Time Travel: My Comfortable Life After Going to the Countryside

Xue Bingbing and Le Yao looked at Liu Xiangyang with admiration, while the older sister, Le Qi, looked worried.

Xue Bingbing and Le Yao exchanged glances and stood up at the same time. Le Qi reached out to pull Le Yao, but Le Yao dodged Le Qi's hand and said, "Sister, don't pull me. I have to say this. Thank you, Team Leader Xie and Team Leader Luo. I'm not eating this meal."

Xue Bingbing: Me too.

The two women walked out. "Sister's leaving. We're not going to put up with this. We're going to join Comrade Xiangyang."

Leqi looked at everyone, sighed, and then followed them out.

The three girls carried food to Liu Xiangyang's room. Le Yao said, "Brother Xiangyang, you were so cool just now. We'll stand with you. I can't stand their hypocritical behavior."

"Why did you all come out? I'm a grown man, I can do whatever I want with them, but you young girls shouldn't cause trouble with them."

Xue Bingbing: "Comrade Xiangyang, I also support you. We can't spoil them too much. I was originally hesitating about whether to build my own house like you, but after what happened today, I also want to build my own house. It's disgusting."

"Comrade Xiangyang, let's build our houses together, just like the old educated youth, and take turns cooking."

Le Yao: "Okay, okay, I feel like I get along with you guys, okay, sister?"

Leqi was also willing to get closer to Liu Xiangyang, so she nodded: "Bingbing's suggestion is great. That way we won't have to cook every day, and everyone can take turns resting."

"We need to stock up on firewood, because they say it runs out pretty quickly."

Silent all night.

A sudden ringing woke Liu Xiangyang up. He glanced at the time; it was just before 5 a.m. Someone asked sleepily.

"Why is the school bell ringing? Are the students going to school so early?"

"That's when the work bell rings; the village is calling everyone to go to work."

"It's pitch black, how can we get to work?"

"It's like this every day during the busy farming season here. You'll get used to it after a while. But you new educated youth can rest today and go to the county town to buy some things."

Xie Zhiyong: "Liu Xiangyang, you new educated youth are going to the county town today. Go to the village office and wait for us. Old Wang will also be going to the county town to pick up some things today."

"If you miss the carriage, you'll have to walk the 30-40 li. When you come back for dinner, give some rations to Xiao Lu; he'll be cooking today."

"Thank you, Team Leader. We won't eat together. I bought all the pots and pans today, so I can cook by myself. I'll practice first. Didn't Village Chief Zhang say the houses will be built quickly? I'll need to know how to cook by myself when I live here."

After collecting everyone's food rations, Xiao Lü went out to make breakfast, which was just corn porridge to get by.

Liu Xiangyang was brushing his teeth in the yard with a toothbrush and toothpaste. The old educated youth who passed by looked at him with strange eyes. They had never seen such a fierce new educated youth. He had fallen out with most of the old educated youth as soon as he arrived.

After brushing her teeth, Xue Bingbing and the Le sisters came over, all three women smelling of pleasant face cream.

Xue Bingbing: "Comrade Xiangyang, the three of us are going to the county town to buy some things. Why don't you come along? The village has given us new educated youth a day off."

"Aren't you going with the other women? Otherwise, people will say you've become detached from the masses."

Le Yao: "That's why we came to find you, aren't you just one of the crowd?"

"Besides, we can discuss how to build the house on the way. They're not planning to build a house, so it would be awkward if they did."

He did something that others wanted to do but dared not do as soon as he arrived, which is indeed quite enviable.

The four of them arrived at the village office to wait for Old Wang, only to find that several other new educated youths had already arrived. They nodded to each other in greeting, but did not invite the four of them over. Each side stood on one side, not disturbing the other.

Liu Xiangyang thought it was great; his peaceful life was best when no one bothered him.

Old Wang pulled his horse-drawn cart over and said, "It costs 4 cents to take a ride to the county town. If you want to take a ride, come over and pay first."

