Showing Up Empty-Handed and Expecting a Free Meal

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Episode 32: Showing Up Empty-Handed and Expecting a Free Meal—Someone Actually Had Thicker Skin Than Her?

Wang Xiaomei was a little speechless as she looked at the two sisters. She had some experience taking care of newly arrived Educated Youth, so she pointed at the food in the basin. "We're almost done eating too. There are only these coarse rice buns and vegetables left. We made enough for two people, and it's all gone now."

"You two don't look like you're from poor families. You should've saved some rations for the road. Even a bowl of hot water with some vegetables could've gotten you through a meal."

The Dong Sisters were dumbfounded. Looking at the half-basin of peppers without even a speck of meat, could this even be called food?

They felt that eating leftover scraps and owing someone a favor simply wasn't worth it.

Before leaving, Dong Tiantian deliberately turned back for another look at Lin Yuzhu. Her face was small and delicate, almond-shaped eyes bright with moisture, slightly upturned corners lending her a playful charm. With red lips, white teeth, and a sweet smile, she looked both lively and lovely.

She was already this eye-catching at such a young age. Who knew how stunning she would become in a few more years?

Dong Tiantian's heart sank. She had always been immensely proud of her looks, yet today, in this tiny village, she had suffered setback after setback.

After the sisters had gone far away, Wang Xiaomei looked at Lin Yuzhu with admiration in her eyes and said slyly, "I knew something was off with you today. You actually wanted to eat spicy food!"

"You're really full of tricks. So you'd already guessed those people would come freeloading? Amazing!"

"No wonder you're not tall enough. It's all because the New Year remembered you."

Lin Yuzhu shot Wang Xiaomei a cold sideways glance and said disdainfully, "I may not be tall, but I'm still 1.6 meters. What about you?"

"A little shrimp barely over 1.5 meters has the nerve to talk. I used to be 1.68 meters tall in my past life. How could I possibly have been short? Now... sigh, let bygones be bygones. I just didn't get enough to eat growing up. Otherwise, I definitely would've reached 1.6 meters."

Wang Xiaomei retorted righteously.

Lin Yuzhu's current persona was someone living off support from her family, leaving her unable to refute that. Besides, she really had never gone hungry at her neighbors' house.

Actually, 1.6 meters wasn't considered short these days. Women on the street were mostly about that height.

"Enough, enough." Lin Yuzhu returned home speechlessly to take an afternoon nap. The autumn heat was still intense, and afternoon work before the autumn harvest still started late.

If anything major had happened in the village this month, it was that Shanshui Village had gotten loudspeakers.

They had even specially run an electrical wire over for the loudspeakers. Of the nearby villages, only Shanshui Village had them, and the village leaders were so proud they practically wanted to fly into the sky.

Unfortunately, the wires only reached the village committee office, not the entire village. Electric lights were still a distant dream.

Ever since the loudspeakers had been installed, work calls had been announced through them at the Educated Youth Dormitory.

Since she lived nearby and could hear them clearly, Lin Yuzhu could finally nap peacefully at noon without worrying about oversleeping and missing the time to start work.

Once she lay down in her room, she habitually checked her space and found that her Pasture expansion had been completed. She immediately raised two more sheep and two more pigs.

After finishing all that, there was not much balance left in the system.

Lin Yuzhu held her forehead. This was far too unreasonable. Every expansion of the fields and Pasture required a huge amount of Contribution Points.

The little system explained that the Energy Blocks used to accelerate the growth of plants and animals all cost money, even giving her a list.

Lin Yuzhu was speechless. She closed her eyes and rested instead. Fine, fine. What more could I ask for?

Thinking that she would be able to eat pork or lamb in a little over twenty days, her mood soared again.

Pigs needed to be fed Low-Grade Feed, made from corn and wheat bran. Lin Yuzhu could afford that. Fortunately, the hens also used Low-Grade Feed. The system said livestock raised on Low-Grade Feed had tastier meat, and Lin Yuzhu decided to believe it for now.

Her stomach still burned from lunch, so she bought a bottle of yogurt from the shop. It even came in a glass bottle, with a smooth texture and just the right balance of sweet and sour.

It was good, but she couldn't take it out and sell it.

Thinking about that, she drifted off to sleep.

Meanwhile, the Dong Sisters were only just eating lunch. Zhang Yanqiu was responsible for cooking, while He Yuanfang had lent the sisters some rations. Their roommates had brought snacks like Walnut Cookies and sponge cakes, and after eating them all the way here, they had grown sick of them. They no longer looked down on simple, plain food.

Seeing that He Yuanfang was willing to lend them rations, the two sisters showered him with praise, practically praising him to the heavens.

He Yuanfang scratched his head honestly and said they did not need to rush to repay him.

The Dong Sisters exchanged smiles, thinking He Yuanfang was like one of those foolish boys from the alleyways, easily talked into a daze with just a few words. Seeing his simple-minded expression, they felt nothing but contempt.

The sisters had accepted plenty of things from boys in the past, so they did not take one meal's worth of rations seriously at all.

Since he said there was no rush to repay him, then there was no rush.

It was only when they sat down to eat that the sisters noticed Zhou Nan, and they were immediately dazzled.

Zhang Yanqiu looked at the two sisters and sneered inwardly. She would definitely tell Zhao Xianglan later.

The thought of Zhao Xianglan abandoning her to go find Li Xiangwan made her furious. If she told Zhao Xianglan that the new Educated Youth had set their sights on Zhou Nan, that prized catch, would Zhao Xianglan still be in the mood to go eat in the back?

