Era: Starting with the struggle to refuse being taken advantage of

Chapter 321 The Turmoil at the Educated Youth Settlement

"Of course I know we are facing many difficulties, and that is precisely why I have gathered everyone together."

"I want to leverage the power of the group to find a glimmer of hope for everyone in this desperate situation!"

"What Jin Hu said certainly exists, but the other educated youth were in the same situation as us."

"We are even luckier, because the conditions in Wangjia Village are quite good. This year, they switched to planting sugar beets, which made things much easier for us."

Song Sixi's words broke the silence, but he still felt it wasn't enough and continued to encourage:
"As long as you are willing to work hard, you will always reap the rewards."

"Even if you don't pass the exam this year, what about next year? Or the year after?"

"Even if it's just laying the foundation for the future, our efforts will not be in vain."

“Even the country folk you look down on have the courage to change everything and start a collective enterprise in the village. Don’t you even have the courage to take that first step?”

"To be honest, I really admire the genius who came up with this idea, and I also admire Wangjiacun's courage to carry it out."

"Now that they've succeeded and are enjoying the fruits of their labor, are we the ones who dare not try?"

"Do you really want to spend your whole life in Wangjia Village, living this kind of life where you face the loess soil and turn your back to the sky?"

Since ideals didn't work, Song Sixi decided to talk to everyone about reality.

His last sentence, in particular, was a wake-up call, leaving everyone with a sense of resentment.

Even though they had long been accustomed to life in Wangjia Village, they could never imagine staying there for the rest of their lives.

Zhang Jinhu slammed his hand on the table, stood up, and said, "Si Xi is right. We can't continue to sink like this."

"If we don't even have the courage to try, how dare we look down on these rural people? What's the difference between us and them?"

With Zhang Jinhu taking the lead, the other educated youth echoed his sentiments, and they quickly reached a consensus.

Seeing this, Song Sixi smiled with satisfaction and said:
"I am very happy that everyone has the courage to take this step."

"Now is the time to gather everyone's strength and overcome this difficulty together."

"First, let's talk about the textbooks. What do you all think we should do?"

"Don't even think about going to town or the city to buy it. Let alone whether we have the money, it's impossible for us to buy it now."

Although he was soliciting everyone's opinions, Song Sixi's eyes were fixed on Xia Mingyue.

Because not only the educated youth settlement, but even Wangjia Village knew that Xia Mingyue was definitely the person with the most books in the entire educated youth settlement.

Seeing that she had become the target of everyone's criticism, Xia Mingyue frowned deeply.

However, she wasn't a petty person; she just disliked feeling targeted by everyone, so she immediately agreed, saying:

"Borrowing books is allowed, but you must ensure that you do not cause any damage to the books."

"In addition, there are some books that I do not own; I borrowed them from others and am not qualified to lend them to you."

Seeing that Xia Mingyue agreed to lend the book, Song Sixi's face lit up with joy, and he said:

"Xia Zhiqing is indeed a reasonable person. He lent out such a precious book without hesitation."

"In that case, we certainly can't let Xia, the educated youth, suffer a loss."

“Everyone who was willing to borrow Xia Zhiqing’s books took turns helping her earn work points so that she could have more time to devote to her studies.”

To be fair, Song Sixi's arrangement was very reasonable and could be considered a win-win situation.

The same thing happened in her previous life; Xia Mingyue used books to obtain a relatively superior learning environment for herself.

However, this time, things took a completely different turn.

A young intellectual named Luo Wenbin immediately stood up and voiced his opposition, saying:
"No, I don't agree."

“If Xia, the educated youth, is truly sincere in helping us, then it is only natural for us to help her with her work points.”

"But as you all saw just now, she clearly had the idea of ​​keeping things to herself."

"Everyone knows that Xia Zhiqing's books were all sent by her family and bought by herself. How could there be any books without ownership? Could she possibly borrow them from some peasant in Wangjia Village?"

"Her refusal to lend us all the books was clearly a way of keeping us at bay, afraid that we would get better grades than her."

"If that's the case, then why should we help her earn work points? Just because of her fake help?"

