Transmigration: On the Gossip Front-Chapter 1907 - 1908: Female Intellectual Youth Passerby 50

Chapter 1907: Chapter 1908: Female Intellectual Youth Passerby 50

After finishing the meal, Zhang Yu was about to help wash the dishes when Yao Ying stopped her, "I’ll wash the dishes."

"Mom, it’s just washing dishes, I can do it, and I’ve already rested for an entire afternoon."

"If I don’t move a bit, I’ll get stiff." Zhang Yu swiftly cleaned up the table and then went to wash the dishes, her actions quick and efficient.

Yao Ying watched her daughter work so briskly, tears uncontrollably streaming down, "Old Zhang, our daughter..."

Just this summer, she was a child who didn’t know anything, and after learning she was going to the countryside as an intellectual youth, Yao Ying hurriedly trained her a bit, yet she was still worried about various things.

She was always concerned whether her child could adapt, and unexpectedly, after a few months, her daughter returned, a bit tanner but not thinner, without any resentment towards them, instead smiling as she recounted the amusing events at the farm.

Zhang Yu efficiently washed the dishes and even took the opportunity to wipe down the cabinets and countertops, leaving everything spotless.

Yao Ying was almost moved to tears looking at the clean kitchen.

"Mom, I know you probably think your daughter has become much more diligent, working so swiftly, and you’re happy for me, but there’s no need to cry."

"Mom, let me tell you, I’ve even learned how to make tofu, but unfortunately, we don’t have a millstone at home."

"And that fermenting thing."

Mentioning this, Zhang Yu recalled learning to make steamed buns from an intellectual youth, "Mom, I’ll make steamed buns in a few days."

"You know how to make steamed buns?" Yao Ying was surprised and incredulous, Zhang Wei and others were equally surprised. Although they have steamed buns here too, rice is still the main staple.

They only occasionally eat steamed buns, and those are bought when supplied by the cafeteria.

"Yeah, I also know how to make noodles, though I wanted to try making hand-pulled noodles, but I didn’t learn that." Watching the intellectual youth from Lan Province pulling noodles, it seemed quite challenging, and Zhang Yu thought she might try it herself.

But the obedient dough in someone else’s hands just wouldn’t pull out in hers, and she had to reluctantly give up.

"Daughter, weren’t you going to be an intellectual youth?" Yao Ying was dumbfounded. How did her daughter, after just a few months on a farm, learn to make handmade noodles and buns?

"Big sis, you didn’t, you didn’t go work in the cafeteria, did you?" Zhang Jie had known Zhang Yu’s cooking skills were just passable.

Who would have thought that just a few months of being an intellectual youth would result in her learning all this? It’s quite shocking.

"I would like to, but unfortunately that kind of job, not to mention unrelated to us intellectual youth, even the families of the field leaders weren’t assigned. Those were for the families of soldiers who sacrificed or were gravely ill."

"A lot of the easier jobs on the farm were done by them." 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

Upon hearing this, Zhang Wei and the others weren’t surprised at all, "Originally the disabled soldiers didn’t head south, they put down their guns and took up hoes to farm, they have this tradition, it’s good."

At least it shows the leadership there is good, Zhang Wei and the others only listened to a bit about the intellectual youth topic previously, without too much understanding.

Now that their daughter became an intellectual youth, he listened to related topics and learned some things too.

Hearing bad news every day, he felt particularly grateful that his daughter went to the farm and could return every year; otherwise, if something happened, crying wouldn’t help.

Zhang Yu responded, "Of course it’s good, as long as it’s not peak farming season, we can rest one day a week."

It’s indeed better than going to a rural area as an intellectual youth, "A female intellectual youth in our brigade, all the girls in her family became intellectual youth, while her brother and younger brother took over their mother’s job and went to school."

"Then why not get married?" Zhang Jie didn’t understand; another way to avoid being an intellectual youth was marriage, as long as one party worked, it didn’t matter if the other didn’t.

Why not get married, "Probably didn’t receive a high bride price." Zhang Yu wasn’t very sure, "But I heard that her brother is getting ready to get married, and her family is preparing to let her elder sister return to the city."

"They also asked her to mail her salary and often wrote her letters to send her salary back."

Zhang Jie got angry, "Isn’t this just bloodsucking?"

"Yeah, it’s bloodsucking. This time that intellectual youth didn’t go back for the new year, but instead went to her elder sister’s place, which isn’t too far from our farm." Zhang Yu was on good terms with her and would help each other occasionally when working together.

"My roommates and I feel that for them, being an intellectual youth is a bit easier, at least the income is in their own hands."

"And the rice from our farm, if you don’t want it yourself, you can sell it for twenty cents a pound."

"My two roommates gave up, Zhao Tong and I bought rice from them at ten cents a pound."

Zhang Yu pulled out a slip from her pocket, "I bought a hundred pounds of rice and these items, you give me the money, and I’ll consider the rest as my filial contribution."

"I’m out of money, my wages for these days, and there are things I need to buy." Zhang Yu explained a little.

There were both filial contributions and things she bought for the family, "By the way, mom, do you need soybeans?"

"Do you need peanuts?" Zhang Yu mentioned several local specialties.

"Of course we do." Yao Ying, despite the shock, immediately expressed her desire.

"As long as it’s something edible, buy it. Even if there’s a lot, we can still store it or use it as gifts. Supplies these days really can’t keep up."

At the same price, whether paying cash or giving goods, the latter is obviously more welcome, "What about the rice?"

Zhang Yu shook her head, "Currently, what I can guarantee is that I’ll bring back a hundred pounds of rice at the end of the year."

"If my roommates don’t bring rice, I can bring an extra hundred pounds, but any more," Zhang Yu expressed it wouldn’t be possible, "everyone will know you sold it at a high price."

Even though farm rice is delicious, no large family would consume three to five hundred pounds in a year unless trading on the black market.

Hearing this, Yao Ying was anxious, all she could think of was, "Daughter, you’re saying you’ll bring back two hundred pounds of rice, what about this?"

Zhang Wei and Zhang Jie also got nervous, looking at Zhang Yu with concern, worried it might cause her trouble.

"No problem, I asked, bringing two hundred pounds is fine, after all, it’s New Year’s, and giving three to five pounds of rice as a gift to relatives is a decent gesture."

Zhang Yu remembered visiting relatives and giving three to five pounds of rice as a generous gift, she really was surprised.

"Yes, giving such a gift, it’s really nice." Yao Ying recalled the continuous stream of visitors to their home in the afternoon, feeling happy.

Initially, they thought with Little Yu coming back, they’d be able to see some excitement, but instead it provoked her.

Even though they spoke elegantly, Yao Ying still remembered the way they enjoyed their family’s situation, in any case, she absolutely wouldn’t relent.