In the late morning, Wang Ying and Old Lady Xu had enough time to tidy up. They locked away all the things they didn’t often use and moved the grain and baking racks from the kitchen to Wang Ying’s place.
After finishing the cleanup, Wang Ying went to the foot of the back mountain to check on Qian Juhua and Cheng Shufen, then went up the mountain to look at the medicinal herb field.
Cheng Shufen and Cheng Yu’s living conditions were fine. Cheng Yu was quick-witted and, upon waking up in the middle of the night, had moved everything outside the house indoors with Cheng Shufen. Cheng Yu even went to find Qian Juhua, so although their roof tiles were broken, everyone was safe.
The medicinal herb field, however, was in a bad state.
The newly transplanted seedlings were all knocked over, with some of them even uprooted.
Cheng Yu felt especially guilty: “It’s my fault… Ying Jie, I’m sorry.”
Wang Ying: “How could this be your fault? No one could have expected such a heavy hailstorm in spring.”
Even the experienced farmers in the brigade said that they had seen hail in the spring before, but hailstones of this size were rare, even in summer.
Wang Ying inspected the medicinal herb field. Cheng Yu had worked quickly, and the hail had already been picked up. Wang Ying watered each plant with a bit of spring water, hoping it might help save them.
If they couldn’t be saved, there was nothing they could do but accept it.
After saying goodbye to Cheng Yu, Wang Ying went to her own family’s reserved land, where she had planted various vegetables. The vegetable seeds had also been damaged. Wang Ying had an idea and watered the vegetable seeds as well.
Once everything was tidied up, Old Lady Xu and Wang Ying went to the brigade leader to inform him that they could take in two of the young educated youths.
As soon as this was said, Tian Youfu immediately agreed. He had been troubled all morning.
Of the sixteen young educated youths, seven were settled with cadres’ families, and a few others were arranged with some reserve party members, including families of militia members. After all the arrangements, only thirteen youths were settled.
The remaining three youths were still unassigned. Now that the Xu family had volunteered to take in two, the last one could be dealt with, and if necessary, Tian Youfu himself would take one.
Tian Youfu: “After the autumn harvest, we’ll hold a recognition ceremony. I’ll definitely make sure to give you an advanced individual award.”
Every year after the autumn harvest, a large meeting was held to recognize outstanding individuals. Tian Youfu thought that, given Old Lady Xu’s contribution, not awarding her would be unthinkable.
Old Lady Xu visibly felt a burden had been lifted off her shoulders. An advanced individual award might not mean much to others, but it was the best thing for her.
When the team members finished their work, Tian Youfu gathered the families who had agreed to take in the young educated youths into the meeting room to begin discussing how to divide the sixteen youths among them.
Of course, the allocation of the young educated youths (zhiqing) also had to take into account the circumstances of each family. For example, in Song Daguo’s family, there were few women. His two sons had married, and there were four or five grandsons, the oldest being nineteen and still not engaged. In such a situation, it would be inappropriate to have a female zhiqing live there.
Then there was Wu Guihua’s family, which had a daughter of marriageable age, so it would be impossible for them to take in a male zhiqing.
After considering all the factors, the distribution of the sixteen zhiqing had to take into account gender, age, and ensure that neither side was put in a difficult position.
The older zhiqing were relatively more popular because they had been around for a longer time, so they had built relationships with the people in the brigade, and most importantly, after years of rural life, they had long shed their troublesome habits.
But the new zhiqing were more difficult to deal with.
This batch of seven zhiqing, who had just arrived less than three days ago, were hit by a rare and massive hailstorm. They hadn’t yet experienced the hardships of life, and their rebellious streak hadn’t yet been worn down. Wherever they were placed would be a problem.
After some consideration, the older zhiqing were all very easygoing, but the new ones hesitated, not knowing how to choose.
This was the problem. The new zhiqing had just arrived, and there weren’t many people they were familiar with. However, most of them had a deep impression of Wang Ying.
Wang Ying was outstanding in appearance, one of the most prominent in the countryside. Additionally, the respect the brigade had shown her when she first arrived, as well as the decisive and quick way she helped Jiang Lei last night, had earned her the trust of most of the new zhiqing.
