Under the fist

Chapter 3 Snow-covered landscape, city shrouded in frost

The wind howled outside the window, and the weather gradually turned cooler.

Lian Youming quickly peeked out and saw that there were several haystacks next to the railway tracks. Sun Duhe had fallen flat on his face in one of them, then stood up covered in dust, waved at him to indicate that he was alright, and then limped into the nearby field and disappeared in the blink of an eye.

"This guy is quite interesting."

He turned around and picked up the old book from the ground.

It's likely that the question he asked earlier led Sun Duhe to believe that he was interested in the book.

It is indeed an old book, with a mottled cover, yellowed pages, and handwritten small regular script, clearly indicating that it has been around for many years.

It turned out to be a Buddhist scripture.

Lian Youming glanced at it casually and immediately recognized that it was a handwritten copy of the "Surangama Sutra".

But he wasn't interested in it at all; he only glanced at it a few times before casually putting it aside.

The scenery outside the window gradually came to a stop, but soon changed again as the train started moving.

Lian Youming sat on the edge of the bed, leaning against the pillow, dozing off.

Time flies, and the view outside the window has changed from lush and green to rather desolate.

Before we knew it, the sky gradually darkened, and another night had passed.

"Its daybreak?"

The next day, hearing the sounds of people moving in the corridor, he groggily opened his eyes and hurriedly stuffed some scattered items into his bag.

Before long, the train attendant's shouts could be heard outside the carriage.

"We're almost in Harbin, everyone be careful not to miss your stop."

It's time to get off the bus.

As the train slowly came to a stop, Lian Youming picked up his luggage and left the carriage, squeezing out of the station with the surging crowd.

Outside the station.

The faded red banner fluttered in the autumn wind, its slogans already blurred.

It's only September, but the air in the north already has a refreshing coolness. The sun is nowhere to be seen, the air is very cool, and the atmosphere is full of life.

The saying that the Northeast is the economic center of the nation right now is not just a figure of speech.

It seemed to be rush hour, and many workers in blue uniforms were riding bicycles, carrying long bags and ringing their bicycle bells, moving back and forth on the street like blue torrents.

A cool breeze blows, and every now and then the aroma of food wafts from the entrances of those state-run restaurants.

Lian Youming had only taken a few steps when the chill from all directions, carried by the north wind, crept straight into his collar, startling him.

It was still a bit chilly in the morning.

Before he could even speak, snot was already running from his nose.

The educated youth were all frozen and their faces turned pale. Anyone who dared to open their mouth was immediately met with a blast of cold air.

Lian Youming was tall and strong, and he could hold his own standing there, but several female educated youths carrying luggage ran out a few steps before being blown away by a gust of wind and fell sideways as if they had suffered a stroke, which made the onlookers laugh.

In fact, this wasn't Lian Youming's first time in Northeast China. He had come a few times in the past when his father visited his comrades-in-arms. Those people had all come during the aid mission to the Great Northern Wilderness and then settled down and started families there.

Otherwise, how could his family feel at ease letting him come to such a far place to work in the countryside alone?

The location is a bit remote, but Lian Youming can at least call him uncle, so he shouldn't suffer any hardship.

He glanced at the educated youth; there were four or five hundred when they arrived, but many had left along the way, leaving only a few dozen.

They said that as soon as they left the station, they saw people waving and greeting them from two Jiefang brand trucks.

"This way, everyone come over here."

A group of people rushed over in a flurry of activity.

The truck came from the north and picked up people on its way back. The truck bed was filled with various odds and ends, leaving limited space. The group of people quickly found their places.

Then the fifty-odd educated youths were divided into two groups according to the places they were assigned to. The students did not have time to say goodbye to their companions and went their separate ways, gradually disappearing into the distance amidst sobs.

Lian Youming sat alone on the side. He didn't feel it was hardship. The real suffering had already been borne by others for them. What did the present matter?

After the hasty farewell, there was only confusion and helplessness.

As they watched the city recede into the distance and looked at the dense forests and hills they passed along the way, everyone seemed to be filled with uncertainty about the future.

Amidst the howling wind, someone suddenly looked up and shouted at the top of their lungs, "Unity is strength! Ready, sing!!!"

"Unity is strength, and this strength is iron, this strength is steel..."

The educated youth, who had been silent and dejected, raised their heads, puffed out their chests, mustered their strength, and sang out loud.

