People who eat melon are in 70 - Chapter 19

After returning to Willow Tree Village, it started raining again. The rain lasted for a day and night. Willow Tree Village is located at the foot of a mountain, and the rain caused a rising mist to envelop the area, creating a fairy-tale-like atmosphere that seemed almost otherworldly.

It was already late July, moving into August, and as soon as it rained, a chill swept in like a tidal wave. Early in the morning, Jiang Yutao and the others put on light jackets. They brushed their teeth and washed up in the corridor because the rain outside was just too heavy.

Li Yunying was throwing water into the yard: “This year’s rainfall is plentiful. After this rain, mushrooms should start appearing on the mountain. When we finish work early one day, I’ll take you all up the mountain to pick mushrooms.”

Mushroom picking can be quite addictive. The thrill of searching through fields and the surprise of finding mushrooms make it irresistible. Everyone, including Gu Nianwei, was fascinated by it.

In her previous life, Jiang Yutao had only seen people picking mushrooms in short videos. She had long been eager to try it herself and had frequently asked Xu Dazui and the others about finding mushrooms.

“Great, great!” Jiang Yutao agreed enthusiastically, and Zhang Huihui and Zhao Yonglan also responded positively.

Mushrooms are a mountain delicacy that they couldn’t even buy in the city before. Now, they could pick them themselves on the mountain, dry them, and send some home. Their parents could then distribute them to relatives and friends. It would be quite impressive. Anyone with sense wouldn’t refuse.

After the rain, the young intellectuals didn’t go to work. After meals, they would each take out books and read in the kitchen. If they came across good phrases, they would stand up and passionately read them aloud to everyone.

In the countryside, where hope seemed distant, reading and writing had become one of the few ways for these young intellectuals to find solace in their dark surroundings.

During the slack farming season, they would gather to read books, look at newspapers, discuss recent work experiences, and make summaries.

Even Zhao Rongguang, who is usually the least disciplined, would not miss a reading session like today.

Currently, he is the one reading good phrases and sentences, and he is reading excerpts from newspapers about the Four Modernizations. When he finished reading, the young intellectuals applauded enthusiastically, and their applause mixed with the sound of rain outside, creating a unified din.

After he returned to his seat, Wang Shanxi explained to Jiang Yutao and the other new young intellectuals, “Whenever farm work isn’t busy, we hold a reading session. During these sessions, you can read out any good phrases or sentences you come across, share poems, or essays, or tell stories. In the winter, when things are quieter, we will have a gathering with the young intellectuals from nearby points. We can discuss and exchange our best works with other young intellectuals.”

“This is also a way for us to progress together!”

The other three, except for Jiang Yutao, were quite excited by this.

Zhao Yonglan was always an active participant at school, and she immediately spoke up with enthusiasm, “Director, are there other ways of communication besides reciting poetry and essays?”

Her eyes were full of anticipation. She glanced at Zhang Huihui, who immediately acted as a bridge: “Yes, Director, Yonglan was the publicity committee member in our class. She’s very good at playing the accordion; she almost joined the art troupe in the first year of junior high.”

As Zhang Huihui mentioned that she almost joined the art troupe, Zhao Yonglan’s chin lifted proudly, though a hint of disappointment flashed in her eyes.

Wang Shanxi was overjoyed: “That’s great news! I won’t hide it from everyone—Liu Haiyang from Wangjiatun can play the Xiao flute, and they always perform at every gathering. Honestly, I’ve been quite annoyed by him for a long time. It’s wonderful that Comrade Zhao Yonglan can play the accordion. After the autumn harvest, when we go to Wangjiatun for a gathering, we’ll definitely have to show them our strengths.”

In the group of educated youths, there are those like Liu from Wangjiatun who love to show off, and naturally, there are also more modest ones. Many have talents, like Gu Nianwei, who plays the melodica but hasn’t revealed it yet. Zhao Rongguang also plays the trumpet quite well; this is known throughout the Liu Shu Gou educated youth group. Sometimes, during busy farming periods, he even plays his trumpet as a bugle.

However, he has never performed in front of educated youths from other places.

Zhou Zhenfeng, in school, was part of the poetry team and was quite skilled in writing and reciting poems. Whenever he went on stage to recite poetry, he would always receive a lot of admiration from young women.

This was also one of Zhou Zhenfeng’s sources of confidence.

Now that he heard Zhao Yonglan could play the accordion, his eyes lit up with interest: “How about we put together a program? Comrade Zhao Yonglan can play the accordion, and I’ll recite poetry.”

Zhou Zhenfeng spoke openly and confidently, and everyone, including Zhao Yonglan, knew what he was up to.

Wang Shanxi looked at Zhou Zhenfeng with a scrutinizing gaze, Zhao Rongguang’s eyes hinted at sarcasm, and Zhang Huihui showed concern. She wanted to say something but was restrained by Liu Yingjun beside her. Zhang Huihui glanced at him, and he shook his head in response.

Zhang Huihui bit her lip and resolutely chose not to speak.

Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei exchanged glances. Adhering to the principle of “less is more,” neither of them spoke up.

