Reborn in 1977, starting with severing ties with family.

At the Sankeshu Railway Station, Li Chaoyang said that passengers should queue up according to the list to take the truck.

Wang Jianguo, or rather everyone else, believed that the teams they were assigned to were comrades-in-arms who would be together in the future, and many of them were already very familiar with each other.

But Feng Chao said to redo the division.

Jiang Sen felt that Li Chaoyang wouldn't do something so unnecessary.

He asked casually, "Really?"

Seeing that Jiang Sen finally reacted, Feng Chao exclaimed excitedly, "Of course!"

"Who did you listen to?"

"Listen...that's what they all say!" Feng Chao said somewhat awkwardly.

Upon seeing his reaction, Jiang Sen understood that this was something he had come up with himself, and that no one had actually said it.

"Oh!" Jiang Sen continued drinking his porridge, making a slurping sound.

Wang Jianguo seemed to understand the other meaning as well, so he nodded, said "Oh," and lowered his head to eat.

Feng Chao felt awkward again, but it passed quickly. He turned around and looked behind him. "Zhang Zhiqiang!" he called out, then turned to Jiang Sen and Wang Jianguo and said, "I'll go check on him!"

Zhang Zhiqiang was one of the few people who arrived here first and hadn't finished eating.

He saw Jiang Sen and Wang Jianguo, but didn't come over to talk to them, which made Jiang Sen think that this person was quite conflicted.

Regardless of whether we were assigned to the same place or not, we all came from the same train and were the first people we met, so it's normal for us to come over and chat.

But he didn't come over, as if he and Jiang Sen had become strangers who were going to different places.

Feng Chao stopped Zhang Zhiqiang, who was about to leave, and said, "I didn't see you earlier. Have you finished eating? Do you want to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things? I'll go with you!"

Jiang Sen didn't turn around. Wang Jianguo looked up and after a while, he frowned slightly and said to Jiang Sen, "Why is he acting like he doesn't know us?"

After finishing one tortilla, Jiang Sen felt about 80% full and put the remaining one into his bag.

"I don't know, maybe they feel that since we're not together, we'll have fewer chances to see each other in the future!"

Wang Jianguo was very clever; even though Jiang Sen hadn't explained things clearly, he immediately understood.

He let out a breath. "Do you think what Feng Chao said just now was true or false?"

Jiang Sen turned to look at the kitchen. Li Chaoyang was no longer there. He said, "Who knows! This guy doesn't seem like a good person. He talks nonsense all the time, and it's impossible to tell which of his words are true and which are false."

Wang Jianguo smiled, got up and packed his things with Jiang Sen, also leaving a cornbread in his bag.

"Let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative and see what we need to buy!"

“We should go and take a look!” Jiang Sen said. “When we came, we thought of everything, but we forgot about toothbrushes and toothpaste. If you have any, buy some to take with you. Oh, and you should buy some too! I heard that each brigade is quite far from the farm headquarters.”

"That's right!" Wang Jianguo seemed to have thought of that as well. "Let's go!"

The two left their luggage in the canteen for the time being, and after leaving the canteen, they walked forward. The supply and marketing cooperative was located to the right of the main gate, marked by a sign.

When they arrived, the place was already packed with educated youth.

Inside, it seemed like people were arguing.

The two stood behind, tiptoeing and peering inside.

Then they saw Shao Jiajia's face turn bright red as she glared angrily at the other person.

“You’re a hooligan! A hooligan!” Shao Jiajia shouted, pointing at the man. Behind her was a female educated youth who covered her face with her hands and cried.

Jiang Sen shifted his foot to change his angle and finally saw the person opposite Shao Jiajia.

The man was only in his early twenties, and while his face wasn't bad-looking, his smirking demeanor made him seem extremely sleazy.

"Didn't I just say? There were too many people, it was crowded, and people bumped into each other by accident. What's with all this talk about being a hooligan! Besides, look at her, she's as thin as a stick, there's not a single plump spot on her body. What man would be interested in her?"

