Chapter 127: High School Textbooks
At the Min’an brigade, the educated youths got off the ox cart at the village entrance. Though exhausted, being back in familiar surroundings relaxed them, and they walked with light steps, chatting and laughing along the way.
Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning walked in the group, also smiling.
But the closer they got to the educated youth station, the more it felt as though some invisible seal was placed on the others—their attitudes toward Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongming returned to their usual coldness. No one responded to them anymore.
Their smiles froze awkwardly. They could only watch as the others went off laughing into the station, leaving the two of them standing outside.
At this moment, the station looked like a monster ready to devour people, and its gate was the wide-open bloody maw. Neither dared to step inside.
“Oh no, the kitchen is full of dust! We’ll need to clean before we can boil water. Who’s going to fetch water?”
“I’m dead tired. Let’s rest a bit first.”
“Go quickly, how can we sit down anywhere with dust everywhere?”
“Even the spiders have spun webs in the corners—come on, hurry up!”
“Four people go carry water, the rest clean the dormitory.”
“……”
Silently, Qian Yongning and Zhao Canxing walked in. The bustling courtyard immediately fell quiet.
Qian Yongning kicked aside a broom blocking his way and strode into the men’s dormitory, Zhao following tightly behind.
The broom nearly hit a young woman.
Faces in the courtyard all showed traces of irritation.
“Can’t we just make them move out?” a short-haired educated girl muttered softly.
Another woman, bolder, said, “Why whisper?”
The short-haired one lowered her voice even more and signaled for the others to keep quiet. “Careful, if you anger them, they might stab us in a fit of rage!”
Qian Yongning and Zhao Canxing could hear perfectly well. Qian Yongning flew into a rage and rushed out, but Zhao Canxing quickly pulled him back.
“You really want to get thrown out?”
Qian Yongning sat down angrily.
Just then, noise erupted again outside.
“The brigade leader’s here!”
“Brigade leader, you’ve come.”
“Brigade leader, it’s been a while.”
“Have you been in good health lately?”
Zhao Canxing suddenly grew nervous. If the brigade leader knew they had just returned, he should expect them to be cleaning—why show up now?
Qian Yongning felt an ominous chill.
The two of them dragged their feet, staying behind others, offering greetings in voices so low they were barely audible.
The Min’an brigade’s leader was a shrunken old man in his sixties, slightly hunched, his face dark and sallow, eyes sunken, gaze sharp as it pierced directly at Qian Yongning and Zhao Canxing.
“Youth Qian, Youth Zhao.”
The others secretly exchanged glances and stepped aside, revealing the two.
They hesitated forward two steps. “Brigade leader…”
The old man looked around at everyone, then fixed on them. “You’d barely been to Xinjiang a few days when I received three letters. One from a train police officer, one from a passenger on the train. They all spoke about what you two did…”
Someone wrote letters about the train incident?
Qian Yongning and Zhao Canxing’s faces drained of color.
“The pickpocket only targeted Comrade Mu because of signals from the two of you…”
The other educated youths couldn’t contain their shock. They’d heard about a thief caught on the train, but never knew Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning were involved!
“Who’s Comrade Mu?” one whispered.
“The one nearly robbed by Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning”
The girl who asked covered her mouth. So Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning were trying to take revenge on Mu Lantu!
They both denied it desperately.
Zhao Canxing: “Brigade leader, you misunderstood, we didn’t.”
Qian Yongning: “Yes, where’s the evidence? We made mistakes before, but knowing one’s mistakes and correcting them is commendable. You can’t treat us like this.”
The others sneered. Did they think they were the only clever ones? Even the railway police wrote letters—how could it be false?
The brigade leader’s eyes turned icy. Without further debate, he said calmly: “I’ve reported to the commune secretary and the educated youth office. I applied to have you both transferred out of Min’an. The request was approved. You are to report to the Beian Forest Farm within three days. Your household registration has already been moved, and here are your introduction letters.”
Beian Forest Farm?
Deep in the forest, remote, with terrible conditions—nothing but endless trees. Supplies had to be brought in from outside.
Winters were worse. Heavy snow sealed the mountains; anyone inside was trapped. If food ran out, or if beasts attacked, medical help was impossible to reach.
