HBWnovel Chapter 42 Young Educated Youth of the Era 1
Chapter 42 Young Educated Youth of the Era 1
Returning to the novel, Jiang Ping becomes Jiang Yaping, a pitiful educated youth who is about to replace her older brother in going to the countryside.
The original owner's family consisted of four people. Jiang's father and mother worked at the Anshi Textile Factory, while the eldest brother, Jiang Dabao, couldn't find a job after graduating from high school and didn't want to go to the countryside.
After several visits from staff members to persuade him, in order not to affect his own work, Jiang's father made the final decision to register the original owner of the body, who was only sixteen years old.
The original owner was neither loved by her father nor her mother, making her the perfect candidate for the Jiang family to be sent to the countryside as an educated youth.
Jiang's mother reluctantly accepted the educated youth subsidy for the original owner and packed up a bag of tattered items to give to her as luggage.
Jiang Yaping arrived at this very moment.
However, she was a kind person who knew how to repay kindness. The day before leaving Anshi, she did not forget to go to the educated youth office to sign up her good older brother for the rural Northwest.
Thinking back to the original owner's years of not being able to eat at the table, relying on shivering to keep warm in winter, being able to finish junior high school entirely thanks to collecting scraps and the help of teachers and classmates, having to cook and wash clothes after school, and becoming the family's punching bag.
Without hesitation, Jiang Yaping took the initiative to write a letter to his hometown, hinting that he and his elder brother were about to go to the countryside.
There lived Jiang's mother's lifelong enemy, Grandma Jiang.
Before boarding the train, she arranged for a dozen lucky charms to be given to the kind people who had helped the original owner of the body. These charms would automatically expire if the original owner did something bad or harmed others.
……
Sitting on the swaying train, Jiang Yaping fell asleep without realizing it, only waking up midway to eat a few pancakes.
She was still holding the shabby little bundle that the original owner's mother had packed. The receipts and cash that she had exchanged were all stored in her spatial storage. Even if a thief came, he would only be able to grab a pile of rags.
The rest of the quilts, cotton-padded clothes, food, and other daily necessities were packed separately and would be mailed directly to the Red Flag Commune.
Just as dawn was breaking, the sound of a train arriving at the station rang out.
Jiang Yaping nimbly squeezed through the crowd with her bundle and followed the others to transfer to a vehicle to Hongqi Commune.
The head of Shiqiao Village Brigade won't arrive until tomorrow morning, so she needs to book a room at the guesthouse first before going out to shop and make a show of it.
Buy more steamed buns and mantou from state-run restaurants, and toothbrushes, toothpaste, tissues, peach crisps, thermos flasks, towels, door locks, and hard candy from the supply and marketing cooperative...
They could afford it even better than the young couple next door who are getting married...
Perhaps it was the halo effect of being just another random passerby that worked; she didn't encounter any oddballs or bother her along the way.
When she finished breakfast and approached the oxcart, the educated youth had already finished introducing themselves, so she followed suit and said her name.
Some people started trying to get close to Captain Zhou Aimin, but the one who talked the most opened his mouth and got a big blast of cold air in.
Without the captain even saying anything, the others quickly and consciously shut their mouths.
Jiang Yaping changed into a drab gray windproof coat, put on a homemade mask, and blended into the crowd without being noticeable. She just kept her head down and followed the oxcart forward, while the system played crosstalk for her in her mind.
It took more than two hours to walk after leaving the commune before we entered the area of Shiqiao Village.
The village has seen several visits from educated youth, and the villagers have lost their initial curiosity.
Anyway, there aren't many capable workers, so I just hope no troublemakers show up.
The brigade leader took the people directly to the educated youth settlement. At this time, Zhang Yong, the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, also ran over, covered in sweat.
The two finished the handover right at the entrance of the educated youth settlement.
"Zhang Yong, this is a new educated youth. Please make arrangements for him."
Jiang Yaping did not follow them inside, but left directly behind the brigade leader. When they were some distance away from the educated youth settlement, he suddenly spoke.
"Captain, may I ask...?"
When Captain Zhou Aimin turned around, he found it was Jiang, the educated youth who had come today.
She was small in stature but carried a large bundle on her back, which suddenly made her quite conspicuous.
"Jiang Zhiqing, what do you want?"
"I...I want to rent a single room in the village for myself. Money is not a problem."
