Chapter 410 Two Years Passed

In late January this year, Ge Xiaohu, in the name of a young man from society, followed the educated youth who had just graduated from school, boarded the special train for educated youth, and left the capital.

Finally, they came to the third production team of Yangjiagou Brigade in Yan County to settle down. The six boys lived in the cowshed of the third team and squeezed into an earthen kiln with the breeder Uncle Liu Decheng.

Suddenly, more than a dozen educated youth from Beijing came to the village. The members heard that the kids in big cities were all spoiled and didn't know how to do farm work at all, so they came here to compete with the members for food rations.

For this reason, the members did not have much enthusiasm for the arrival of these educated youth from big cities at first. Some members even had resistance and looked at the educated youth with unfriendly eyes.

Seeing the poverty and backwardness of Sbei, the living quarters of the educated youth, and the cold attitude of the villagers, Ge Xiaohu and his friends decided not to do it anymore.

So, they went to find the captain of the third team, Yang Ming, and angrily said, "How can you be a captain like this? Do you really treat us Beijing people as animals? Not only do you make us live in the cowshed, but you also feed us black steamed bread every meal, and there is not even a drop of oil in the dishes. Tomorrow I will go back to the capital and sue you for abusing us."

After hearing what Ge Xiaohu said, Captain Yang did not refute. He smiled and said, "You came in a hurry and haven't cleaned up the place to live yet. You are just staying in the cowshed temporarily.

Well, you said we mistreat your students from Beijing, oh, let me take you to the home of a fellow villager to have a look, you can complain after you have seen it. "

It was lunch time, and Ge Xiaohu and several other educated youth from Beijing actually followed Captain Yang to their fellow villager's home.

We first went to Yang Shimin's house on the east side of the cowshed. At that time, the family of four was just about to have lunch. There were four bowls of sorghum porridge on the kang table. Each person was holding a black vegetable dumpling in his hand, and a small dish of pickles was placed in the middle of the kang table.

Seeing Captain Yang bringing several students from Beijing, Yang Shimin was a little frightened. He said at a loss, "Captain, what's the matter?"

"It's okay, just sit down and eat. I'll bring the kids from Beijing to visit your home." Captain Yang said, picking up the vegetable dumpling on the kang table, broke off a small piece and handed it to Liu Guangtian.

Ge Xiaohu took a bite of the vegetable dumpling and it was so bitter and astringent that he almost vomited it out.

We went to two more families, and the villagers there were also eating vegetable dumplings and bran dumplings, and each person had a piece of pickled cabbage.

Finally, Captain Yang led Ge Xiaohu and others to his home, and forced them to sit on the earthen kang in his home and eat lunch together.

After returning to the cowshed from Captain Yang's house, Ge Xiaohu didn't say a word for a long time.

Although the food they ate was not good, at least they ate grain, such as sorghum flour and corn flour, and they could also have a meal of potatoes stewed with sauerkraut every day.

The villagers were all eating bran and vegetables! The villagers rushed to give the educated youth potatoes, radishes and pickled cabbage, but who among the villagers was willing to eat a meal?
The first meal that Ge Xiaohu and others had was at Secretary Yang's house. During the meal, Ge Xiaohu and others, Secretary Yang and Secretary Yang's father ate at the kang table at the head of the kang.

Ge Xiaohu and others, as well as Secretary Yang's father, ate baked white flour cakes, while Secretary Yang ate cornmeal buns mixed with vegetable leaves.

Secretary Yang's mother, his wife, and their two children were all sitting on the kang in the inner room, watching them eat.

Ge Xiaohu invited everyone to eat together. Secretary Yang's wife smiled and said, "You guys eat first. We'll wait for a while. There's some white flour cakes in the pot for the kids."

At that meal, Ge Xiaohu ate two white flour cakes, Secretary Yang's father only ate a quarter of a cake, and Secretary Yang seemed to have eaten half a cornmeal bun.

Before leaving Secretary Yang's house, Ge Xiaohu went to the stove and opened the lid of the pot to take a look. There were two cornmeal buns mixed with wild vegetables and a few vegetable dumplings in the pot.

Seeing all this, Ge Xiaohu's eyes became moist and the words came to his lips but he couldn't say them.

…………

After resting for a few days, the educated youth began to follow the villagers to carry manure to the fields (using earthen baskets and carrying poles), carry soil to pad the cowshed, and collect firewood in the ravine behind the mountain.

Although this is not the busy farming season, the villagers are busy all day long. They are either working in the mountains or collecting firewood. There is always something to do every day.

