These Few Really Weren't Short of Money

"Let's go, Dazhuang."

With that order from Zhao Jianguo, Dongfang Dazhuang took over driving the cart.

As for Bai Yao and the others, they sat on the cart.

Worried it was dirty?

Not one of them minded the dirt. They all sat down without hesitation.

Their attitude pleased Zhao Jianguo. The educated youths who had come before had all been picky and fussy. None of them had been as sensible as this batch.

They hadn't been as good-looking or as sensible as these young people. Comparing them, Zhao Jianguo, the village chief, was even more pleased with the five of them.

After driving the ox cart for a while, Dongfang Dazhuang spotted the post office. Suddenly remembering that Hu Yang's things had been sent by post, he turned and asked:

"When were your parcels mailed? If they were sent early enough, we can go check."

"We might as well take a look. There isn't much on the cart, so we have just enough room to bring them along," Zhao Jianguo said.

"All right, thank you, Uncle Village Chief." They thanked him.

When they reached the post office, the group went inside, leaving only Zhao Jianguo and Bai Yao on the cart.

"Aren't you going in, kid?" Zhao Jianguo asked, puzzled.

"Uncle, I forgot about the post office, so I only brought these two sacks with things I could use for now. I'll just buy whatever else I need later," Bai Yao replied.

Zhao Jianguo: ...

Glancing at the small, loosely packed sacks, he was sure there couldn't be much in them.

Zhao Jianguo: How much is he missing? How much will he have to buy?

All right, now he understood just how well-off these educated youths Dazhuang had mentioned really were.

With that thought, Zhao Jianguo took out some tobacco scraps and cut-up newspaper to roll a cigarette.

Seeing this, Bai Yao pretended to rummage in his shoulder bag, then took out a pack of Daqianmen cigarettes and held it out to him.

"Uncle, have one of these."

Zhao Jianguo: ...

"No, your cigarettes are expensive."

Bai Yao guessed what Zhao Jianguo was worried about. Smiling, he opened the pack and offered him a cigarette. "Go ahead, Uncle. I don't smoke. I only bought these because I was afraid the cigarette coupons would expire. If you don't smoke them, I reckon I'll just use them to smoke out mosquitoes when we get back to the village."

"Hey, you young fellow, what a spendthrift. If you want to smoke out mosquitoes, can't you just grab a handful of mugwort by the roadside? Using Daqianmen to smoke out mosquitoes—you really aren't afraid of getting a beating, are you?"

Even so, Zhao Jianguo reached for the cigarette.

He had only meant to take one, but Bai Yao stuffed the whole pack into his hand.

"All right, Uncle owes you one. If you need anything in the village, come find me," Zhao Jianguo said with a smile.

He wasn't afraid of sent-down youths who didn't know how to get along with people; he was afraid of educated youths who came to the countryside and stirred up trouble.

Judging by Bai Yao's actions, this kid wasn't going to give him cause for worry.

"Then thank you, Uncle."

Although Bai Yao did have a few things he wanted to ask of him, they had only just met, so there was no need to rush.

They had another day off tomorrow. He would bring it up then.

Just as Bai Yao finished speaking, the others who had gone into the post office came out carrying their things.

Yes, carrying them on their shoulders. Those big sacks were stuffed to the brim.

"Looks like all your luggage has arrived," Bai Yao said with a smile.

"Yeah, there's still some inside. Good thing we have a cart, or I'd be worried about how to get it back." Hu Yang struggled to put a sack on the cart as he spoke, then was too tired to move.

Kong Wu and Dongfang Dazhuang helped carry the rest of the luggage. Gu Yang, like Hu Yang, was too tired to move.

Jiang Rou had the strength, but there weren't many parcels left, so there was no need for her to help.

Once all the luggage was loaded, it was piled so high on the ox cart that there was no room left for anyone to sit.

Of course, if they really wanted to sit, they could have. Gu Yang and the others didn't mind sitting on their luggage, but Zhao Jianguo did. He didn't want to exhaust the village's treasured ox.

So the ox cart could only carry the luggage, while the five of them relied on their own two legs.

