Zhou Jiazhen said, "Don't just stand there. Go and pack up your things. See if they've been crushed. "
Zhao Lanxiang didn't even have time to enjoy the good noodles and meat she bought before she rushed to rescue the luggage.
Captain Li Dali rushed over as soon as he got the news. He looked at the collapsed old house and his thick eyebrows were full of bitterness. Because of last year's bad harvest, the brigade was so poor that they couldn't afford to give out relief food. Now that they were short of money, how could they have so much extra money to build houses for these educated youths?
The educated youths surrounded him and asked what they should do. Li Dali wiped his face and said firmly, "Don't worry, I'll arrange a place for each of you to live. Tonight, you'll stay in the homes of the villagers … As for how to distribute it, I'll go back and think about it. Now you — "
Li Dali wanted to let them go out to play, but after seeing Zhao Lanxiang's white and clean skin, he swallowed his words.
No matter what, it wasn't good to let these delicate girls out. What if something happened to them?
Li Dali said, "Come with me. The brigade's farm tool house is still empty. It's okay to let you rest during the day."
Zhao Lanxiang and the others temporarily put their luggage in the brigade's public property house. They looked at each other in dismay.
The male educated youths had it the hardest. Their faces were covered in mud and dust. When they wiped their faces, they looked as black as Bao Gong Bao, making the female educated youths laugh. Jiang Li happily came back in the afternoon and found that the things she confiscated in the box were all smashed. Her face was gloomy and she didn't like anyone. After the captain left, she sneered, "What kind of broken place is this?"
Zhao Lanxiang silently rolled her eyes in her heart. She clearly knew that this was a broken place, but she still came. Zhao Lanxiang couldn't understand.
However, she was so hungry that her chest was sticking to her stomach. She didn't have time to speculate about the eldest miss's thoughts. She borrowed a firewood house from the people around her and made meat buns and vegetables noodles with Zhou Jiazhen. Zhao Lanxiang was especially willing to use the oil. She used all the oil she had. An hour later, her buns were ready. The buns were made with the best quality flour and lean pork. They were oily, tender, and fluffy. While everyone was starving and waiting in the farming tool room, she and Zhou Jiazhen were slurping noodles in the farmhouse next door.
The fragrance drifted in the room, attracting the other educated youths to look over. Seeing Zhou Jiazhen enjoying the food, they became hungrier. Seeing this, Zhao Lanxiang did not hide anything. She invited everyone to eat together. She took out some leftover dough from the noodles and gave it to the educated youth who had an empty stomach. Although it wasn't much, it could at least fill the stomach with the hot soup.
Zhao Lanxiang's behavior made the educated youths who had lost their houses feel better. Their good impression of this cold and taciturn educated youth in their hearts rose to another level. Although Zhao Lanxiang did not invite them to eat buns, it was delicious to eat the dough mixed with bean sauce. After all, flour was a fine grain, and pork was a rare thing. Freeloading a meal of fine grain from someone else was already a huge advantage.
Jiang Li returned to the educated youth settlement after eating a full stomach. After a hard work of packing, the food in her stomach was almost digested. When Zhao Lanxiang made the buns, she smelled the fragrance. It was very tempting. Smelling the fragrance, it was more fragrant than the buns sold in the state-run restaurant. But Zhao Lanxiang did not invite her to eat with her. Jiang Li also did not put down her face to eat.
Jiang Li watched helplessly as Zhao Lanxiang swallowed the last steamed bun without saying a word about treating her to a steamed bun. Jiang Li's eyes were wide open, and she was so angry that she was full.
Zhao Lanxiang's enthusiasm for her brother was like a piece of sticky candy. No matter how hard she tried, she could not get rid of it. Some time ago, her brother was hospitalized. She casually mentioned it, and Zhao Lanxiang hurriedly bought a bunch of nutritional supplements without blinking. Her brother could not finish them even now. Who would have thought that once Zhao Lanxiang came to the countryside, he could not even bear to give her a meat bun?
When she passed by Zhao Lanxiang, she said coldly, "I already wrote a letter to my family this weekend. Don't expect me to put in a good word for you."
With that said, she lifted her foot and strode out of the farming tool shed.
Zhao Lanxiang touched her full stomach contentedly and did not pay attention to Jiang Li. Zhou Jiazhen turned to whisper to her, "Do you know each other?"
Zhao Lanxiang said vaguely, "We're from the same place, but we're not familiar with each other."
Zhou Jiazhen said indignantly, "Seriously, she's still showing that face of disdain in front of the brigade leader. There's nothing wrong with the brigade leader. He's very dedicated and responsible. There are often cases of people starving to death in the other brigades. Although our brigade doesn't have enough to eat, we have enough food every year. If she really thinks we're poor, why did she go to the countryside? "
Zhao Lanxiang smiled but did not say anything. She lowered her head and mended the hole in her clothes. The needle and thread went through her snow-white shirt. She used a simple blue silk thread to draw a flower on the cuff. The broken part looked more delicate and beautiful.
