All the heavens begin with the love in the courtyard.

Although the two villages are separated by a mountain, it takes twenty or thirty miles to walk there. I don't know if Li Kuiyong has arrived yet.

After the incident with the little rascal, Li Kuiyong never contacted Zhong Yuemin again. Although Zhong Yuemin had asked him if he would hate him if the little rascal had been killed by him, Li Kuiyong said he wouldn't. However, after the incident actually happened, Li Kuiyong chose to avoid meeting him, which shows that Li Kuiyong still harbored some resentment about the matter.

Besides Li Kuiyong, there was another woman there with whom he had been entangled for half his life; that woman was named Qin Ling.

Qin Ling is also the woman Zhong Yuemin loves most in the original novel. The reason why that woman was able to attract Zhong Yuemin can be described in one sentence.

That woman is like rain, like mist, and like the wind!

She appeared briefly in Zhong Yuemin's life, but then suddenly disappeared. Zhong Yuemin, who was always looking for novelty, had just tasted the sweetness of her life when she vanished without a trace, which is why he couldn't forget her for decades.

Of course, in the end, it was Zhong Yuemin who was too much of a jerk. A few days before enlisting, he took Qinling to a thatched hut and took her virginity. He went to enlist without giving Qinling any promise.

For Zhong Yuemin, the reason he slept with you was because he loved you at that time and his body needed you.

And you want me to make a promise to you

Sorry, I like to tell the truth. I can't make any promises to any girl because I'm afraid of taking responsibility. So if we're meant to be, then we'll meet again. Goodbye.

I wonder if I will still fall in love at first sight when I see Qinling again.

The donkey cart climbed over a high slope, and at the top of the slope, there was a flat area where rows of cave dwellings came into view. A few old jujube trees stood bare at the entrance of the village. The brigade secretary, Gao, shook his head and shouted to the crowd.

"Almost there! That's our Shichuan Village Brigade over there. Welcome, educated youth, to settle down in our village. On behalf of the Shichuan Brigade, I welcome you all!"

Chapter 149: The Distribution Problem

Upon arriving at Shichuan Village, Secretary Gao arranged a brief welcome meeting for everyone.

On the benches below, a group of elderly men and women sat, along with several toddlers in open-crotch pants, their noses running from the cold as they ran around in front of the crowd. Everyone was dressed in blue, black, and yellow clothes, and almost everyone had various patches on their clothes.

The men, young and old, were all pale and thin, while many of the women had rosy complexions. I wonder if this land is better suited to raising daughters than sons.

The crowd scrutinized the group of fair-skinned young women from Beijing. Some old men grinned at them, revealing their yellow teeth, and the girls turned pale with fright.

However, Zhong Yuemin knew that these fellow villagers were actually quite kind. Although they each had their own little schemes, they got used to it after spending time together.

In a few more months, most of us educated youth will be just like these villagers. Right now, these are just appetizers for them.

After a brief meeting, Secretary Gao began arranging accommodations for everyone. The eleven educated youths, eight men and three women, were divided into two cave dwellings, one for men and one for women.

These earthen cave dwellings were probably specially prepared for the educated youth. They were quite spacious inside, with a fire pit and a stove. The production brigade also took good care of the educated youth, providing them with pots, pans, and other utensils.

With a place to stay, everyone's excitement returned. They sat cross-legged on the kang (a heated brick bed) or in chairs, chatting away about their hopes for the future.

The girls were a bit reserved. Although they were all from the same hometown of Yanjing, there were only three girls, so none of them dared to speak and instead sized up the group of boys.

Zhong Yuemin was also sizing up the three girls. His gaze lingered on one of them, and the girl seemed to notice his gaze and looked up at him.

However, this girl clearly didn't have any goodwill in her eyes; instead, she looked at Zhong Yuemin with a defensive gaze.

Zhong Yuemin found it amusing to look at the girl's fierce yet cute eyes. The reason he was scrutinizing her was because she looked familiar. After thinking for a while, he suddenly turned his gaze to Zheng Tong.

Zheng Tong was still bragging to Ning Bin when he suddenly saw Zhong Yuemin looking at him and asked in confusion.

"Yuemin, what are you looking at me for? We don't even know each other yet. As the eldest brother, aren't you going to say something?"

Zhong Yuemin laughed heartily, nodded, then stood up and shouted to the ten people in the room.

"Classmates, from now on, we'll be living together, working and studying together. We're not very familiar with each other yet, even though we're all from Yanjing, we weren't from the same school before. Let's all introduce ourselves first!"

Let me start. My name is Zhong Yuemin. Yes, the two people next to me, the one wearing glasses is Zheng Tong, and this one is Ning Bin. We are both from Yuying School. This little student is Ning Wei, Ning Bin's younger brother. We all came together. I'm kind of their older brother. From now on, let's take care of each other and help each other. Okay, next, this female student will speak!

Zhong Yuemin smiled and pointed at the girl who had been so wary just now.

The girl glanced at Zhong Yuemin again, stood up somewhat awkwardly, and addressed the crowd.