Imagine living in a doctor’s house—forget everything else, at least safety was guaranteed.
Moreover, they had vaguely heard the older zhiqing mention that Wang Ying was not only capable herself, but she had married a man who worked as a chef at the town’s state-run restaurant.
This was an attractive condition. Even if they stayed at Wang Ying’s mother-in-law’s house, they could still benefit in some way, at the very least not having to worry about food.
Several new zhiqing hesitated, wanting to go, but worried that their intentions might be too obvious, which might not look good. For a moment, no one spoke.
But then, someone stepped forward.
The first to stand up, as expected, was Jiang Lei.
Jiang Lei naturally said, “Let Bai Ling stay at the Xu family’s place. She’s not in good health, and it would be more convenient for her to see a doctor.”
He spoke with a righteous demeanor, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.
He also knew that Wang Ying didn’t like him and didn’t mention that he wanted to stay there. His only focus was to find a good place for Bai Ling.
Bai Ling was in such poor health that she fainted on the first day she arrived. What would happen if she stayed somewhere that wasn’t suitable this time?
Bai Ling’s eyes flashed, and in a soft voice, she said, “Jiang Zhiqing, you don’t have to worry about me so much. I can stay anywhere. If I need help, I can always go to Wang Ying the doctor. I’m not that fragile.”
Wang Ying raised an eyebrow. Bai Ling’s way of addressing Jiang Lei was intriguing. She vaguely remembered that when this person first arrived, she called him by his name. Now, she was calling him Jiang Zhiqing?
Jiang Lei, completely unaware, continued to show his concern, “You’re weak, how can you stay somewhere unsuitable? Don’t worry, listen to me and stay at the Xu family’s place. That way, Wang Ying the doctor can take good care of you. I think she’s quite capable.”
Wang Ying: …
Do you want to hear the nonsense you’re saying? Acting all CEO-like, do you think you can run the house?
Old Lady Xu also furrowed her brow, her heart aching for Bai Ling.
Bai Ling truly wanted to stay at the Xu family’s house. Her earlier words were actually a strategy—she had been trying to avoid being too forward. Given her poor health, staying at the Xu family, where the conditions were the best, seemed appropriate.
But Jiang Lei’s words were a hindrance!
Why bring up the matter of someone’s medical skills? It wasn’t his place to comment on whether Wang Ying was good or not!
Bai Ling felt even more upset and regretful. She shouldn’t have pretended to faint when she arrived. She had thought Jiang Lei wasn’t bad-looking, though he was from a poor family, and his whole family had sent just him to the countryside. She figured his family must have prepared plenty of supplies for him.
Her plan had been to subtly show that her relationship with Jiang Lei was unusual, but not to give a clear indication. She didn’t want to get too entangled with him, just hanging on while he spent money. The fainting was timed just right, creating an impression of weakness to help in future work. She also wanted to keep Jiang Lei in check, making sure no one else would take an interest in him.
Now, it was clear that her later concerns were overblown. With Jiang Lei’s mouth, no woman could be interested in him.
Bai Ling regretted it. Jiang Lei’s stupidity was on a new level.
There was no one he couldn’t offend, no task he couldn’t ruin.
Originally, if Jiang Lei had just spoken up, her staying at the Xu family’s house would have been almost a done deal. But he had to keep going, offering his unhelpful opinions.
Bai Ling felt deeply that she needed to reconsider her next steps.
Jiang Lei’s things had been ruined, and he still acted this way. She couldn’t be tied to him.
With that thought, Bai Ling spoke up, “Jiang Zhiqing, please stop. The choice should be made based on everyone’s collective opinion. It can’t just be whatever you say goes. We’re already causing trouble by staying at a fellow villager’s house, so we shouldn’t be making too many demands.”
Jiang Lei was stunned by her words. Bai Ling had always been gentle and had never spoken to him like that. When she said this, it felt like she was trying to distance herself from him.
At this point, Old Lady Xu understood what was going on. She looked at Bai Ling meaningfully.
This girl seemed weak, but she was clever. She had a knack for making things look one way, while the reality was quite different. It was clear she wasn’t someone who could be easily trusted.
