Era: 1962, the rise of vocabulary and related terms

The rain has stopped and the sky is clear.

A rainbow spans the blue sky and white clouds.

However, the atmosphere inside the commune canteen was unusually somber, completely at odds with the bright sunshine outside the window.

Brigade leader Ye Xingguo's gaze swept over the commune members who were squatting or sitting on the ground, and their dark faces were now filled with worry.

A sudden downpour caused damage to many people's homes.

The roof of one house was broken, and their belongings got soaked, but thankfully the food was safe.

The corner of one house's wall had been soaked by the rain and was leaning badly; everyone needed to help rebuild it.

One person said the back wall of the house was leaking water, another said half of the stove had collapsed, and yet another said the woodpile was completely soaked, making heating a problem in winter.

This heavy rain has indeed caused a lot of trouble for everyone.

"Sigh~" Ye Xingguo sighed after hearing this, and then looked at Yan Xiao.

He lowered his voice: "Young Yan, tell me about your home?"

Yan Xiao shook his head. One misfortune after another had befallen him, leaving him exhausted.

Grandma Sun, standing nearby, couldn't bear to watch any longer. "Oh my God! Is there no way for people to live? Yan's family... his family is gone! The roof collapsed! The walls crumbled!"

"Even...even that little bit of food we had to save our lives is soaking in water! Our parents just passed away, how...how are we supposed to survive?"

"Huh?!" A collective gasp filled the cafeteria.

The villagers who had just been complaining about the holes in their roofs and the loose corners of their walls now stared wide-eyed at Yan Xiao in disbelief.

"What?!" Uncle Yan Mancang was startled by this.

"Nephew, what happened? How did the house collapse?"

Yan Xiao shook his head helplessly: "Uncle, I don't know how it suddenly collapsed. It's probably because it's been in disrepair for years."

"Sigh~" Yan Mancang sighed when he mentioned this. Yan Xiao inherited this house from his grandparents, and it has been there for several decades.

Back then, it was considered a great achievement to be able to build an earthen house; people didn't care about the materials used.

If left for too long, it might collapse.

"Sigh~" Ye Xingguo also sighed.

He had hoped that since everyone's situation was still acceptable, they could work together to help Yan Xiao rebuild a safe haven.

Right now, every household is struggling to make ends meet and needs labor to help with repairs, so rebuilding a home is no easy task.

Moreover, late autumn has arrived, and the cold winter is not far away.

"This..." Everyone looked at each other, their faces full of difficulty.

"Everyone knows about Yan's situation. Let's all think of a way to help him."

After Ye Xingguo spoke, everyone looked around, waiting for someone to speak first.

"How about we use the empty houses in the brigade for now?" someone suggested.

"There are no empty houses in our commune. Some are dilapidated like Yan's house. If all else fails, I think we should stay with someone else temporarily."

"Then whose house will you stay at?"

These words were like a block of ice, instantly lowering the temperature in the cafeteria to freezing point.

Everyone's eyes began to flicker and wander, and no one dared to respond to the question.

Whose house will we stay at? How long will we stay? How will our food expenses be calculated? Besides, it's uncomfortable to have an outsider in the house. What if they don't want to leave after a while?

Even Grandma Sun, who had just spoken up for justice, hesitated. Her lips moved, but she ultimately remained silent, her eyes glancing elsewhere. Clearly, she couldn't make the decision alone and needed to go home to discuss it.

The simplicity of rural people also hides realistic calculations.

Yan Xiao, who had remained silent all along, had witnessed everything.

"Sigh~" He sighed softly, cupped his hands in a gesture of respect to everyone, "I won't trouble you all, I... I'll figure it out myself."

After saying that, he looked at no one else, patted his soaked trouser legs, and was about to leave.

Ding--

[Host detected to be experiencing difficulties; reward production in progress...]

[To face adversity with a smile and accept it with magnanimity earns the title "Great Tolerance."]

[Great tolerance is a virtue (Bai): The ability to calmly accept negative situations such as blame, difficulties, and predicaments, without being affected by them.]

[Special Effect: 1 cubic meter of space.]

[Equip this affix?]

"Huh?!" The sudden flow of information in his mind made Yan Xiao stop in his tracks.

【equipment!】

Suddenly, Uncle Yan Mancang naturally shouted, "Of course he'll stay here! Yan Xiao is my nephew. If you won't take care of him, I certainly will!"

Since they were all family, Yan Mancang naturally couldn't just sit idly by. He hadn't spoken up earlier because he wanted to see if everyone was willing to help.

He just didn't expect everyone to be so unwilling to help, and even bullying his nephew.

Then don't blame him for being impolite!

