Reborn in 1977, starting with severing ties with family.

Ho Chi Thanh was embarrassed, but he had to say it.

The educated youth here faced greater difficulties than those in other brigades.

Most of the harvest had to be handed over, and the village would also withhold a portion. The remaining grain was simply not enough to eat, so they had to dig up wild vegetables and mountain produce to make do, just to barely get through the winter.

If heavy snow arrives too early, crop yields will be reduced, and life will be even more difficult.

At first, they went to the village to try to transfer all the rations allocated to them, but the village gave them less than half of what the farm headquarters had allocated.

They had approached the brigade leader, who intervened, and the village then admitted they had made a mistake and gave them the remaining rations.

But after a few days, it returned to its original state.

And so it went, time and time again, countless times, until finally they reported it directly to the farm headquarters.

After that, the brigade directly allocated food rations to the educated youth, and the situation improved somewhat.

But that wasn't the end of it. Led by Zhao Erhu, a group of hooligans in the village would cause trouble for the educated youth whenever they had a chance.

Some people, unable to contain their anger, fought with them, some getting their legs or arms broken. In the end, they paid some money and food in compensation, and that was the end of it.

The brigade also knew that this situation couldn't continue, but after the educated youth came, they all settled in Jiazigou, and many things were still managed by the village, so they couldn't interfere too much.

As long as no one reports or complains, many things will just remain the same.

The villagers became even more arrogant. Knowing that these educated youths had settled in the village, they considered themselves villagers and often bullied them.

The firewood sent by the farm was taken back by the village, but they weren't given to them at all.

When the educated youth went to ask for firewood, the village chief pointed and said, "Isn't this whole mountainside full of firewood? If you want some, go cut it yourselves. You're all able-bodied people who want to freeload?"

The Party Secretary also said, "There are lazybones in the village who live worse than the cows in the cowshed. You've come to the countryside for reform, so you mustn't follow their example. It's hard to learn good habits, but if you learn bad ones, they'll all follow suit!"

It's rare for the village chief and the Party secretary to reach a consensus on this matter.

The educated youth were also principled. Seeing the state of the village, they realized that fighting wouldn't solve the problem, and complaining would only provide temporary relief. They decided it was better to rely on themselves.

That's why Ho Chi Thanh asked that question.

After the meal, Jiang Sen did not hesitate and, along with Wang Haiyang, handed over the rations they had brought from the second class.

The two of them had a total of ten kilograms of corn grits, a bag of dried wild vegetables and dried mushrooms, and a bag of potatoes.

"So many?" Hu Zhiqing was surprised.

Jiang Sen said, "There was heavy snow on the mountain, and we encountered a pack of wolves. Many of the educated youth were injured, so we divided up our rations and went down the mountain to rest. Those who were lightly injured came down to help everyone."

"Oh, right, you said that." Hu Zhiqing was still a little dizzy; it had been so long since he had seen corn grits.

The staple food consisted mostly of cornmeal and dark flour, with each person receiving only fifteen jin (7.5 catties) per month.

I didn't expect Jiang Sen and his team to have so much food rations at their forest farm.

Actually, he misunderstood. Everyone had the same food rations; it's just that there were more and easier-to-obtain mountain products.

Wang Haiyang frowned slightly. "Judging from your current state, this isn't a solution. Haven't you thought of any other options?"

Hu Zhiqing smiled bitterly, “How could there not be? But with more people come more ideas, and they’re not of one mind. Some gave Zhao Guangding gifts and moved over there. Others married widows and spinsters from the village, so they’re considered villagers now. They’re no longer here and are no longer with us.”

"There was another female educated youth, who came in 1968. She was forced to marry a distant old bachelor of Zhao Guangding less than three months after she arrived. He was over forty years old, while the man was only twenty!"

"There was another female educated youth. Our cloth ration coupons were being withheld by the village, so she and a few others went to ask for them back. Everyone else returned, but she didn't. When we went to ask for her return, they said she had already come back. But... three days later, we found her hanging from a crooked tree by the river in front of us..."

