1978: Female educated youth, don’t want an illiterate husband

It really was that deputy county head!
When Cheng Xuemin arrived in Chenjiagou, he first met up with director Huang Jianzhong and the others, only to be told that it was truly an unfortunate coincidence.

The deputy county head specially sent a car to personally invite him today, but he turned out to be missing. He had just left this afternoon, and they asked if anyone had run into him on the road.
Cheng Xuemin was extremely annoyed. This is allowed?!

It wasn't that I was upset about the five dollars I spent hiring the oxcart, but rather that I had been on the oxcart for over ten hours, from morning till night.

It almost takes him as long as it takes to travel by train from Xi'an, the provincial capital, to their Jiujiang area.

I never imagined that the foot of Mount Lu, as seen on the map, would be in such a deep valley. It took a whole day to walk from their county to Chenjiagou.

If I had known it would be like this, I would have just found any village near their county.

Anyway, in this Lushan mountain range, where isn't there the same local customs and culture as Chenjiagou?

And that Director Xie Jin!

Previously, I asked him to help me conduct an on-site investigation of Chenjiagou. On the phone, he kept saying yes, yes, Chenjiagou is indeed very good. It has to be Cheng Xuemin. In such a big country, he actually found such a good place to film on location.

He truly is a scholar who knows everything without ever leaving his home; he's incredibly knowledgeable.

But Lao Xie didn't mention that this place was such a long, poorly developed dirt road from their county town.

Along the way, we hardly saw a single tractor, so we couldn't find a faster mode of transportation.

I finally bumped into a car, but they completely ignored me and kicked me in the backside with yellow dust.

it's good now!

Finally, they arrived at their destination, only to discover that the car that had run away from them had actually come all the way to Chenjiagou to invite him to the county to receive them.

Is it okay to play like this?

If the driver of that car had just tapped the brakes a little or asked a few questions, they wouldn't have had to make such a wasted trip, and Cheng Xuemin wouldn't have had to spend the whole day on the road.

Furthermore, the conditions in Chenjiagou are indeed far too backward!

Because there is no means of transportation, almost all of the large filming props for the entire crew are still stuck in the guesthouse in the county town, and Huang Jianzhong, as the person in charge, has not been able to transport them over yet.

He was so anxious that he was completely disoriented. He finally breathed a sigh of relief when Cheng Xuemin, his pillar of support, finally arrived.

Judging from this alone, Lao Huang still needs a lot more practice if he wants to truly become a great director who can stand on his own.

"When that deputy county head came over today, Lao Huang, didn't you ask him for help?"

"Also, shouldn't we contact the relevant departments and seek assistance as soon as we arrive in their county?"

"At the very least, ask them to provide two tractors to bring over our cameras!"

I listened to Huang Jianzhong's report briefly!
To be honest, Cheng Xuemin was definitely somewhat disappointed with Lao Huang's execution ability, after all, they had been in the mountains for almost a week.

To be precise, it should be five days.

But the equipment they were guarding still hasn't been brought in; it's still piling up at the county's guesthouse.

"Yes, yes, today the deputy county head came to invite you, Xuemin, and I subtly conveyed my request to him, hoping that a truck could be arranged to help us transport the goods over!"

"The deputy county head was very polite. He said that after they went back, they would keep an eye on your movements, Xuemin, and that after picking you up, they would help bring all your belongings over."

Huang Jianzhong also felt ashamed. Although this was not his first time filming on location, it was the first time he was in charge and he had no experience at all.

Moreover, when he went on location shooting with the old director from the factory, the old director coordinated all the work, and he was just accompanying him.

Unexpectedly, what seemed like a simple task while accompanying someone turned out to be quite difficult when he was actually tasked with handling it on his own. He kept forgetting things and sometimes forgot things, leaving him flustered and somewhat overwhelmed.

And most importantly!

They had never encountered anything like this when they were filming on location before; the conditions were just too... I won't go into details!

It's really too difficult to find even a tractor.

But I'm already here!

Cheng Xuemin was once again at his wit's end after hearing what Huang Jianzhong said. It was just such a coincidence that they missed each other today.

Just as the deputy county head said, after they returned to the county town, they kept a close eye on Cheng Xuemin's arrival in the city, and arranged for a car to bring the goods over after they met up with him.

But Cheng Xuemin has already arrived. No matter how long others wait for him to arrive, how long will it take?
As a result, Cheng Xuemin will have to take the oxcart back to the county tomorrow to meet with the local government again and seek their help.

