Chapter 46: Two or Three Things on the Way to the Countryside

Yunyi didn’t bother with the others. She forcefully tossed her bundle into the cart, then addressed a male educated youth already aboard, "Comrade, can you please catch my suitcase for me?" Upon seeing Yunyi’s appearance clearly, the man’s ears instantly turned red, and he stammered, "Alright, alright, Comrade." Then, the male educated youth, blushing, reached out to pull Yunyi up. In those days, anything could be blown out of proportion. Although she wasn’t afraid of trouble, she didn’t want to invite it, so Yunyi tactfully declined, "Thank you, I can manage on my own." Having said that, she nimbly boarded the cart, attracting quite a bit of attention. The female educated youth who had been complaining just moments before saw the people around praising Yunyi, and her expression turned ugly. One of them muttered, "What a vixen." Yunyi turned her head to glance at her and flipped her the middle finger. The female educated youth didn’t understand what it meant, but she knew it wasn’t anything good and angrily asked, "What do you mean by that?" Yunyi didn’t bother with her at all, simply picking up her luggage and finding a seat in the middle section of the cart. Then another female educated youth came up with her luggage, settled next to Yunyi, and asked, "You’re quite skilled. Have you trained before?" Yunyi turned to look when she heard the question. A slightly chubby girl with a round face was looking at her, her eyes shining. Sensing the sincerity in the girl’s eyes, Yunyi nodded and replied, "I trained for a while with the elders in my family." The girl was outgoing and spoke with a Tianjin accent. "No wonder you’re so agile! That’s impressive. My name is Geng Erhong, and you?" Yunyi smiled at her. "Nice to meet you, I’m Chuyunyi." Geng Erhong commented while arranging her luggage, "Your name sounds really nice." As they were talking, they heard arguing from below the cart. "Are you getting on or what?" "What’s it to you?" "If you’re not getting on, don’t block the way. You’re bothering everyone else." "This isn’t your home; you’re sticking your nose where it doesn’t belong." "How can you talk like that?" The people from the Educated Youth Office couldn’t stand watching anymore. One of them called out, "Are you two getting on or not? If not, move aside." Hearing the staff from the Educated Youth Office speak out, and before the two women could say anything further, the people waiting to get on the cart directly pushed the two female educated youths aside. The two were so angry their faces turned pale, and they kept cursing under their breath, but no one paid them any mind. Geng Erhong leaned close to Yunyi’s ear. "I don’t know what they’re being so prissy about. They’ll be in for it once this cart gets moving, especially if they end up at the back." Yunyi gave Geng Erhong a sidelong glance, a smile playing on her lips. She’s clever. This wasn’t the future; there were no asphalt roads to speak of. Most roads were bumpy and uneven dirt tracks, so one could imagine how rough the ride would be. Once almost everyone had boarded, those two prissy female educated youths, under the stern gaze of the staff, dared not say anything more and struggled to climb aboard the cart. Before the cart started moving, Yunyi took out a scarf and wrapped it tightly around her face. Geng Erhong followed suit. "It’s a good thing you thought of this; otherwise, we’d be miserable." Seeing them, many other female educated youths did the same. At first, some people called them fussy, but as the cart left the urban area, they realized how wrong their judgment had been. As the cart bounced along, cries of alarm occasionally came from the back, making those two prissy female educated youths deeply regret their actions. Soon, sporadic sounds of retching could be heard from the cart. After the long train ride, now sitting in the cart and eating dust, everyone looked haggard and listless.