Lian Youming was among them, as he was the one leading the shouts.

It doesn't mean anything by it; according to his father, this is the time to boost morale and spirits.

"what?"

Lian Youming's gaze suddenly settled on a female educated youth wearing a Lei Feng hat. She had a dark, smeared face, a runny nose, and a ring of burnt ash on her cheeks, as if she had licked the bottom of a pot. In one hand she held half a roasted corncob, and in the other she had a roasted sweet potato, both still warm, and it was unclear where she had gotten them from.

The man had initially sung along a couple of times, but perhaps noticing Lian Youming's gaze, he was startled at first, then his cheeks flushed, his eyes darted away, and he slowly moved back. Once he shrank behind a rather robust female educated youth, he turned his back again and continued eating.

She really has a stable personality.

Seeing this, Lian Youming thought for a moment, then took out a packet of fruit candies from his bag, opened it, and gave a few to each person.

Everyone immediately expressed their gratitude.

Just as they were about to finish distributing the goods, a slender, delicate right hand covered in charred ash suddenly reached out.

Lian Youming looked up and saw that the person was actually the female educated youth who had been stealing and eating corn on the cob. She had a scarf wrapped around her face, just like a thief, and her big, dark eyes were fixed on the few remaining fruit candies.

Lian Youming smiled, took one for himself, and handed out the rest.

The female educated youth took the candy and immediately beamed with joy, saying indistinctly, "Thank you!"

So there was food stuck in his cheeks.

But as soon as he finished speaking, the man seemed to realize something and quickly changed his words, saying somewhat awkwardly in a southern accent, "Thank you!"

The sound is so soft it's like a mosquito buzzing.

As time passed, the truck stopped at several farms and villages, and most of the educated youth on board disembarked.

Unexpectedly, the driver suddenly realized halfway through the journey that he had picked up an extra person.

After asking around, it turned out that the extra one was Lian Youming.

Lian Youming was also dumbfounded.

Turns out I got off at the wrong stop.

He went to the Tarim River, but it rained too early.

Fortunately, the driver said he had a way, but it would be a bit late, and he estimated that he wouldn't get there until noon the next day.

"What bad luck."

Watching the educated youth get off the bus one by one, Lian Youming couldn't help but let out a long sigh.

The further north you go, the colder the weather gets.

Besides Lian Youming, there were four other educated youths on the truck: one man and three women.

He heard it clearly: these people were actually from Guangdong and Guangxi. Originally there were more than ten people, but they had split up, and now only four of them were going to the same place.

As luck would have it, the female educated youth who asked for candy was among them.

But being southerners, they were lively and energetic just a moment ago, but now they're all wilted by the cold wind, shivering, their hands and feet trembling, as if all their energy has been drained away.

Fortunately, the driver poured them some hot water, and they felt better after drinking it.

They remained silent the entire way until nightfall, when the truck entered a market town and the four educated youths got off.

As they parted, the young woman who had asked for candy said shyly in a low voice, "Goodbye, classmate!"

Lian Youming smiled and waved goodbye to the group.

The driver went out for a drive and then found another truck that was hauling timber to the Greater Khingan Mountains. Seeing this, Lian Youming couldn't possibly refuse to go along with it. Seeing that the other driver was a middle-aged man, he took some food from his bag and also gave away a pack of cigarettes he had taken from home.

So he hitched another ride.

The difference is that he was in the back enjoying the cold wind just now, but now he's sitting in the passenger seat.

As the truck started moving, Lian Youming let out a breath and was about to take a nap when, just as the truck turned and the headlights swerved, he caught a glimpse of a somewhat familiar figure out of the corner of his eye.

"Ok?"

In an instant, the drowsiness in Lian Youming's eyes vanished without a trace. At the end of his vision, a sallow-faced young man in a Zhongshan suit was standing in the town.

It was him.

That traitor of Xingyi School.

Lian Youming was filled with astonishment and doubt. "How is this possible?"

He remembered that the other person disappeared halfway through the journey. Whether he jumped off the vehicle or not, he had already changed vehicles and even hitched a ride on a truck for hundreds of miles, yet he still managed to run into him.

It's really crazy.

Fearing he might be mistaken, Lian Youming looked again carefully. Despite the darkness of the cold night, it was indeed that sallow-faced young man.