In this way, we end up having to ask others for our help. What kind of situation is that?

Cheng Xuemin's original plan was that since they ignored him today, he would simply ignore them in the future, focus on making his movie in the mountains, and when he returned to Beijing after filming wrapped, he would stop by their county to say hello.

But it looks like I'll have to make another trip tomorrow.

The thought of having to ride in an oxcart all day again made Cheng Xuemin's buttocks ache, even though he was in excellent physical condition.

If I did this a couple more times, my back would definitely break.

If I had known, I shouldn't have agreed to Xie Jin's suggestion to arrange the filming location near the Lushan Love Story location, so that it would be more convenient for them to visit and communicate.

They said they'd find a scenic spot near the Gyeonggi River.

In that case, Cheng Xuemin could drive his car there without any problem.

Unlike now, you have to take the oxcart one trip at a time, sometimes for ten or more hours at a time. It's so miserable!

"Xiao Ji and Xiao Du are stupid. They didn't even think to calculate the time and send someone to wait at the station in turns for me!"

"If they could have intercepted me at the station earlier today, wouldn't I have just gone to their county and asked them to help me bring the goods over as well?"

The belongings were all at the guesthouse in the county, and Old Huang even left two villains, Ji Chunhua and Du Yuming, there to watch over them.

There is absolutely no problem with this personnel arrangement!

Both Ji Chunhua and Hu Jianqiang are either bald (without eyebrows) or shaved their heads for filming purposes, so they both look like villains.

With them standing in the crowd, no one would dare to mess with these two guys; they would definitely keep their distance. So there's probably no chance that the items will be stolen.

But if those two had been a little quick-witted and timed their trip to the station to ambush Cheng Xuemin, they would have caught him one by one and wouldn't have needed to stay at the guesthouse anymore. They might have already brought their things over by this time today.

Cheng Xuemin no longer needed to take the oxcart back and forth; he had to hurry back.

Not going back is definitely not an option.

Huang Jianzhong arrived five days early, and he wasn't just waiting around doing nothing. At the very least, he had already completed all the necessary tasks for setting up the set.

Everything is ready; all that's missing is bringing the equipment over so we can start filming right away.

"What a coincidence!"

"Xuemin, did you really not see any other cars on the road?"

"There should only be one car like this in this area. Judging by the time, you should be able to run into it!"

Huang Jianzhong was dumbfounded! He had just seen off the deputy county head who had come to pick him up in the afternoon, and then, as it was getting dark, the person who had come to pick him up arrived.

We missed each other so perfectly, it was such a coincidence.

But judging by the time, they should have met on the way.

After all, in this remote place, having a car driving halfway through the road is really too eye-catching.

"A shortcut!"

"If I had known, I should have let Master Huang Niu stay on the main road!"

Cheng Xuemin said something else, but didn't mention that he had actually encountered that car in the county town and even tried to stop it, but unfortunately he couldn't.

It's best not to mention something so embarrassing.

"Then they missed it!" Huang Jianzhong said, "No wonder they came by taking a shortcut."

He could only nod and suggest, "Xuemin, I'll have to trouble you to go to the commune tomorrow and borrow someone's landline to call the county and ask for their help to bring the things over first."

"It would also be a good opportunity to invite you, the pioneer of reform and opening up, to go to that county to give a speech and exchange ideas!"

"Sigh, then we can only leave it at that for now!" Cheng Xuemin only realized what Huang Jianzhong meant after he mentioned it.

Yes!

You can make a phone call; you don't actually need to spend a whole day traveling by oxcart to someone else's county.

You could absolutely ask for help over the phone.

Logically speaking, it would be impolite for someone not to go in person, but the situation was urgent, and besides, Cheng Xuemin really didn't want to take another oxcart ride.

This is good, this is good. I was also impressed by riding in the oxcart that day, so I was a little slow to realize it.

Although the country is poor now, almost every commune, farm, and forest farm has telephone and wired broadcasting access. How could someone from modern times forget such a convenient tool as telephone?

Go to the commune tomorrow morning and borrow their phone to call their county.

Let him get some sleep first.

Speaking of which, although Chenjiagou was very backward in other aspects, forget about electricity at all; they all used kerosene lamps.

Their film crew's diesel generator is still waiting to be towed over from the county.

Fortunately, it's November now, a dry time of year with neither too hot nor too cold. In a time when televisions aren't common, it doesn't really matter whether there's electricity or not.

