In the past, if it were announced that the educated youths would be staying in villagers’ homes, people would have jumped up enthusiastically to volunteer.
Why? Because when educated youths lived with the locals, their rations were pooled together. Those in difficult situations would eye the youths’ rations. When the youths didn’t have enough, they would often spend money to buy coarse grains. Some of the more well-off ones even had little snacks. Households with children could benefit from this arrangement.
But now…
After the collapse of the educated youth center, all of their stored grain was buried inside. Although later that night, the team leader of the educated youths, Yang Hong, organized people to dig it out, they only managed to recover part of it.
The collapse at their site was different from others. Most villagers just had hailstones punch holes in their roofs, but the educated youth center’s beams gave way. If people hadn’t escaped quickly, there could have been serious casualties.
Their luggage was also dug out, but much of it was damaged or ruined.
Several of the youths were injured as well.
Under such circumstances, who would be willing to take them in and support them?
Tian Youfu also mentioned replanting spring crops. Food would definitely be tight, and whether the youths’ rations would even be distributed was now uncertain.
On top of that, replanting meant there’d be more work to do. Spring crops grow fast, and there would be barely any downtime afterward. They wouldn’t have time to repair the educated youth center until about August. That meant housing them for nearly four months!
No money, no food, and a long stay ahead—villagers immediately became reluctant.
Tian Youfu waited and waited, but not a single person raised their hand.
The educated youths became indignant. They had been struck by hail, their center destroyed, their personal belongings and rations damaged to varying degrees, and on top of that, the new batch had only arrived a day ago before encountering this disaster…
And now they were being disliked!?
Yang Hong, who had been here longer, managed to stay calm even though she was clearly holding back her frustration. Her tone remained relatively gentle:
“Captain, you need to make a decision for us. We came here as part of the countryside assignment. The collapse of the center wasn’t anyone’s fault—after all, it was a natural disaster. We’ve accepted our losses, but something has to be done about the food. It’ll take time to rebuild the center, but we can’t be expected to work in the fields on empty stomachs.”
The villagers didn’t respond because nobody knew exactly what had happened to the youths’ rations. Among the youths, situations varied as well. The new ones had just received five jin of grain yesterday, so their losses were minimal. But the older ones had received theirs before last year’s New Year—almost all of that was buried in the collapse.
Jiang Lei became anxious and shouted, “We must be given an explanation!”
Most of the luggage he brought was crushed. His lunchbox was deformed, and his quilt had been soaked in dirty water. Last night, he had to sleep wearing his heavy coat.
He was heartbroken—he hadn’t brought much, and what he had was hard-earned. Losing most of it made him extremely upset.
Bai Ling stood quietly beside him, head lowered, lost in thought.
Yu Pengcheng, who was injured worst last night, had brought the most belongings. After much effort to retrieve them, he now had no desire to speak. He just stood off to the side, waiting for a decision from the brigade.
Tian Youfu took a drag from his cigarette. He normally avoided smoking during meetings, thinking it was disrespectful—but now, he was genuinely worried.
Food. Food. Food.
Sure, there were plenty of wild vegetables on the back mountain, but they couldn’t survive on that alone until the wheat harvest.
Eating only wild greens would sap people’s strength—how were they supposed to manage the hard labor in the fields like that?
But the brigade’s food supplies were really limited, and Tian Youfu still had to reserve some, in case the higher authorities failed to send enough grain in time. So he quickly began using the stored grain to fill the gap.
At this point, not even the older educated youths could be allocated any grain, let alone the new ones whose remaining rations were barely enough.
Tian Youfu smiled bitterly. He couldn’t blame the villagers for not responding. They were all struggling with their own food supplies, and when they saw the hail from yesterday, they immediately guessed that the brigade would be short on grain.
By this time, there was no other option.
Tian Youfu said, “I, the party secretary, the accountant, and our women’s leader Wu Guihua’s family can take in seven educated youths. As for the remaining nine, I’ll discuss with the party secretary. As for the grain, it will be divided equally for now, and the rest will be made up when the autumn harvest comes.”
At this point, only the leaders could step forward.
Tian Youfu’s family had many members and limited space, but at this moment, he could only step up and say they could take in two educated youths. The party secretary, Song Dagui’s family could take in two, the accountant’s family could manage two as well, and Wu Guihua, being a new leader, could only take in one.
