Forced to marry a disabled man in the countryside? I'll repay you tenfold!

He handed over the booklet again. "Alright, hurry up and choose, then sign it. According to the rules, the new educated youth can borrow some food rations first: 10 jin of fine grains and 30 jin of coarse grains. They will be deducted from your work points after the autumn harvest. From now on, we will eat from the communal pot, and we will pay grain rations per person and take turns cooking. If the educated youth settlement grows its own vegetables, you either have to pay grain coupons or you don't have to eat them."

She paused, then continued, "We start work tomorrow. We're a military corps, mainly growing corn and spring wheat, with some side jobs. There's a severe drought in July, so we've canceled the morning drills and the afternoon military training and political study sessions. Secretary Li is now leading everyone to dig irrigation ditches every day."

"You newcomers, besides working during the day, the men will also have to help carry water to irrigate the fields, and the women will have to thin out seedlings and weed."

She explained in detail the work points for different jobs. In addition to digging ditches and carrying water, there were also side jobs, such as picking fruit in the orchard, picking hops, or helping to feed livestock at the company's pig farm and chicken coop.

Normally, we have to do morning exercises and training together, and after finishing farm work, we have to study Chairman Mao's works. After dinner, there's military training and class duties...

Holy crap!

Su Wanqing almost spat out her saliva after hearing this arrangement. Was life really going to be this hard?

Fortunately, there is a drought, so Secretary Li canceled all activities and spent the whole day digging canals to bring in water!

Good, good, good! This is what it means to go to the countryside to reform the hard-working life!

Zhang Yan, a female educated youth who came on the same bus, immediately spoke up cleverly: "Captain Tian, ​​I'm the best at picking fruit, I'll go pick some!"

Picking fruit might earn you low work points, but you can sneak a bite, so you can at least fill your stomach.

Do you really think picking fruit is the easiest thing to do?

Tian Dahua gave a mocking smile, "Fine, you go pick the fruit, what about you guys?" She looked at Su Wanqing and Zhou Yanshen.

Zhou's mother was furious when she heard this; every word she heard was exhausting!

"After finishing work during the day, I still have to thin the seedlings at night? How can I possibly do that! And the sun is so strong it'll make your skin peel! And this house..." She pointed to the low, mud-brick house, "Can anyone live in this? You have to bend over to get in! Won't the roof collapse?"

Zhou's mother originally thought that coming to the countryside was just a change of residence. She could bear moving from a house with several acres of land to a small, dilapidated house of a few dozen square meters back then, and the current conditions were just a little tougher.

But to my utter surprise, after coming to the countryside, I had to do farm work every day without a single day of rest... and I was also living in this kind of house. How could anyone stand it?

Su Wanqing frowned as well. She knew life in the countryside was tough, but she thought at the very least she'd live in a brick house, which she could then modify with newspapers and felt. Now...

This house probably needs to be demolished and rebuilt.

Life in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps during their rural assignments was simply unbelievable; it was like starting from hell.

As Tian Dahua casually picked at the vegetable leaves in her hand, she said, as if it were nothing out of the ordinary:

"You've all come to the countryside, what are you still making a fuss about? Don't want to work? Fine, then you won't get work points, and you won't get any grain after the autumn harvest next month. Don't blame me if you go hungry. If you keep making trouble, then you have ideological problems and are resisting reform. You can weigh the consequences yourselves."

Several older educated youths gathered around, and one of them, a woman with two short braids, sneered:

"Oh, you thought you were going to enjoy life in the city? You're here to build the country and receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants. Do you still want to act like those capitalist young masters and ladies?"

"Exactly! We've lived in this house for years, how come it's uninhabitable now? If we don't want to live here, where else would we want to live? In heaven?"

"I can tell this comrade is lame from his limp; he's clearly not cut out for work. He has so many problems, and he can't even meet our assigned quotas. He's a real burden!"

Zhou Yanshen frowned slightly, subtly shielding Su Wanqing and his mother behind him.

He stood tall and straight, exuding an undeniable air of composure. His gaze calmly swept over the group of older educated youth, finally settling on Tian Dahua.

"Comrades, we responded to the call to go to the countryside to be tempered and contribute to socialist construction. We are not afraid of harsh conditions, and we are willing to undergo labor reform."

"But the prerequisite for accepting the renovation is that basic personal safety must be guaranteed. The walls of this room are cracked and there is a risk of it collapsing at any time. If we move in and something happens, who will be responsible?"

"My idea is that we will temporarily follow the arrangements for accommodation, but I will immediately report to the regimental headquarters and apply to build a brick house myself on a nearby vacant lot during my rest time. We will bear all the material costs ourselves, without using collective resources or interfering with daytime work. Please supervise me."

After saying that, he turned his head slightly, lowered his voice, and said apologetically to Su Wanqing, "Comrade Wanqing, it seems you and Mom will have to make do in this old house for a few days. Do you think... that's alright?"

Su Wanqing looked at Zhou Yanshen with bright, sparkling eyes.

Handsome, so handsome.

Is this her man?

Even if he encounters any difficulties, he can quickly step forward and take responsibility to solve all problems.

The measure of a man's maturity is never his age, but his ability to solve problems.

Su Wanqing nodded: "Okay, I'll do as you say. We'll make do in this house for a few days."

Just then, a voice came hurriedly from afar:

"Oh dear! There's been a mistake! A mistake! Captain Tian!"

Everyone turned around and saw Liu Shuqing (Secretary Li's deputy) riding his bicycle over, his forehead still covered in sweat.

Tian Dahua was taken aback: "Officer Liu, what's wrong?"

Liu Shuqing took a breath and pointed to the dilapidated mud house: "How can this house be given to Comrade Su Wanqing's family! It was Secretary Li who specifically instructed that one of the newly built brick houses be allocated to Comrade Su Wanqing!"

"What?!" These words were like a thunderclap out of nowhere, and all the educated youth stared at Su Wanqing and the others in disbelief.

Those newly built red brick houses are the "luxury houses" of the educated youth settlement. There are only four in total. The quotas were just allocated last week. They are all for educated youth who have made outstanding contributions or those who have gotten married and settled down. Everyone is eyeing them eagerly!

Tian Dahua was also stunned, and subconsciously asked, "Why? Weren't all the spots for the brick houses given away?"

One of the rooms was supposed to be hers! It's the new marital home she'll be moving into next month when she gets married to Erzhuzi!

She has worked hard for the past five years. To put it nicely, she is the team leader of the educated youth; to put it bluntly, she is the educated youth's nanny. She hasn't earned many work points, but she has a lot of trivial matters to deal with.

Isn't her only goal to be able to live in a new brick house when she gets married?!

Liu Shuqing interrupted her directly, his voice loud and clear, making sure everyone around could hear him:

"Captain Tian, ​​you probably don't know this! This Comrade Su Wanqing is a very skilled doctor! Just now on the way, Secretary Li suffered a sudden heart attack and was in critical condition. It was Comrade Su Wanqing who saved him from the brink of death using acupuncture! She is our regiment's only medic right now! Besides, she just got married and answered the call to support the construction of the frontier. It's only right and wrong that we should take care of her! This is Secretary Li's order!"