The three newly arrived male Educated Youth were all fairly young. The youngest was only fifteen and had been sent to the countryside before even finishing high school. His name was Song Zhigao.

The oldest was only eighteen, named Zhao Aidang, while the one in the middle was seventeen, named Zhang Aiguo.

Well, names in this era were very much of the times. There were several people named Aiguo and Aidang in Kindwater Village alone.

The three male Educated Youth had regular features and ordinary faces. When Lin Yuzhu had seen them, she thought this was what normal looked like. How could handsome men be everywhere? If another handsome man showed up, the girls at the Educated Youth Dormitory would fight each other to the death.

As for the character of this new batch of male Educated Youth, it could only be said that they still needed to be observed.

Coincidentally, Zhang Aiguo and Zhao Aidang were from the county town, while Song Zhigao was from a township under Lin Kaoshan.

It could be said that these three would have a much easier time going home than the older Educated Youth. To be assigned somewhere so close to home, they definitely had people pulling strings above.

These three were not to be underestimated. Even a dragon could not overpower a local snake.

Lin Yuzhu felt that it would be best if she could get along with the three of them. If not, she should at least avoid making enemies. Minding their own business and not interfering with each other would also be fine.

There was one immediate advantage: they had brought their own rations, enough to last two or three days. Food was ultimately still a problem. In the past, the village chief would at least give some indication of what to do, but this time, he seemed inclined to brush the matter aside.

When Wang Yang came back and saw that the room was full of new Educated Youth, he knew he would have to go speak with the village chief. The older Educated Youth could not possibly be expected to give their own food to the newcomers. If that happened, the roof of the Educated Youth Dormitory would practically blow off.

The new Educated Youth had stirred the villagers up again. Wherever one listened, most people were condemning the situation. How many work points could they earn when they arrived right before the autumn harvest?

The Educated Youth Office might as well have sent them down after the autumn harvest. At this rate, the village might as well raise the Educated Youth directly.

This time, even the village chief could not suppress the uproar.

The Production Team Leader's face turned livid as he complained to the village chief, "Why did you take in five all at once?"

The village chief's expression immediately soured. He felt the Production Team Leader was playing games with him, trying to look like the good guy in front of the villagers. "Other villages took in six. If you think you can do better, you can go pick them up next time."

While the Production Team Leader and village chief argued, the Small Team Leaders were arguing too. How to divide up the five Educated Youth was also a problem.

The Small Team Leader on Lin Yuzhu's side was practically about to roll around on the ground throwing a tantrum. He absolutely refused to take any female Educated Youth, which was quite something for an old man like him.

The other two Small Team Leaders had no choice but to take one male and one female Educated Youth each. The youngest, Song Zhigao, was assigned to Lin Yuzhu's group.

"Small Team Leader?"

That old man actually wanted to kick the ball over to Lin Yuzhu and have her lead Song Zhigao.

Lin Yuzhu immediately blushed and said that she was still a young girl and that her reputation was very important.

The old man nearly swore, then kicked the ball over to Aunt Wang.

Aunt Wang was speechless. Could she say that she was an old woman too?

Aunt Wang rolled her eyes, looking thoroughly disgusted.

The five new Educated Youth, rejected and even resisted by the villagers, stood trembling in the fields. They behaved honestly and kept their heads down. At this point, the Dong Sisters did not dare act spoiled in the slightest. They had truly realized that they had been sent to the countryside. They were no longer little girls sheltered behind their parents. From now on, they could only rely on themselves.

Thinking of Li Xiangbei's cold attitude, the Dong Sisters felt an inexplicable panic. Had they really made a mistake by coming to this godforsaken place instead of listening to their elders? A feeling called regret rose from the depths of their hearts.

The fields were filled with shouting all afternoon, complaints everywhere. No one worked properly. The Production Team Leader was so angry that he cursed the village chief inwardly for being old and useless. Their village should not have had a village chief at all.

The older Educated Youth had also been caught up in a small but troublesome storm.

After work, Wang Xiaomei waited for Lin Yuzhu by the roadside. It gave Lin Yuzhu the illusion of returning to her student days, when everyone went home together after school. Wang Xiaomei had listened to sarcastic remarks all afternoon and had a bellyful of things to say. The moment she saw Lin Yuzhu, she began chattering away.

"I hadn't thought much of it on Friday, but now so many more Educated Youth have come. Do you think after the autumn harvest, when rations are distributed, the village chief will make us take in the newcomers?"

"That's really possible. As long as he says there isn't enough grain in the granary, the new Educated Youth won't be able to borrow any food."

From what Lin Yuzhu had learned about the village chief at noon, that old man might truly be capable of doing something like that.

When Lin Yuzhu fell silent, Wang Xiaomei immediately panicked and said anxiously, "Oh no, it can't really turn out like that, can it? We don't even have enough food for ourselves. How can we give food to other people? The village can't just let them starve to death, can it?"

Lin Yuzhu felt that made sense and comforted her. "Don't overthink it. If the sky falls, the tall ones will hold it up."

Lin Yuzhu still felt that something was off. She did not know much about the situation of Educated Youth sent to the countryside in the seventies, but if they were sent to the commune before the autumn harvest, food arrangements had to be made. In any case, this batch of Educated Youth definitely would not be allowed to starve to death.

Wang Xiaomei frowned and added, "At noon, we didn't give the village chief much face. What if we offended him?"

"You said these Educated Youth are arriving batch after batch. The commune only has a few slots for returning to the city each year. If there are any good slots in the village later, the village chief won't hold them back and refuse to give them to us, will he?"