Zhan Mingkang and Zeng Jiang went to the countryside to live in Zhongcun, while Chen Yuan lived in Shangcun. They were far apart, with a long winding mountain road. Villages of varying sizes were scattered among the mountains and forests, so it was easy for ordinary people to get lost.
The sun was strong during the day, and abundant sunlight poured down scorchingly. The green leaves glowed like emerald green under the sunlight. Such brilliant green should have brought joy to people, but Zhan Mingkang could not smile at all.
He lived in a wooden dormitory for educated youth, where several other male educated youth lived together. The dormitory was smelly and noisy, but he was younger than the older male educated youth and was taken care of by them.
As soon as Zhan Mingkang joined the team, he immediately shouted and made his life story known to the world: "My father is... My two brothers-in-law are both group leaders..."
Not only were his two brothers-in-law both regiment leaders, his brother-in-law Gu Sheng's brother was all this and that... Although he was only a step-brother-in-law, it was quite intimidating to say that. Plus, he was white and fat, so the villagers and other educated youth didn't dare to treat him badly and only let him do easy work.
For example, good things like "watching the cows" and "picking up manure".
For others, picking up manure is an easy job that is hard to come by and is done by the elderly, the weak, the sick and the disabled in the village. But when Zhan Mingkang was asked to take a basket to "pick up manure", he just felt insulted.
Zeng Jiang said to him: "How about I help you watch the cows and pick up manure, and you do my job."
Zhan Mingkang agreed. Zeng Jiang originally went there to learn how to use farm machinery. Zhan Mingkang had never seen it before and thought it was new, so he followed him to the fields happily. However, even with a straw hat on, he felt that he was going to get sunburned. It would be better to just pick up manure slowly.
Zhan Mingkang tried it for a day, and then he ran back obediently to pick up manure.
Although picking up manure sounds a bit unpleasant, the manure does not stink when it is dried. You have to smell it carefully to smell the odor.
Zhan Mingkang said to Zeng Jiang: "You do your job yourself."
Zeng Jiang felt very sorry. He was a scholar who could not carry anything. When he first started doing physical work in the countryside, he felt exhausted even though it did not require much effort, especially when it was so hot.
He would rather pick up manure.
Zeng Jiang envied Zhan Mingkang for having a good family background and two powerful brothers-in-law, which allowed him to get a good job like picking up manure.
Zeng Jiang had no choice but to do the farm work honestly. Zhan Mingkang stared at him. He felt that this man was just trying to be lazy and he didn't know what good ideas he would come up with.
After Zeng Jiang worked on the farm for a few days, he gradually lived a good life. He became close to the younger sister of a local "wealthy family". She was the only younger sister among three older brothers. She was very capable in the family and her parents were very popular in the commune. After Zeng Jiang started dating younger sister Xue, his salary continued to rise.
Zeng Jiang was given the easy job and was transferred to the village primary school as a teacher. He stayed in the classroom all day and didn't have to go out to sunbathe.
Xue Xiaomei sent him fruits every day. There was no need to worry about food at this time of year. There were many mushrooms and even more wild fruits on the mountain. People who grew up in the mountains could bring back a lot of "delicious food" after a trip to the mountains. Xue Xiaomei was dexterous and had a cheerful personality. Zeng Jiang liked her very much and thought she was an ideal wife.
"Little sister, why don't you learn to read and read with me?" Zeng Jiang said to little sister Xue. In the countryside, the busy farming season is indeed busy, but there are also many idle days. There is nothing else to do in the village during idle time. Many people just make babies in bed, chat with other people, listen to the radio broadcast on the village loudspeaker, or men and women get together to sing folk songs.
Xue Xiaomei was stunned: "I learn to read?"
She is a girl, and the elders said that girls don't need to read too much, so many women in the countryside are uneducated. During the literacy campaign, they were forced to go to elementary school. Elementary school education is enough for rural people, as long as they can write their own names and count.
Zeng Jiang said: "Yes, I have a lot of books here, you can read them, it's just to kill time, and we can chat."
Zeng Jiang has already planned to settle down here, and finding a local country woman is exactly his goal. He thinks Xue Xiaomei has a good family, is hardworking, and is good-looking, so the two of them should be able to live a prosperous life.
In addition to the material foundation, one also needs some spiritual life. Zeng Jiang did not have any hope of getting into university. After the movements in recent years, the education in schools was in a mess. In his opinion, reading and learning to read were just entertainment to kill time, and there was no lofty spiritual pursuit.
Xue Xiaomei said: "Why should a woman like me learn culture?"
Zeng Jiang said: "Nothing, just killing time, take a look, this comic book is quite interesting..."
Xue Xiaomei was also curious about what he said, so she came over to read with him and recognized a few words. Zeng Jiang praised her, "You are quite smart. You memorized it very quickly. I also borrowed a set of 100,000 Whys. Let's read it to kill time."
