Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

There were only four new educated youths, two men and two women. Fortunately, when the educated youth settlement was built, it was considered that more people might come in the future, so it was built large enough; otherwise, we wouldn't know how to arrange them.

The welcome banquet was held together, bringing together both male and female educated youth. Originally, there wasn't supposed to be a welcome banquet; Lin Qiuyue just wanted to cook a nice meal for her childhood friend, Yu Sitian.

But Xu Jun saw Lin Qiuyue buy meat at Zhou Rui's house, so he shamelessly suggested to the educated youth team leader that everyone contribute something to hold a welcome banquet for the new educated youth.

Out of consideration for face, Lin Qiuyue did not want to lose face for team leader Meng Huaiyuan in front of the new educated youth, so she reluctantly agreed.

As a result, Lin Qiuyue contributed meat, Yang Ping contributed grain, and the newly arrived male and female educated youth brought canned food and two bottles of liquor. Meng Huaiyuan and the other two only contributed some dried vegetables, which they borrowed from the village chief.

"Now let's welcome our new comrades. We've come here for the same goal. Here we have honest and kind villagers and fertile land. We will use our knowledge and our hands to take root in the countryside, build the countryside, and create a better new era. Cheers!"

Several enamel mugs clinked together. Lin Qiuyue took a small sip, thinking to herself, "Luckily, Meng Huaiyuan didn't say anything, or the food would have gotten cold."

Unexpectedly, Meng Huaiyuan didn't want to say much. Perhaps he hadn't eaten meat in a long time, and he thought it was better to eat more meat than to talk about slogans.

The newly arrived educated youth were almost stunned as they watched Meng Huaiyuan, Wei Dazhi, and Xu Jun wield their chopsticks. How many years of practice had honed their hand speed? They could practically see afterimages! Were these the legendary masters?

Lin Qiuyue was the smartest; she quickly shoveled meat into Yu Sitian's bowl, while Yang Ping was also taking care of another female educated youth. Only the two newly arrived male educated youths didn't understand the situation and ended up only taking one or two pieces of meat, eventually having to eat vegetables instead.

The welcome banquet ended hastily, and Lin Qiuyue quickly took Yu Sitian back to the girls' dormitory.

"Comrade Yang Ping, do all the male educated youth eat like this? Is it a bad habit they developed after going to the countryside, or is this how the farmers here eat, and we should just do as the Romans do?"

The newly arrived female educated youth came from Beijing. Although her family was not wealthy, she had never seen such a scene before.

"No, there's no such custom here. Let me tell you, don't follow their example. They just don't know how to manage their food supplies and end up starving themselves." Yang Ping quickly waved her hand, not wanting anyone to misunderstand.

Yu Sitian was also a little surprised, but she knew that Lin Qiuyue would tell her anything, so she didn't speak first.

Lin Qiuyue quickly pulled her onto the kang (heated brick bed), which was warm and cozy, a world apart from the lukewarm warmth the male educated youth had just displayed.

Then, Yang Ping and Lin Qiuyue recounted how they started sharing meals over the past few months, how food became scarce, and how they began to eat separately. They didn't mention Zhou Rui, who had given them the idea, as they didn't want to make someone else take the blame.

"They even look down on us. They refuse to go up the mountain to chop firewood or pick wild vegetables when we ask them to. Look, they don't even dare to burn too much firewood. It's so cold in there, I don't even want to go in." Yang Ping's eyes revealed a hint of disdain.

"Are those male educated youth so petty? Just because you have to cook separately, they don't like you?" Yu Sitian was a little surprised, wondering how there could be such boys.

"Comrade Yang Ping, are the village well-stocked? Can we buy meat anytime?" He Wei didn't care about the male educated youths, since she wasn't planning on dating anyway; she was only interested in the quality of life.

"No, that's not true. You can't even get meat in the city anytime these days, let alone in the countryside. We were just lucky; we have a skilled hunter living next door, which is why we were able to buy meat."

"Oh, I see. That's great, at least I can buy meat whenever I'm craving it."

"Anytime? He Wei, you're so generous. Although Zhou Rui bought meat for us at a much lower price than in town, it's still not cheap. I think we should buy a few young hens to raise next year, so we can have eggs to eat too."

"It's not that extravagant, it's just that my mother didn't take my rural allowance, she let me bring it all, so it can last for a while. Okay, I'm tired from traveling for several days, my back and waist are aching, I'm going to sleep now."

He Wei started snoring soon after she finished speaking. So, when people are tired, both men and women snore. Yang Ping had drunk some baijiu (Chinese liquor) at dinner, and without anyone to talk to, she quickly fell asleep as well.

After both of them fell asleep, Lin Qiuyue and Yu Sitian snuggled together under the same blanket and then changed the subject.

"Sitian, what exactly happened to my parents?" Lin Qiuyue's eyes were filled with sadness and fear.

Yu Sitian felt a pang of heartache seeing Lin Qiuyue looking like an abandoned little animal.

"As you know, the situation in Shanghai this year isn't very good, which is why we arranged for you to go to the countryside. As the situation got worse, your parents sold off their assets to prepare for your brother to also sign up for the countryside, so that he could avoid the storm."

"But suddenly we received news that your family's mortal enemy has filed a formal complaint accusing your family of providing intelligence to the puppet army in the past, making them veritable bad elements."

"How could they do this? My family used to fight against the puppet army for the sake of the Party and the country, and even risked their lives to buy large quantities of medicine for the army. After the founding of the People's Republic of China, we donated a large amount of our assets to the country. How could they do this?"

Lin Qiuyue's words were hurried and anxious, her voice rising several decibels. He Wei's snoring suddenly stopped, startling Lin Qiuyue, who quickly ceased speaking. Only when the snoring resumed did Lin Qiuyue finally breathe a sigh of relief.

"There's no point in arguing with those people; they're just jealous of your family's wealth," Yu Sitian sighed.

"The situation is quite critical. Your parents only sent a message to our family at the last minute, saying that they had found a fishing boat and left without even deciding where they were going. They left you some things, which I brought with me this time."

Tears streamed silently down Lin Qiuyue's face, a quiet and suppressed emotion. Although she had confirmed that she had indeed been abandoned by her family, at least she knew that her parents had no other choice, which brought her some comfort.

After calming down a bit, Lin Qiuyue asked again why Yu Sitian had also come to the countryside to work as an educated youth. Wasn't it said that Uncle Yu was going to arrange a factory job for Yu Sitian?

"That was my dad's original plan, but another deputy director of the Shanghai Power Plant kept giving him trouble. Luckily, my dad used to be an employee of your family's factory, so he couldn't find anything wrong with my family, but my dad couldn't use his connections to get me a job at the factory."

I've already graduated, but I don't have a job. My younger siblings are still in school, so I had to go to the countryside. Because you came to Northeast China earlier, my family used connections in the neighborhood committee to get me assigned here too, so we can be together.

Yu Sitian spoke lightly, but one could still glimpse the turbulent political struggle beneath her simple words.

"It's good that you've come to the countryside. Although it's remote and poor here, and resources aren't plentiful, it's tiring, but that's precisely because you're away from all the messy troubles in the city."

"Is it really that tiring to be sent to the countryside?" Yu Sitian asked with some doubt. Although she had often heard of educated youth writing home to complain, she had never seen it with her own eyes.

"Look at my hands." Lin Qiuyue held up her calloused hands. "During the autumn harvest a while ago, I didn't have the mind to think about anything else. After finishing work, all I wanted to do was lie down on the kang (a heated brick bed), and I could fall asleep as soon as I lay down."

Yu Sitian wailed, "Ah... I don't want this to happen..."