When the group arrived at the cafeteria, they found a long line already snaking through the room. Helplessly, they filed in at the back, eyeing the food up front with yearning expressions.
By the time their turn came, almost nothing was left. There was only plain boiled Chinese cabbage and corn gruel so watery it could hardly be called gruel at all.
Even then, there wasn't enough to go around; each person was allotted just a single bowl, which was nowhere near enough to fill an empty stomach.
"We've been working all morning, and this is what you give us to eat?" An enraged voice rang out. Looking closer, the speaker was a male educated youth standing six feet tall with a sturdy build.
"If you don't give me an explanation today, I'm going to report you. I'll report you for docking our food rations as educated youths!" His voice echoed through the cafeteria, immediately drawing everyone's attention and striking a chord with the other educated youths.
The rest of the youths began to complain as well, surrounding the food-distribution window in a high-strung mob to demand an explanation.
"That's right! We've worked all morning, and we have to keep going this afternoon. To hand us nothing but boiled cabbage on top of everything else—there's no justification for this!"
Amidst the crowd, Jiang Rou spotted Wang Hao and Qu Qiaoliang.
Suddenly, Feng Yu grabbed Jiang Rou by the arm. "Come on, let's go support Qiaoliang and the others."
Jiang Rou tried to shake her off, but Feng Yu held on with an iron grip.
She couldn't afford to push back against Feng Yu in a situation like this. After all, as far as outsiders were concerned, all the educated youths were on the same side; making a fuss might draw unwanted attention. All she wanted was to keep a low profile and live her own quiet life. She had her spatial dimension, so she wasn't lacking for these meager provisions.
"Feng Yu, you're hurting me. Let go."
By the time she finally managed to shake Feng Yu off, Feng Yu was already standing right beside Qu Qiaoliang, loudly echoing his protests and paying Jiang Rou no further mind at all.
Swept along by the surging crowd, Jiang Rou drifted with the current while keeping a watchful eye on the situation.
The man in charge of serving food in the cafeteria was a middle-aged local named Li Gui.
Looking at this group of hot-blooded educated youths, he refused to coddle them. "Take it or leave it. You hardly did any work, yet you're over here picking fights. You should be grateful you're getting anything at all."
"Go ahead and report us if you've got the guts! This is what the rations are."
Jiang Rou noticed that the troublemakers standing at the very front were all newcomers like themselves, while the veteran educated youths mostly stood safely in the back, fanning the flames.
"You're clearly bullying us newcomers because we don't know anything!" The tall male educated youth glared, his face flushed red, clearly burning with rage.
"If you don't give us an explanation today, we aren't leaving!"
For a moment, the situation spiraled out of control. Both sides dug in their heels, neither willing to yield an inch.
*Thud! Thud! Thud!*
Secretary Li walked in. His expression was steady, and his eyes radiated an unquestionable authority. "What is all this shouting about? Do none of you want to eat anymore?"
The crowd fell instantly silent, though one person still lacked the sense to back down.
It was the ringleader among the educated youths. "Why are we only being served this? We came down to the countryside to support the cause, to build up the northern frontier!"
Secretary Li walked up to the pots, took a look, and scooped up a ladle of the watery cabbage soup.
Turning to Li Gui, he asked, "What is going on here?"
Li Gui explained, "Big Brother, they only arrived yesterday, so their grain rations hadn't been allocated for this month yet. On top of that, they showed up so late today that this was all the cafeteria had left."
Hearing this, Secretary Li furrowed his brow, but his expression quickly smoothed out.
He turned to face the educated youths, his tone steady. "Comrades, you have come a long way to support our construction, and you've worked hard. Material shortages are a temporary difficulty, and we are working hard to improve things. As for our newly arrived comrades, we will allocate supplies as quickly as possible to ensure everyone's basic daily needs are met. At the same time, we hope you can understand these current hardships and pull through this difficult period together with us."
