Struggle Life in the 1970s

The village chief came here mainly to praise these two people. After he finished speaking, he called a few young and strong men and shouted to go to the river bank. Chu's father came uninvited, followed the village chief with a smile, and planned to take a closer look.

The village chief naturally had no objection. He waited for Chu's father to take a few steps and then walked over to him. "Old Chu, you have raised a good daughter. She really brings honor to you!" After that, he gave him a thumbs up.

As soon as these words came out, Chu's father felt unspeakable joy in his heart. This was even happier than eating white flour buns during the Chinese New Year. He felt like he was walking lightly, and his back straightened a little, as if the people behind him were looking at him with praise.

His smile became more and more kind. "No, no, this child has grown up under our care. She has been very well behaved and has never needed any worry from adults. I only found out about her saving someone today. This child did such a big thing but didn't tell anyone when she got home."

The village chief smiled and naturally followed suit in praising the family. As they chatted and laughed, they were already getting further and further away from the Chu family.

In the Chu family yard, the people who came to watch the fun had seen and heard enough, so they happily went to work. Chu's mother pulled Chu Ye to a corner, and just as she opened her mouth to ask something, the neighbor Aunt Wang came over, happily pulled Chu Ye, and looked satisfied no matter how she looked at her.

"Oh, Xiaoye, you've done a great thing. Auntie has to praise you. You did a great job!" Chu Ye pursed her lips, her eyes curved, and they were full of stars.

Just this simple sentence made her heart feel as if it was placed in the sun, warm and cozy. How many years had it been since she had been praised so warmly and sincerely?
The day-to-day grinding life in her previous life made her heart numb. She once felt that life was just counting one second at a time, with only endless insults and fights.

Now there are people who are willing to sincerely praise her and tell her that she has done a good job. She has a young body and can create a different future.

Chu Ye shifted his gaze and looked at Mu Zhiqing standing beside him. There were also many people surrounding him, and he looked at a loss.

Here, Aunt Wang pulled Chu's mother out of the yard. Those who were on good terms with them also hurried over, and they went to the fields together, talking and laughing. As a result, there were even fewer people in the yard.

Chu Ye did not rush out, but turned back to the house, put the food coupons and the red flower on her collar in the room, and then walked out of the door leisurely. What she did not notice was that Mu Zhiqing quietly followed behind her.

Just now, many people had left the yard, and there were fewer people around Mu Zhiqing. If someone observed carefully, they would find that even though he was squeezed in the crowd, Mu Zhiqing was always keeping an eye on Chu Ye, so when Chu Ye stepped out of the yard, he immediately found an excuse and followed him out.

The dirt road in the field was difficult to walk on, and Chu Ye walked very fast. At first, he could still see human figures, but when he looked up after a while, there was nothing in front of him, except for the rustling of weeds in the wind, which was inexplicably creepy. Just as he was secretly annoyed, half of Chu Ye's body appeared behind the tree in front.

She seemed to have known that there was someone behind her and was not surprised at all. She stood behind a tree five meters away and asked cautiously, "Why are you following me?"

It's no wonder Chu Ye asked this. Sometimes in order to save time, she would choose to take a small path to the fields. This path was trampled out by humans, and there were trees and weeds on both sides. If you are not a villager who has lived here for a long time, you will not find the road here. It is obvious that this person is following her.

Chu Ye's sudden voice startled Mu Zhiqing. When he reacted, he smiled brightly and held out his hand. "Hello, my name is Mu Jiajun. I know you saved me, so I wanted to come and thank you."

After saying that, he seemed to realize that his behavior of following Chu Ye was inappropriate, and said very embarrassedly, "I'm not a bad person. I saw that there were many people in your yard, and I couldn't find a chance to thank you, so I thought of following you and telling you in person."

Chu Ye frowned and looked over him. He was wearing a light blue shirt, a gray woolen vest on the outside, and dark gray polyester pants underneath, which was out of place with this land.

She could tell that this educated youth came from an extraordinary family. His clothes alone were not something that ordinary people could afford. Even among all the educated youth, his family background was probably one of the best.

She looked at the hand extended to her and knew that it meant a handshake, which was the way of greeting that these educated youth liked. However, she was still a little uncomfortable with it. Moreover, the educated youth had gauze wrapped around his hand. While she was hesitating, she saw the educated youth suddenly retract his hand and scratch his head embarrassedly.

He smiled and said, "Oh, I didn't see it clearly just now. My hands are a little dirty." He walked quickly to Chu Ye's side. His gray-blue eyes were full of sincerity. He looked like a young master who was ignorant of the world.

"I want to thank you for saving my life. If it weren't for you, I might have drowned in the water. By the way, my savior, I don't even know your name."

"My name is Chu Ye." After saying that, she turned around and continued walking forward. It seemed that what she thought in her previous life was right. Mu Jiajun was a young master doted on by his family, but he looked like a fool who could be deceived.

Footsteps followed closely behind, not too fast or too slow, and voices kept coming, "You have a nice name. How old are you this year?"

"Fifteen."

"How many years did you go to school?"

"I'll graduate from junior high school this summer."

"Did you really mean what you said last night about coming out to look for a book?"

Hearing this, Chu Ye paused for a moment, then walked forward as if nothing had happened, "Yes, it's true."

After a while, Chu Ye walked along the path to the field where she was going to work, and Mu Jiajun had already said goodbye to her at the previous intersection.

The weather in March was still chilly. Chu Ye was wearing a thin jacket made of blue cloth. This was her third sister's old clothes, which was left to her after she grew up.

