Chapter Thirteen: Arrival

Under the threat of wolves, everyone hurried along and finally managed to return to the village before nightfall.

By then, the villagers had finished their work in the fields, and many had gathered at the entrance to catch a glimpse of the new educated youth. Critiquing and gossiping about newcomers was one of their few amusements.

“Oh my, look at that young man—so handsome!”

“I wonder what he ate growing up—he must be at least six feet tall.”

“Good looks and tall, too. I wonder if he has a sweetheart? My niece is at the age for matchmaking.”

“But looks alone aren’t enough. If he can earn six work points in the fields, then I’ll introduce my niece to him.”

Han Li...

Among this group, he was the tallest, and as soon as he entered the village, he was already being discussed for a match?

Yang Xiuying and Hao Hongmin, walking behind, sneaked a poke at Han Li’s lower back. Their exhaustion had already vanished. Hearing the auntie’s words, they found it amusing, though they laughed a bit too soon.

“Look at those two little girls standing side by side—how pretty! Such fair, delicate faces; you just want to dote on them.”

“The taller one looks sturdy enough to feed a child, but the shorter one only has that lovely face going for her.”

“It’s a pity neither has much of a backside—who knows if they’ll bear sons in the future.”

Yang Xiuying, Hao Hongmin...

“Old Lady Zhang, are you trying to find a wife for your Dog Egg again? If you ask me, you’re wasting your time—unless those girls are blind, how could they possibly take a fancy to your son?”

“Liang Wu’s wife, just because the brigade leader’s your kin doesn’t mean you can spout nonsense. If you rile me up, I’ll tear your mouth apart.”

“What’s wrong with my son? I’ll have you know, these days the poorer you are, the more honorable. Whose family in this village is poorer than ours?”

“All pale and delicate—if you ask me, they must be ZBJ’s descendants. If my son fancies them, it’s their good fortune.”

“This is a chance for them to leap out of the fire pit. Only a fool would let it slip away.”

There were many, many such remarks. For Han Li, it was the first time in two lifetimes he’d overheard such titillating gossip.

But others were less amused, urging those ahead to walk faster.

Han Li decided that, given the chance, he would chat with these old aunties and experience the pleasures of this rural intelligence network for himself.

Village Chief Zhao paid no mind to the women’s chatter—he was long accustomed to it. Laboring from dawn till dusk, if people didn’t gossip a little, what else was there to do?

As long as nothing touched on matters of principle, it was nothing to fuss over. Chief Zhao merely barked a few words and then fell silent.

Because they’d been the subject of so much pointing and whispering along the way, the atmosphere among the newcomers was subdued. At least, though, the pace quickened, and soon they arrived at the Educated Youth Compound, a spacious courtyard.

It was said to have once belonged to a rural landlord. The construction had no particular plan to it—just one word: “big.”

The front yard had once had a gatehouse, but someone had knocked it down, claiming it was to prevent the owner from locking himself in and hoarding things. Most of the rooms in the eastern wing had collapsed; even the beams, tiles, and rafters had been pilfered.

The west side had been the kitchen and firewood storage, now nothing but ruins. Allegedly, this was the doing of a previous batch of educated youth. After cooking, they hadn’t properly extinguished the stove fire. A gust of wind sent embers flying, igniting the woodpile and burning the place down. The two who had cooked that day were reportedly sent to a farm—one of those truly miserable places.

Now, only the central main hall of this old landlord’s compound was still intact. Of the five large tiled rooms, only three were habitable; the beams in the other two had also vanished.

The backyard was especially large. In a far corner, away from the house, stood a makeshift shed for storing firewood. The rest of the land had been planted with vegetables by the older educated youth, to help cut daily expenses.

Only participants could enjoy the vegetables from the backyard garden; otherwise, you had to pay to trade with the group.

“Sun Yong, Jiang Xiaoli, come out for a moment.”

No sooner had Chief Zhao spoken than two people emerged from inside, grinning broadly.

“Chief Zhao, you’re here. Are these the new arrivals? Welcome, welcome!”

“These two are the male and female team leaders for the educated youth here. They’ll explain everything to you.”

“As usual, once they’ve settled in, send them to the committee to get an advance on rations.”

“You newcomers, hurry up and unload the cart. The ox is exhausted.”

“I need to take the ox to the shed to rest—you just follow Sun Yong and Jiang Xiaoli’s instructions.”

“You’ll have tomorrow off to buy daily necessities. The day after, you’ll start work for real.”

Once the newcomers had finished unloading, Chief Zhao took the ox cart and left.

By the time they carried their things into the compound, several people were already inside.

One look at their clothes and demeanor, and it was clear these were the older educated youth, their faces bearing an unmistakable trace of numbness.

Sun Yong spoke, “Welcome to Shanghe Village Production Brigade. I’m Sun Yong, the male team leader for the educated youth.”

“This is Jiang Xiaoli, our female team leader. Altogether, there are seven of us living here: four men and three women. Let’s introduce ourselves.”

“Hello, I’m Shen Guoqing, from...”

“Hello, I’m Lin Ziqiang, from...”

“Wei Chunlan.”

“Hello, I’m Li Hongxia, from...”

In a short while, introductions were complete. The new arrivals were so weary their legs felt like jelly—all they wanted was to sleep.

Sun Yong continued, “I know you’re all tired from the journey, but there’s one more thing.”

“Once your rooms are assigned, I’ll take you to the committee to get an advance on rations—it’s a matter of whether you’ll go hungry.”

“These rations aren’t free; after the autumn harvest, you’ll pay them back with your work points.”

“In fact, your timing is good. The fieldwork isn’t too hard right now.”

“Work for a couple of months, and by autumn you’ll have saved up enough points to exchange for grain. When I arrived, it was winter.”

“The village granary was nearly empty, the rations for educated youth not enough, and we still had to pay in work points.”

“Later, the chief allowed us to use money in place of work points, so we scraped together enough to get through that winter.”

The sharp ones understood immediately—this was just a roundabout way of buying grain with cash. Since the villagers also got a share of the money, they had no complaints.

This was a blessing for educated youth like Han Li, but for those who weren’t welcomed at home, it was another story.

“Male educated youth, follow me. Girls, go with Jiang Xiaoli. The sooner you finish, the sooner you can rest.”

The rooms were in the authentic northeastern style: as soon as you entered, you saw a large heated kang bed stretching from east to west.