As for the grain, these few families would cover the need for now, and once the autumn harvest came, the brigade and the educated youths would each contribute half.
However, even though they promised to make up the grain later, it still felt like a loss. After all, everyone was tight on supplies now, especially since the hail had damaged not only the spring crops but also everyone’s private plots.
With everyone struggling, they had to tighten their belts to get by.
Tian Youfu knew that it wasn’t possible to resolve this issue in front of everyone, so he dismissed the group to work, planning to slowly approach the villagers with the party secretary and convince them.
The educated youths understood Tian Youfu’s words. Even though they would eventually have to give up half of their grain, they felt some relief.
The truth was, they had suffered heavy losses this time.
Although the villagers had lost their private plot seeds and would have to work extra, at least they wouldn’t face the immediate crisis of hunger.
The educated youths, on the other hand, had lost nearly all their belongings. Without anyone to take care of them, they would go hungry.
Tian Youfu kept all the educated youths behind to discuss the details. There was a distinction between the older and newer educated youths, and each youth’s personal situation varied. The four families of leaders had to discuss specifics as well, or it would be difficult to mobilize the villagers.
Wang Ying and Xu Shuang accompanied Old Lady Xu outside. Wang Ying had taken Old Lady Xu’s pulse earlier in the morning. After being woken up last night, Old Lady Xu had been hit by a few hailstones, and Wang Ying was worried about her health.
The three of them walked back, planning to send Old Lady Xu home to rest. After the commotion last night, few in the brigade had slept well.
Old Lady Xu held Wang Ying’s hand and hesitated for a long time before speaking.
“Ying girl, do you think I should take in a few educated youths?”
Wang Ying didn’t quite understand. She hadn’t considered the issue of educated youths staying in her own home.
Admittedly, she and Xu Shuang were among the families with better living conditions in the brigade, but there were two reasons why she couldn’t allow the youths to stay in her home. First, having an outsider in the house would feel awkward. Second, their rations weren’t abundant.
Although they went to the mountains every day to gather fresh goods, they were still short on food. Wang Ying didn’t work the fields—she earned money and worked for the rations she had, taking care of Cheng Shufen and a few others. Xu Shuang worked for a salary and grain coupons. Although they didn’t depend entirely on rationing for survival, the grain they could get from the coupons was mostly coarse grain. They couldn’t afford to eat fine grain freely.
Old Lady Xu quickly explained: “Don’t worry, I won’t ask you and Xu Shuang for grain. The grain I received last year is enough to share with two youths with small appetites.”
“I’m just thinking, this could be an opportunity. You know our family’s situation—it’s a mess. Even though Xu Shuang married you, there’s no issue now, but I still think we should be proactive. It’ll look bad if anyone in the brigade has objections…”
Old Lady Xu wasn’t blindly enthusiastic, nor did she have a saintly mindset—she had thought it through carefully.
Now, there were still nine educated youths without a place to stay, and it wouldn’t be long before they had to find homes for them. Of course, their family didn’t have to take anyone in, but if they ended up being the last to be assigned, people might think that Xu’s family was doing well and would wonder why they didn’t take in any youths.
After the incident with Xu Ming, Old Lady Xu was even more cautious now.
She feared that if others couldn’t tie Wang Ying and Xu Shuang to themselves, they might turn to her. When times were tough, jealousy and resentment were inevitable.
Old Lady Xu thought it through: “I’ll take the initiative and take in two educated youths to live with me. But the issue will be with the food…”
This was the most difficult part for Old Lady Xu. Her family’s meals were usually quite good, but Wang Ying didn’t cook. Xu Shuang made the meals in the morning and evening, and Wang Ying ate lunch with Old Lady Xu.
Old Lady Xu wasn’t stingy with food. Lunchtime was always varied and interesting.
But if she had to feed the educated youths the same way, she couldn’t afford the cost, and it would draw attention.
Imagine the situation: the educated youths are gathered together, and one person is eating potatoes and eggs, while another is eating steamed buns and rabbit meat. Wouldn’t that cause dissatisfaction?
Wang Ying thought about it and understood.
This was indeed a difficult situation. No one wanted to take in the educated youths. Not just because of food, but because of the difficulties that came with having a stranger in the house. What if they ended up with an inconsiderate youth? There would be even more problems later.
But Old Lady Xu was right. Given Xu’s family’s current situation, it wasn’t appropriate to stay out of it. Everyone knew Xu Shuang hadn’t lost his job, and they were living well. If they didn’t take in a youth now, people might start making envious comments.
