freenovelworld Chapter 360 Visiting
Chapter 360 Visiting
That morning, when Lu Cheng and others just came back from the fields, they saw Zhong Yuemin, Zheng Tong and Ning Wei, already waiting at the gate of the educated youth site.
"Brother Cheng, Kui Yong, you are finally back. The three of us have been waiting for you for a long time."
"Yuemin, Zheng Tong, why didn't you tell me before you came?"
"When we went to work yesterday, we didn't see you guys there, and we couldn't notify you. Come on, come on, pour us a bowl of hot water. We've run over 30 miles, and we're all out of food. We're tired, thirsty, and hungry."
"So you guys are here to eat for free? Okay, Lijuan, Huiling, you guys go cook. The food rations they three eat today are mine, and I'll make up for it later."
"Brother Cheng, what are you talking about? We are all educated youth, and it is normal to eat a meal when visiting."
Zhong Yuemin immediately complimented her upon hearing this: "This female classmate is really generous and well-mannered. Thank you. I have a big appetite, can you help me get enough?"
"How can I let you go back hungry? Come on, come in and sit down."
When fellow villagers meet, they have a lot to talk about.
"Yuemin, Zheng Tong, you came two days earlier than us. What's the situation over there?"
"They are all the same. The only difference is that we have more boys than girls, while you have more girls than boys. By the way, how much food did the Youth Office give you?"
"One thousand six hundred pounds, what's wrong?"
"We only have 800 kilograms. I feel something is wrong. How can this little food last us until the wheat harvest? I will go to the village party secretary Chang Gui. He dared to withhold our food. It is really hateful."
"Yes, we must ask him to return our food. If he doesn't give it to us, we will go to the county to make trouble. He actually withheld half of our food."
In fact, after the educated youth went to the countryside, the educated youth offices in various places would distribute half a year's worth of food to them.
Most of those educated youth had never done farm work before, and it took them several months to adapt. The food for the past six months was also to help them through this adaptation period.
After half a year, they needed to work with the production team, calculate work points together, and distribute food according to work points at the end of the year.
Even though they were all educated youth who went to the countryside, they were treated differently in different places.
If they were assigned to a construction corps or a farm, the treatment of the educated youth would be much better. They would have access to a canteen, allocated clothing, annual home leave, reimbursement of travel tickets, etc.
As for the educated youth assigned to the village, they only had food for half a year. If they wanted to go home during the Spring Festival, they had to pay for the tickets out of their own pockets, and the village brigade might not even approve their leave.
Moreover, even if they all go to the village, the treatment in the north and south is different.
In the areas south of the Huaihe River, due to the relatively high grain production, the local grain quota is also relatively high. In some places, the per-person grain quota reaches 380 kilograms.
In places like northern Shaanxi, due to poor soil and low grain production, the food quota for ordinary workers is only 300 kilograms per year.
The educated youth were allocated 160 kilograms of food according to the half-year standard, which was considered quite considerate.
However, the educated youth who went to the countryside were all young people around 17 or 18 years old. They usually had a big appetite. Each person was given one pound of food per day, which did not have much oil and water. They also needed to work, so they basically could not get enough to eat.
People like Lu Cheng and Li Kuiyong who are strong and healthy have even bigger appetites.
Soon, the food was served on the table. Although it was just the most common cornmeal steamed buns and cabbage stewed with potatoes, Zhong Yuemin, Zheng Tong and Ning Wei all ate it voraciously.
Li Kuiyong, who was standing by, handed Zhong Yuemin another steamed bread and said, "Eat slowly. I won't let you grab it. Look at the three of you. You look like starving ghosts."
"We are starving, aren't we? The food we are allocated is so little that we have to save as much as possible every day. We can only eat half full and will be hungry before the next meal. What's more, we have walked more than 30 miles to come to you today."
When talking about this, Zhong Yuemin was full of complaints. Thinking of the carefree life in Yanjing before, Zhong Yuemin really regretted coming here.
However, after seeing Qin Ling sitting next to him, Zhong Yuemin became active again: "By the way, Brother Chen, why don't you introduce this female classmate to me? What's her name? Where is she from?"
Qin Ling glanced at the smiling Zhong Yuemin, but he didn't have much good impression of him.
After spending a few days together, all the educated youth in Baidian Village have been completely convinced by Lu Cheng, especially several girls, who have all developed some affection for Lu Cheng, and Qin Ling is no exception.
People are afraid of comparison. When Lu Cheng sits here, any other boy who comes here will be overshadowed.
Even Zhong Yuemin, who has a bit of the aura of the protagonist, cannot compare with Lu Cheng at all.
Facing Zhong Yuemin's approach, Qin Ling just politely replied: "My name is Qin Ling."
"Qinling, what a nice name. Classmate, where are you from? Let's get to know each other."
Li Kuiyong, who was standing by, slapped him in the face: "Yuemin, you can't shut up while eating? What? You think this is still Yanjing, and you still want to slap the old woman?"
Zheng Tong at the side also joked: "Yes, let me introduce our classmate Zhong Yuemin to everyone. He is a well-known troublemaker in the city. He wanders around the streets every day and tries to flirt with pretty girls when he sees them. Even if they reject him, he still shamelessly pesters them."
Zhong Yuemin, who was standing by, interrupted Zheng Tong and said, "This is pure slander. I am a good classmate and comrade."
Lu Cheng turned to look at Ning Wei beside him: "Ning Wei, are you used to staying here?"
"It's fine. Brother Yuemin and Brother Zhengtong have taken good care of me. Now I can see Brother Cheng again and learn Kung Fu from you."
"You haven't stopped exercising, have you?"
"No, I work hard every day."
"Okay, I'll give you some pointers after dinner."
Just after finishing his meal, Zhong Yuemin saw the medicine box and erhu placed on the side and said, "You have quite a complete collection of stuff. Whose medicine box is this?"
"Of course it's Cheng's. Cheng is the village doctor now."
Zhong Yuemin looked at Lu Cheng in surprise: "Oh, Brother Cheng can also treat patients?"
"Yes, it can not only treat illnesses, but also cure thorns."
"Hahaha, we should punish Zhong Yuemin, the biggest troublemaker."
People on both sides chatted and laughed, and the atmosphere was very harmonious.
Since the work in the fields had been completed today and there was nothing to do in the afternoon, everyone started to cheer and asked Qin Ling to sing a song, and Lu Cheng to help with the accompaniment.
Neither of them refused. Lu Cheng picked up the erhu, tuned it, and started playing it skillfully.
The timbre of the erhu is relatively soft, with bright treble, mellow midrange, and deep bass. It has strong expressiveness and, combined with the sadness of northern Shaanxi folk songs, it brings the emotions to the extreme.
Although Lu Cheng and Qin Ling have not collaborated together many times, they have already formed a considerable tacit understanding. The sound of the erhu and the clear singing voice mixed together, complementing each other and making people intoxicated.
When the song was over, everyone started to applaud. The lively atmosphere temporarily made these wanderers forget their homesickness and also made them develop a vague feeling for the land beneath their feet.