In the dim light from all sides, this person ate in exactly the same way as before, with the veins on his face taut, like a hungry ghost reincarnated.

Lian Youming frowned slightly. He thought he would never meet the other person again in this lifetime, but unexpectedly, they bumped into each other again in just one day.

Moreover, he also felt a strange sense of crisis.

The appearance of such an extraordinary person here is definitely not a good thing.

But the next second, Lian Youming shuddered, looked away, and quickly lay down.

This was because the person actually turned around and looked over.

Fortunately, the truck started up quickly, and the person in the rearview mirror got further and further away.

On the street, watching the departing truck, the young man remained silent, but his eyes gleamed. He was chewing something—steamed buns—one at a time, chewing and swallowing forcefully.

But an untimely figure suddenly blocked his view.

The newcomer looked like a farmer driving a cart, with a thick beard and eyebrows, wearing a felt hat, a whip tucked into the back of his collar, a pipe at his waist, and his sheepskin coat was filthy and peeling. His eyes were gloomy and watery.

He was a middle-aged man in his thirties or forties.

"Kid, I'll give you a chance today because your surname is Xue. Turn around and go back obediently, or I'll cripple you."

The young man's expression seemed wooden, but a glint of light flashed in his eyes, and even his sallow, rough face seemed to glow faintly at this moment. "Who are you, the successor of the Twelve True Forms of Xingyi School?"

The middle-aged man raised an eyebrow and exclaimed, "Tiger!"

The young man slowly swallowed the food in his mouth, then strolled closer. "Now the world has changed, and true skills are few and far between. Considering how hard-won your skills are, I'll leave you with a whole corpse."

As he spoke, the man raised his hands in a fist salute and grinned wildly.

"I am Xue Hen, and I welcome your superior skills!"

……

the next day.

A ray of morning sunlight pierced through the car window, which was covered in condensation.

The driver was sprawled out, wrapped in a blanket, fast asleep. A rifle lay beside him, and his exposed, stinky feet emitted a smell reminiscent of a pickle jar, making one's eyes water.

Lian Youming huddled in a corner, his eyes vacant and his spirits low. Then, amidst his torment and agony, he shook the driver awake.

The two continued driving.

As the truck drove into the heart of the Greater Khingan Mountains in the morning light, Lian Youming finally calmed down completely.

Along the way, besides the endless, vast forests, there are only towering, undulating mountains.

"Once you're in these mountains, be sure to follow the forestry station's instructions. Try not to go out at night." The driver was a very talkative man, with a half-smoked cigarette in his mouth. He could exhale smoke as he spoke. "Especially in winter, not only are people hungry, but the wild animals in the mountains are also hungry. You never know when you might be snatched away while you're out taking a piss."

Lian Youming nodded.

He had heard his father say that things were much better in Northeast China now; the soldiers, civilians, and educated youth who came to aid the Great Northern Wilderness back then truly endured hardship. On that vast, boundless black soil, the blood and tears of the older generation were almost soaked in, which is how the Great Northern Granary was created.

In the Greater Khingan Mountains, he also had to brave hardships and rise to the challenge.

Finally, just before noon, the truck braved the cold wind and drove into Tarim River.

Although the sun was hanging in the sky, it was tilted so that it seemed unable to rise.

Lian Youming thanked the driver gratefully before hurrying off to the educated youth office.

He was sent to work in a place called Kaoshantun, not far from Tahe.

However, now that the educated youth movement is coming to an end, some villages and forest farms have basically stopped accepting educated youth to work in the countryside, and Lian Youming is somewhat uncertain.

When he rushed to the place and knocked on the closed door, he heard footsteps coming from inside.

With a creak, the wooden door was pulled open, and a wave of warm heat rushed out.

Lian Youming felt as if he were bathed in a spring breeze, feeling extremely comfortable.

"Hello, I……"

He stopped abruptly halfway through his sentence, staring intently at the person who opened the door.

"Are you Aunt Shen?"

"Not bad, you didn't forget me. You kid, I've been waiting for you for ages. Your parents called a while ago and said you were going to come here to work in the queue. I figured it should have been yesterday, but everyone else arrived, and I didn't see you anywhere."

The speaker was a middle-aged woman wearing a chestnut-colored turtleneck sweater, with a slightly protruding belly and a long braid. Behind her was a glowing charcoal fire, on which potatoes and chestnuts were roasting.

