The Siheyuan of the Young Educated Youth

Captain Zheng came over and said, "Secretary Liu, you're finally back. Why are you here so late today?" Everyone was waiting with their necks stretched out.

Secretary Liu: "Oh! Don't mention it. The train was first said to be delayed by an hour, then two hours, and finally arrived at around 2:00 p.m. I knew you would be anxious waiting. After picking up the people, we hurried back. Fortunately, the car was fine on the way, and it went smoothly, otherwise it would be even later. Are you leaving now? Or stay overnight?"

Captain Zheng: "We're going back now. It's inconvenient to eat and sleep at this time."

The canteen, restaurant, and supply and marketing cooperative have all closed.

Secretary Liu called everyone and called the roll, and each team leader took his educated youth back.

Qi Feifei and Zhang Chunxiang were assigned to the Toudaogou Brigade, which was under the command of Captain Zheng.

Captain Zheng sighed inwardly, wondering why they were separated into two weak little girls.

I called the car owner Zheng Dazhu to help put the luggage on the car and tie it up. It was dark, so I didn't want to lose anything.

The four of them said hello to Officer Liu and hurried back.

It was a large carriage pulled by three horses, and it was easy to pull them. Zheng Dazhui flicked the whip and the carriage started running.

There were mountains on both sides of the road, and Captain Zheng held a Type 56 semi-automatic rifle in his arms to prevent encountering wild beasts on the road.

This time, Zhang Chunxiang was not only feeling uncomfortable, but also very scared, and tears kept falling.

"Captain Zheng, are you really going to encounter a wolf?"

Captain Zheng: "We just left the commune, so there won't be any. If there is, it must be in Liujiaao. Generally, there won't be any. We have cars and many people. It's okay. We are not afraid if they come."

He said as he patted the gun in his arms.

"We have this. The bullets I just bought today. Enough."

Zhang Chunxiang: This is sure there is a wolf! I want to cry even more! My legs are weak. If I wasn’t in the car, I would have sat on it!

Zheng Dazhu looked proud and said, "My second uncle is a very good marksman. He has been to the Korean battlefield. I guarantee that they will never come back."

Qi Feifei knew that Captain Zheng’s shooting skills were not perfect, but they were still pretty good.

When I went to fight against the US and aid Korea, I signed up and was taken to Korea by a truck. I went to the battlefield without any training.

To be able to come back safe and sound, besides being lucky, you also need some skills.

Captain Zheng grew up in the mountains. Climbing mountains and crossing rivers is a common occurrence for him, so he has good physical fitness.

Wolves, snakes, danger is always around us, and the psychological quality that needs to be trained is even stronger.

Qi Feifei: "We believe in the captain, nothing will happen." In the previous life, there was no wolf encountered on this day.

"Can you tell us about the War to Resist U.S. Aggression and Aid Korea?" They were bored on the way, so talking would help pass the time and distract Zhang Chunxiang.

Captain Zheng was very happy and started to tell them interesting things.

He didn't dare to talk about the real battlefield, where a large number of people died in the war; arms and legs were blown off and hung on trees; the gold rings on the dead people's fingers could not be removed, so they were chopped off with knives, and then the helmets were boiled...

If I say these, I'm afraid it would be more frightening than if there were wolves.

It’s just that when we were going to join the army, everyone was so enthusiastic. There was a little kid who didn’t get selected and was crying. When canned food was distributed, some companies got some, and some didn’t. Seeing others get some, I was so greedy. Later, I got some too. The canned food smelled so good…

When the captain got tired of talking, Qi Feifei said, let's sing a song: "I love this blue ocean, the sea of ​​our motherland is magnificent and vast..."

"The golden mountain in Beijing shines in all directions, and Chairman Mao is the golden sun..."

Zhang Chunxiang was attracted by the chat and forgot her fear. She was infected by the atmosphere and started singing along. Everyone sang and laughed all the way, and the atmosphere was very exciting.

Captain Zheng: It would be nice to have two girls.