"Hello everyone, my name is Jiang Biyun, from the High School Affiliated to Beijing Normal University!"

Zhong Yuemin led the applause, and everyone quickly followed suit. However, he glanced at Zheng Tong, that big idiot, and made Zheng Tong look strange.

Zhong Yuemin looked at Zheng Tong because he suddenly remembered that Jiang Biyun in front of him was Zheng Tong's future wife.

The two went from strangers to acquaintances in northern Shaanxi, supported each other through the lowest points of their lives, and eventually returned to Beijing. Their relationship was very deep, which is why Zhong Yuemin was attracted to Zheng Tong.

Zhong Yuemin also felt strange, as if he had watched a TV series all over again. Two strangers, a man and a woman, eventually became husband and wife. Just thinking about it made him feel quite interesting. Since he remembered the original plot, Zhong Yuemin naturally wanted to create opportunities for Zheng Tong, so that this repressed man would not constantly complain about the unfairness of fate.

However, Zheng Tong is clearly unaware that his future life partner is guarding against him as if he were a wolf in sheep's clothing.

"My name is Li Ping, and I'm from Cuiwei Road Middle School!"

...

"My name is Wang Hong, and I'm from the High School Affiliated to Renmin University of China!"

Okay, another round of applause...

After the girls finished introducing themselves, it was the boys' turn. Zhang Guangzhi, Cao Yang, Zhao Dayong... one by one, the students, with shyness or excitement, introduced themselves to everyone.

They were all a group of teenagers, around sixteen or seventeen years old. After introducing themselves, they quickly became acquainted, chatting about funny things that happened at their schools. "Do you know so-and-so?" "Yes, he's my brother!"

And so, they chatted for more than ten minutes. Only three female classmates were still a little reserved, but it was only a matter of time before Zheng Tong suddenly stood up and addressed the group.

"Classmates, did you see the grain that the educated youth office distributed to everyone today? I did the math, and each of us will only get a little over 60 jin (30 kg). There are still more than half a year until the wheat harvest. No matter how thrifty we are, it won't last until then!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately began to discuss it, each offering their own ideas. However, they clearly didn't take it too seriously, feeling that life revolved around them and that if there really was no food, the brigade wouldn't just watch them starve to death.

Zheng Tong, Ning Bin, and the others all centered their attention around Zhong Yuemin, focusing their gaze on him.

Zhong Yuemin smiled, stood up, and said.

"Don't worry, everyone. I've heard my dad say that in this area of ​​northern Shaanxi, the local people almost always have a lean season every year. At that time, the whole village would form teams to go to the surrounding counties to beg for food. I think we should learn from this fine tradition!"

Upon hearing this, everyone immediately started making noise. The male students were alright, after all, they were all teenagers and felt that begging was a kind of life experience. They, a group of kids from Yanjing, had never experienced it before, so experiencing life wouldn't be bad.

However, when the female classmates heard that she was going to beg for food, they immediately exploded. Jiang Biyun stood up and said fiercely.

"If you want to beg for food, you boys should go beg. We're not going. You want a bunch of us female students to beg for food? How dare you?"

Several girls immediately agreed. Their ideal life as educated youth was at most a bit tough, but they couldn't even imagine going hungry and begging for food!

Zhong Yuemin laughed heartily. In fact, he had no intention of begging for food. In the original novel, Zhong Yuemin did indeed go begging in a group because he was just an ordinary educated youth who had not been beaten by society.

He even thought begging was a simple and romantic thing, but when it came to the actual practice, he found that begging was also a skill. People were unwilling to give alms to strong and healthy educated youth like him. After going hungry for a while, he also began to bow down to life.

Seeing that the jokes had gone far enough, Zhong Yuemin was about to offer his suggestion: he would teach them to sell sesame cakes and roujiamo (Chinese hamburgers) to exchange for food in various county towns, and they would definitely not starve.

Before he could even speak, Jiang Biyun spoke first.

"I think you boys are just taking advantage of the fact that there are fewer girls. I suggest we distribute the food equally, and that boys and girls cook together, so that no one takes advantage of anyone else!"

Jiang Biyun's words were immediately echoed by the other two girls, and the group of boys, hearing the girls look down on them like this, also angrily agreed to the suggestion.

So, everyone reached a consensus that the girls and boys would cook separately, and no one would owe anyone anything. Zhong Yuemin looked at the sullen Jiang Biyun and burst into laughter.

He originally wanted to tell everyone not to act impulsively, and that he would find a way to make sure they had enough to eat. But after thinking about it, he felt that they should experience the real life of the people in northern Shaanxi first, otherwise they would not know what it meant to have good things after hardship.

Good, let these guys experience what it's like to be brutally beaten by society!

Chapter 150: What is suffering?

Jiang Biyun's proposal to distribute the grain equally was unanimously agreed upon.

These teenagers finally settled down in northern Shaanxi, but life there was far from the romantic life they had imagined.

Shichuan Village has a large population but little land. Each household has less than half an acre of private land per person. The land around the village is mostly uneven slopes, with only a small patch of truly fertile land.