After carrying manure and chopping firewood for several days, the educated youth's shoulders were swollen and their hands were covered with blisters. Everyone said that life in northern Shaanxi was too hard. Some began to regret coming to northern Shaanxi and should have gone to Yunnan Province or the Great Northern Wilderness.

One day, Ge Xiaohu asked Captain Yang: "Captain, is collecting firewood and carrying manure the most tiring and difficult farm work?"

Captain Yang smiled and said, "It's the off-season now. The busy seasons are spring ploughing and sowing and autumn harvest and planting. Are you afraid of asking me this?"

"Afraid? I, Ge Xiaohu, have never known what fear is. I'm not afraid of anything." Ge Xiaohu said with difficulty.

Looking at Ge Xiaohu, Captain Yang patted him on the shoulder and said with a smile: "What a good young man."

After the spring farming season began, Ge Xiaohu did farm work like Captain Yang every day. Captain Yang carried manure three times, but he would never carry it twice. The captain asked him to pick up manure with his hands, but he didn't mind the dirt. He pulled the plow and the harrow, and he could do the work of two educated youths alone.

Later, when work points were evaluated, among the dozen or so educated youth from Beijing, only Ge Xiaohu earned the same work points as the other members, ten points a day (full marks). The other male educated youth only earned seven points a day, and the female educated youth only five points a day.

In the autumn of this year, the team built new cave dwellings for the educated youth and established a youth camp. Ge Xiaohu was appointed by Team Leader Yang as the team leader of the youth camp.

From that day on, Ge Xiaohu secretly made up his mind to do more for his fellow villagers, to change the poverty and backwardness of Yangjiagou, and to let his fellow villagers live a good life.

In the spring of the following year, the 19-year-old Ge Xiaohu became the deputy captain of the third team.

There was a young man named Erdan in the third team. He was 20 years old at the time, one year older than Ge Xiaohu. He was a notorious sly guy in the team and also a tyrant and troublemaker in the team.

Not only is he lazy and slacking off, he also often bullies honest people.

Lanhua, the eldest daughter of Yang Shimin, is very pretty. She is five years younger than Erdan, and Erdan insists on dating her.

Seeing that Yang Lanhua didn't like Erdan at all, Ge Xiaohu said to Erdan: "Brother Erdan, falling in love is a matter of mutual consent. How can you force someone?"

"You are the deputy captain, just take care of your production work. Don't worry about the things like that. Besides, can you take care of it?" Erdan didn't take Ge Xiaohu seriously at all and even reached out to push Ge Xiaohu.

Ge Xiaohu pushed Erdan's hand away and said, "I will take care of the production in the team, and I will also take care of your relationship with Lanhua. As long as Lanhua doesn't want to, you can't force her."

"You are so boastful! You are dreaming if you want to control me." Erdan was not convinced at all. He left with a swagger after saying some harsh words.

The educated youth all knew that Erdan was a tough guy and not someone to be trifled with. Liu Guangtian and others advised Ge Xiaohu to stay away from Erdan and not cause trouble.

Ge Xiaohu was afraid of him? He had practiced martial arts with his father Ge Shuping since he was a child. Because his father was a soldier and a police officer, he also hated evil.

So he said that if he couldn't subdue Erdan, he would not settle down in Yangjiagou.

After autumn, Ge Xiaohu led the members to build terraces on the slope in the south of the ditch.

Erdan not only did not work hard, but also always teased Yang Lanxiang. Yang Lanxiang tried to hide here and there, but there was really nowhere to hide, so she had to stand aside and wipe her tears.

Ge Xiaohu couldn't stand it anymore, so he walked up to Erdan and said, "Brother Erdan, people have faces and trees have barks, but you don't even care about your face. Lanxiang doesn't like you, so why do you keep pestering her?"

"I am willing and I am shameless. What's it to you? Who do you think you are..." Erdan said, and stretched out his hand to almost push Ge Xiaohu to stagger.

Now Ge Xiaohu got furious. He dropped the hoe in his hand, stepped forward and punched Erdan, making him stagger.

Erdan bent down, picked up the hoe on the ground, and was about to hit Ge Xiaohu.

Not only did Ge Xiaohu not dodge, he stretched his head forward and said, "Erdan, hit it here. If you can kill me, I'll consider you capable. If you don't dare to fight, don't blame me for being rude today."

Seeing Erdan's hands shaking, Ge Xiaohu snatched the hoe from Erdan's hand and threw it aside. He stepped forward to pick up Erdan, threw him to the ground, and started punching him.

