"Tomorrow the village will calculate the work and distribute food and money. Shichu, you are so hardworking and capable, you will definitely get a lot of food and money this year, right?" Zhang Weihong asked Gu Shichu while sitting on the kang and eating roasted sweet potatoes after finishing tutoring him.
Gu Shichu thought about it. As she became stronger through martial arts training, it was easy for her to do farm work. Naturally, she would earn more work points than when she first arrived. So she nodded and replied, "I should be able to get a lot. The food should be enough for me to eat for a year."
Zhang Weihong said with envy: "I really envy you. I can't do that. I don't know if the food I'm given can last for half a year. My parents have to give me a lot of subsidies, otherwise I'll starve to death."
Gu Shichu said: "You envy me for being taller than you, but I envy you for having your parents to subsidize you."
Zhang Weihong smiled and said, "That's true. We can all live well." But when she thought of her companions in the Youth Farm who were not used to working like her, she felt a little depressed. She sighed and said,
"Those comrades in the Youth Farm had a hard time. They had never done farm work, so the work points they earned were definitely not enough to support themselves... The more hungry they were, the worse their health became. The worse their health became, the fewer work points they earned, and with fewer work points they earned, the less food they were given... It was a vicious cycle."
Gu Shichu felt sympathy for the young people who came to the countryside. They came with great enthusiasm to build the countryside, but their ideals were shattered by reality in an instant. Reality would slap them hard in the face and make them realize the truth of life.
The strong educated youth were able to hold on after experiencing the harsh reality, but some fragile ones could not. They either tried every means to return to the city or committed suicide. Of course, there was another way out - find someone in the village to marry, so that they could rely on the help of their husband's family or their parents-in-law's family to live a less difficult life.
Gu Shichu said: "That can't be helped, but they can find some wild vegetables and fruits to fill their stomachs, which is better than nothing."
Zhang Weihong said with a sad face: "Even if there are wild vegetables and fruits, they can't compete with the villagers, alas!"
Seeing her so worried, Gu Shichu said, "Even if you can't snatch them away, you still have to snatch them. Do you still need to be polite and modest if you want to avoid starvation? The wild vegetables on the mountain are not a collective benefit. Whoever picks them owns them. Even if you can't snatch them away from the villagers, you still have to try. You may gain something if you try hard, but you will definitely gain nothing if you don't try hard."
Zhang Weihong was stunned for a moment after listening to her words. She understood a little, but also didn't understand a little. However, she was unable to take care of herself, and even if she wanted to help others, she was powerless, so she could only talk about it and leave it at that.
"Let's go to the grain drying ground together to line up tomorrow." Zhang Weihong said, "It will be a lively time to distribute the grain. I wonder how much meat we can get today?"
Gu Shichu glanced at her and said, "Okay, I'll go to the Youth Hostel to call you then."
Early the next morning, the village chief began broadcasting using the village's loudspeaker, requiring every household to send a representative to the threshing ground to collect the allocated grain and money.
Gu Shichu went to the Youth League Home and called Zhang Weihong to go with her.
The other people in the Youth League Home looked at their backs as they walked away and began to talk.
"Why is Zhang Weihong so familiar with that guy named Gu?" A female educated youth named Li Qing asked the person next to her while combing her hair.
"Who knows? But I saw her taking her textbooks to see Gu Shichu." The educated youth Wen Keyi said while wiping her face with ointment.
"Tsk tsk, does she still want to study with a country girl? She is too self-degrading." Another female educated youth named Lin Shengnan said with a pout and disdain.
"How can you look down on others? Don't country girls have the qualifications to study?" Li Qing said, rolling his eyes.
"A country girl who only has brute strength must be a fool with strong limbs and a simple mind. You still want to learn? You can't even recognize a single word. Don't insult us scholars!" Lin Shengnan snorted coldly.
When she was at work, she had seen Gu Shichu working. Although she was not taller or stronger than others, she worked with great vigor and energy, and her work was done quickly and well. The team leader liked to praise her. Lin Shengnan couldn't help but feel jealous of her after hearing this many times.
Her name is Lin Shengnan. She likes to compete and be competitive. She wants to be the best even though she can only do farm work in the countryside. Unfortunately, she is not strong enough. Her ability cannot keep up with her ambition. Not to mention Gu Shichu, she is also inferior to the female educated youth from the city.
By comparison, she is just average.
Seeing that Gu Shichu would be in the limelight today and get a lot of food and money, how could she not be jealous? Naturally, she would say something sour, saying that she couldn't do farm work as well as Gu Shichu, so she could only despise her background and say that she was a barbaric and vulgar country girl.
Seeing that she was becoming more and more sarcastic, the others couldn't help but move away from her. Although they also envied Gu Shichu, they knew themselves well. Gu Shichu earned more, so naturally he got more. They worked less, so naturally they got less. It was fair. What was there to be jealous about
So they didn't agree with Lin Shengnan's words, but changed the subject, saying: "Let's pack up quickly. If we go too late, we won't even be able to get a seat. What if we can't hear the captain clearly while standing outside?"
After hearing what their companion said, they immediately quickened their pace, fearing that they would be too late.
Because it was a great thing to distribute grain and money, the villagers naturally couldn't wait to receive it. They wished they could get what they deserved immediately, so they all went to the threshing ground very actively to line up, without anyone rushing them.
Gu Shichu and Zhang Weihong were standing in line, waiting as eagerly and excitedly as the people around them for the team leader and others to come on stage and announce each family's harvest.
After everyone gathered, the team leader summarized the lessons learned and achievements of the previous year, gave some words of encouragement, and then began to announce things that everyone was concerned about.
"The rich Li family earned 11,326 work points a year, which gave them 687 kilograms of rice and 890 kilograms of corn..."
"Zhou Shitou's family earned 3,730 work points a year, which gave them 196 kilograms of rice and corn..."
"Chen Erniu's family earned 9,562 work points a year, which gave them 485 kilograms of rice and corn..."
…
When their family's name was called, they all happily went up to the stage to confirm and sign, took the money, and then led their families to the village granary to move the grain they had been allocated. Everyone had a smile on their face.
"Gu Shichu's family earned 6,557 work points a year, which gave them 349 kilograms of rice and corn... 98.76 yuan..."
When Gu Shichu heard his name, he was immediately excited and happily went on stage to sign and confirm.
"Gu girl has gained a lot this year! She has gained more than seven or eight strong laborers!" The team leader couldn't help but praise Gu Shichu when he saw her. He liked capable people. Gu Shichu worked efficiently and never procrastinated. As long as the work was assigned to her, she would do it perfectly. It would be strange if he didn't like her.