Volume One, Chapter 6: Who Is the Unlucky One

When they left the commune again, Ye Xiao carried a cloth bag in each hand, while Gu Shen followed silently behind him, holding a similarly filled sack of grain. After putting some distance between them and the commune, Ye Xiao whispered boastfully, “See? I told you it wouldn’t be a problem.”

Gu Shen nodded in response, though the slight whiteness of his fingertips betrayed the unease he had felt earlier. Fortunately, nothing untoward had happened on this trip.

As they returned to the youth workers’ quarters, they spotted Lin Zhi sitting in the courtyard, occasionally glancing toward the roadside. Upon seeing them, she hurried over with quick steps.

Concerned, Ye Xiao asked, “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”

Lin Zhi shook her head. “I was worried since you didn’t come back for a while. So, how did it go? Did you get the grain?”

Ye Xiao swung the bags he carried from side to side in front of her. “Of course. All three of ours are here.”

Only then did Lin Zhi visibly relax. She quickly led them inside and helped put the food away. Since evening had fallen, they needed to hurry with dinner preparations.

She grabbed enough grain from the bags for their meal and took two sweet potatoes, heading for the kitchen. However, this was her first time using such a stove, and she hesitated at the task of lighting the fire.

Just then, Ye Xiao came in and took the matchbox from her hand. “Let me do it. You just watch the pot.”

With clear division of labor, Lin Zhi boiled some water first, then set the brown rice to simmer. She fetched a cup and brewed a glass of malted milk powder with the hot water.

Nearby, another female youth worker watched this scene with a twinge of jealousy and muttered aloud, “Some people are just lucky — even after being sent down to the countryside, they still have the luxury to imitate capitalist habits!”

A hat was suddenly tossed in her direction. Lin Zhi recognized the sarcasm in the words and shot a questioning look at the speaker. “We’re all youth workers responding to the country’s call to come here. Isn’t that comment a bit much?”

Ye Xiao stood up behind Lin Zhi. Though he usually avoided women’s quarrels, he would defend his own through actions.

The other girl stomped her foot, snorted, and retreated, clutching her bowl.

Lin Zhi wasn’t offended. She handed the prepared malted milk to Ye Xiao. “Take this inside for Gu Shen. I noticed he hasn’t looked well all day—maybe he caught a chill by the river.”

When she first arrived, her parents had urged her to look after Gu Shen as much as possible. Since he had always been sensitive, they had noticed him deliberately avoiding others during the journey. Now that they were in unfamiliar territory, the three of them sticking together was better than anyone being alone.

Lin Zhi sighed, glanced at the pot again, and threw in the cleaned sweet potatoes.

Inside the room, Ye Xiao tested the cup’s temperature with his hand—it was just right, not too hot. Knowing Gu Shen’s awkwardness, he pressed the malted milk to his lips without a word, smearing it all over his mouth.

“That’s enough. The cup’s got your saliva now, so you drink it yourself.”

Gu Shen looked up at him, then back to the cup, clearly understanding this drink had been specially made for him.

With three other veteran youth workers in the room, he said nothing, silently drinking before carrying the cup back to the kitchen.

Lin Zhi seemed prepared. She shoved a bowl of rice into his hands, cutting off any words he might have said.

The three of them ate their first meal here—brown rice with the pickled vegetables she had brought from home. Afterwards, Lin Zhi divided the two sweet potatoes among them.

Ye Xiao paused and looked at her. “Lin Zhi, what about you?”

She waved her hand and smiled. “I have a small appetite. You two big men clearly haven’t had enough, so take these to fill you up.”

Seeing neither of them moved, she put on a stern face. “Alright, eat quickly. Leaving candles burning is a waste.”

While they ate sweet potatoes by candlelight, Yu Nian’an sat by the stove, using the flickering sparks to pick at the grains of rice in her bowl.

After a week of alternating sweet potatoes and brown rice, she had to psych herself up just to swallow this meal.

Counting on her fingers, she realized the next market day was in two days.

Then, she promised herself, she would buy something decent for this household. The blandness was unbearable.

Before sleeping, as usual, she wedged a stool and bricks to secure the door from the inside. Lying on the kang bed, her thoughts drifted involuntarily to Gu Shen.

He looked delicate and soft-skinned—not made for hard labor. The one with him seemed similar.

Aunt Chunxing had said that the newly arrived youth workers would be assigned to various fields under the guidance of experienced workers.

If all the newcomers were like this, it seemed certain they would slow everyone down. She wondered which unlucky souls would be tasked with managing them.

The next morning, when she arrived at the field, Yu Nian’an’s eyes twitched as she saw the line of people before her.

Ye Xiao naturally noticed her and waved. She covered her eyes and silently went to her plot, skillfully turning the seedlings.

Seeing her ignored him, Ye Xiao felt no awkwardness, just scratched his nose.

At that moment, the brigade secretary arrived and, without delay, called out names from the list, assigning workers.

Pointing to a plot, he told each person which area to work.

Yu Nian’an was bent over pulling up sweet potato vines.

The plants thrived, and the parts not yet turned had sprouted new roots, so turning them over brought up some soil.

With a “plop,” the dirt landed squarely on a pair of rubber boots. She looked up instinctively and finally understood why her eyelid had been twitching all morning.

She had wondered which unlucky people would be stuck leading the new youth workers—and now she realized she was one of them.

Raising an eyebrow, she asked, “You, with me?”

Gu Shen said nothing but nodded.

Because of what happened by the river yesterday, the two of them were alone together now, and the atmosphere was strangely tense.

Yu Nian’an took a deep breath, reminding herself that these people were here to help build the countryside and shouldn’t be despised.

Seeing the other women already teaching and working, she quickly adjusted her attitude and pointed to the sweet potato vines on the ground. “We’re responsible for turning over this patch of sweet potato vines, like this.”

She squatted and demonstrated. It wasn’t complicated; one demonstration was enough. After seeing him get the hang of it, she went to another ridge alone.

Several times, she glanced over at him, thinking of how he had just fallen into the water yesterday.

She found that although he looked weak, his work was on par with hers.

Only when they finished that ridge and she caught a glimpse of his even paler face did she realize he was pushing himself.

The other youth workers in different fields had only done half as much by this point.

Could he really be trying to compete with her?