Fortunately, the villagers pulled Ge Xiaohu away in time, otherwise, Ge Xiaohu would have beaten Erdan half to death.

Erdan got up from the ground, touched his bleeding nose and said, "You educated youth hit me. I'll go to the brigade and sue you."

"Let's go to the commune. If you don't go, you'd be a coward. You molested a woman. If the commune doesn't lock you up as a hooligan, I'll go to the county and the capital to sue you." Ge Xiaohu said, dragging Erdan away.

This really frightened Erdan, who stood there, unable to move. Seeing that Erdan would not move, Ge Xiaohu kicked him to the ground, turned around and picked up the hoe, saying, "You are a nuisance if I keep you alive, I will kill you and I will pay with my life."

Captain Yang was afraid that Ge Xiaohu would really kill him, so he came over to pull Ge Xiaohu away. Ge Xiaohu smashed the hoe next to Erdan's head, making a big hole on the ground. Erdan was really scared and got up and ran away.

From then on, Erdan would hide from Ge Xiaohu like a mouse seeing a cat. After being taught a lesson by Ge Xiaohu, Erdan not only did not dare to bully honest people anymore, but also stopped being lazy and slacking off at work.

Because he knew clearly that if Ge Xiaohu's hoe had really hit him on the head that day, he would have been completely finished.

It has been almost a year since Ge Xiaohu came to Yangjiagou, but he has not experienced any discomfort like other educated youth.

Just like Liu Guangtian who came with us, he was simply living a miserable life, which made his rather strong body go to waste.

However, Ge Xiaohu felt like a fish in water. People who didn't know him would think he was from the countryside and would not believe that he was a young man from a big city.

After finishing the work, Liu Guangtian collapsed on the kang exhausted. Looking at the simple surroundings, he couldn't help but lament: "Brother Xiaohu, when will this hard life end? There is no electricity, no water, and even no parks or cinemas. I can't hold on any longer."

Ge Xiaohu looked at Liu Guangtian's lazy and depressed look, with mixed feelings in his heart, and shook his head gently. The two were originally buddies from the same hospital, and signed up to go to S North together, dreaming of a new life.

However, fate played a trick on them. After arriving, they parted ways with Yan Jiekuang, Yan Zhaodi, Bang Geng, Yi Yuanchao and others, and only the two of them were assigned to the same village.

In this age of inconvenient communications, especially in remote corners like North S, information is as blocked as a desert.

Ge Xiaohu knew very little about his companions' current situation and could only maintain his distant concern through occasional correspondence.

In this strange place, as brothers from the same hospital, their friendship is particularly precious. Therefore, Ge Xiaohu takes extra care of Liu Guangtian.

"Captain Ge, Liu Guangtian have letters from you two..." An educated youth came in with a stack of letters.

Liu Guangtian, who had been feeling depressed, suddenly jumped up from the earthen bed, his eyes sparkling with excitement. He shouted excitedly, "There is actually a letter for me! This is great. I wonder if it is from home..."

The female educated youth smiled slightly, handed over the letter, and said softly: "It's for you, but it's not sent by your family, but from a stranger named Yan Jiekuang."

"Oh, thank you!" Liu Guangtian looked a little lonely when he heard this. He thanked the other party, took the letter and looked at it, and couldn't help laughing: "Hey, it really is a letter sent to us by Yan Jiekuang's grandson, it's unprecedented!"

Liu Guangtian's surprise was understandable. After all, Yan Jiekuang had rarely interacted with students like them who were not good at academics. He was closer to the top student Yi Yuanchao.

Even though we were from the same place and rarely interacted with each other on a daily basis, it was truly rare that he took the initiative to write to me today.

Ge Xiaohu was also a little surprised. His family moved to this courtyard later and was not very familiar with Yan Jiekuang, Yi Yuanchao and others.

Besides, he is a top student and can’t play with these naughty kids.

"Oh! What did Yan Jiekuang say in the letter?" Ge Xiaohu didn't pay much attention. He had his back to Liu Guangtian and was busy washing up. He casually asked the latter this question.

However, he waited for a moment, but did not see any response from Liu Guangtian. "Guangtian? Guangtian? What's wrong with you?" Ge Xiaohu finally couldn't hold back and called softly, then turned around and saw Liu Guangtian with a solemn and gloomy face.

Seeing this, Ge Xiaohu stepped forward quickly and asked with concern: "What's wrong? Are you in any trouble?" Liu Guangtian impatiently threw the letter on the kang and said coldly: "Take a look for yourself!" Then he buried his head in the quilt, obviously in a low mood and with an unhappy face.