The only “benefit” was that postings there came with official status and eight yuan monthly wages. Still, it was a place everyone dreaded.
Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning turned deathly pale.
The others couldn’t help smiling. With those two gone, they could finally live without fear!
“No, no…”
The two of them backed away, refusing to take the letters, as if not touching them meant they didn’t have to leave.
The old man placed them on the windowsill.
“You have three days to report. Any delay, and it could be treated as desertion. You know what happens to deserters. Think carefully. If you make another mistake, it will be written into your permanent records.”
They glared at him with hatred.
He shivered inside but did not regret his decision. These two were beyond saving.
He turned to the station’s leader: “Comrade Zhou, make sure they leave.”
Zhou Jingkang and the others had seen the look in their eyes. The brigade leader’s words were well-meaning, but Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning would only take them as threats.
No hope left, truly no hope.
“Don’t worry, brigade leader,” Zhou Jingkang said firmly. “We’ll help them pack.”
Several men nodded strongly.
The women, frightened by Zhao Canxing and Qian Yongning’s expressions, stayed silent in the back.
The leader nodded. “Good. I’ll go now. Rest tomorrow, work resumes the day after.”
When he was gone, Zhou Jingkang asked the two, “Will you leave on your own, or should we make you?”
Qian Yongning exploded. “Zhou Jingkang, what the hell are you? Push me too far, and I’ll stab you!”
Zhou Jingkang stood tall. “You all heard that, right? If I’m ever stabbed, it was him.”
Everyone shouted together: “We heard!”
“You—!”
Qian Yongning turned to Zhao Canxing, only to find him gone. Sounds came from the men’s dormitory.
An hour later, the two of them slunk out of the courtyard like beaten dogs.
Bang!
They had barely stepped out the gate when it slammed shut behind them, the lock clicking loudly.
*
At Dongfanghong brigade, the leader also gave everyone a day off.
After resting enough, Mu Lantu and Xu Huazhang headed into the county.
They handed in Xu Huazhang’s assignment, then quietly slipped into the black market.
The black market boss, Tong Zhengye, nearly cried when he saw Mu Lantu. Finally, restock!
During the time this “supplier” disappeared, he’d feared something bad happened—maybe even that he’d been caught for speculation and profiteering. Thankfully, he was fine!
Mu Lantu had no idea he’d caused such anxiety. He dropped off goods and left.
Tong Zhengye wanted to stop him, at least get contact info, but didn’t dare—what if it offended him? Better not.
He consoled himself: if this man kept coming back, it meant business was good. To show goodwill, he gave him an extra radio voucher and a bicycle voucher. The man accepted without refusal. A good sign.
[Host, ahead is a scrap collection station, want to check it out?] 005 asked eagerly.
Mu Lantu raised a brow. [What scheme now?]
[Scrap stations are a must-visit for protagonists in era novels—especially transmigrators and reborn ones. They usually find high school textbooks, antiques, or hidden treasures in chair legs, jewelry boxes, even treasure maps…]
Mu Lantu’s lips twitched. No era had fools handing out treasures like that. Not impossible to find something, but very unlikely.
Xu Huazhang noticed his look. “Want to take a look?”
They had time to spare.
Mu Lantu nodded. “Alright, let’s.”
Just as they were about to go in, they saw a familiar figure coming out with a bundle of books.
Although the woman’s face was covered with a scarf, both recognized her by her hair and gait—Jiang Qiaohui, stepping lightly as if she’d just struck gold.
Mu Lantu pulled Xu Huazhang aside until she disappeared around the corner.
An educated youth suspected of being transmigrated or reborn, here… Could 005 be right?
He entered in thought.
The scrap station was manned by a man in his fifties, wearing a gray Zhongshan suit, glasses perched on his nose. He was squatting, sorting through junk.
“Busy, uncle?”
The man turned. “What do you need?”
Mu Lantu took an apple from his backpack and set it on the counter, smiling gently. “Just wanted to ask you something small.”
The man glanced at the apple, cautious. “I might not know.”
Mu Lantu said, “Don’t worry, it’s nothing big. What did that young woman just take from here?”
“Oh, that,” the man replied. “Just some high school textbooks, along with some exercises and test papers. She said her younger brother’s a junior high teacher, and she was helping find materials for his students…”