Liu Xiangyang and the other three handed their share of money to Old Wang and sat down. Xue Bingbing and Le Yao sat on either side of Liu Xiangyang, while Le Qi glanced at her sister and sat down opposite Liu Xiangyang.

Once all the village aunties and grandmas had boarded the carriage, Old Wang cracked his whip, and the carriage started moving.

The carriage swayed and rocked, and the women inside started chatting about their own lives, making it difficult for the four of them to discuss building a house.

As the older women chatted, they started talking about the new educated youths who had arrived, discussing which daughter this one could marry, which daughter that one could marry, and in the end, the conversation always came down to Liu Xiangyang.

He was good-looking, tall, fair-skinned, and his clothes were spotless. He even wore a watch that only officials wore. He was even more handsome than Zhang Guomin. I wonder which girl will end up with him.

Along the way, Liu Xiangyang laughed off the interrogations from the older women, enjoying the tenderness on both sides and occasionally noticing Leqi peeking at him. Liu Xiangyang was quite happy about it and also managed to glean a lot of gossip from the village.

Li Huiji may seem like a refined man, but when he's drunk, he becomes violent and beats his wife and children...

When they arrived in the county town, Old Wang left some time to go back, then drove off, and the aunties and grandmas dispersed.

Liu Xiangyang wanted to call home to let them know he was safe, while Xue Bingbing and the Le sisters wanted to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things. The four of them agreed to meet at the supply and marketing cooperative and then went their separate ways.

Liu Xiangyang found the post office, sent a telegram to his family, told them the address of Dongsheng Village, and then wandered around the county town. He already had pots, pans, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, and tea in his storage space, so he didn't need to buy any more.

The county town's construction isn't very impressive; most of the houses are mud-brick, with only a few government buildings being red brick buildings. They're all in the Soviet style, probably built during a time when the relationship with the Big Brother was more amicable.

Another peculiar sight was that, along the way, various elderly women from Northeast China would be smoking pipes, chatting and taking care of their children, which broadened Liu Xiangyang's horizons.

To get a sense of the local living standards, Liu Xiangyang went to check out the grain depot and meat supply station.

After inquiring, I learned that grain prices are currently relatively stable. The highest quality rice is 28 cents per pound, high-quality flour is 20 cents per pound, and coarse cornmeal is 8.5 cents per pound, all of which can be purchased with ration coupons.

The hardest thing to buy was cooking oil. It wasn't expensive, only 90 cents a pound, but you needed coupons and it was rationed. Each person only had a quota of two ounces per month.

Liu Xiangyang went to the meat supply station again. A man saw that Liu Xiangyang was asking questions but not buying anything, and that he was taller and better looking than him. He almost attacked Liu Xiangyang with a knife.

It was a woman passing by who, out of consideration for Liu Xiangyang, told him the prices of various meats.

Pork is 9 cents a pound. If you want to buy it, you have to come early to queue up. If you come after dawn, you'll be at the very back of the line and won't get any. Chicken is 8 cents a pound, but they don't have any.

Other meats are not available to the public; it is said that a batch will be supplied before the Lunar New Year.

Liu Xiangyang observed the things in the space and found that there were no lights. He couldn't keep using a flashlight for lighting, so he walked towards the supply and marketing cooperative.

Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, I bought two kerosene lamps, one kerosene lamp, and some candles from the members.

Buy a thermos, a kitchen knife, a cutting board, matches, and soap.

He then asked the sales clerk if they sold eggs. The clerk smiled mysteriously and said, "This comrade must be a new educated youth. Here, eggs only have a purchase price and a selling price. I haven't seen a single egg sold from here yet."

"If you really need it, you can borrow it from a fellow villager's family, understand?"

Liu Xiangyang understood that eggs were a commodity with a high price but no market. After the supply and marketing cooperative purchased them, they were either supplied to hospitals, special occupations, and leading cadres, or consumed internally by the cooperative.

In rural areas, it might be easier to get eggs, as most villagers raise a few chickens to lay eggs in exchange for seasonings.