Zhan Mingkang and Zeng Jiang had been sent down to Zhong Village, while Chen Yuan was in Upper Village. The two places were far apart, separated by a large stretch of winding mountain road. The villages here were scattered unevenly through the forested mountains, and ordinary people could easily get lost.
The daytime sun was intense. The abundant sunlight poured down fiercely, making the green leaves shine with an oily, jade-like colour. Such bright, lush greenery should have brought joy to people, but Zhan Mingkang could not smile at all.
He lived in a wooden educated-youth dormitory with several other male educated youths. The smell was strong and pungent. Because he was young, the older male educated youths looked after him.
As soon as Zhan Mingkang joined the production team, he immediately started shouting about his background until everyone knew it.
“My father is… My two brothers-in-law are both regiment commanders…”
Not only were both of his brothers-in-law regiment commanders, his brother-in-law Gu Sheng’s elder brother was also such-and-such… Although Gu Sheng was only his step-brother-in-law, saying it aloud was still quite intimidating. On top of that, Zhan Mingkang was fair-skinned and chubby, so the villagers and other educated youths really did not dare treat him poorly. They only gave him easy work.
For example, “watching the cattle” or “picking up manure.”
To other people, picking up manure was an easy job that many wanted but could not get. It was usually assigned to the old, weak, sick, or disabled in the village. But when Zhan Mingkang was told to carry a basket and “pick up manure,” he only felt insulted.
Zeng Jiang said to him, “How about I watch the cattle and pick up manure for you, and you do my work?”
Zhan Mingkang agreed. Zeng Jiang had originally been assigned to learn how to use agricultural machinery. Zhan Mingkang had never seen it before and found it interesting, so he happily followed him into the fields. But once he entered the fields, even with a straw hat on, he felt like he was about to be sunburned until his skin peeled. It really was not as good as slowly picking up manure.
After trying it for one day, Zhan Mingkang obediently ran back to pick up manure.
Although picking up manure sounded unpleasant, dried manure did not stink. You had to smell carefully to detect the odour.
Zhan Mingkang said to Zeng Jiang, “Do your own work yourself.”
Zeng Jiang was extremely disappointed. He was a scholar who could neither carry loads on his shoulders nor lift heavy things with his hands. Having just come into contact with physical labour in the countryside, he felt exhausted even when the work did not require much strength, especially in such hot weather.
He would rather pick up manure.
Zeng Jiang envied Zhan Mingkang for having such a good background and two powerful brothers-in-law. That was why he could get a good job like picking up manure.
Zeng Jiang had no choice but to honestly go do farm work. Zhan Mingkang watched him closely. He felt that this man was wholeheartedly trying to slack off and wondered what clever method he would come up with.
After a few days of farm work, Zeng Jiang gradually began living a good life. He became close to the youngest daughter of a local “well-off family.” She had three older brothers above her and was the only younger sister. Her family had plenty of strong labourers, and her parents were also well respected in the commune. After Zeng Jiang began dating Little Sister Xue, his treatment rose step by step.
He was given light work, and he was even transferred to teach at the village primary school. He spent the day in the classroom and did not need to go out under the sun.
Little Sister Xue even brought him fruit every day. At this time of year, there was no shortage of food. There were many mushrooms in the mountains and even more wild fruits. People who had grown up in the mountains could bring back a pile of “delicious things” after one trip up the mountain. Little Sister Xue was quick with her hands and feet and had a straightforward personality. Zeng Jiang liked her very much and felt that she was the ideal capable wife.
“Little Sister, you should also learn to read and recognise characters with me,” Zeng Jiang said to Little Sister Xue. In the countryside, the busy farming days were indeed busy, but there were also many idle days. When people had free time, there was not much else to do in the village. Many people just stayed under the covers making children, or gossiped with the aunties and grannies, listened to broadcasts from the village loudspeaker, or gathered together, men and women, to sing mountain songs.
Little Sister Xue froze. “Me? Learn to read?”
She was a girl. The elders all said girls did not need to study too much. So many women in the countryside were uneducated. During the mass literacy campaigns, they had only been forced to attend a bit of primary school. For rural people, primary-level education was enough: being able to write one’s own name and count.
Zeng Jiang said, “Yes. I have many books here. You can read them too. It’s just to pass the time, and the two of us can chat.”
Zeng Jiang had already decided to put down roots here. Finding a local rural woman had been his goal. He felt Little Sister Xue’s family was good, that she was hardworking, and that she was fairly good-looking too. The two of them should be able to live prosperous, lively days together.
Now that the material foundation was there, they also needed some spiritual life. Zeng Jiang had no hope at all of taking university entrance exams. After the movements of the past few years, school education had become a complete mess. In his view, reading and recognising characters was just entertainment to pass the time, not some lofty spiritual pursuit.
Little Sister Xue said, “I’m just a woman. Why should I learn culture?”
Zeng Jiang said, “For no special reason. Just to pass the time. Look, these comic books are quite interesting…”
Little Sister Xue became curious because of his words and moved closer to read with him. She followed along and recognised a few characters. Zeng Jiang praised her, “You’re actually quite clever. You remembered them very quickly. I also borrowed a set of *One Hundred Thousand Whys*. Let’s read it together to pass the time.”