Zheng Dazhui: With this momentum, my second uncle’s gun won’t be of any use today.

More than two hours later, the carriage arrived at the collective household - the educated youth site.

Everyone had already gone to bed, and when they heard the sound of a horse-drawn carriage, they knew that the new educated youth had arrived.

The team leader informed them early in the morning before leaving and asked them to take out meals for the two educated youths in the evening. He would give them their own rations the next day to make up for the shortfall.

Julie got up, put on her clothes and went to open the door.

Captain Zheng said something to Zhu Li, asking her to settle the people, and then took Zheng Dazhu back.

The collective household consisted of five rooms connected in a row, with the kitchen in the middle and two rooms on each side. The male educated youth lived in one end and the female educated youth lived in the other end. The door of the room opened on the kitchen.

Zhu Li asked the two of them to sleep in the inner room, which was temporarily unoccupied. Food for everyone was piled at the end of the kang.

He told them where the water was, lent them his thermos, and gave them two steamed buns and some large pickled vegetables, one steamed bun for each of them.

After making arrangements for the two of them, Julie went back to sleep. She had to get up early the next morning to cook.

Qi Feifei and the other person also washed up quickly, had their meal, drank a glass of water and went to bed. They had been very busy on the road these past few days.

I lay on the kang and felt like I was on a train. I fell asleep soon after.

When Captain Zheng returned home, his wife Li Guiying was lying on the kang with the lights off and her clothes on. When she heard the noise, she jumped up, grabbed the wall, felt for the light cord, pulled it to turn on the light, then got down to the ground. As soon as she put on her shoes, the captain came in.

Li Guiying looked concerned and asked, "Boss, why are you back so late? Have you eaten?"

Captain Zheng: "Nothing, the train was just late. We rushed back without eating, otherwise it would have been even later."

Li Guiying quickly got some water for washing her face: "I'll go get some rice and eggplant soup for you in the pot and heat them up."

As he said this, he turned around and went to the kitchen to add firewood to the stove, lit it, and then brought in a bowl of soybean paste, green onions and chopsticks and placed them on the table.

Question: "How many educated youth did you pick up today? Male or female?"

Captain: "Female, both of them are female."

Li Guiying looked curious and asked, "Is he handsome?"

The captain glared at him and said, "What's the matter?" So what if he's not handsome and can't do his job?

Li Guiying came close to him and lowered her voice as if she was afraid of being heard: "If she stays in our village to be a daughter-in-law, she will be the best if she is pretty!"

The team leader said: "Don't talk nonsense. They are here to support rural construction. What do you mean by wife?"

Li Guiying: "Look at you, you don't know yet, do you? The educated youth called Lin Ge and Wang Zhongping are finally getting married. Today I heard from old Mrs. Wang that they plan to get married before the autumn harvest."

Captain: “So urgent?”

Li Guiying: "How can I not be anxious? Haven't you seen what the educated youth eat every day? You said they eat pickled vegetable steamed buns in winter, but they still eat pickled vegetable steamed buns in the hot summer. If you marry him earlier, you can have a better life. Besides, there will be one more person working in the Wang family."

The team leader said: "It's not good to have no vegetables to eat. You can teach them how to grow vegetables when you have nothing to do."

Li Guiying curled her lips and said, "It's not like I haven't taught you before, but I can't teach you every day! You don't know how to water when it's dry, and you don't know how to drain when it rains heavily, so there are only a few seedlings left!"

The team leader said: "They are not like rural children who have been working with adults since they were young. It is inevitable for them to be exposed to the new environment."

Li Guiying: "If you ask me, how long can I rely on the support from my family? When I get old, I have to start a family here. Isn't it sooner or later that I will be a daughter-in-law here? I can pick a good guy sooner."

The captain: "It's someone else's life event, don't go out and mess around with it."

Li Guiying: "I'm just talking to you at home. How can I chat with them? When have I stopped paying attention to the impact in all these years?"

The captain: "Alright, alright, I haven't eaten all day, hurry up and bring the food."

Li Guiying went to the kitchen quickly.