Reborn in 1977, starting with severing ties with family.

Ma's wife spoke very roughly, which Wang Jianguo found very unsettling and somewhat embarrassing.

Jiang Sen laughed along. Ma's wife was quite good at judging people; that female educated youth was indeed quite innocent, something Jiang Sen had discerned from the details.

For example, not locking the toilet door on the train, or not avoiding Zhang Shuibing when encountering him here.

Afterwards, she cried, feeling wronged, and everyone sympathized with her and took care of her; that must have been her goal.

Playing the victim to gain sympathy and accepting care is the standard tactic of a "white lotus" (a seemingly innocent but actually manipulative woman).

Just like Bai Jing and Huang Liping.

Thinking of those two again, Jiang Sen felt like gouging out his own eyes. "Are you blind?!"

Jiang Sen said, "I was behind you just now, so I didn't see who it was."

"This old man is nowhere to be seen from behind. What else do you want?"

Jiang Sen selected ten toothbrushes and five tubes of toothpaste, then looked inside the counter and said, "And could you also get me two towels and two bars of soap?"

Wang Jianguo bought whatever Jiang Sen bought, knowing that these were things he would use frequently in the future.

"Two yuan and fifty cents if you have a ticket, three yuan and eighty cents if you don't!"

Jiang Sen and Wang Jianguo paid the bill and were about to leave when he remembered something and turned back.

"Sister Ma, do you have any strong liquor?"

Sister Ma was taken aback for a moment, then laughed. "You heard the people at the farm headquarters calling me that, didn't you? Those educated youths who came in earlier kept calling me 'comrade,' they even forgot about me. Since you're so sweet-talking, I won't sell you this liquor easily, but I'll sell it to you today! Seventeen cents a pound, how much do you want?"

Wang Jianguo asked Jiang Sen, "What is 'Shaodaozi'?"

Jiang Sen said, "It's the most popular type of baijiu among people from Northeast China."

"Can you drink?"

"I know a little!" Jiang Sen didn't stand on ceremony and handed over a dollar. "Sister Ma, I don't have a container for the wine. Can you find one for me? As for the rest of the money, give me whatever you can."

The liquor here is all stored in large vats. When someone fills a vat with a measuring cup with a handle, it is called a "liu" (a unit of weight).

After you've finished, lift the handle with a slight bend at the end and hang it directly on the rim of the jar. Then, put the wooden lid, wrapped in white cloth, on top.

"Okay, just wait!"

Sister Ma went to the back and came out a short while later. As the door opened and closed, a fragrant aroma of wine wafted out.

"My husband went to the mountains two years ago and asked the old cripple for this. It's a bit old, but if you don't mind, I'll sell it to you!"

Ma's wife was holding a dark brown wine sack, which was probably made of animal skin and could hold five jin (2.5 kg) of wine.

Jiang Sen was overjoyed, "Thank you, Sister-in-law Ma! This is wonderful!"

"What is this?" Wang Jianguo turned it over and over, looking at it.

Sister Ma immediately explained to him, "This is a wine flask, made by hunters in the forest to hold wine. In the cold winter, a sip of strong liquor warms you up so much you can roll around naked in the snow! Hehe..."

What she said was certainly a bit of an exaggeration, but it was indeed true; a sip of strong liquor in winter would warm you from the inside out.

"Sister-in-law Ma, we're leaving!" Jiang Sen untied the rope that had been wrapped around the wine flask, slung it over his shoulder, and used his backpack to cover it.

"Come on? Come on, busy!"

As soon as they left the supply and marketing cooperative, Wang Jianguo quickly asked, "It's summer now, why did you buy so much alcohol?"

Jiang Sen said, "We don't know where we'll be assigned yet. If we're assigned to a forest farm, it will snow at the end of August. It's better to be prepared."

Wang Jianguo suddenly had a strange feeling, as if Jiang Sen seemed very familiar with everything here, as if he had lived here his whole life.

"Oh no! I won't do it again! Manager, I was wrong! Ah, help me..."

A series of eerie howls rang out, and Zhang Shuibing ran out of the farm headquarters gate.

