The Educated Youth 04

The labor site was turned directly into a criticism session.

"Your ideology is improper! Your stance is unsteady! The essence of your problem is a denial of the organization's original intention for the poor and lower-middle peasants to re-educate the youth!"

One big label after another was slapped onto him. The issue was no longer as simple as Wei Xiangyang getting kicked; it had escalated into a matter of stance and attitude. He opened his mouth several times to defend himself, but was rudely interrupted by Fang Zhiyi every single time.

At this time, Zhang Qingqing and other female educated youths, who had been cleaning the livestock shed, hurried over after hearing the commotion.

Seeing Zhang Qingqing arrive, a red-faced Wei Xiangyang looked as if he had caught a lifesaver. "Qingqing, come and judge this for me..."

"You think you're in the right? You think you have a point?" the auntie who had previously cursed Wei Xiangyang's ancestors for eighteen generations spoke up again. "Not only did you act like a hooligan, but you also look down on us peasants! The captain is right, you have an ideological problem!"

"I, I, he..." Wei Xiangyang wanted to mention that Fang Zhiyi had kicked him, but he simply didn't have the chance.

Fang Zhiyi angrily punished him by assigning him to pull the dung cart starting tomorrow, and ordered him to write a self-criticism to read at the general assembly. Only then did he let Wei Xiangyang off.

Turning his head, he saw Zhang Qingqing. Her eyes were filled with shock, but upon meeting Fang Zhiyi's gaze, she smiled out of habit. From the very beginning, she and Wei Xiangyang had agreed on a plan: Wei Xiangyang would string along that silly girl, while she would build a good relationship with Fang Zhiyi, making life easier for both of them.

Fang Zhiyi's eyes darted; he gave her a slight nod and walked away.

Zhang Qingqing glanced at Wei Xiangyang, having no idea what had actually happened.

The onlookers returned to their respective posts, and Zhang Qingqing was pulled away by her companions.

"Were you too impatient?" That night, Zhang Qingqing still came to the small ditch behind the educated youth spot to meet Wei Xiangyang. Wei Xiangyang gritted his teeth, "I wasn't! It's just... that country bumpkin tripped on her own. I was just trying to catch her, who knew..."

"Alright, alright, I believe you." Zhang Qingqing smiled, reaching out to touch Wei Xiangyang's face, giving it a gentle pinch.

This simple gesture made Wei Xiangyang's heart flutter, and his daytime displeasure instantly vanished into thin air. However, when he tried to pull her into a hug, Zhang Qingqing dodged him.

"But you shouldn't have said those things. It's only natural they'd be upset hearing that."

"He announced in front of all those people that I was trying to act like a hooligan toward his daughter. Of course I'd be indignant! Who would even fancy that country bumpkin!"

"Alright, let's leave it at that for now. I'll plead for you later."

"Who needs you to plead for me? He clearly framed me!" Thinking about how Zhang Qingqing also spoke so softly and gently to that old man Fang Zhiyi, Wei Xiangyang felt very uncomfortable.

"Be good, this is all for our own sake. If we have to stay here, shouldn't we find a way to live a little more comfortably? Do you really want to just do hard labor all the time and squeeze in with others to sleep every single day?"

Wei Xiangyang fell silent for a moment before nodding with a face full of reluctance.

Seeing him like this, Zhang Qingqing stood on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. Wei Xiangyang beamed with joy. Suddenly remembering something, he reached into his pocket and pulled out a handful of milk candies. "Oh right, my mom is sending a package in a couple of days. I'll give you all the malted milk extract to drink, so you can nourish your body."

Zhang Qingqing smiled and took them. She had set her sights on Wei Xiangyang precisely because of this: his family had good conditions, he was quite good-looking, and most importantly, he was easy to coax.

She was not favored at home, which gradually led her to develop a habit of sweet-talking everyone she met. But that didn't mean she lacked schemes. Even though she was in the countryside now, she was always calculating for her future.

