Rebirth in 1972: Redemption in Changbai Mountain

"Alright, the educated youth in your compound can write a letter of complaint to the educated youth office, and I can sign the letter as the head of the Jiaolongxia Production Brigade."

Zhao Youzhi ultimately decided to let the educated youth resolve the issue themselves, keeping the conflict within the educated youth office and preventing it from spreading to the commune. However, he advised himself to report the matter to the commune secretary.

"No! I won't go anywhere else, Captain, please! I... I'll change. I'll definitely work hard and study well next year."

Ma Jun then realized what Chen Zhejiang was up to. Jiaolongxia Village was already hard enough, but at least they could at least have enough to eat.

They're being sent to even more difficult places? What kind of places would that be? Either old revolutionary base areas or the far northwest. Seeing Zhao Youzhi's indifferent expression and nonchalant attitude, Ma Jun turned his head to Meng Huaiyuan.

"Captain, Captain, please help me, please plead for me. I don't want to go, I don't want to go to the Northwest to eat sand."

Seeing that Ma Jun had been beaten up and was about to be punished and exiled, Meng Huaiyuan felt a little sorry for him and wanted to say a few words in his defense.

"Well, Captain, you see, Comrade Ma Jun knows he was wrong. Could you forgive him this time? Don't worry, I'll keep a close eye on him and make sure he doesn't make the same mistake again."

Zhao Youzhi glanced at him sideways. This kid has a good heart, just isn't very bright. What kind of time is this to be meddling in other people's business?

Didn't you see Chen Zhejiang trying to take your position as the leader of the educated youth team? Why aren't you reacting at all?

"This matter concerns you educated youth and does not affect the villagers. Therefore, I will not interfere; you can decide for yourselves."

I don't care if you forgive him, but if you want to write a complaint, I will sign it and include objective facts.

Seeing that Zhao Youzhi didn't respond, Meng Huaiyuan had no choice but to turn around and face Wei Dazhi.

"Dazhi, how about we call it quits? Look, he didn't do anything too serious. We were comrades who went to the countryside together, all to support the construction of our motherland..."

"Impossible." Wei Dazhi gritted his teeth, his thin face contorted with the little flesh left.

I used to be able to eat my fill every month, but later I could only eat my fill for half a month, and then I had to go hungry for the other half.

That man not only gets to eat his fill, but he also takes the rations that were rightfully theirs and sells them. For the past few months, Ma Jun has probably not only been well-fed and watered, but has also been secretly laughing at these fools behind their backs.

And I was the biggest fool. He coaxed me into being his pawn, always rushing to the front lines. I offended the villagers, offended the female educated youth, and brought my reputation to its lowest point.

"If you do something wrong, you have to be punished. No one can escape it. Even though you are the leader of the educated youth team, this is not a place where one person can have the final say. I can never forgive him."

Seeing that he couldn't get Wei Dazhi to cooperate, Meng Huaiyuan then looked at Chen Zhejiang and Lu Yan.

"It's not that I necessarily want to speak up for Ma Jun, but this matter is bad for the reputation of our educated youth settlement. Wouldn't it be better if we could minimize the damage and resolve this internally?"

Lu Yan didn't speak, but instead turned his eyes to Chen Zhejiang. He had come with Chen Zhejiang from the beginning, and Chen Zhejiang was calm and composed in his speech and actions, and his family was relatively well-off, so Lu Yan had long since become his loyal follower.

Chen Zhejiang chuckled. Meng Huaiyuan was still trying to suppress the matter? Had he lost his mind?

If you suppress me, how can I rise to a higher position? How can I compete for the selection of outstanding educated youth in the future? How can I gain an advantage when recruiting workers to return to the city or recommending students for university?

"Captain, I don't think this matter can be decided by just a few of us. Let's wait for the female educated youth to come back and vote together. That's the most democratic way."

"I believe that Lin and Yang, the educated youth, are all kind-hearted and shouldn't pursue the matter too much." Meng Huaiyuan was still thinking about resolving the matter as soon as possible to demonstrate his ability as the leader of the educated youth team.

"Kindness is for good people, not for bad people. Otherwise, why do you think Lin Zhiqing and the others had to cook separately from you before we arrived?"

Chen Zhejiang had already found out about the situation regarding male and female educated youth living separately, and knew that it wasn't always like that.

"You mean Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping already knew?" Wei Dazhi belatedly realized this after hearing Chen Zhejiang's words.

Chen Zhejiang smiled and nodded to Wei Dazhi. This first educated youth was someone he wanted to win over; he was simple-minded, short-tempered, and easily influenced. Such people were the easiest to control.

"They should have noticed it earlier, but they didn't know who was up to the trick. It's hard to say, so they simply separated the grain."

"Lin Qiuyue and the others found out but didn't tell me." Wei Dazhi was a little angry, feeling that Lin Qiuyue and Yang Ping didn't give him face.

Lu Yan rolled his eyes, thinking Wei Dazhi was incredibly stupid, failing to even understand the implication in Chen Zhejiang's words. The female educated youth was actually suspicious of all three of you men, okay?

Chen Zhejiang ignored Meng Huaiyuan and directly asked Zhao Youzhi, "Captain, could you please take Ma Jun to the brigade headquarters to be detained?"

We'll handle this after our youth settlement holds a democratic vote. I'll report back to you tomorrow morning with the complaint letter and the final results.

Zhao Youzhi had been standing to the side, watching the confrontation between Chen Zhejiang and Meng Huaiyuan, quietly waiting for the outcome.

As expected, Meng Huaiyuan lacked ability and was far inferior to Chen Zhejiang. It seemed that he would not be able to serve as the leader of the educated youth team for long.

However, Zhao Youzhi was happy to see it happen, since a qualified team leader for educated youth could save him a lot of trouble.

Just like what happened today. If it were Chen Zhejiang, he would have handled everything before notifying him, instead of dragging him to the educated youth compound in the freezing cold.

"Zhao Changshan, have two men escort Ma Jun away." Zhao Youzhi did not respond to Chen Zhejiang's request, but instead showed his support through his actions.

Zhao Changshan's militia ignored Ma Jun's cries and pleas, grabbed him, and left. Then all the villagers followed the bustling center and ran away, leaving only a few male educated youths and a field of footprints outside the courtyard.

Meng Huaiyuan watched as Chen Zhejiang was happily escorted into the dormitory by Wei Dazhi and Lu Yan, seemingly exhausted and dejected. He had worked hard for most of the day, only to find the result contrary to his expectations; he felt abandoned by everyone.

Deep within Jiaolong Gorge, everything that happened in the educated youth compound was irrelevant to this place.

Several young girls were dancing with joy, rushing forward excitedly every time the landing net surfaced.

They didn't mind the filth of the mud, and kept digging, picking out the frozen frogs one by one from the mud.

"Why is this frog so ugly? Is this what you gave me to eat last time?" He Wei held up a forest frog and pointed it at Lin Qiuyue, unable to believe that this was the same thing that had made her tongue tingle from the deliciousness last time.

Lin Qiuyue smiled sweetly: "Yes."