Although Luo Wenbin's words were somewhat biased, they also made a lot of sense. For a moment, the way the others looked at Xia Mingyue also became a little strange.

Upon seeing this, Song Sixi's heart skipped a beat, and he knew something was wrong.

He gathered everyone here in order to unite all forces that could be united.

Unexpectedly, Luo Wenbin was so stupid that he offended Xia Mingyue, who had access to the study materials, as soon as he opened his mouth.

Before he could even step forward to smooth things over, Xia Mingyue stood up abruptly and said coldly:
"Since everyone thinks I have ulterior motives, then I also think there's nothing more to say between us."

"You guys talk amongst yourselves, don't involve me in what follows."

“Although I, Xia Mingyue, am a female educated youth, I have never worked any less than anyone else, and I don’t owe you anything.”

As soon as she finished speaking, Xia Mingyue got up and left, leaving the educated youth who had questioned her looking at each other in bewilderment.

Although she could easily clear up the misunderstanding with everyone by simply mentioning that Wang Chengpeng lent her the book, Xia Mingyue did not intend to do so.

Wang Chengpeng kindly lent her books and gave them to her; this in itself was an immense favor. How could she possibly drag Wang Chengpeng into this mess?

Moreover, she wasn't one of those educated youth who crammed at the last minute; even if she studied while working, she was confident she could rank among the top students.

After all, she has more books in this life than in the previous one, so she can study more efficiently.

Seeing that Xia Mingyue had no intention of explaining and simply slunk away, Luo Wenbin's expression instantly turned smug, and he said:
"After I exposed her hypocrisy, she just ran away in a panic?"

"Let her go, who cares about her tattered books?"

"She always pretends to study hard, but now she's doing something like this, holding back her knowledge. It's utterly despicable."

At this point, Luo Wenbin looked at Song Sixi with a fawning expression and said:

"Brother Song, it would be a good thing to kick this black sheep out of the team as soon as possible."

"I think what you just said is very true. What do you think we should do next?" What should we do? Make a der!

For the first time, Song Sixi realized that not everyone could be a teammate, and that bad apples like Luo Wenbin should be kicked out as soon as possible.

But he couldn't show his anger, so he could only bite the bullet and say:
"The primary task is definitely to find usable textbooks. Everyone should make an effort, whether by borrowing or buying, to at least get our hands on all the high school textbooks."

"Secondly, everyone should give full play to their strengths."

"Everyone should write down the subjects they are good at, and then teach and learn from each other. This will not only consolidate their knowledge but also improve them. It's a win-win situation."

It must be said that Song Sixi was able to become a leader among the educated youth, and he did have some skills.

In his previous life, following his method, two college students emerged from the educated youth settlement in Wangjia Village in the first year after the resumption of the college entrance examination.

In the following years, more and more educated youth passed the exams and left, which was even considered a good story by the villagers of Wangjia Village.

However, the situation in the previous life was different from now. Without the books provided by Xia Mingyue, their mutual learning plan might not have gone so smoothly.

……

Back in her room, Xia Mingyue immediately opened a textbook and began studying.

With time running out, she must absorb more knowledge before the college entrance examination in order to ensure that she can achieve better results in this exam.

As for the educated youth outside the door who were chattering incessantly, how could Xia, the educated youth, be so foolish as to let such a trivial matter affect his studies?
Because Song Sixi helped all the educated youth ask the brigade for a day off, Xia Mingyue was able to stay home and read more books today, which was a rare treat.

It was noon, and Xia Mingyue touched her somewhat empty stomach, then got up to go out for lunch.

Although she wasn't a big foodie like An Qiuyun, she still knew that being hungry would affect her studies.

At that time, the educated youth in the settlement ate communal meals. Unless there were special circumstances, they took turns cooking and ate together.

However, when Xia Mingyue arrived at the kitchen, she found that she had not received her lunch.

The meals for educated youth were always rationed, so there was no situation where anyone ate more or less.

The only explanation for this situation is that the person responsible for cooking didn't prepare their own lunch at all.

