Chapter Fourteen: The Situation at the Educated Youth Compound

The room was styled in the typical northeastern fashion. As soon as one stepped inside, the most prominent feature was the large kang bed stretching from east to west. The kang in this room needed to be fired separately, as Han Li noticed the firebox for burning beneath it. There was another kind of kang in the northeast, where the heated walls and the kang were connected to the kitchen stove. The heated wall would have a flue leading up to the roof, so if you saw a chimney on top of someone’s house, it usually meant they used this type of stove. When meals were cooked, this kind of stove would heat both the room and the kang, allowing the whole family to savor the warmth of home and hearth. To cope with the long, bitter winters, the locals’ ingenuity was on full display.

Aside from the kang, the only other space in the room was a narrow passageway; the rest was cluttered with boxes, thermos flasks, shoes, and all sorts of odds and ends. The kang itself was no small thing, but with four people already living there, adding a fifth would make it nearly impossible to even turn over in bed. Han Li simply couldn’t live in a place like this. For one thing, he had secrets; what if he talked in his sleep? And the room was filled with sweaty men after a day of farmwork. Combine that with their smelly feet, and the air was thick with a pungent, sour tang.

Another concern was the money and goods his family sent him every month. Even if he wanted to prepare his own meals, it would be inconvenient here. They worked together, returned together to the youth spot—if he ate alone, should he share with everyone? If he didn’t, people would gossip and he might end up isolated. But if he did, where would it end? He couldn’t keep giving indefinitely. In these times, every penny his family sent was hard-earned; they cared for him, but he couldn’t be wasteful. There was always the story of the single grain of rice that fosters gratitude, and the bushel that breeds resentment—he had no idea who might turn out to be the “frozen snake” in his midst.

Han Li pondered all this as he started tidying up his spot without pause. While making his bed, he considered ways to move out. He was new here, unfamiliar with many things. He decided to ask the older youths if anyone had managed to move out before. If there was a precedent, he wouldn’t need to use up the favor he had with the village chief. Aunt Liu had already spoken to the village chief, asking him to take care of Han Li as much as possible, but favors are a two-way street; they only grow deeper if both sides can help each other. As an outsider with little to offer, Han Li knew that using up such favors would only leave him more indebted or make them less valuable. Especially since he’d be staying here for several years, he planned to avoid relying on favors unless absolutely necessary.

While Han Li was straightening his bedding, a commotion broke out among the girls in the other room. Their kang was about the same size as the boys’, but women, being naturally particular, argued not just over the quality of their sleeping spots, but also over every inch of space. With all the belongings girls tend to have, space was always scarce. The older educated youths, frustrated after years of being stuck in the countryside without a chance to return home, were full of pent-up resentment, while the newcomers had been pampered at home. So the newly arrived youths clashed with the veterans, and not even the others could pull them apart.

Jiang Xiaoli shouted, “Enough! There’s only so much space here. If you don’t want to stay, you can rent a spot in a villager’s house and have a kang all to yourself. Then you can do whatever you like—even if you turn yourself into a village wife, nobody will care.”

The other girls fell silent.

At that moment, the boys, having heard the ruckus, came over. They didn’t go inside but called out from outside, “Jiang Xiaoli, what’s going on over there? The village chief is still waiting for us. We still have to make a welcome meal for the new arrivals—can you girls hurry up a bit and keep it down?”

Sun Yong’s shout brought the group of girls back to their senses, though they continued to glare at each other in silence.

Han Li asked, “Brother Sun, since the housing at our youth spot is so tight, is there really no other solution?”

Sun Yong sighed, “There are plenty of ways, but most people aren’t willing to pay the price. One is to rent a room in a villager’s house. If you pay a little rent each month, they might even cook for you. But where people eat, there’s always friction, and you’re not actually family. Arguments happen—sometimes over food, sometimes over the amount of grain, and so on. For the male youths, it’s not as bad; at worst, they just move back here if they can’t get along, but their reputation always suffers. The villagers spread gossip about them being greedy, lazy, sly, or worse, and target them during work. Many can’t stand the rumors and end up asking to be transferred to another village. But it’s even worse for the girls. Over time, some were taken advantage of while living with villagers. That caused a huge stir back then—several village heads and brigade leaders were dismissed on the spot. Since then, most villages have stopped suggesting that educated youths stay with villagers. Instead, many villages now allow those with the means to build their own houses. The most annoying thing is, you can pay to build it, and live in it as long as you’re here, but when you leave, the house belongs to the village. You have no right to sell or give it away to anyone. Building a house is no small expense; at least in Shanghe Village, not a single youth has done it. The main reason is that everyone still thinks they might be able to go home tomorrow, so nobody wants to waste money here.”

Han Li pondered this. Did people really believe they could return? It was self-deception, a way to comfort themselves, perhaps the only thing keeping many going. Still, upon hearing that it was possible to build his own house, Han Li made up his mind. He would talk to the village chief about building and find out how much it would cost. If all went as expected, he’d be here for over four years—not just a few months. He couldn’t keep making do like this for over two thousand days and nights; it was only right to treat himself better.

Men tended to be more easygoing. The new male youths, Han Li among them, quickly settled their bedding. The room was stuffy and pungent, so they squatted in the courtyard to chat. It was a long time before the girls finally emerged, eyes red and puffy—Yang Xiuying and Hao Hongmin had clearly been crying. Led by Sun Yong, they all headed to the village office.