"You still dare to talk back!" Shao Jiajia was furious, but she couldn't do anything about this person.

Jiang Sen frowned; the man was also an acquaintance.

He was Zhang Shuibing, the son of Zhang, the accountant of the forest farm. Relying on his father, he spent his days loitering around and causing trouble with a few young men from the farm and the neighboring village.

But if someone really reports it to the department, unless Li Chaoyang is there to keep him in check, everyone else will just try to smooth things over.

As far as Jiang Sen knew, there were more than a dozen female educated youths who had been bullied by this kid in his previous life.

Later, Li Chaoyang caught him in the act, and the matter could no longer be kept secret. As a result, his father was dismissed from his post and sent to a labor camp.

Even so, he couldn't change Zhang Shuibing's sleazy and vulgar habits.

As the saying goes, it's rotten to the core!

That's exactly the kind of person I'm referring to.

The educated youth were furious when they heard this.

Unexpectedly, as soon as I arrived at the farm headquarters, someone was being bullied, and it was a seemingly weak female educated youth who immediately started making a scene.

One of the educated youth said to Zhang Shuibing, "A hooligan like you should be sent to a labor camp!"

Seeing someone step forward, another one immediately stepped forward, clearly a hothead, "I saw it all, are you still denying it? Beat him up!"

Young people at that time had no concept of whether or not they could fight, and sometimes they even felt that fighting was the only way to solve problems.

Now that someone has brought it up, the disappointment, frustration, and confusion I felt after arriving here instantly turned into fists.

Zhang Shuibing seemed completely unafraid. After parrying a few times, he shouted, "Let me tell you, my dad is the farm's accountant. If you dare to lay a finger on me, I'll have him deduct all your work points, so you'll never be able to return to the city, and you'll die here and rot in the forest!"

The men who had hit him hesitated and withdrew their hands, but still angrily pointed at him and cursed.

"So what if your dad's an accountant? That's no excuse for you to act like a thug! Come on, let's go find the farm management!"

These educated youths were already adept at causing trouble back in the city.

Once they arrived, as soon as someone raised their arm and called out, they immediately received a response, and a group of people pushed and shoved Zhang Shuibing into the field headquarters.

Wang Jianguo asked Jiang Sen, "Shall we go?"

Jiang Sen said, "Let's hurry and buy things while no one's around."

Zhang Shuibing's words did indeed make many people want to back out. There were many people involved in the disturbance, but only about ten people actually went to find the leaders.

The farm headquarters was bustling with activity today, with dozens of people gathered in the open space outside, looking around.

The supply and marketing cooperative was small, just one room with a counter in the front and a door in the middle leading to the warehouse at the back.

Sitting behind the counter was a woman in her thirties, the wife of a farm official surnamed Ma. Everyone usually called her Sister-in-law Ma. She was very shrewish and liked to chase after the official, grabbing a large ladle and beating him, when they argued.

So, behind her back, everyone called her "Ma Shaozi" (literally "Ladle").

But Jiang Sen knew that Ma's wife was all bark and no bite, a kind-hearted person.

She watched the commotion with a smile, and didn't stop smiling when she received Jiang Sen and Wang Jianguo.

"You educated youth are really something!" she said, taking out a toothbrush and toothpaste from under the counter as Jiang Sen had requested.

Jiang Sen also laughed, "I don't know if it's a misunderstanding, but it happened once on the train we came here. The girl shouted that she was being a pervert, but the man said that she didn't lock the door when she went to the toilet."

Gossip is always the best way to connect with people.

Sure enough, Sister Ma's eyes lit up. "Oh, is that so? Was it that female educated youth from earlier? I could tell at first glance that she wasn't a good person. She deliberately went to that sailor bastard. She's skinny and got taken advantage of. She was standing there wiping away tears! Goodness, all the men went to help her."