However, the radio belonging to Zhu Lin, the Queen of the Women's Kingdom, is now a great treasure for the entire crew. Whenever they have free time, everyone likes to gather together and listen to the broadcasts on the radio.

But the accommodations arranged by the village were excellent.

They arranged for all the crew members to stay in old houses.

This was thanks to their geographical location. During the War of Resistance Against Japan, their remoteness ironically prevented the Japanese from entering the village to burn, kill, and plunder.

Even though the famous Battle of Wanjialing took place in their Jiujiang area, the Japanese managed to find it.

Therefore, some of the old houses in the village have been basically preserved intact. After more than ten years of struggle sessions and criticism sessions, the owners of these old houses were basically overthrown, and the houses were left vacant.

It's perfect for accommodating Cheng Xuemin and the other crew members, so the crew doesn't need to set up separate tents.

After several days and nights of turmoil, Cheng Xuemin was too lazy to care about anything else. He just wanted to get a good night's sleep first.

The next day, they happened to run into an old yellow ox that was also heading back down the mountain.

"Oh my, so you're the pioneer of reform and opening up from Yanjing, the distinguished guest whom our deputy county head personally invited yesterday!"

"It's my fault, it's my fault. I shouldn't have taken the shortcut yesterday. If I had taken the main road, you would have all run into me on the way!"

We arrived in the village after dark yesterday, and Cheng Xuemin certainly wouldn't let them drive the oxcart back again, so he arranged for them to spend the night with the film crew.

Clearly, in just one night, the old ox had already figured out everything.

He also learned that the young man he had brought over yesterday was actually the reform and opening-up pioneer that the deputy county head wanted to invite.

To be honest, Old Ox was excited all night, but also worried all night.

What excited him was that his old oxcart was carrying the very person that even the deputy county head had personally sent a car to invite—the pioneer of reform and opening up, the one who had made it into the newspapers.

What's worrying is that yesterday, he was so confident in his familiarity with the route that he thought he could enter the mountains with his eyes closed. So, in order to save time and for convenience, he took a shortcut instead of the main road, which is why the vanguard and their deputy county head didn't meet on the way.

If this vanguard comrade were to inform their deputy county head, he would certainly be in for a world of trouble.

"It's alright, it's alright, old man, this has nothing to do with you. You were just trying to be kind!" Cheng Xuemin waved his hands repeatedly and said to the old ox, "If you don't mind the trouble, could you take us to the commune?"

"No trouble at all, it's just a side trip!" Old Huangniu was very generous this time, and even took out a ten-yuan note that he had treasured all night from his pocket, saying that he wanted to return it to Cheng Xuemin, as he couldn't very well accept the five yuan for the bus fare.

Is Cheng Xuemin the kind of person who would shortchange someone by five yuan?
After much refusal, they finally managed to appease the old ox and also brought Cheng Xuemin and Huang Jianzhong to Leyuan Commune, where they prepared to call the county for help.

But the reply he received made Cheng Xuemin feel like the sky had fallen.

I had considered all possibilities, but I never expected that the Paradise Commune didn't even have a landline phone installed.

After a good night's sleep, I woke up to find myself having to take an oxcart to the county.
"Xuemin, how about... I make the trip to the county?" Huang Jianzhong's lips twitched violently. Actually, he didn't really want to ride that oxcart again.

This is why, even though he's been in the mountains for almost a week, he hasn't thought about leaving for the city.

The mountain road stretches for dozens of miles, and a round trip takes two or three days.

But this commune didn't even have a landline telephone installed, so someone definitely had to be sent on a special trip.

Should we make Cheng Xuemin make another trip?
How could that be?

"Old Huang, I'm already here. If I have to make this trip, it would seem like I'm not being sincere if I didn't!"

"It makes people think I'm just sitting here waiting for them to come and pick me up, like we're some kind of high-ranking leader!"

"I'll make the trip myself!"

Cheng Xuemin is in a tough spot; he can't escape this emotional entanglement. Fortunately, the old ox's cart hasn't gone far, and he can catch up.

"Does their commune really not have tractors?"

Where's the bicycle?

There was definitely no tractor, but when Cheng Xuemin heard that there was a bicycle, he was overjoyed.

He preferred to borrow a bicycle and ride there rather than take an oxcart, which was too slow!
With Cheng Xuemin's physique, if he stood up and pedaled, he should be able to pedal all the way to the county town in one go. I just don't know if other people's bicycles can handle it.

……

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