binnovel Chapter 24: Educated Youth of the Era (Part 6)
Chapter 24: Educated Youth of the Era (Part 6)
Judging from their speech and expressions, Ma Jiaojiao is rather delicate, Zhao Hai is rather slick, while the others are all quite proper.
Qian Youwen, Ma Jiaojiao, Wang Wenjing, and Gu Shangwu lived in single rooms at the back, while the others lived in a large communal room in the front yard. However, only Wang Wenjing and Gu Shangwu cooked separately; the others ate together from a communal pot.
Since some people are eating alone, Liu Yuxi will definitely eat alone as well. Luckily, she's strong, and the reasons are readily available: she eats a lot, so the others can't say anything.
After everyone got to know each other briefly, they dispersed to wash up and go back to rest, since the newly arrived educated youth were quite tired after a day's journey.
Liu Yuxi returned to her room, laid out the kang (a heated brick bed) simply, and then began to plan what she needed to prepare. She didn't need any large items, but she still needed to take some small things out of her space. As she thought about it, she couldn't resist her exhaustion and fell asleep.
The next day, it was almost noon when they got up. The old educated youths were already gathered in the front room chatting. After the six of them got up, Wang Jianguo and Liu Haili told them to go find the brigade leader to collect their grain.
The brigade leader told them that the new educated youth would receive a three-month food allowance, and the brigade could provide them with another three months' worth of food. When the food was distributed next time, this portion of food would be deducted, and the remaining food would be theirs. Therefore, they had to work hard, otherwise, there wouldn't be enough food left to eat.
Of course, if the brigade had surplus grain when distributing it, they could buy some with their own money. Everyone was relieved to hear that they could buy grain, as they were all worried that they wouldn't have enough to eat, since they had never done farm work before.
The brigade leader said they could rest for another month or so, and by mid-April they would basically need to go back to work in the fields. During this time, they could buy anything they needed in the city, as long as they told the brigade leader beforehand.
In the following days, Liu Yuxi and his six companions would take an oxcart to the commune early every morning. Once there, they would split up and go about their own business, then meet up again in the afternoon and return with their large and small bags.
The veteran educated youth and the villagers all knew that the new batch of educated youth had very good conditions, and some people who liked to take advantage of others had already started to think about it.
Now that the snow is slowly melting, Liu Yuxi goes up the mountain to find some exposed dead branches when he has nothing to do. He carries them back to the educated youth compound, spreads them out to dry, and slowly begins to accumulate firewood. After all, the old educated youth only have enough firewood for themselves, and it's not a good idea to keep borrowing.
The other five men either went up the mountain with Liu Yuxi to collect firewood, or they bought firewood from villagers who had more able-bodied men. After they gradually filled the room with their belongings and things started to fall into place, it was time to go to the fields in the spring.
In Northeast China, only one crop is grown per year. The three main crops are corn, rice, and soybeans. Since the new educated youth had just arrived, the brigade leader arranged for the women to weed and the men to till the land. He also arranged for villagers to guide them, just in case the weeders pulled up the seedlings or the hoeers injured themselves.
On her first day working in the fields, even with work gloves on, Liu Yuxi wasn't quite used to it. Although she was very strong, the skin on her hands was still quite delicate. Pulling weeds was easy, but the friction still caused blisters on her hands. There was nothing she could do about it; she could only wait until the blisters formed calluses after working for a long time, and then she would get used to it.
Their village doesn't calculate work points based on working hours. Before starting work each day, the team leader and the point recorder assign tasks to each person.
For example, weeding one mu (approximately 0.16 acres) earns five centimeters, weeding two mu earns ten centimeters, and you get as many centimeters as you do in a day. Turning over the soil earns ten centimeters for one mu, and twenty centimeters for two mu, and you get as many centimeters as you do, with no upper limit.
This humane arrangement meant that there weren't many lazy people in the village. Even those who tried to cheat or shirk their duties could only find ways to get others to do the work for them. The scorekeeper would record how many centimeters you did, and this couldn't be faked.
Since the number of centimeters was linked to the amount of grain, fewer centimeters meant less grain, so no one wanted to go hungry.
The person leading Liu Yuxi was Aunt Li from the village. Aunt Li saw that Liu Yuxi worked quickly and didn't slack off. She was an honest girl, and although she looked thin and small, she didn't complain even though her hands were blistered. She just followed her rhythm the whole time.
She rested, and then the young girl rested. She had been working non-stop, and she started chatting with Liu Yuxi: "Little Liu, I see that you are dressed quite well and have brought a lot of things. Your family is quite well-off. Why did your family send you to the countryside at such a young age?"
“Aunt Li, there are few jobs in the city now, and it is difficult to find a job. The educated youth office requires each family to send at least one child to the countryside. In my family, I am the only one who is the right age, and I am also very strong, so I volunteered to go to the countryside.”
"How old are you? You look so young! You're still like a child!"
“I’m 15 years old this year. We eat rationed food in the city. I’m so strong and have a huge appetite, but I can’t eat as much as I want, so I guess I’m not getting enough nutrition. My family doesn’t say they’re starving me, but they can’t let the whole family tighten their belts just so I can be the only one who’s full, right? I’ll try to find some good food in the mountains and get some extra nutrition.”
"That's not true! That's the good thing about Northeast China—the land is fertile. Our village has enough grain to eat every year. Even during those three years of hunger, the people in our village only got thinner; no one starved to death."
Needless to say, the mountains are even better. If you're diligent, you can find all sorts of chestnuts, hazelnuts, mushrooms, and wild fruits—plenty of edible things to eat. If you're lucky, you might even catch a pheasant or a rabbit for some meat.
Anyway, you're in the Northeast, so as long as you work hard, you'll definitely have plenty to eat. Then you'll grow really well!
"Yes, right now I'm thinking about working hard to earn work points, and in my spare time I'll run around in the mountains more. I also want to take better care of my health and grow tall, otherwise I'll become a 'little potato' in Northeast China!"
"Haha, you're so funny, calling yourself 'little potato.' But you're actually not as cute as a little potato. At least a little potato is chubby!" Liu Yuxi laughed too.
The two chatted as they worked, and time flew by. Before long, they had each finished weeding an acre of land, and it was almost noon.
Aunt Li said, “You’ve just arrived, don’t overwork yourself right away. One mu in the morning, one mu in the afternoon, that’s ten centimeters a day. When the grain is distributed, that’s definitely enough for you to eat. Let’s call the scorekeeper over to record the centimeters. Do you want to go back and rest or what? Come to the field again at one o’clock in the afternoon, and Aunt Li will help you pull another mu!”
"Okay, Auntie, I'll go back and cook. You should go back too. I'll wait for you at the field at one o'clock this afternoon!" After the scorekeeper finished recording the work points, Liu Yuxi and Auntie Li went home.