Someone like that was exactly who Old Lady Xu didn’t want staying in her house.
“Youfu, there’s something I haven’t mentioned yet. The two zhiqing assigned to my family will need to cook for themselves. I plan to stay at Wang Ying’s place, and I’ll leave a room in the old house. The food will also be separate. The two zhiqing will need to cook and manage themselves. I won’t interfere with the young ones’ lives.”
By stating her situation clearly, Old Lady Xu immediately made several zhiqing start to hesitate.
“Doesn’t the educated youth who lived here in the past eat with us? Do they have to cook their own meals?”
Wu Guihua chuckled and responded, “That’s fine, you two living together will save Wang Ying from running around to eat every day.”
Now that everyone in the commune was familiar with each other, it became well known that Wang Ying didn’t cook and would go to Old Lady Xu’s place every noon to eat. Although they told others that there was no need to cook separately, people like Wu Guihua, who were close to her, knew that Wang Ying was just not good at cooking.
Last winter, she almost burned down the kitchen; it didn’t look like someone who knew how to cook. But Wu Guihua didn’t think much of it; after all, Wang Ying knew how to treat illnesses, and besides, there was Xu Shuang at home. Having a cook at home meant that it wasn’t a big deal if one person couldn’t cook.
Old Lady Xu said, “Exactly, if we live together, it’ll be more convenient. The house is empty, and as long as the person who moves in takes care of it, I won’t bother with the rest.”
Old Lady Xu made it clear: “The house is yours to live in, and we will provide food, but one is to take care of the house, and two is to avoid causing trouble. As long as that’s done, I won’t interfere with other matters.”
As soon as Old Lady Xu finished speaking, a female educated youth raised her hand. “I’d like to go to the Xu family.”
The one who spoke was the youngest of the group, a girl with a round apple-shaped face named Zhang Ping. It seemed to fit her name quite well.
Bai Ling coughed a couple of times and quickly started thinking. If the Xu family was really like what Old Lady Xu said, then its appeal to her would be greatly diminished.
She hadn’t brought many things down to the countryside, and it was really hard to manage without anyone to help.
Originally, she had planned to partner up with Jiang Lei, but now she just wanted to stay as far away from him as possible. The Xu family was not suitable either…
Bai Ling quietly observed Zhang Ping.
After Zhang Ping bravely said that sentence, she stopped talking and waited for Old Lady Xu to make a decision. While others felt that living in the Xu family wouldn’t be ideal, Zhang Ping was quite willing to go for a place that wouldn’t interfere with her much.
In fact, she wasn’t lacking food. When she came, she brought mostly national food stamps and money. Her family was worried about her being so young and going to the countryside and feared she’d attract attention by bringing too many things. So they sewed a cloth bag for her, and last night when she saw the house was about to collapse, she didn’t bring anything else but just ran off with the clothes they’d sewn for her, 200 yuan, and food stamps.
So she wasn’t worried about having no food; instead, she was more concerned about living with the villagers and being exposed as rich and then being targeted.
Old Lady Xu and Wang Ying exchanged a glance and both felt that this girl was fine. She seemed young, but she spoke with a good sense of propriety, and her manners seemed good. So they decided on the spot.
At this point, Bai Ling realized what was happening and also raised her hand.
Since there was no hope with the Xu family and Wang Ying, she decided to take a gamble on Zhang Ping’s background.
Just then, the leader of the educated youth team, Yang Hong, spoke up: “Zhang Ping is young. I suggest we have an old educated youth partner with a new one. This will help everyone adjust to the new environment.”
Zhang Ping’s cheeks turned red: “That’s fine!”
Neither Wang Ying nor Old Lady Xu objected, and soon, a female educated youth who had been in the countryside for two years, named Jiang Li, was chosen.
Zhang Ping was very happy. Jiang Li was a bit older, around 25 or 26, and she felt at ease around people like that.
Old Lady Xu already knew Jiang Li and told Wang Ying that this person was honest and not one to have many tricks up her sleeve.
Soon, all the educated youth were assigned.
Only one person remained.
Jiang Lei.