With that, he personally ladled out a bowl of cabbage soup and handed it to the ringleader. "Here, line your stomachs first. We won't let anyone go hungry."
Seeing this, the youths gradually calmed down, one after another expressing their willingness to understand and wait for the supplies to be distributed.
Secretary Li had given his personal guarantee that the matter would be properly handled.
Assuaged by his promise, the youths stopped making a fuss and drifted back to their seats, using the watery cabbage soup to wash down what was left of their meal.
The autumn harvest continued into the afternoon, finally wrapping up just as the sun was sinking toward the horizon.
For dinner, the corn gruel was upgraded to double-steamed rice, and the watery cabbage soup was replaced with small portions of salted pickles.
Though still nothing to write home about, it was considered a decent meal by the standards of the era, leaving the educated youths with nothing further to complain about.
Even so, the food couldn't hold them for long. With no oily substance in their bellies, hunger soon crept back in.
Over at the women's dormitory:
Exhausted from a full day of hard labor, everyone was bone-tired—yet that wasn't even the worst of it.
After a whole day of harvesting under the blazing sun without any protective gear, not just the newcomers but even the experienced veteran youths bore varying scrapes and bruises, their skin darkened by at least a shade.
There was, however, one exception: Jiang Rou. Once she took off her arm sleeves and unwrapped the headscarf from around her head, aside from a little dirt on her face, she was completely free of the injuries that covered everyone else.
Curious, Sun Xiaoxiao walked over and asked, "Jiang Rou, how did you manage that? How were you able to protect yourself so well?"
Jiang Rou smiled faintly, but before she could reply, Feng Yu sidled over with a cynical smirk, hands on her hips and a look of utter contempt on her face. "Jiang Rou, look at how clean you are. Did you slack off and dodge work this morning?"
Jiang Rou furrowed her brow slightly, a flicker of irritation crossing her mind, but she replied with a calm and even tone. "Feng Yu, you're doing me a grave injustice. I worked right alongside everyone else in the fields all day. I simply took better precautions so I wouldn't get hurt. I wrapped myself up properly back then, even while you were mocking my outfit. What's the matter? Now that you see my protection worked, are you desperately wishing I had gotten hurt instead?"
Unrelenting, Feng Yu shot her a sidelong glance and raised her voice a notch. "Hmph, stop putting on airs. There's definitely something fishy about you. You probably just stood around and loafed on the job."
Hearing this, some of the surrounding girls cast doubtful glances at Jiang Rou. Though they kept quiet, their eyes appraised her with a hint of suspicion—after all, even they, the veteran youths who had arrived earlier and gained some experience, couldn't work a full day in the fields and come out completely unscathed.
Just as Jiang Rou was about to defend herself once more, the dormitory door was pushed open. Wang Li walked in with a frown. Seeing the tense atmosphere in the room, she asked, "What's going on here? Why are you all gathered around bickering?"
Spotting Wang Li, Feng Yu hurried over to lodge a complaint. "Wang Li, look at Jiang Rou. She came back from a whole morning of work looking pristine, nothing like the rest of us who are exhausted and filthy. I suspect she didn't actually do any real work and just slacked off the whole time."
Wang Li looked Jiang Rou up and down, a trace of doubt flashing in her eyes, but she said, "Feng Yu, don't jump to conclusions just yet. Maybe Jiang Rou had her own way of protecting herself."
Jiang Rou shot Wang Li a grateful look and explained, "Wang Li, I spent the entire morning harvesting crops in the fields. I was just more careful while working, using arm sleeves and a headscarf to shield myself properly, which is why I didn't get hurt. How could I have been slacked off? Everyone saw me; they can all vouch for me."
Sun Xiaoxiao nodded from the side. "That's right! Jiang Rou was right beside us the whole morning, and she worked so hard. You shouldn't wrong her like this."
At that, Feng Yu glared fiercely at Sun Xiaoxiao, startling the younger girl into shrinking back and dropping her gaze.