There were already quite a few people on the field. Chu Ye found a place close to Chu's mother and started working with a hoe. After a winter of rain and snow, the land became solid. He had to loosen the soil and dig a hole before he could bury the seeds.

In her previous life, Zhao Xuesong did not work, and she was the only one who went to the fields. She already knew by heart what to do and when during spring plowing and autumn harvest.

However, she overestimated herself this time. Unlike her previous life when she was used to doing farm work and her hands were covered with thick calluses, her hands now looked delicate and tender. After hoeing for a while, the base of her hands became red from being rubbed. She could only take a short rest and continue working.

The sun was already high above our heads without us noticing. The warm sunlight made us feel warm and our stomachs began to growl. Chu's mother, who was not far away, called out to Chu Ye to go home for dinner.

The two of them were silent on the way home. When they returned home, Chu's father was already sitting in the yard, smoking a pipe alone. When he saw the two of them enter the house, Chu's father stood up, closed the yard door, and went to the main hall.

In the main hall, Chu's mother was preparing to light a fire and cook. Chu Ye took out the food coupons from under the pillow and placed them on the dining table.

Father Chu looked at her movements and took a deep puff of his pipe. "Did you really dream about what you said two days ago?"

As soon as these words were spoken, Chu Ye naturally knew what he meant, and she nodded.

Father Chu stood up and paced around the small room. After a moment, he continued to ask, "So what you said about the Zhao family is also true?"

"That's what the Bodhisattva said. It also said if you don't believe it, go and ask around."

He said this with certainty, as if he was sure that this was true. But whether it was true or not, it was not something Chu Ye should know.

Whether it was the river bank bursting or the recent loss of a child by the Zhao family.

In the morning, Chu's father went upstream and saw the breach in the river embankment. Just as the village chief had said, there was a place where the inside was eaten away by termites. Later, there was heavy rain in the upstream county last night, and the water level rose, which led to an increase in the amount of water here and eventually caused a flood.

But Chu Ye had predicted this natural disaster two days in advance. She couldn't have known that the river bank had been eaten away, nor could she have known that the rain would be so heavy that it would break the river bank. Could it be that the Bodhisattva that Chu Ye dreamed of was real? Was there really such a strange thing in this world?

He couldn't help but think of the time a few days ago when Chu Ye had a high fever. They invited a village doctor, who prescribed some medicine but the patient didn't get better. It wasn't until they called a fortune teller, who came with a peach wood branch and patted and hit him, that the patient woke up.

Could it be that what Chu Ye said was true? He planned to find some time to go to the next village to inquire.

Soon, after the family had lunch, Chu's mother took out a small bag of flour, poured water into it and stirred it into dough, then kneaded it and put it in a basin to wait for fermentation.

"Your brother will be home from school this afternoon. We'll make steamed buns for him in the evening." Mother Chu smiled. This has become a family tradition. Her brother attends junior high school in town and comes home once a week. Today is Friday. Every time he comes back, Mother Chu will take out the white flour hidden at home as a reward for his hard work in studying.

It was another half day of work in the afternoon. Chu Ye took a break when he was tired. He dug a lot of land bit by bit.
In her previous life, she had not been to school since the second half of the second year of junior high school. When her fever subsided, her family introduced her to a blind date. Chu's mother persuaded her that earning work points every day would help the family, and her younger brother was also in school, and the family was under great pressure. Once the graduation certificate was issued in the summer, it would be considered junior high school graduation, so there would be no impact.

After listening to what her family said, she felt that what Chu's mother said made sense. This was the way it was at that time. Even if you went to school, you still had to work. After finishing junior high school anyway, you still had to go on blind dates. Many girls in their village were like this, and she never thought there was anything wrong with it. But now, she no longer thinks so.

The sun sets in the west and the air gets cooler. After finishing a day's work, they have to go to the scoring office to register their work points. People like her and Chu's mother are given seven points a day. Chu's father did not work in the morning, so he only got five points.

When the three of them arrived at the door of the house, they saw Chu Guangyao sitting in the yard, doing his homework with a pencil. Next to him was Mu Zhiqing, whom they had just met in the morning.

I don’t know where this person went in the afternoon. His originally clean trouser legs were covered with mud and grass. He looked tired and was now saying something to Chu Guangyao with his head down.

The sound of pushing the door attracted the attention of the two people, and Chu Guangyao came over first, "Dad, Mom, this brother was just helping me with my homework, and he said he came to see my sister."

Mu Zhiqing quickly stood up and greeted the person politely. After a few pleasantries, Chu's mother was anxious to steam buns, so she pulled Guangyao into the house. Chu's father saw him glance at Chu Ye several times, and knew that he had something to say, so he left space for the two of them.

Chu Ye frowned and looked at Mu Zhiqing holding a black leather bag in his hand, wondering why he came to see her.

The person who was a whole head taller than her lowered his head and opened his purse. He took out a purple iron box and handed it to Chu Ye. "This is chocolate. I brought it from home. I don't like it very much, so I'll give it to you."

Seeing that Chu Ye wanted to refuse, he quickly said, "Just think of it as my way of thanking you for saving my life. If you don't accept it, I will keep bringing you things until you accept it."

She just found it funny that the person in front of her was threatening her. How could one force someone to collect something like this? Besides, if he really didn't like the food, why would he bring it from thousands of miles away?
But the man in front of her was so sincere, Chu Ye had a thought in her mind, if she really didn't accept it, I'm afraid he would really come here every day. Besides, if she didn't make a move, he would really die in the water, a box of chocolates, she could still afford it.

(End of this chapter)