Chapter 47 Gathering Information

After an hour or so of jolting about, their vehicle no longer followed the one in front and turned onto another road. Another fifteen minutes passed, and the car finally stopped. Many people, unable to even wait for their luggage, jumped out first and rushed to the side to vomit violently. Yunyi had anticipated this, especially since someone had already vomited in the vehicle, unable to hold it back. After a brief rest, the staff from the county’s Youth Reassignment Office arrived. Following a short motivational speech, they began to read the allocation list that had been prepared. When Geng Erhong heard that she and Yunyi were assigned to the same place, she excitedly linked arms with Yunyi. "Yunyi, this is fantastic! We’ve been assigned together." Yunyi was also quite pleased, as she had not been assigned to the same village as those two overly dramatic female educated youths she’d met earlier. Three men and one woman, in addition to Yunyi and Geng Erhong, were also assigned to Songling Village, making six in total. They all gathered with their luggage at the ox-cart designated to take them there. An elderly man from Songling Village, who came to pick them up, looked at them with clear distaste. Indeed, the educated youths sent to the village in recent years had caused no shortage of trouble. "I’m Yang Gengtian, the Branch Secretary of Songling Village. "Place your luggage on this ox-cart. When the other cart arrives, we’ll head back to the village." As the Branch Secretary finished speaking, all the male educated youths sprang into action, quickly loading all the luggage onto the cart. Just standing around waiting was a bit awkward. Geng Erhong, lively by nature, started chatting with the Branch Secretary. She then introduced herself, "My name is Geng Erhong, from Jin City. This is Chuyunyi; she’s from Beijing." After finishing, she pointed to a tall, thin male educated youth opposite her. "His name is Zhang Kuiwei, also from Jin City like me." The other female educated youth glanced at Geng Erhong, a flash of disapproval in her eyes. "My name is Bai Suli, from Tang City." However, Geng Erhong, who happened to look up just then, plainly noticed her expression. Naturally, the highly perceptive Yunyi hadn’t missed it either. Bai Suli was unaware that her small gesture had been observed. After she finished introducing herself, the male educated youth next to her said cheerfully, "My name is Shao Guangming, from Tang City. I hope the Branch Secretary will look out for us in the future." After he finished, he turned to the last male educated youth. "And you, brother?" "Liu Chenglin, from Jin City." Yunyi looked over. He really is aloof. Just as they finished their introductions, the second ox-cart mentioned by the Branch Secretary arrived. "Lingzi, did you handle everything alright?" the Branch Secretary asked the driver. The man chuckled good-naturedly. "Uncle, it’s all taken care of." The Branch Secretary nodded, then waved toward the educated youths. "Get on the cart; let’s head back to the village." Shao Guangming was a sociable fellow and spent the journey cozying up to the Branch Secretary, gleaning quite a bit of information along the way. The driver of the other ox-cart was Yang Shaoling, the Branch Secretary’s nephew. Their route back to the village would conveniently pass by the commune. The commune was located halfway along the sixteen-li journey from the county town to the village. Over time, more than twenty educated youths had come to Songling Village. Some had returned to the city, others had married locals, and some had transferred to the adjacent Agricultural Reclamation Group. Besides those who had gone to the Workers, Peasants and Soldiers University, a few others lived outside the Zhiqing Point. Currently, seven educated youths—three men and four women—were staying at the village’s Zhiqing Point. The conversation made the journey to the commune pass quickly. The two ox-carts stopped by the roadside. The Branch Secretary addressed everyone, "I’ll take this opportunity to run some errands with the leaders at the commune, and Lingzi needs to go to the post office to pick up a parcel for the people at the Zhiqing Point. It will likely take about half an hour. "The supply and marketing cooperative is right across the street. If you need anything, this is a good chance to do some shopping. We’ll meet back here in no later than an hour. If you’re late, we won’t wait; you’ll have to walk back to the village on your own."