Zhao Yonglan was well aware of Zhou Zhenfeng’s intentions. She neither accepted nor rejected his advances and thoroughly enjoyed the attention she was receiving. Not just Zhou Zhenfeng, but any young man in the village who showed her favor was also met with her acceptance.

She responded positively to Zhou Zhenfeng: “I think it’s a good idea. Let me go get my accordion, and we can start practicing together.”

Zhou Zhenfeng was a bit excited, not only because Zhao Yonglan did not refuse him, but also because Zhao Yonglan was not yet a significant figure in his eyes. He was thrilled to have the opportunity to show off again in front of others. Like Zhao Yonglan, he enjoyed being admired.

He had even privately lamented that if men could still have multiple wives, he would never disappoint the women who admired him. He believed that with his abilities, he could provide a good life for his wives, even if he fell short in terms of family support.

“Isn’t gender equality being promoted now? Then shouldn’t women also contribute to supporting the family?”

Zhao Yonglan eagerly brought her accordion and began collaborating with Zhou Zhenfeng.

To be fair, her piano skills were quite good, but listening to it continuously was overwhelming. It even dampened the mood for reading. After everyone had indulged for a while, they each went their separate ways.

Li Yunying and Jiang Yutao both complained, “On a rainy day, is it really so hard to just read a book in peace? Now I finally understand the pain of Zhou Lingling and the others.”

In the youth camp, when there is someone who loves to show off, especially someone involved in music, the rest of the people are bound to suffer from it.

Li Yunying didn’t understand this before, but each time there was a youth gathering, she would hear Zhou Lingling’s complaints in private. She used to just offer a few perfunctory words of comfort, but now she could truly empathize.

After Jiang Yutao came back yesterday, she told Li Yunying about encountering Zhou Lingling on the bus. Li Yunying was also very happy to hear about her friend and spoke more with Jiang Yutao.

Jiang Yutao and Gu Nianwei exchanged a glance, their faces revealing their distress.

Jiang Yutao sighed deeply and looked out at the rain, fixing her gaze on the empty land at the foot of the mountain to the east of the youth camp.

Li Yunying and the others were very diligent, and that piece of land was planted with various fruits and vegetables. In ten days to half a month, they would harvest the vegetables and dry them to make vegetable-dried goods. This would be a major source of food for the youths in winter.

“Yunying, do you think we youths could build our own houses?”

Li Yunying was taken aback. “You’d need to ask the team leader about that; I really don’t know.”

The main reason was that previous youths had never suggested building their own houses. After all, they were not locals; even though they came to the village for work, they never truly considered themselves part of the rural community.

Because they didn’t identify with rural life, they naturally had no thoughts of building houses and settling down in the countryside. Each of these youths harbored dreams of one day suddenly waking up and being able to return to the city.

They didn’t have much money, and the heavy farm work only managed to keep their stomachs full. By the end of the year, when the harvest was settled, they were grateful if they didn’t owe the production team anymore.

Even with family support, it was only three to five yuan a month, and it would take two to three years to save enough to build a house. Who would be willing to spend so much of their savings on building a house?

Jiang Yutao planned to ask the team leader about it tomorrow.

Taking advantage of the moment when no one was around, Gu Nianwei stopped Jiang Yutao and asked, “Tao Tao, do you want to build your own house to live in?”

From the orphanage in her childhood to her four years of college, Jiang Yutao had always lived in shared accommodations. She had longed for a place of her own since she was young. She didn’t need a large house, just one that could fit her and be sufficient for her living needs.

After graduating from college, she rented a very small apartment in an urban village with her meager salary. The total area, including the bathroom and kitchen, was only twelve square meters. It was tiny, and if there were too many things, even turning around became extremely difficult. But she felt a sense of security and freedom there.

Having lived nearly a month in this era’s collective lifestyle, Jiang Yutao was starting to feel frustrated and weary.

“Yes.”

Jiang Yutao didn’t hide her thoughts from Gu Nianwei. It was a sudden idea, but it had been circling in her mind and she couldn’t suppress it.

Gu Nianwei’s eyes brightened. “Then let’s build it together. We can build a small three-room house—two small bedrooms, a small living room, and a kitchen corridor. What do you think?”

Gu Nianwei had wanted to move out for quite some time, but when she arrived, there were only three female youths at the youth point. Li Yunying had no intention of moving out, and another youth named Su Yujiao was in a relationship with the postman from the commune and was discussing marriage.

She didn’t want to team up with locals to live outside; that would be even less free than staying in a dormitory. She also didn’t want to live alone in a house she built herself.

Showing off her wealth was not an option. As a young and attractive single woman, living alone in a house would be too unsafe.

Now that Jiang Yutao also wanted to move out, she was thrilled.

Building two small bedrooms meant that once the door was closed, they could do whatever they wanted in the house without fear of secrets being discovered. They could also enjoy some good food without having to sneak around.

Jiang Yutao was very happy, and Gu Nianwei was equally pleased.

As the two were quietly discussing their future, a small figure in a raincoat arrived at the youth point.

The noisy music stopped, and Zhao Yonglan, with a gloating expression, came over.

“Gu Nianwei, someone is looking for you.”

Gu Nianwei and Jiang Yutao looked behind her and saw that the visitor was Lin Jianzhong’s eldest son, Lin Wenping.