Zhou Jiazhen's attention was quickly attracted by the flower. It was very rare.
She let Zhou Jiazhen look at the clothes. She held her chin and looked at the blue sky. She was in a good mood.
The collective dormitory of the educated youths had collapsed. She did not know how the brigade leader would allocate their living quarters. She … did not want to go anywhere except the old man's house.
…
Zhao Lanxiang was thinking about living in the old man's house. Li Dali was scratching his head about the allocation of these educated youths' living quarters.
He talked until his mouth and tongue were dry. He specially gathered the villagers to discuss. Although the title of educated youths sounded good, they came under the banner of building a new socialist countryside. In the end, they really did construction. However, the construction made them even poorer. If they asked themselves honestly, no one was willing to take in these educated youths.
Li Dali said patiently, "You don't have to worry about their meals. They just need to live here for a while. When the dormitory of the educated youths is built, you don't have to trouble yourselves. If you don't agree, then you can take turns. Anyway, there are only a dozen educated youths in the dormitory. Each family will receive them for a month. It's fair for everyone. It also saves the money to build a house for them. "
When the villagers heard this, they couldn't sit on their stools.
"Hey — Brigade leader, aren't you tricking us?" This was the straightforward and impatient group.
"No, no. How can each family live for a month? It's not stable. Those students probably don't want to. "This was the indirect group.
"It's better to draw lots and let the family that gets them." This was the adventurous group.
Everyone pushed back and forth and discussed for a long time with red necks. Li Dali decided to let the cadres set an example and accept the educated youths. The brigade leader and branch secretary would receive two, and the vice-captain and vice-secretary would receive one each. The rest of the villagers drew lots among themselves.
They didn't care about their meals, just their accommodations. They just needed to tidy up a room for the educated youths to live in. Even so, many people didn't want to lose out.
Li Youfu's family got three, Li Jianguo's family got three, He Guoqing's family got three, and He Aijun's family got two. Those who didn't draw any educated youths secretly sighed in relief. They hid their happiness in their hearts and didn't reveal it. Instead, they patted the three families and said openly, "Don't worry. Those students are all sensible. Maybe they'll even subsidize your rent and food every month!"
Li Jianguo's wife put her hands on her hips and pointed at one of the educated youths on the list. "Our family wants these three."
The three she pointed at were Jiang Li, Zhao Lanxiang, and Tang Qing. These three educated youths were usually dressed neatly and had good manners. They looked smart and charming, like real city people. Every two or three days, they would either go to a restaurant or buy meat to eat. They were so well-off that the villagers couldn't help but be envious. If they really accepted these three people, they might be able to eat some meat.
The other three families immediately became unhappy. As a result, they quarreled again. In order to compete for these "rich people" among the educated youths, they quarreled fiercely, making Li Dali's head throb.
He slammed the table and angrily scolded, "Shut up, all of you! What's the point of quarreling!"
Li Dali's captain had a doughy temper. He looked fierce, but he was actually a good person. He was very dignified in the brigade. Even the fiercest woman in the brigade didn't dare to provoke him.
The secretary finally said, "This won't do, that won't do. Whoever wants to take the initiative to accept the educated youths, come forward. How can you only think about taking advantage of others? "
In the end, due to the captain's and the secretary's feelings, a few families hesitantly came forward, reducing the pressure on the other three families. On average, each family only accepted one or two people. The pressure wasn't great, and it was still within an acceptable range.
After Li Dali sent everyone away, his entire body collapsed.
He wiped his face with a handkerchief and said to the secretary, "How to arrange and distribute these comrades is also a headache."
The secretary humorously said, "What's there to care about? Don't they have hands?"
Li Dali patted his forehead and said with understanding, "Then let them choose. Won't I be tired to death if I have to manage this and that?"
In the afternoon, Li Dali went to the temporary place for educated youths to announce his decision. He let the educated youths choose their own place to stay until the brigade handed in enough food at the end of the year to build a new dormitory for them.
There were a total of eight families on the list that were willing to accept the educated youths. Zhao Lanxiang searched everywhere but couldn't find the shadow of the old man.
She recorded another note for the old man in the small account book, but on the surface, she said with a smile, "Reporting to the captain, I have solved my own accommodation problem. There's no need to add to the burden of the brigade."
Li Dali glanced at her. This female educated youth with big watery eyes stared straight at him. Her stare made his heart heat up and beat fiercely. His charcoal-like face was not very comfortable. He said with a strong local accent, "I know. Which family?"
Zhao Lanxiang crisply bit out the name, "He Songbai family."
Li Dali clasped his hands and pretended to be in a state of thinking. In fact, his brain had been dazzled by the female educated youth's smile. How could there be such a beautiful person with such a smile? When she smiled, her eyes were like clear spring water. It went straight to the depths of his heart, making his heart feel numb.
"Oh … He Songbai family, He Song-"
He suddenly woke up. He Songbai, wasn't he the ignorant and incompetent leader of the hooligans in the village, He Songbai?
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
