Chapter 32

Early the next morning, officials from the Educated Youth Office arrived from the various communes to collect their respective assignees. Ānguǎng County oversaw 21 communes, 154 production brigades, and 1,280 production teams, with a total cultivated area exceeding 1.2 million mu. The communes functioned as integrated entities of industry, agriculture, commerce, education, and defense, managing production, daily life, and civil affairs. They were simultaneously production units, administrative centers, and grassroots political organizations. Each commune was equipped with a hospital, a school, a Supply and Marketing Cooperative, a credit union, and a veterinary station. These facilities operated under a system of collective management with public assistance, funded initially by shares from commune members and production teams, with additional investment and subsidies from the government. The distance between the county and the communes was roughly ten to twenty miles. The roads were crumbling and filled with dust, yet the landscape offered views of distant mountains and rivers, while the fields nearby were waves of lush, vibrant green, brimming with life—a sight that eased some of the anxiety the educated youth from the city felt about their future.