Chapter 4: The Little Troublemaker of the Seventies (4)

In the end, it was Li Xiangyang who took away Liu Suisui’s parcels.

Captain Li scratched his head as he looked at the tractor parked at the village entrance. “Wait, what do we do with this tractor now?”

“I’ll drive it back later,” Li Xiangyang replied without turning around.

The other male educated youths had considered offering to help as gentlemen, but seeing how much they were already carrying, they decided against it.

The two other female educated youths had boarded the vehicle with large bundles; naturally, when they got off, they carried their belongings as well, though they looked a bit disheveled.

At this moment, some of the educated youths had already gone to work, while the remaining few stayed behind, waiting for the new arrivals to introduce them to the current situation.

Li Xiangyang’s legs were a bit long, and Liu Suisui’s short legs struggled to keep up, panting behind him while carefully avoiding cow dung scattered on the path.

The road was a typical dirt path, without cement or asphalt, and one misstep could easily twist an ankle.

Seeing the figure ahead quicken her pace, she grew anxious and couldn’t help but plead, “Could you wait for me? I can’t keep up.”

Her tone was almost coquettish, soft and gentle, enough to make one’s heart flutter.

Li Xiangyang said nothing but obediently slowed his pace.

Turning around briefly, he noticed her grim expression as she cautiously watched her step, and he couldn’t help but mutter two words inwardly: delicate.

Miss Liu, in her past life, had only ever experienced hardship when filming a variety show with a friend and taking on tasks from the production crew. Born with a silver spoon and cherished in every way, she was truly ill-equipped to adapt to this environment.

Walking along, she stewed in her thoughts, growing increasingly upset, and the more upset she became, the more she wanted to cry. She even wondered if, had her uncle from the Qiao family not come to her aid, this whole ordeal might never have happened.

Sniffling, she thought, “It’s so dirty here—I want to go home.”

After more than ten minutes, the group arrived at the educated youths’ settlement.

Two of the youths were already waiting for them.

The male youth spoke first: “Hello, I’m Wei Qing, the leader of the male educated youths here. You can just call me Wei Youth. The male youths can come with me later; I’ll show you the dormitory situation.”

Then the female youth introduced herself: “Hi, I’m Peng Lili, the leader of the female educated youths. If you ever need anything or have questions, you can come to me.”

The settlement was built by villagers and looked no different from the surrounding buildings. They slept on kangs—heated brick beds arranged dormitory-style. In winter, they could light fires under the kang to keep warm and endure the cold months.

The latrine was in the backyard, which also contained a small plot for the youths to grow vegetables.

There was no indoor kitchen; the stove was outside under a simple shed that kept out rain but offered little wind protection. It was essentially an open-air kitchen, very rudimentary.

The youths worked in pairs, taking turns cooking each day. Those not cooking still had chores—those strong enough fetched water, while others gathered firewood. Everyone contributed their share.

The male youths had three rooms, the females two.

There were eighteen males and ten females in total.

Liu Suisui wasn’t really paying attention; she surveyed her surroundings. Though the adobe walls easily shed dust, the courtyard was swept clean—neatly arranged if not spotless.

Li Xiangyang had originally planned to just set down her things and leave, but seeing her small frame, he guessed it would take some effort for her to carry them inside. Given her reluctance to interact with others, he worried no one would help her.

To spare her embarrassment, he reluctantly stayed a while longer.

“This afternoon, you can collect a month’s worth of grain. Because you’ve just arrived, you’ll have to borrow from the brigade first. After the autumn harvest and once the public grain quota is fulfilled, the grain will be distributed. Until then, you must be frugal because there’s still some time before the harvest,” Peng Lili shared from experience.

Previous new arrivals, starved and impatient, quickly consumed their monthly grain allotment.

The brigade’s grain reserves weren’t unlimited; if one group started borrowing freely, others would follow.

So the brigade refused their loan requests.

Those days were truly harsh, with everyone digging for wild vegetables to supplement their meals or hoping to find wild eggs in the mountains to boost nutrition.

That was why Peng Lili was so cautious with the newcomers.

She dreaded the thought of these naive youths swiftly exhausting their grain and then coming to borrow from them.

Everyone had to survive.

“Miss, isn’t it hot with you covering your face like that?”

It was the height of summer, the sun blazing down. Wearing a headscarf like that must be stifling.

Liu Suisui hesitated, then finally decided to remove the headscarf.

Having worn it for so long, it truly was hot. She cared about her appearance, but if she kept covering up, she feared her face would break out in pimples.

At last, she pulled off the white veil, revealing her face—much to everyone’s surprise.

The first thing that caught their eyes was her complexion, as fair and flawless as an eggshell, with a delicate rosy tint. Her large, round eyes, petite nose, and cherry-red lips were utterly charming.

Only her height was a bit short, especially compared to the generally tall northern youths.

Her slender frame, youthful face, and modest height made her seem almost childlike.

“Whose kid is this?” someone muttered, as if she hadn’t fully matured.

Liu Suisui glared at the speaker indignantly. Though not yet an adult, she was no child.

“Where do you want me to put these?”

Li Xiangyang turned to her, quietly holding all her parcels.

The female dorms were on the right, two rooms housing five each. Currently, one room had three occupants, the other four; it was up to her which she preferred.

“Wait a moment, I’ll take a look.”

There were no single rooms, and because of the kang heating, no one chose to sleep alone. It was not only inconvenient to light the fire for one, but also risky to be alone.

Before others could choose, she picked the three-person room and chose a spot by the window.

The window side was cooler as it was farther from the heat source, so others had avoided it.

But Liu Suisui felt it better to have one side next to a person than to be in the middle.

“Comrade, just set it down at the door, please.”

“Okay.”

Li Xiangyang put down the parcels and was about to leave when his sleeve was tugged.

“Um, could I trouble you for one more favor?”