Taking a drag on his cigarette, Zhao Jianguo now had a clear idea of how well-off all five educated youths were.

None of them were short of money.

Just as he was thinking that, the ox cart stopped again.

He looked over in puzzlement and saw a state-run restaurant.

Zhao Jianguo: ...

"Uncle Village Chief, come eat with us. We didn't get enough to eat this morning, so we need a proper meal now. Otherwise, we'll get hungry on the road later," Bai Yao called.

Zhao Jianguo: Just as I thought.

"No, no, you go ahead. There's food waiting for me at home. I'll eat when I get back," Zhao Jianguo declined.

They had money, but that didn't mean he did. If he splurged on a big meal at a state-run restaurant, how would his family make ends meet?

As for going over to eat with them?

That was even more out of the question.

After all, they had only just met. If he ate their food before knowing what they were like, what if they asked him for a big favor? Having eaten at their expense, could he refuse?

Zhao Jianguo: I can never let my guard down.

Seeing this, Gu Yang and Hu Yang, who were in the restaurant with the others, thought about going over to invite him again, but the next second Bai Yao stopped them.

"Don't go. Let's buy some buns and have them fill our water bottles while we're at it. We'll eat on the road."

With that, Bai Yao went to buy the buns first.

The pork buns cost the same as in Beijing: five fen each, plus one liang in grain coupons. But the buns here were a size bigger than those in Beijing.

Seeing that, Bai Yao bought ten on the spot for five mao and one jin in grain coupons.

That little expense was dirt cheap to Bai Yao.

He took five and handed them to Dongfang Dazhuang. "The five of us are treating Uncle Village Chief together. Dazhuang, sorry for the trouble, but could you take them to him?"

"Sure." Dongfang Dazhuang didn't refuse.

He knew Bai Yao was giving him the buns to build a good relationship.

If one person gave him five buns, that would be a bit much, but one bun from each person was nothing.

Hearing this, the others also bought buns, then paid Bai Yao back for the money he had advanced.

Bai Yao didn't put on a show of generosity. He accepted everyone's share except Kong Wu's, then handed it all to Kong Wu.

As for why he didn't take Kong Wu's share, it was because Kong Wu had helped carry his luggage all the way. Treating him to a meal of buns was only natural.

With the buns and their freshly filled water bottles, the group set off.

Just as Bai Yao had said, they would eat on the road.

Although eating while walking wasn't good for their health, this way they were all doing the same thing, and it might improve Uncle Village Chief's impression of them a little more.

After all, it could be considered a kind of "sharing sweets and hardships."

Things turned out just as Bai Yao had expected. The group walked and chatted, and since none of them were the sort to offend people when they spoke, Zhao Jianguo's impression of them really did improve considerably.

Before Bai Yao and the others even brought it up, Zhao Jianguo addressed the matter they were most concerned about.

"Bai Yao, Dazhuang told Uncle about your request. Don't worry about it. Uncle will definitely get it settled for you, and I won't let the villagers gossip either."

"As for daily labor, you'll be assigned relatively easy jobs that don't earn many work points, like cutting pig grass and pulling weeds. It's fine whether you do a lot or a little of those. But there's one thing! During the autumn harvest, you can't do that. Everyone in the village, young and old, pitches in then, so naturally you can't slack off either."

"No problem, Uncle Village Chief. You're already looking after us plenty. And you can rest assured, too. If we don't earn enough work points, we'll pay the difference ourselves. We definitely won't put you in a difficult position," Bai Yao replied.

Hu Yang and the others readily agreed as well.

The thing they had worried about most when going to the countryside had been settled so easily. Naturally, they weren't going to make trouble and make things difficult for themselves.

As for whether the other villagers would object to having five more people in the village just getting by?

Zhao Jianguo's answer was that if they objected, they could keep it to themselves.

They had already said they would pay. If they didn't pay, wouldn't the village still have to support them with the grain allotted per person?

With that settled, everyone was happy for the rest of the journey.

Well, after an hour, everyone except Kong Wu, Jiang Rou and Dongfang Dazhuang was struggling. Bai Yao, Hu Yang and Gu Yang were all worn out.

The road really was long.