"I know about everyone's situation. Everyone needs help repairing their houses. It's still late autumn, and it won't be a short time before the houses are finished. Everyone is busy and can't spare any time."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"In that case, there's a job opening in a factory in the city that the brigade has. I think we should give that opening to my nephew so he can go to the city and have a way out."

Yan Mancang's words were like a bucket of cold water poured into boiling oil, instantly causing an uproar.

"No way! That's a spot our team worked so hard to get, how can we just give it away like that?"

"That's right, our brigade handed over a lot of grain in exchange for these quotas, how can we give them to him so easily?!"

This job in the city was hard-won, with the brigade handing over a lot of grain in exchange; there was only one such position.

After three years of famine, everyone realized that as city dwellers who ate government-subsidized grain rations, they wouldn't starve!

Now that the spot is right in front of us, how can we just give it away?

Second team leader Wu Qiang suddenly stood up, his face ashen: "Old Yan, this quota is the collective property of the commune! It's pitiful that your nephew's family suffered a disaster, but we can't use everyone's hard work to fill the hole, can we?"

"Is this fair to everyone else? Let's all be the judge!"

"That's right! It's unfair!"

"Exactly! We can't do it that way!"

Yan Mancang retorted, "My nephew doesn't even have a home anymore, and nobody wants to lend a hand. He's an adult; he can't live in my house forever, can he? Wouldn't you all laugh at him? If not him, who else would we give him to!"

Yan Mancang had been eyeing this job opening for a long time. Why not give it to his nephew?

A voice, clearly tinged with resentment and jealousy, rang out:

"No matter what, this won't do. We can't just give it to him just because Yan Xiaofang is gone. It's just that he got two more years of schooling."

Everyone turned to look, and the one who spoke was Wu Qian, the eldest son of the second captain Wu Qiang. He had his neck stiff, his face flushed, and his eyes were full of hostility towards Yan Xiao.

Wu Qiang glared at his son, and Wu Qian reluctantly shut his mouth, but the resentment on his face did not diminish at all.

Everyone noticed this detail clearly.

Since Captain Ye Xingguo doesn't need this spot, it naturally goes to Second Captain Wu Qiang.

Yan Xiao, who was about to leave, turned around abruptly upon hearing Wu Qian's words.

Putting aside the newly acquired "Great Tolerance" entry, Wu Qian has been at odds with him ever since he dropped out of school and returned, often coming over to mock him.

This spot can be given to anyone, except him!

"Yes, I only studied for two more years," Yan Xiao said sharply, "but at least I made it to the second year of high school. That's much better than someone like you who didn't even finish elementary school!"

"You!" Wu Qian, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, instantly flew into a rage, pointing at Yan Xiao and roaring, "Yan Xiao! You fucking say another word and see what happens! Believe me or not, I'll beat you up!"

He is most averse to people mentioning his academic qualifications.

Upon hearing about high school, everyone couldn't help but look at Yan Xiao with envy.

Everyone knows that if it weren't for the sudden change in his family, Yan Xiao would likely have been the first golden phoenix to fly out of the commune—a college student!

Even though he has dropped out of school now, his status as a "high school student" is a unique symbol of knowledge in this commune.

The appearance of the "golden finger" (a special ability or advantage) strengthened Yan Xiao's resolve to compete, even though he had previously been indifferent.

"Beat me up?! Come on! Who's afraid of who!" Yan Xiao was fearless, instead slamming his hand on the table beside him: "You couldn't beat me when we were kids, and you're even less likely to now that we're older!"

Looking at Wu Qiang, who was glaring angrily to the side, he became even more fearless and threw down the heavy hammer.

"Before I returned to the commune, I heard that a steel rolling mill was hiring, and the minimum requirement was a junior high school education. You didn't even finish elementary school, so even if you got in, what could you do? Clean toilets?"

"Giving you that spot would be a complete waste of everyone's hard work in the commune! I'd be better off with it!"

"What?!"

"Really?!"

"Now you need a diploma to get a job as a factory worker in the city?!"

Yan Xiao's words struck like a bolt from the blue, and expressions of shock, confusion, panic, and disbelief appeared on every face.

The group exchanged bewildered glances, and finally all looked at Captain Ye Xingguo.

Ye Xingguo frequently went to the city and had heard some things about what happened there.

Faced with the questioning gazes of the crowd, he slowly nodded: "It's true what Yan said, some factories don't hire people who haven't graduated from junior high school."

boom--

Everyone's minds went blank.

The beautiful vision that was originally there shattered like a bubble in an instant.

Many people in the commune graduated from primary school, but very few graduated from junior high school.