Zeng Jiang wanted to date Little Sister Xue, but he had his own strategy. He was from the city and could not compare with a mountain girl like her. If he followed Little Sister Xue up mountains and through streams, he definitely would not be her match, and he would appear lacking in masculinity. It was better for everyone to sit down, read books, chat, and pass the time.
Little Sister Xue’s heart thumped wildly. Deep down, she felt that reading and recognising characters were not things women should do. But she also liked this educated youth from the city and wanted to talk to him more. If he said they should read, then they would read… and he had even praised her.
Little Sister Xue said, “I’ll go get some melon seeds and tea.”
Zeng Jiang: “!”
That was wonderful!
Tea leaves here were not valuable. People could drink them freely. Even packaged tea cakes only cost a few mao, and the village tea leaves were worth even less. Little Sister Xue brewed him Pu’er tea, and the two of them leisurely drank tea, ate melon seeds, and read books.
Tea was produced here, but the people here did not especially love drinking tea. The tea leaves were sold elsewhere, especially to the southern coastal regions and overseas.
Zeng Jiang drank tea and read books with Little Sister Xue, living very comfortably. His days grew more pleasant day by day. The small teacher’s salary was enough for him to eat, and hardworking Little Sister Xue was always going up the mountain to get him wild delicacies and mountain goods. She actually fed him until he gained a little weight.
In Zeng Jiang’s view, the biggest difference between this place and Shanghai was that here, food “didn’t cost money” and “didn’t require ration coupons.”
Never mind delicious termite mushrooms; there were also ant eggs, protein-rich bee pupae, tender bamboo shoots, wild rabbits in the mountains, field rats, fish swimming in the water, wild fruits growing on trees, and all kinds of flowers. These flowers could also be turned into dishes and eaten…
Zeng Jiang and Little Sister Xue’s relationship grew better and better.
Zeng Jiang was going to stay here and become a prized son-in-law!
In outsiders’ eyes, this rural partner took very good care of him. Some educated youths were jealous of him, while many others looked down on him.
Generally, educated youths sent to the countryside would not marry local men or women. More often, they found other educated youths as partners to live with. They did not register their marriages. They simply held a small banquet and lived as husband and wife, even having children.
Over the years, educated youths had gradually left the places where they were inserted through methods like joining the army or attending worker-peasant-soldier universities. Many still held onto the desire to return to the city. If they married a local person, things would become difficult to handle. They would have attachments, making it inconvenient to return to the city.
“A man who lives off a woman!” Zhan Mingkang looked down on Zeng Jiang very much. He felt Zeng Jiang was no different from a live-in son-in-law eating soft rice.
He was lazy and did not go up the mountains. He actually relied on a woman to serve him, wash his clothes, cook for him, and bring him food and drink every day…
Zhan Mingkang bit his lip. He also wanted someone to wash his clothes and cook for him.
In truth, in Zhan Mingkang’s eyes, it was only natural for women to serve men. Little Sister Xue was more or less the same as his mother, Zhu Jiaorong.
Seeing Zeng Jiang live a life of “eating well and drinking well,” while he himself stumbled along picking up manure, growing thinner and darker, and even almost getting attacked by a wild boar, Zhan Mingkang also wanted to find a well-respected family in the commune, become their son-in-law, and find a young girl to serve him.
Unfortunately, he was too young, and no one took a fancy to him.
Zhan Mingkang searched the nearby area for pretty girls close to his age. At the same time, he too was being watched like a fragrant piece of prey. In the village, there was a twenty-year-old girl named Zhou Yanyan, whose family conditions were ordinary. She was brisk and forceful in doing things, had a fierce temper, and still had not married. She set her sights on him.
Zhou Yanyan was very pretty, but she had a sharp and fiery temper, and no one dared provoke her. Zhou Yanyan was wholeheartedly determined to marry a male educated youth. She wanted to follow a male educated youth to the city, live like one of the “rich ladies” from the old society, and eat state-supplied grain.
Unfortunately, she had targeted two male educated youths in succession, but those two had both found ways to leave the production brigade one after the other. Zhou Yanyan was calculating. The male educated youths she chose all had good family conditions.
The families of these male educated youths would always find a way to get them out. Although Zhou Yanyan was pretty, those male educated youths wanted to return to the city even more. They wanted to find fair, tender city girls as partners.
Zhou Yanyan hated it deeply, but she would never give up.
Now Zhou Yanyan had her eye on Zhan Mingkang. She dressed herself beautifully, wearing a long skirt and showing a gentle smile as she walked up to him and said softly, “You’re a newly arrived educated youth, aren’t you? You’re quite young. Come, talk to big sister.”
Zhan Mingkang froze. “Big sister?”
The word “sister” made his heart tremble with fear. The two sisters related to him by blood, Zhan Aiping and Zhan Aijia, were both not easy women to deal with.
“That’s right.” Zhou Yanyan gave him a gentle look. “Call me good big sister, and I’ll take you to eat something delicious.”
Zhou Yanyan looked at Zhan Mingkang as if she were looking at a little white rabbit. She had to properly grasp this rabbit and make him willingly take her back to the city, unable to leave her no matter what.
As long as she grasped this man, could his family still stop them?
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