"At your age, why are you still studying?"
As great people have said, it's never too late to learn.
"But at this age, your mind gets slower too."
"It's not like you'll become a prodigy in a day. You can't recognize ten characters a day, and you can't even remember one. If you remember one character a day, you'll have 365 characters a year. In less than three years, you'll basically know all the commonly used characters."
"May I?"
"Whether it's possible or not, you'll know once you try. Besides, there are many benefits to being literate. For example, if you go to the county town and need to use the toilet, you won't need to ask; you'll all know where it is."
Another thing is, when we go out to run errands, being literate is much more convenient than being illiterate. For example, there are many child swindlers these days; they not only steal children but also cheat adults. If we were all literate, we could go to the police station and tell them where we live. You wouldn't think that in such a big country like ours, there's only one Gujiawaizi Brigade in Daying Commune, Fusong County.”
Isn't that so?
"How is this possible?"
"Sometimes there are many place names with the same pronunciation but different characters, so even if you can't write them, you still need to be able to read them. Once someone writes them down, you won't go wrong. You won't get lost anywhere."
"You can do it this way too."
Of course.
"Looks like I'll have to make sure the kids at home study hard."
"yes"
"Tuition alone costs several yuan a year. Even if it doesn't get me into university, I'll at least have to graduate from junior high school by the time I graduate from high school."
"That's right, our daughter needs to go to school and learn to read. That way, she'll have an edge over her in-laws."
"You're right. Back then, girls who could read definitely had an easier time finding husbands than those who couldn't."
"that is"
After this casual conversation, every household in the brigade began to urge their children to study. Some adults even got to know their children, and as a result, after the reform and opening up, they started small businesses nearby, which was better than farming for a lifetime.
When I finished work at noon, my third and fourth brothers hadn't come back. I cooked some food for myself, rested in the room for a while, and when the sun wasn't so hot, I carried my basket and went into the mountains. I'm strong, and I can finish what others do in a day in half a day. It's not that I work particularly fast or that the task is easy, but rather that everyone feels it's not the busy farming season and everyone is just slacking off.
I don't really feel that way. If I finish early, I can tend to my own little plot of land, or go up the mountain to gather wild produce and firewood, or even hunt some game. Since I came here, there have been quite a few pheasants and rabbits in the space. I've cleaned them all and put them in the kitchen. In winter, I'll make them into dried chicken, preserved rabbit, or something similar. If all else fails, I can take the meat out and make jerky.
There were also quite a few wood ear mushrooms and other fungi in the space, which I dried and stored in burlap sacks. These were all wild dried goods, much better than those artificially cultivated in later generations, and had higher nutritional value.
When I came back down the mountain in the evening, I saw several unmarried young women from the village near their homes. Normally, neither the girls nor the young men from the village would come here. What was going on?
Seeing that the gate to Chen Enpeng's house next door was unlocked, I stood outside and called out:
Are Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie, both former educated youth, at home?
"Hey Li Zhiqing, are you home? Is something the matter?"
"I need to go out for a bit."
"Oh well"
The two people came out quickly, and I recounted what I had seen near the entrance.
Chen Enpeng said, "They weren't targeting the two of us."
"Ah, you mean you're here for Third Brother and his group?"
"It should be"
"But they've already set such high standards, and they still won't give up."
"So what you said this morning was something you deliberately told someone to hear?" Chen Junjie said in surprise.
"Yes! Besides, my third brother has just come of age, so marriage is still a long way off."
"So they're still not giving up?" Chen Junjie asked.
"I'm afraid it's not that simple," Chen Enpeng said.
"What do you mean?"
"They might stage a chance encounter, or even a staged accident, and with someone stirring things up, the girls in the village will be ruined and have no choice but to cling to you. You won't even be able to agree to anything then, or they'll go back and report you for indecent assault," I said.
"It can't be that bad," Chen Enpeng said.
"Wow, that's terrifying!" Chen Junjie asked.
"Whether it's that serious or not, I don't know. Alright, I know they're after Third Brother and the others, so I know what to do."
"By the way, how's work going for you two lately?"
"Not bad, we've all gotten used to it. We even finished work half an hour earlier today than yesterday."
"That's fine."
"We plan to try and finish work earlier each day over the next week. We don't need to be as early as you, just two hours earlier each day. We're also planning to go into the mountains to gather some wild produce and firewood."
"Sure, as long as my body can handle it."
"There shouldn't be any problem."
"That's good. Alright, I'm not chatting with you guys anymore, I need to go home and cook."
"Let's go back, we're cooking too."
I glanced at the few people standing not far away, still feeling uneasy. I put the basket in the yard and went out without tidying up. Seeing that they were still there, I ran towards the foot of the mountain, gathering firewood while waiting for my two older brothers.
After hearing me lock the door, Chen Enpeng and Chen Junjie, who lived next door, said, "Pengzi, do you think what Li Mianmian said might be true?"
"I really don't know, but those people outside the door definitely don't have good intentions."
"Then what should we do?"
"I don't know, we can only be more cautious."
"How can there be such a person? Seeing others..."
"There are all kinds of people out there! Not to mention Li Mianmian's two brothers, we two also need to be careful in this regard, we can't let anyone take advantage of us."
You're right.
"I wonder when we'll be able to go back."
"I don't know if I can go back, but I do know that when it comes to marriage, I definitely have to find someone I like, and who also likes me, otherwise I can't live like this."
You're right.
"From now on, don't be alone with the women in the village unless necessary. If you have any problems, go directly to the brigade headquarters and find the brigade leader."
"Yes, they also have women of marriageable age in their family, so it's safer to go to the brigade headquarters. From now on, whatever we do, let's go together."
"Yes, that's it."
"Mianmian, what are you doing here? Fourth Brother saw me gathering firewood and asked..."
"I had nothing to do at home, so I came over to gather firewood."
"Is something wrong, Mianmian?" Third Brother asked.
"After checking that no one was around, I recounted what I had seen that morning and just now at my front door."
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