Chapter 14: The Madman Who Hits—Zhou Sinian

Very soon, Ming Dai understood why the others hadn’t come over. There were several rooms at the educated youth point, but only two had kang beds with heating—one, larger, housed the male youths; the other, smaller, was for the females. The reason was simple: a shortage of firewood. In this region, winter without a heated bed was absolutely unthinkable!

From spring onward, every household began gathering firewood. Usually, it was the women and children who foraged, while the men focused on earning work points. The educated youths all had to work as well, leaving little time to collect fuel, so their stores rarely sufficed for the whole winter. They had no choice but to pool together and live in the heated rooms—there was simply no other way.

At this realization, Ming Dai’s face fell. She definitely didn’t want to end up with lice! Especially since Zhou Guiping’s bunk was right in the middle; Ming Dai already felt itchy all over before she’d even stepped inside.

The male youths weren’t much happier with their arrangements, either. Their room was large, yes, but already held six people. The remaining space could barely fit two more; three would be cramped, and four—impossible. Unsurprisingly, Zhang Xiaojun and Liu Daye were dissatisfied and inquired whether there were any other options.

Cai Mingcheng, however, had already set his bedding at the end of the kang. Coming from a background with a poor family status, his relatives had warned him to keep a low profile and do as he was told.

“Captain, we’re not trying to cause trouble,” Zhang Xiaojun said with a cheerful grin, “but our room is just too crowded. If we squeeze in, it’ll mean everyone loses sleeping space. Is there anywhere else we could stay?” As he spoke, he pulled out a handful of peanuts, distributing one to each person present.

Ming Dai managed to snag one too, though hers was shriveled and empty. Typical.

Fang Mingyang pinched the peanut between his fingers, a flicker of hesitation in his eyes. Zhang Xiaojun’s point was valid—none of them wanted more people crammed in. There simply wasn’t enough space.

“There is another place,” Fang Mingyang said at last, “and it technically belongs to our educated youth point.”

Zhang Xiaojun and Liu Daye perked up instantly, and Ming Dai likewise pricked up her ears.

“But,” Fang Mingyang went on, “maybe it’s best not to mention it. That place is a bit…unusual.”

Liu Daye frowned. “Captain, are you just making excuses to keep us out?”

Fang Mingyang’s face darkened. “Fine. I’ll take you to see it for yourselves.” He led the way outside.

Liu Daye and Zhang Xiaojun hoisted their bundles and followed, with Ming Dai trailing after. Liu Yan, after a moment’s hesitation, slung her sack over her shoulder and joined them. Qin Fangfang, left behind, watched their departing backs, opened her mouth as if to speak, but in the end said nothing. Like Cai Mingcheng, she decided to stay.

Song Lanlan munched on her peanut as she watched the group head toward the back courtyard, giving a derisive laugh. “You made the right choice,” she said. “Just wait—by tomorrow, they’ll be crying to come back and begging to squeeze in with us!”

Qin Fangfang was baffled, her face full of questions. But no one explained; the old-timers had gone to the kitchen to eat. Qin Fangfang finished putting her things away, found Cai Mingcheng, and together they went to the team office to collect their grain ration. They had no choice—they were starving.

Fang Mingyang, meanwhile, led the four newcomers to the back courtyard. The space was spacious, with a decorative brick wall—an oddity compared to the mud-brick houses out front. They rounded the wall, and a small door appeared, unlocked. Fang Mingyang cautiously peered inside. Satisfied that there was no movement, he finally dared to open the door and enter.

Ming Dai: Something’s not right here!

Once inside, they discovered a rare sight—a large, blue-brick house with tiled roof. Two rooms faced the courtyard gate, connected together. At the end was the main hall; outside was a large kitchen and a bathroom with a washroom. In the corner was a storeroom piled high with miscellaneous junk. The house, though, bore the marks of age, with gaping holes here and there.

Zhang Xiaojun was delighted. “Is this part of the educated youth point too?”

Fang Mingyang nodded vaguely. “You could say that. The person living here is one of us—well, an educated youth—just…not quite right in the head. He’s often causing trouble, so he’s been allowed to live here alone.”

Not quite right in the head? Causes trouble often?

Ming Dai sifted through her memory of the story. She quickly realized whom Fang Mingyang meant—a minor character, Zhou Sinian.

She looked at Fang Mingyang’s righteous expression and nearly laughed. He wasn’t a good person either.

The book gave little detail about Zhou Sinian. He’d returned from the battlefield, only about twenty years old, driven mad by trauma. For unclear reasons, he’d been sent down to the Red Flag Commune. Before coming to Liu Family Bay, he’d lived in various villages under the commune, never staying long.

The reason: Zhou Sinian had violent fits. He fought fiercely—so fiercely, in fact, that he nearly killed people more than once. He was physically strong and extremely wary. Neither the commune nor the production team could do anything with him, even after several attempts to subdue him. Unable to beat him or send him away—since someone higher up prevented his return to the city—each team took turns housing him.

Fortunately, though he was mad, he was willing to work, and his strength surpassed most people’s, so long as he wasn’t provoked.

By “provoked,” they meant no one could touch his food. Previously, both educated youths and villagers had been beaten for stealing or taking his things to eat.

Though he was barred from returning to the city, parcels of food still arrived for him regularly, so he was never short on supplies.

That spring, Liu Dazhu had brought him over to the team, his face full of solemnity, and placed him at the educated youth point. On his very first night, Zhou Sinian beat every single person there—male or female, all knocked flat—because one of his packages of candy had gone missing.

The culprit was Song Lanlan. She’d taken the candy, thinking that if everyone shared it, she wouldn’t be punished. The others knew perfectly well where it had come from but figured he was just a lunatic, so they ate it anyway.

The next day, the entire educated youth point called in sick. None of them could get up.

After that, Zhou Sinian discovered the blue-brick house at the back, broke the lock, and moved in. Fang Mingyang and the others, tempted, tried to join him and were rewarded with another beating.

The villagers were also dissatisfied. This had once been a landlord’s house, left unused because there was only one, making it impossible to allocate fairly. Now that an educated youth had moved in, they sent their own eligible bachelors to claim it.

The result was a collective sick day for all the young men in the team, prompting the team leader to order an immediate halt. There was nothing to be done—Zhou Sinian was allowed to stay.

In the story, Zhou Sinian’s main function occurred before Fang Rou’s rebirth. When the new educated youths arrived, Zhang Xiaojun stole some of Zhou Sinian’s rice to cook porridge, so the whole group was beaten and thrown out. Later, Zhou Sinian died mysteriously in the mountains, and the book mentioned him no more.

At the same time, Ming Dai recalled why Fang Rou had left. After her rebirth, Fang Rou already knew the situation at the educated youth point and was unwilling to risk a beating at the brick house. She negotiated with the team leader instead and arranged for kang beds to be built in other rooms. But building kangs took time, so the heroine and the second male lead stayed with villagers.

Fang Rou, it seemed, had pulled some strings and moved into Luo Cheng’s widowed mother’s home. At this point, Luo Cheng had not yet retired from the army due to injury—that would happen next year.

No matter. Ming Dai had made up her mind—she would live here. Compared to the madman, she feared lice even more.

As expected, Fang Mingyang gave only a hasty and incomplete explanation before rushing back for dinner.