"You're not comfortable living alone..."
Before Zhou Aimin could finish speaking, he saw Jiang Zhiqing effortlessly crush a stone.
If the dust hadn't blown onto Jiang Zhiqing's face, it would have looked quite intimidating.
However, Jiang, the educated youth, did indeed have the means to live on his own.
Jiang Yaping thought to himself, "This 'power pill' is really effective."
After hearing Jiang Yaping's request, Zhou Aimin simply took Jiang Yaping to see the house.
The two were not very familiar with each other and had nothing to talk about. They walked one after the other to a dilapidated old house and stopped.
Zhou Aimin explained that the house had been uninhabited for a long time, so there would definitely be no disputes.
The two peeked inside and saw that the yard was overgrown with weeds and the house looked somewhat dilapidated.
However, these were not major problems. The main gate was fine, there was a kang (a heated brick bed) inside, and there was also a small kitchen, a storage shed, and an outhouse next to it. Jiang Yaping was quite satisfied.
After discussing and agreeing on the terms, the two went directly to the brigade headquarters to pay the money and complete the formalities.
No sooner had Jiang Yaping left than the other cadres began to inquire, worried that the kid might cause some trouble.
However, upon hearing that they wouldn't be staying at the educated youth settlement, everyone expressed concern about safety and didn't say anything more.
We've seen plenty of educated youth who went out to live in better conditions.
Jiang Yaping went to the educated youth settlement first. While the other new educated youths were still cleaning their rooms, she spoke with Zhang Yong, an educated youth who looked very mature.
After briefly introducing herself, she handed over a large meat bun from a state-run restaurant, indicating that she had already rented a room in the brigade.
Zhang Yong was also worried about her safety. Jiang Yaping didn't want to get any more dusty, so she lifted up the large water tank at the educated youth compound.
After shocking everyone at the educated youth compound, this capable woman left gracefully.
When the new educated youth heard from Zhang Yong that Jiang Yaping had rented a room to live alone, their eyes were full of interest. However, they still maintained their rationality and decided to stay at the educated youth settlement first, observe the atmosphere in the village, and then make a decision.
Jiang Yaping didn't care about others; once she received her share of food, she quickly walked back to the small house at the end of the village.
It was lunchtime, so she took out a few hard candies, borrowed a broom and a bucket from her neighbor Zhang Cuifang, and quickly cleaned the kang (heated brick bed) and the kitchen.
Aunt Zhang was stunned as she watched the smoke and dust flying around the house, making it impossible to see any figures clearly.
Is this child really capable of cleaning properly?
However, the result was pleasing; it was indeed cleaned up.
Zhang Qiuqiu is Aunt Zhang's granddaughter. Her parents have passed away, and she and her grandmother live together in Shiqiao Village.
When the children saw their grandmother helping the new educated youth, they spontaneously went to help pull weeds. Jiang Yaping even gave them a piece of cloth to cover their mouths and noses.
Seeing that it was getting late, she used her arm to forcefully pull the two of them up to rest. Aunt Zhang felt the strength of the young educated youth and did not refuse.
I plan to come and help after I finish work this afternoon.
After all, Xiao Jiang, being a young educated youth, was not sure if he could even finish cleaning the house.
To everyone's surprise, Jiang, the educated youth, took out two steamed buns and said that since they had been delayed in eating, these would be used instead.
That's really something. Anyway, little Zhang Qiuqiu cried after eating when she got home, and Aunt Zhang probably did too.
The system said they might be thinking of their relatives, and Jiang Yaping also started missing the original owner's "relatives" who were far away in Anshi.
……
With the original owner of the house no longer there to make people suffer, Jiang's parents have already had three fights in the past few days. In reality, it was Jiang Yaping who used a love-hate talisman on them.
The result is that the two people can't live without each other, they love to fight when they're together, but they don't accidentally hurt others.
Such a useful talisman is perfect for such a rare and exquisite item.
They were able to fake a harmonious family before, just because they vented all their anger on the original owner of the body. How ridiculous.
Before the couple could even finish arguing, the educated youth office suddenly came knocking with drums and gongs, saying that their eldest son was going to the Northwest.
Jiang's parents felt their minds go completely blank.
Jiang Dabao was unaware of this news at the time, and was lamenting with his cronies that Jiang Yaping had gone to the countryside and could no longer exchange dowries for a bride price in the city to help him get married.