"No? You want me to give you some food! Wait a minute, Captain, didn't we just give you a month's worth of rations yesterday? It hasn't even been a day, and you've already finished them all. If I remember correctly, when I first came here, the Captain gave each of us 35 jin of grain, and you guys should have received the same. That's a huge appetite, and you finished it all in one day!"
"Yes, Li Zhiqing is right."
"The battalion commander wouldn't refuse to give you food."
"I... I didn't mean that. I haven't had anything proper to eat since last night. I'm injured and resting in the dorm. I heard you guys were cooking, so I thought I'd come over and ask if you could give me something to eat."
Another thing is that we still have the food we received, but the key is that some of us don't know how to cook. Could you give us a few to eat first? We're really starving."
"What! No offense to you, Ruan Zhiqing, but the cornbread we made is for the autumn harvest. Besides, our food supplies are limited! How can we lend it to you?"
"yes"
“Li Zhiqing is right. We don’t have much grain left. We’re trying to earn more work points during the autumn harvest so we can get more grain. We didn’t earn much grain last year, and the grain we’re eating now is from privately exchanging with the production team.”
"Mianmian, look, we're from the same place, and even if we're not classmates, we've lived in the same compound for so long. How can you bear to see yourself go hungry?"
Seeing her cry, I realized she was trying to morally blackmail me. "You cry, don't you? I cry too," she said, pinching my thigh hard until it hurt so much I almost cried, and said:
“Ruan Zhiqing! Are we close? Not to mention when we were in school, we were deskmates for half a semester. I was only 6 years old then, and you were 2 years older than me. You even led the other students around us to not play with me.”
When you married Uncle Zhang along with your mother, I was already in junior high school. Back then, I was either at school or hanging out with the older kids next door, either doing morning exercises or going up the mountain to find food. We didn't even exchange a single word, and you're already talking about "us"? How are we close?
Not to mention anything else, after my parents sacrificed their lives last year, I haven't seen your family help me at all! Not even a single word of comfort! Waaah, you're asking me for food, but that's food I painstakingly traded with others! We don't even have enough food for ourselves, how could we give it to you! Aren't you just bullying me?"
Chen Enpeng and Chen Enpeng had never seen Li Zhiqing cry before. No matter what happened, they would talk it out calmly, or if they couldn't solve it, they would use their fists. After knowing each other for so long, this was the first time they had seen Li Mianmian cry.
Chen Enpeng sensed something was wrong and quickly whispered to Chen Junjie, "Jiezi, go find the brigade leader right away and tell her that Ruan Zhiqing bullied Mianmian until she cried. Also, if you see anyone else in the team, tell them too, because I'm worried that Mianmian might get bullied if there aren't enough people around."
"Okay, I'll go right away."
“Mianmian, I didn’t isolate you with my classmates. And Mianmian, you know that at that time, your mother had just married your current father, so she didn’t go to play with you.”
As for when your parents sacrificed their lives, I thought of comforting you and helping you, but I can't make decisions about family matters!
Besides, all I did was borrow some food from you. It's not like I'm not going to pay you back. Why are you crying so hard?
Upon hearing this, she cried even louder and said, "Dad, Mom, why didn't you take your daughter with you when you left?"
Why leave me all alone! How am I supposed to survive at such a young age? I finally made it to the countryside and I'm even able to get enough to eat?
Some people, seeing that I am young, claim to be my classmate or that we live in the same residential compound. Even though I have only spoken a few words to them, they claim to be acquaintances and even come to my door asking for food.
Mom and Dad, please come and take our daughter away! Zhang Dabiao's stepdaughter is bullying our daughter! Not only is she two years younger than her, but she also doesn't take care of us and even asks us for food!
"Mom and Dad, she's bullying us! Didn't Grandpa Chen and Grandpa Ma say that you are martyrs who sacrificed your lives for the country, and that we are the children of martyrs, entitled to protection? Why is she bullying us and eating our food?!"
Meanwhile, Chen Junjie took off running towards the fields, telling everyone he met along the way, "Uncle, Aunt, please hurry to the educated youth compound! Mianmian has been bullied by the new educated youth, and she's crying."
"What? Li Zhiqing cried?"
"Yes, we need your help, elders. Her parents sacrificed their lives for the country. She came to our brigade after being sent to the countryside, so she's now one of us."
"We'll go right now. Chen, you hurry to the north slope field, where's the brigade leader?"
"well"
The others also stopped going up the mountain and hurried to the educated youth compound. In their memory, Li, the educated youth, had gone to the countryside at a young age. She was not afraid of hardship or fatigue, was hardworking and could endure hardship, and was more sensible than their own children. After learning that her parents had sacrificed their lives, they all felt sorry for her.
The key point is that they didn't look down on these country bumpkins because of their parents' achievements, and they treated them very well.
Meanwhile, the brigade leader was scolding the newly arrived educated youth: "This is what you did in a day, and you're not even as fast as the kids in the team. You haven't even finished cutting the soybean stalks in two ditches, and you're still complaining about how hard it is! Chairman Mao said: 'Make up your mind, fear no sacrifice, overcome all difficulties, and strive for victory!' Isn't that the slogan you shout every day? This is what you're like..."
"Captain, Captain, something terrible has happened! Ruan Zhiqing has bullied Mianmian until she cried, and he's even bullied her right outside her house!"
"What! Chen Zhiqing, what did you say? Who bullied whom?" Gu Zhengsong asked.
"Uncle Songshu, Captain, all you uncles, aunts, brothers, and sisters-in-law, you must stand up for Mianmian! The newly arrived educated youth Ruan came to Mianmian's door asking for food and even bullied her until she cried. Mianmian has such a good personality! Even though she's strong, she has never used her strength to bully anyone!"
"Li, the educated youth, really cried."
"Uncle Accountant, why would I lie to you? It won't put food on the table."
"Let's all go and see! No matter what it is, Li Zhiqing is the daughter of a martyr, and now she's a member of our brigade. We can't let anyone bully her."
"The brigade leader is right. Li Zhiqing's parents sacrificed their lives to defend the country. We can't let the martyrs feel disheartened."
"that is"
"Besides, Li, the educated youth, not only came to our area at a very young age, but he also started working with us adults when he was 13 or 14. He never slacked off, and he always fared much better than us."
Meanwhile, Ruan Yuanyuan never expected me to cry like this. She was about to say, "Mianmian, I didn't bully anyone, I just..."
"Hey new educated youth, why are you bullying Li?"
"I didn't, I really didn't... I just came here..."
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