As if to confirm Xia Mingyue's guess, Luo Wenbin quickly appeared at the kitchen doorway, followed by his annoying voice:

"Xia Zhiqing, you're not looking for lunch, are you?"

“The educated youth in our settlement are all united and preparing for the college entrance examination. We will not prepare food for someone like you who betrays the collective.”

"Childish!" Xia Mingyue didn't bother to pay any attention to Luo Wenbin and picked up the cornmeal in the kitchen to start kneading it.

In order to reciprocate Wang Chengpeng's invitation to dinner, she had long since developed fairly good cooking skills.

While it's not exactly delicious, it's almost impossible to go hungry.

Considering that she would probably receive the same treatment that evening, Xia Mingyue immediately added more cornmeal to the ceramic basin, intending to cook dinner at the same time.

Feeling rebuffed, Luo Wenbin glared at Xia Mingyue before finally leaving the kitchen doorway in a huff.

The educated youth settlement was full of people at the moment, and he didn't dare to do anything to Xia Mingyue.

Putting everything else aside, if he dared to do anything to Xia Mingyue, knowing that she would say something to him, he would never have a chance to turn things around again.

Hooliganism? That's a crime punishable by death.

But he was unwilling to just watch Xia Mingyue "show off" in front of him. Looking at the door that Xia Mingyue hadn't locked, an idea immediately popped into his mind:
"Don't you cherish those old books? Then I'll bring them all over."

“I took these books not for myself, but for our entire educated youth settlement.”

"So what if Xia Mingyue finds out? Can she stand against the entire educated youth settlement?"

The more Luo Wenbin thought about it, the more feasible his idea seemed.

Even if this matter blows up in the end, all he has to do is return the book; nothing will happen to him.

After all, how can you call something a scholar does "stealing"? You can only call it "borrowing"!
If he does this well, he will be a great benefactor to the entire educated youth settlement. At that time, he will be able to easily obtain the treatment of not having to earn work points and focusing on studying.

Thinking this, Luo Wenbin's previously hesitant steps became firm, and he strode towards Xia Mingyue's room.

Xia Mingyue's room was clean and tidy. Apart from some simple daily necessities, there was only a pile of extremely conspicuous books.

Especially after An Qiuyun left, Xia Mingyue used more and more space to store books.

Chemistry, Mathematics, Chinese Language and Literature, Physics, ...!
Looking at the wide variety of books in front of him, Luo Wenbin's eyes practically lit up.

What ordinary people long for is readily available to Xia Mingyue, so how could he not be excited?
Luo Wenbin picked up a chemistry book as if it were a treasure and began to read it. He quickly restrained his impulse, grabbed a pile of books, and ran to his room.

After repeating this process three to five times, he finally managed to remove all the books that were clearly displayed in Xia Mingyue's room, leaving the room, which was originally filled with various books, now empty.

I just wanted these books to fulfill their intended purpose, what did I do wrong?

Thinking this, Luo Wenbin excitedly rushed to Song Sixi's room door and shouted:
"Brother Song, great news! I've found the textbooks you asked us to find."

Looking at the loud and boisterous Luo Wenbin in front of him, Song Sixi frowned. He really couldn't stand this idiot.

If it weren't for him, I could have easily obtained many textbooks, and I wouldn't be in such a mess now.
Even if Xia Mingyue did keep something to herself, she still actually brought out something, which is far better than Luo Wenbin, who only knows how to shout.

However, he still had to maintain appearances, so he immediately asked in a friendly tone:
"Textbooks? Did you find one or two?"

"Go ahead and take out your textbooks. Don't worry, I'll remember your contribution."

Patting his chest, Luo Wenbin said with a laugh:

"One book? Two books? Brother Song, you underestimate my abilities."

"I found the textbooks, all the textbooks, every grade, every subject, all the textbooks."

"Come with me to my room right now, I guarantee you'll be satisfied."

Looking at Luo Wenbin with suspicion, Song Sixi simply couldn't believe that he had such great abilities.

However, tempted by the book, he ultimately decided to go with Luo Wenbin to check out the situation first.

What if, what if what Luo Wenbin said is true?

Thinking this, Song Sixi quickened her pace.

(End of this chapter)