"Hehe, look at you, and you still call yourself a man from Beijing? Well, I want to find out what makes you so depressed..." Ge Xiaohu sighed lightly, picked up the envelope and read it carefully.

After finishing the letter, Ge Xiaohu briefly fell into deep thought, and then an unnatural smile appeared on the corner of his mouth: "Hey, isn't this a happy event? It's much better for Yi Yuanchao to go back to serve in the army than for us to waste our time here... You should be happy for him."

When Liu Guangtian heard this, he was furious. He suddenly pulled back the blanket covering his head and shouted angrily, "What right did Yi Yuanchao have? We signed up together to come here to make a living, but now he's a deserter?"

"If you want to leave, just leave. At least say goodbye to us. What kind of person are you to leave without saying a word?"

"What does he take us for?"

"If Yan Jiekuang hadn't written to reveal the truth, we would still be kept in the dark. How despicable!"

"I'm not done with him..." Liu Guangtian said gritting his teeth.

Faced with Liu Guangtian's anger, Ge Xiaohu seemed to want to say something but stopped himself. His lips slightly opened, but he couldn't find the right words to respond.

After a moment, he managed to squeeze out a sentence: "Perhaps, he has unspeakable difficulties, but he just didn't have time to reveal it to us."

Liu Guangtian heard this and raised his lips in disdain: "Old Ge, you always think the best of people. I tell you, this guy is probably afraid that we will also think of leaving, which will affect his plan to return to the army."

Ge Xiaohu muttered in disbelief, "How is that possible? In my eyes, Yi Yuanchao has always been a pretty good person. His manners are impeccable. Even my uncle Liu praises him highly. He shouldn't do such a thing."

Liu Guangtian's face was filled with displeasure. He jumped off the kang without hesitation and said angrily, "No, I have to write a letter to my father and ask him to ask Liu Zhiye for help and get me back from this damn place. I've had enough..."

Ge Xiaohu quickly grabbed him and said anxiously: "Guangtian, Guangtian, calm down first and don't be impulsive. We have finally got here and adapted to the environment with great difficulty, you..."

Liu Guangtian shook off his hand and said firmly: "If you like it here, you can stay, don't stop me. I don't want to stay any longer..."

Ge Xiaohu shouted, "Calm down, okay? If you want to go back, of course you can, but you have to think carefully. Do you think the way back will be smooth and unobstructed?"

"Yi Yuanchao was able to go back because he seized the opportunity to join the army. But now, that window has closed this year. If you want to reopen it, you have to wait until next spring..."

Liu Guangtian burst into tears and said, "I don't care. Why can Yi Yuanchao go back but I can't? Woohoo...Xiaohu, I miss home. Even if I go back and get beaten by my dad every day, I still want to go back."

"Oh..." Seeing this, Ge Xiaohu helplessly hugged the emotionally broken Liu Guangtian tightly in his arms.

…………

Liujiazhuang, this land once again ushers in the busy farming season when the autumn wind blows.

Although its prosperity is not inferior to that of the city, it still retains the simple rural charm.

Here, industry and agriculture flourish side by side, weaving the warp and weft of life for the villagers.

Therefore, in this vibrant land, there is almost no idle figure, and there is no need to travel far away to experience the hardships of going to the countryside.

The villagers here each perform their duties and together paint a prosperous picture of Liujiazhuang.

Located in a remote area in the west of Beijing, there is naturally no shortage of "labor brigades".

Liu Zhiye has been hiding in Liujiazhuang for the past two years, devoting himself to the rigorous training of the Second Guard Division, while remotely directing the steady development of the village.

He cleverly used the unique advantages of this land, not only to "resettle" many people, but also secretly gave them solid "protection".

Different from other places, the schools in Liujiazhuang area have always stood firm and never stopped teaching. Especially those vocational schools, they have devoted their efforts to cultivating future pillars of society.

The reason is that the industrial development of Liujiazhuang is like a machine that never stops, and the demand for talents is like a bottomless pit that can never be satisfied.

"Jingzhai, I really envy you. I wish I had come to Liujiazhuang to teach earlier." Yan Bugui was envious as he looked at Liu Jingzhai who was still busy preparing lessons.

Liu Jingzhai raised his lips slightly and said lightly: "It's not too late now. If you are interested, I will arrange the entry procedures."

Upon hearing this, Yan Bugui's eyes flashed with hesitation, and then he smiled and responded: "We will discuss this matter later. We came here today specifically to visit Master Liu. Is he free today?"

(End of this chapter)