"You little brat, stand right there! I'll smash you to death with this shovel!" Li Chaoyang cursed as he chased after him, his shovel slamming forward every now and then, only to be dodged by Zhang Shuibing and slammed to the ground with a "crack".

Wang Jianguo was stunned, staring blankly at the scene.

Jiang Sen chuckled; Director Li's temper was still as fiery as ever.

A group of people ran out from the farm headquarters gate, and a few people who were not educated youths chased after them.

"Manager! Manager! Don't hold back, kill this bastard!"

The person who said this was Zhang, the accountant from the farm management department.

The tall, thin man next to him is Officer Ma, and also Mrs. Ma's husband.

He didn't shout along, but he still chased after them.

The educated youth behind him seemed a little lost. They had only made a complaint, so how did it turn into a "chasing and killing" of them all?

Shouldn't we hold a meeting to criticize and denounce them?

Isn't this going to lead to someone's death?

When have city kids ever seen anything like this?

No, this kind of abuse of vigilante justice is unacceptable.

Then someone shouted, "Manager, you can't kill people! Murder is against the law!"

"Let's go, let's catch up!" Xu Lanlan appeared. "We must explain the policy to the farm manager; we can't just stand by and watch him make a mistake because of our demands! Let's go, let's catch up!"

Jiang Sen and Wang Jianguo both gaped as they watched Xu Lanlan lead about ten people out in pursuit.

It took them a long time to shut up.

Wang Jianguo said, "That female educated youth seems to be right!"

Jiang Sen nodded, "They have a very high level of ideological awareness, and they're not worried about the farm manager making mistakes!"

The manager's outburst made everyone forget about the previous complaint.

In Northeast China, the days are very long in the summer. When Jiang Sen and his group arrived, it was already past four in the afternoon.

After dinner, we lingered at the supply and marketing cooperative for a while, watching a lively scene. It was already past six o'clock, but it wasn't dark yet.

In the distance, the jingling of bells could be heard; a carriage was approaching.

Li Chaoyang returned dragging a shovel, but Zhang Shuibing was nowhere to be seen; he must have run away.

Xu Lanlan was beside him, talking about something, but Li Chaoyang's expression was very unpleasant, and he didn't say a word.

Upon reaching the main gate of the farm headquarters, he forcefully shoveled it into the ground and shouted, "Everyone, grab your luggage and assemble at the main gate!"

Xu Lanlan seemed very unwilling; she had said so much, but the farm manager hadn't answered her at all.

Seeing that everyone else had run inside, she mustered her courage and continued, "Comrade Farm Manager, I hope you can fully realize the seriousness of the problem. No matter who made the mistake, it should be handed over to the public security organs for handling. You have no right to abuse your power!"

Jiang Sen wanted to give him a thumbs up.

Li Chaoyang's patience was completely exhausted by Xu Lanlan, and he snapped at her, "What? You want to be the manager of this farm?"

Xu Lanlan blushed, "I...I didn't mean that..."

"What are you waiting for? Hurry up and get your luggage and assemble! If this were in the old days, soldiers who disobeyed orders would have been dragged out and shot!"

Xu Lanlan was intimidated by Li Chaoyang's imposing manner. Her eyes reddened, and she turned and ran inside.

Jiang Sen and Wang Jianguo didn't delay. They quickly returned to the cafeteria, picked up their luggage, and went back to the main entrance.

Then I saw him scolding Accountant Zhang.

"If you keep indulging them, it'll be too late to cry when something really happens!"

Accountant Zhang sincerely admitted his mistake, looking helpless and heartbroken. "If my wife hadn't died so young, and I had been both his father and mother, raising him from infancy to adulthood, plus being busy with work and neglecting his upbringing, he wouldn't have turned out like this! It's all my fault. When I get back, I'll definitely beat him so badly he won't be able to get out of bed for half a month!"

"Then you can keep spoiling him. Sooner or later he'll be spoiled rotten!"

Neither of them spoke. Officer Ma returned with a notebook and stood with them, watching the approaching carriage.

Upon seeing the number of carriages, Li Chaoyang frowned slightly.

"How many brigades have arrived so far?" he asked.

Officer Ma put his hand to his forehead, looked carefully ahead, and nodded, saying, "It seems like only four brigades have arrived."