Zeng Jiang wanted to date Xue Xiaomei, but he had his own strategy. As a city boy, he could not compare with the girl from the mountains. If he was asked to go up the mountains and swim with Xue Xiaomei, he would definitely not be able to compare, and it would make him seem unmanly. It would be better for them to sit down, read a book, chat and kill time.
Xue Xiaomei's heart was pounding. She felt that reading books and learning to read were not things a woman should do, but she liked this educated youth from the city very much and wanted to talk to him more. He asked her to read a book, so she read a book... He even praised her.
Sister Xue said, "I'll go get some melon seed tea."
That’s great!
The tea here is not expensive and can be drunk casually. Packaged tea cakes are only a few cents. The tea in the village is even less valuable. Xue Xiaomei made him Pu'er tea, and the two of them leisurely drank tea, ate melon seeds and read books.
Tea is produced here, but people here don't actually like drinking tea very much. All the tea is sold outside, especially to the southern coastal areas and overseas.
Zeng Jiang and Xue Xiaomei drank tea and read books together, and they were so happy. Their lives became better and better day by day. The teacher's salary was enough for him to eat. In addition, the hardworking Xue Xiaomei always went up the mountain to get wild game and mountain products for him, which made him a little fatter.
In Zeng Jiang's opinion, the biggest difference between here and Shanghai is that the food here is "free" and "no tickets required".
Not to mention the delicious chicken mushrooms, there are also ant eggs, protein-rich bee pupae, fresh bamboo shoots, wild rabbits in the mountains, mice in the fields, fish in the water, wild fruits on the trees, and all kinds of flowers, which can also be turned into vegetables and eaten...
The relationship between Zeng Jiang and Xue Xiaomei is getting better and better.
Zeng Jiang is going to stay here and be the son-in-law!
In the eyes of outsiders, this country girl treated him very well. Some educated youth were jealous of him, while many others looked down on him.
Generally, the educated youth who went to the countryside would not marry local men or women. Instead, they would look for other educated youth partners to live with. They would not get a marriage certificate, but simply have a wedding banquet and live like a couple, and even have children.
In recent years, more and more educated youth have left the places where they were sent to work in the countryside to join the army, attend workers, peasants and soldiers universities, etc. Many of them still have the desire to return to the city. If they marry a local, it will be difficult to deal with because they will have ties with the locals and it will be inconvenient for them to return to the city.
"A man who lives off his wife!" Zhan Mingkang despised Zeng Jiang very much. He felt that Zeng Jiang was no different from a son-in-law who lived off his wife's wife.
He was lazy and didn't go up the mountain. He actually relied on women to serve him, do his laundry, cook for him, and bring him food and drink every day...
Zhan Mingkang bit his lip. He also wanted someone to help him with laundry and cooking.
In fact, in Zhan Mingkang's view, it is natural for women to serve men, and Xue Xiaomei is almost the same as his mother Zhu Jiaorong.
Zhan Mingkang saw that Zeng Jiang was living a life of luxury, while he, on the other hand, was picking up manure with a stumbling motion. He had become thinner and darker, and was almost eaten by a wild boar. Zhan Mingkang also wanted to find a son-in-law of a prestigious wealthy family in the commune and find a young girl to serve him.
It's a pity that he was too young and no one took a liking to him.
Zhan Mingkang was looking for pretty girls of similar age nearby. Similarly, he was also being watched like a fragrant prey. There was a 20-year-old girl named Zhou Yanyan in the village who came from an ordinary family, was impetuous, had a bad temper, and was still unmarried. She had her eyes on him.
Zhou Yanyan was very beautiful, but she had a hot temper and no one dared to provoke her. Zhou Yanyan wanted to marry a male educated youth. She wanted to live in the city with the male educated youth, to become a "rich lady" in the old society, and to eat commercial grain.
Unfortunately, she targeted two male educated youth in succession, but these two male educated youth found ways to leave the team one after another - Zhou Yanyan was a scheming person, and she only chose male educated youth with good family conditions.
The families of these male educated youth would always find ways to get them to leave. Although Zhou Yanyan was beautiful, these male educated youth wanted to go back to the city more. They wanted to find fair and tender girls in the city as their partners.
Zhou Yanyan was filled with hatred in her heart, but she would never give up.
Now Zhou Yanyan has set her sights on Zhan Mingkang. She dressed herself up very beautifully, wearing a long skirt, showing a gentle smile, and walked in front of Zhan Mingkang, saying softly: "You are a new educated youth, you are quite young, come, talk to me."
Zhan Mingkang was stunned: "Sister?"
The word "sister" frightened him. His two blood-related sisters, Zhan Aiping and Zhan Aijia, were both difficult women.
"Yes." Zhou Yanyan gave him a gentle look: "Call me good sister, and I will take you to eat delicious food."
Zhou Yanyan looked at Zhan Mingkang as if she was looking at a little white rabbit. She wanted to control this rabbit well, so that he would willingly take her back to the city and would never leave her.
As long as we catch this man, can his family stop him
(End of this chapter)