There's no reason for you to get all the good things.
In the end, the remaining female educated youth were all beautiful and delicate. These girls were obviously not good at farm work, and they were all so pretty that the young men in the village might take advantage of them.
"You, you, you." Among the three people he was pointing to was Bai Jiamei. She looked quite strong, unlike the other two who were so thin.
In the end, only Bai Rongjun and another girl were left. Bai Rongjun still had tears on her face and her eyes were red. When Lao Gen saw this, he wished he could pack her up and send her away.
He looks like he can't work. If something happens to him and he tries to kill himself, the brigade leader will have to twist his head off.
Zhou Han clenched his fists, wanting Uncle Lao Gen to take Bai Rongjun away.
Bai Jiamei silently told herself no. She remembered the name Uncle Lao Gen, which had appeared several times in the book. He should be the villager that the female protagonist was originally assigned to. She never expected that she would return to the plot after all this time.
Lu Ronghui made an impression on Uncle Laogen from the very beginning. Since he was going to choose five female educated youths anyway, he chose her from the start.
A bright-eyed child is a smart child.
Bai Jiamei didn't want Bai Rongjun to go either, as Yanghe Village was already lively enough.
"Uncle, she's my girlfriend, can I have her come with me?"
Seeing that Uncle Lao Gen clearly didn't want to pick Bai Rongjun, Zhou Han quickly spoke up.
“We’re already engaged, Uncle. She’s not in good health and can’t do farm work, so I’ll help her.”
"Okay then." Uncle Lao Gen didn't mind. Since someone was helping him, the team didn't need to provide any extra subsidies.
Soon the tractor carried 11 educated youth back to Yanghe Village, and the villagers in the fields started gossiping as they watched the tractor go in the direction it was heading.
"I wonder how the educated youth assigned this year are doing?"
"What can happen? The first three months will definitely be a nightmare."
They hadn't come before, in June or July, when the fields weren't this busy, and the educated youth couldn't handle it. Now it's spring plowing, and the brigade leader wants the villagers to work non-stop. These delicate city kids definitely can't take it.
"You wait here, the captain will be here soon."
In the end, the brigade leader didn't come; he only sent the village secretary to bring the grain.
"We're giving you grain now. This grain is a loan from the team, and you'll have to pay it back with work points later."
The next grain distribution will be during the autumn harvest. You all need to see how many months we have left, so distribute your grain wisely. Don't run out and ask the team for more; we don't have any extra grain.”
The Party Secretary took out a scale, distributed the grain to them, and then took them to the educated youth settlement before leaving.
"The brigade will not make arrangements for you; you will allocate the land yourselves. We will assign you private plots tomorrow."
The village secretary left, and the new educated youth stood there looking lost. This was not what they had expected. They thought the village would welcome them to help build the countryside, but it seemed that the villagers didn't care at all.
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