Lian Youming was taken aback. "Aunt Shen? What brings you here?"

The middle-aged woman laughed heartily, "Didn't expect that, did you? Your Aunt Shen is now the director of the educated youth office here. Otherwise, would your mother have trusted you to come over? Oh, come in quickly and tell me."

Lian Youming was pulled into the house and sat down by the fire.

This woman's name was Shen Qinghong. She wasn't her parents' comrade-in-arms, but her husband was her father's sworn brother, the kind who had taken a bullet for him on the battlefield. Although the two families lived far apart, their relationship had never faded. They would send each other gifts during holidays, and were extremely close.

Moreover, this person comes from a scholarly family and came from Shanghai to help the Great Northern Wilderness in his early years, and then stayed here.

Shen Qinghong seemed to have been waiting for a long time. She filled a basin with hot water and poured a bowl of brown sugar water. "Hurry up and wash up."

"Aunt Shen, don't move, I can do it myself."

Lian Youming's eyelids twitched. He dared not trouble this elder; if his parents found out, he would be severely beaten. Moreover, judging from Aunt Shen's belly, she was clearly pregnant, so he had to be even more careful.

After he washed the dust off his face, Aunt Shen asked with a smile, "Why are you so late, child?"

Lian Youming sighed and said, "I got off the bus in Harbin and came here by truck."

Shen Qinghong laughed and scolded, "You're so careless, you made me worry to death."

As he spoke, he took out a few more aluminum lunch boxes and placed them on the stove.

"These are all for you. Eat up. There are two boxes of pork and scallion dumplings and a box of pork rib soup. They're a bit cold, so heat them up first."

Lian Youming took off his hat, revealing a neat head of short hair, which made his already strong features appear even more sharp and capable. By the firelight, one could see that there was a not-so-remarkable red mole in the center of his brow, which now appeared particularly distinct in the bright red firelight.

Unlike the distinctive beards of people from Guanzhong, Lian Youming has thick, slanted eyebrows, tiger-like eyes, and a strong, well-defined facial contour. Although his features are somewhat rough, he exudes a fierce masculine aura.

“Your Uncle Qin has come several times already,” Shen Qinghong said with a smile, holding a half-knitted sweater in her hand. “By the way, your dad didn’t tell you, did he? Your uncle is now the director of the forest farm.”

Lian Youming was enjoying his dumplings when he said, "You got promoted? Could it be to the forest farm where I was sent to work?"

Shen Qinghong said, "No."

Lian Youming was relieved. "That's good."

Shen Qinghong rolled her eyes. "Are you that afraid of your Uncle Qin?"

While eating dumplings, Lian Youming mumbled, "It's not that I'm afraid. Anyone with a brain knows that my uncle and my father are the same kind of people. If I really went there, I'd be trained like I was on a forced march every day."

Shen Qinghong smiled and said, "Don't just eat vegetables, drink more soup."

Finally, she said earnestly, "Being sent to the countryside is one thing, but you've always been a good student, so don't let your studies fall behind. When Xiuxiu comes back from her vacation, I'll have her bring you some study materials. Remember to study hard in the mountains."

"Yes, I brought it."

Lian Youming seemed extremely hungry, and after only responding with one sentence, he wolfed down his food.

Shen Qinghong had gentle features and a particularly elegant smile. "It's good that you're here. I'll go to the post office later to call your parents and let them know you're safe."

Just as the two were chatting, the roar of a motorcycle approached rapidly from outside the door, followed by a deep, hoarse voice, as if something was stuck in its throat, "Hasn't the person arrived yet?"

"You're here, we were just chatting." Shen Qinghong's eyes gleamed with slyness. "This kid said it's a good thing he didn't go to your forest farm to work as an educated youth."

"You brat, I don't have that much free time to mess with you. I'm so busy I wish I could split myself in two."

The door was pushed open, and a man in a fur-collared military overcoat walked in. He looked refined and scholarly, more like an office worker than a soldier. But half of his face was stern, while the other half had a shocking scar, like a burn, and one of his eyes was grayish-white, as if covered by a layer of white mist.

Upon seeing the person who arrived, Lian Youming shuddered, then forced a smile, "Uncle!"

　I changed the time the protagonist went to the countryside to 1979, and then I'll talk about the update time, which is 6 PM every day.

　　
　
(End of this chapter)