The rations for the educated youth in their first year were from the state granary, amounting to 38 jin per month. This time, however, Zhong Yuemin and his group received an average of over 60 jin of grain per person, with coarse and fine grains each accounting for half.

These grains were distributed by the county's educated youth office and handed over to the production brigade. The brigade then had the villagers help grind them and pack them in burlap sacks for the educated youth.

Logically, each person should have about 30 jin of grain per month. If they eat sparingly or switch to cheaper foods like sweet potatoes and pumpkins, they could at least make ends meet.

But this average of over 60 jin of grain per person is enough for everyone's food rations for a quarter. In other words, at least half of it has not arrived. Where did this grain go?

Of course, it was distributed. Zhong Yuemin remembered that in the original story, it seemed that the brigade embezzled half of the grain, which was then distributed to some elderly people living alone and impoverished households. This is why Zhong Yuemin hasn't gone to settle accounts with Secretary Gao yet.

Except for the first year when there was a food ration distribution, the educated youth had to become self-sufficient like other farmers in the brigade.

The Shichuan Village brigade already had a large population and little land. Now, with eleven more people, the land was even more insufficient. Apart from the state providing food rations for the first year, the brigade would have to pay for food rations in subsequent years. Finally, the brigade held a meeting and made a decision.

To the south of the village entrance, there is a barren mountain overgrown with thorns, jujube trees, and large patches of thatch. Before Zhiqing came, this barren mountain was mostly the source of firewood for the villagers.

Now there are eleven more educated youths. With so many young people, they definitely need to eat, but there isn't much land left. So what can we do?

The only option was to allocate this barren mountain to the educated youth, allowing them to cultivate the wasteland and plant crops such as sorghum, corn, and millet the following year.

These teenagers had never done such heavy work before. They had to get up around 7 a.m. and work hard all day, their hands covered in blisters.

If the daytime was just physical exhaustion, which everyone could manage, the nights were the real torture. Eight hot-blooded young men squeezed into a cave dwelling, where lice and fleas were as numerous as hairs on a cow.

In the beginning, almost everyone had red and swollen patches all over their bodies. Every day, their bodies were sore and itchy, especially their legs, which were covered with red and swollen pimples and bitten beyond recognition.

Despite the physical and mental torment, the boys gritted their teeth and persevered, but the three girls secretly cried countless times each night.

Zhong Yuemin also suffered greatly. In the end, he could only try to clean the house thoroughly, washing it with salt water. He also aired the quilts almost every day on sunny days, but even so, he still couldn't completely remove the stains.

This kind of mental torment, once you get used to it, will pass. Those fleas and lice, once they get used to the novelty of young people, will lose their appetite.

Besides lice and fleas, what really made young people unable to bear it was the heavy physical labor. Every morning, they would carry an old hoe up the mountain to dig the ground, and they would not get home until late at night, exhausted. This kind of life was really torturous. In those days, there were no machines, and everyone relied on their physical strength to do the work.

At first, everyone would gather at night to study, learning professional agricultural knowledge such as how to plant, irrigate, and fertilize. When each person came, besides daily necessities, all they had left were books.

At first, everyone was quite enthusiastic, but after just one or two weeks, they lost that enthusiasm. It was just too tiring, with physical pain and mental torment.

This double pain plunged everyone into anxiety and suffering, because the thought of living like this for the rest of their lives made them feel that their future was bleak.

Although Zhong Yuemin knew they would have a period of adjustment, seeing everyone's expressions every day, he could only try to find a way to turn the dreary study atmosphere of tomorrow into a more relaxed conversation, such as talking about happy things or interesting stories from home and abroad, to relieve the depression and distress of these teenagers.

Unexpectedly, the effect was quite good. The sudden influx of interesting and knowledge into Zhong Yuemin's mind gave these young people a feeling they had never experienced before. Even the girls looked at Zhong Yuemin with shining eyes.

Zhong Yuemin originally wanted to let these educated youth experience what real life is like, but now, after only one month, not to mention the other educated youth, even Zhong Yuemin himself has a dark complexion and lifeless eyes every day.

When I read books before, they would only briefly summarize how hard and tiring it was for farmers. But after experiencing this kind of life firsthand, Zhong Yuemin truly understood what hardship meant. This kind of hardship is far beyond what modern young people can imagine.

Zhong Yuemin sometimes wondered if he could just leave, since with his background he could surely find a more comfortable way of life than he was now.

But seeing the other educated youth who came with him every day still persevering desperately, even ten-year-old Ning Wei never complained, he wondered if he would be a coward if he withdrew at this time.

During this period, Zhong Yuemin's behavior suddenly resembled that of a caring older brother, encouraging them to move forward. But then he ran away, which was somewhat inexcusable.

Zhong Yuemin only wanted to experience life in northern Shaanxi from the beginning, because he remembered that in the original novel, he had an Uncle Ma in the county town.

The other person used to be his father's bodyguard and is now the director of the county's military committee. He even held him when he was a child, and it was through this connection that he was able to enlist smoothly in the army.