Fang Zhiyi made a special trip to the supply and marketing cooperative. Gritting his teeth, he bought half a catty of fruit candies that didn't require sugar ration coupons, and then hurried happily back home to stuff them into his still-crying daughter's hands.

Fang Xiaoxia's eyes were filled with sorrow. She knew she wasn't considered pretty, but being insulted in front of so many people today was completely unacceptable to her.

"Dad, am I really ugly?"

Fang Zhiyi looked at her tear-streaked face and nodded with a guilty conscience. "A little bit, indeed. You're too dark."

"Waaah!" Fang Xiaoxia burst into loud sobs once again.

Little Hei was highly amused: "I can see it now, you don't know how to coax a little girl at all!"

Fang Zhiyi glared at it indignantly, then clumsily tried to comfort Fang Xiaoxia. "You can't judge a person just by their appearance. Can being pretty put food on the table? Besides, you just have darker skin, and that's because of the sun. Dark is a healthy skin tone, understand?"

Seeing that Fang Xiaoxia was still crying, Fang Zhiyi stood up and paced around twice. "Tomorrow, starting tomorrow, I'll write you a recommendation letter. You can go to the town to learn how to drive a tractor. We won't stay out in the sun anymore, okay?"

These words made Fang Xiaoxia's crying stop. "Learn to drive a tractor? But I'm a girl..."

"Women hold up half the sky! Haven't you heard?"

Fang Xiaoxia blinked. "But..."

"No buts, it's settled." To keep Fang Xiaoxia away from this tragedy, Fang Zhiyi was no longer afraid of being accused of nepotism.

"But I don't understand it at all..."

Fang Zhiyi comforted her, "It's fine. Just remember, go listen to what the agricultural technician says, write down what you don't understand, and bring it back for me to see."

"For you to see?" Fang Xiaoxia looked at her dad in confusion.

Fang Zhiyi frowned. "Of course. If you show it to me, I can learn too. What a bargain."

"Alright then."

The next day, Wei Xiangyang rubbed his sore waist as he went to work. He had no choice; they had to earn enough daily work points. After finishing this job, he still had to go pull the dung cart—that was his punishment. However, the person supervising his work today was no longer Fang Xiaoxia, but Fang Zhiyi, wearing a wicked smirk.

Only the person who framed you knows just how innocent you truly are. Looking at Fang Zhiyi's smile, Wei Xiangyang wanted to grab a hoe and beat him to death. But observing the other man's sturdy build, Wei Xiangyang could only endure it for now.

Fang Zhiyi did not have Fang Xiaoxia's good temper. If Wei Xiangyang made a mistake while working, he would curse him out directly; if he was slow, he would rush him.

Throughout the whole day, the surrounding villagers and educated youths heard nothing but Fang Zhiyi scolding him.

"Even if you stuck straw on your back, you wouldn't be able to fan your tail! What kind of damn phoenix are you pretending to be!"

"That's right, do it just like that! Even the pig in our production team would work faster than you if we put a yoke on it!"

"What? You're tired before you're even halfway done? When the brigade was breeding the mule yesterday, did they drag you up there instead? Is that why you're so exhausted?"

"What are you indignant about? If you don't have a mirror at home, you at least have your own piss, right? Why don't you take a look at what kind of virtue you have?"

"Old man, this is the first time I've realized that the Fang family's boy has a sharper tongue than any of us." An old woman nudged her husband beside her.

"Isn't that the truth? It's already mid-afternoon, and I haven't heard a single repeated phrase. Let me tell you, his mother was a ruthless character back in the day, too."

"What do they call that? Genetics, right?"

Some even secretly made up their minds to never ever pick a fight with the Fang family. This was just too vicious! It was the kind of insult where you wouldn't understand it at first, but the more you thought about it, the angrier you'd get.

If he just straightforwardly cursed people, that would be one thing. But Fang Zhiyi's words inevitably made people dwell on them, resulting in them insulting themselves all over again.