Wang Ying exchanged a glance with Xu Shuang and immediately made up her mind. “Then it’s settled. Mom, you come live with us.”
Old Lady Xu was stunned. “How can I live with you? I’m not going!”
Her original intention was to take care of this matter herself, not to trouble her son and daughter-in-law.
Moreover, Xu Shuang had moved in because he was married in, but her own moving in—what would that be?
“Besides, how can we not have anyone staying at home?”
Her old house was in good condition, but what if the people who stayed ruined it?
Wang Ying said, “Don’t overthink it. We’ll pick two easy-going ones to stay, lock up the room you usually live in, leave them with one room, and move the things from the kitchen over. We’ll provide the grain and let them cook for themselves. This way, we can keep track of how much they use. The grain won’t be withheld, we’ll give them the usual amount like the other educated youths. When the autumn harvest comes, we’ll make up for this portion.”
Wang Ying thought about it and felt that this arrangement wasn’t a big loss. Not living under the same roof would save them from any friction and also avoid getting involved in the internal problems of the educated youths. As for the grain, it would be distributed normally—whatever others got, they would get too. No one would come to her house expecting to eat like they were wealthy.
Wang Ying made a firm decision: “It’s settled then. You come live with us. There are two rooms here, we’ll tidy one up for you, and we can keep each other company during the day.”
Xu Shuang thought it would be a bit of a hassle but knew that his mother and wife had discussed it well. He also realized that even if they didn’t step forward, Tian Youfu would still come to persuade them.
There was no other way—most of the families in the brigade were struggling, and only a few lived comfortably. It was just Wang Ying and Xu Shuang, a young couple, who had no children, minimal burdens, and a decent income. They had a bit more flexibility with their rations.
Tian Youfu had also been left with no choice. Early in the morning, Xu Shuang overheard someone saying that his relatives had come late at night from a neighboring brigade. Their house had collapsed, and they were in a rush to send the children over for them to take care of while the adults went back to dig through the rubble and move.
Clearly, the hailstorm had been severe, and the damage wasn’t confined to their brigade. Even if the commune allocated grain, it was uncertain when they would get it.
Rather than waiting for Tian Youfu to approach him, Xu Shuang thought it might be better to follow Old Lady Xu’s suggestion and take the initiative to propose it himself. He could also choose the two easiest youths.
Wang Ying and Xu Shuang persuaded Old Lady Xu, who thought for a while and eventually agreed. Wang Ying’s words were sincere, and everything she said was for her consideration.
Sigh, why hadn’t she given birth to a daughter like Wang Ying back then?
But now it wasn’t too late; such a good girl had ended up in her own family.
Old Lady Xu hurried off to speak with Tian Youfu, but Wang Ying stopped her.
“Let’s wait until the afternoon.”
If they went now, the rules for the educated youths hadn’t been settled yet, and it would seem like they were rushing it. By waiting until the afternoon, when Tian Youfu was likely to be overwhelmed, they could bring it up and negotiate better terms.
Wang Ying said, “We can take them in, but we’ll definitely have to choose carefully.”
Old Lady Xu replied, “Of course. That young man, Jiang Lei, I don’t want him.”
What a piece of work—he was a tall, burly guy, and he spoke and acted like he hadn’t even thought things through. And to top it off, he had the audacity to question her daughter-in-law’s medical skills.
Xu Shuang hurried off to work at the restaurant, and Wang Ying and Old Lady Xu started tidying up the house.
In Xu’s family’s three old houses, two of the roofs had collapsed, and only one room was intact. They moved the furniture out, leaving just a bamboo bed, a table, and some stools. The bed had a mattress on it, and there was a tall wardrobe next to it.
Old Lady Xu said, “Leave these for the educated youths to use. The rest should be moved out. I’ll lock the other two rooms. As for the roof tiles, I’ll get someone to repair them tomorrow as long as it doesn’t leak.”
After tidying up, Old Lady Xu moved the stored grain to Wang Ying’s house, leaving Xu Shuang to find someone to build a wooden rack, along with some empty jars, pots, and a few hanging stoves.
This was the first time Wang Ying really looked at Xu Shuang’s kitchen, and when she saw the hanging stoves, her eyes lit up.
“Mom, let’s take that hanging stove too.”
She was craving roast duck.