"There is still one……"

As Hu Zhiqing recounted each and every incident, his voice choked with emotion several times.

Perhaps they had been suppressing their feelings for too long, because when the two people who came today started talking, they couldn't stop and let it all out.

After listening, Jiang Sen felt a lump in his throat.

Wang Haiyang's eyes reddened, and he suddenly stood up, "Are we just going to let them go like this? Is there no law anymore?"

Hu Zhiqing wiped his eyes, shook his head with a bitter smile, "We resisted, and people from higher up came. The village was very cooperative. But as soon as they left, within two days, Zhao Guangding's son started causing trouble with his men. If they found anyone alone, they'd beat up the men and the women..."

Jiang Sen felt a tightness in his chest.

"I'm going to find them!" Wang Haiyang impulsively tried to walk out, but Hu Zhiqing stopped him.

"Forget it! You're just here to provide support; you'll be back soon. Even if you seek their judgment and they apologize, what happens after you leave?"

He didn't say the last sentence.

After you leave, the village will still cause trouble for these educated youth who have settled down, and it might be even more serious than before.

When Jiang Sen was working in the fields, he noticed that several educated youths had limpses. He assumed they were injured or had congenital disabilities.

Looking back now, I think it's all because of the injuries I sustained after being beaten.

Wang Haiyang wasn't really a fool, recklessly disregarding the consequences.

He understood what Hu Zhiqing meant.

He sat back down, panting.

Ho Chi Thanh's small house was very dark, and there were no windows to keep it warm.

Unless needed, candles are never lit in the house.

Jiang Sen ignored all of that, took out his candle, lit it, and dripped two drops onto the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed), where they stuck to it.

The dim candlelight illuminated the faces of three men.

Although their ages are not very different, they show a sense of vicissitude and helplessness that transcends age.

Hu Zhiqing looked to be in his thirties, but was actually only twenty-six, about seven or eight years older than Jiang Sen and Wang Haiyang.

Jiang Sen and Wang Haiyang exchanged a glance and Jiang Sen gave him a look.

"Forget it, this matter will be resolved eventually," Jiang Sen said. "Let's help you with the harvest first. After that, Wang Haiyang and I will go to the mountains to get you more wild vegetables and mushrooms, and we'll also set up a snare. Maybe we can catch some rabbits or pheasants."

Hu Zhiqing's eyes lit up, "You know how to trap rabbits?"

“Yes, I do!” Jiang Sen said. “They were all taught by the old educated youth from the forest farm.”

"That would be great!"

I never expected that these words would excite Ho Chi Thanh so much.

“We haven’t had any meat in a long time. How about this, you don’t have to help with the harvest anymore. Starting tomorrow, you and Wang Zhiqing can go to the mountains to help us gather wild vegetables and mushrooms. If you can catch a rabbit, that would be great. If not, having wild vegetables and mushrooms will give us more food.”

Jiang Sen did not refuse and nodded in agreement.

Do you have hunting rifles?

Hu Zhiqing said, “Originally, it was said that each brigade would organize a militia team. We don’t know the situation in other brigades, but here, the village took on this responsibility. Oh, right, the village chief’s son is the militia captain. He said that we educated youth don’t know anything and have never even touched a gun. So, we organized six people ourselves to be responsible for the safety of the educated youth settlement.”

Just take that with a grain of salt.

They claimed to be in charge of security, but in reality, everyone had been beaten by Zhao Erhu and his gang.

However, Ho Chi Thanh did not say these words aloud.

Wang Haiyang didn't understand what Jiang Sen meant by those words; he certainly wouldn't try to trap a rabbit.

But he knew that Jiang Sen wouldn't do anything useless, so he remained silent.

Hu Zhiqing said, "It's getting late, get some rest so we can save on candles. There's another person in this room who went to the farm headquarters on business. He should be back tomorrow, and I'll introduce him to you then."

"Knock knock!" Someone was knocking on the door.

"Who is it?" Hu Zhiqing asked.

"I'm looking for Jiang Sen."