"Just say what you have to say."

The boy was still a little shy: "I... can I take your surname, Lin? I'd like to share a surname with you?"

"You share the same surname as me, Lin?" Lin Qingyan asked, somewhat surprised.

People generally don't easily change their surnames because their surnames are passed down from their ancestors. Changing one's surname is almost like betraying one's ancestors.

"Xiao Heng, are you really sure?"

"I've made up my mind. My sister is my only family in this world, and I want to take her surname."

Lin Qingyan nodded: "Alright, from now on you won't be called Yi Zhiheng anymore, you'll be called Lin Zhiheng. When the brigade has a break, we'll take your household registration book to the county police station and have the police change your surname and put your household registration together."

A smile immediately appeared on the boy's handsome, fair face.

"Thank you, sister."

After a while, Lin Qingyan casually asked Yi Zhiheng a few questions.

"Xiao Heng, although we've known each other since we were little, I still don't know why you ended up alone on the streets when you were young. Did your family not care about you? Or did you no longer have any family? Well, you don't have to tell me."

“There’s nothing I can’t say. Actually, I don’t even know whose child I am. From as far back as I can remember, I started begging with a few beggars, and later I was all alone. An old beggar told me my name. He said that when he first saw me, I had the character ‘Yi’ embroidered on my clothes, so he said my surname was Yi and gave me the name ‘Zhiheng.’ He probably hoped that I could live on.”

I never imagined your background was so pitiful.

"Fortunately, the hardest days are over. For me, it doesn't matter who my parents are or whether I have any other family members. They weren't there for me when I needed them the most. I was able to grow up without relying on them, so I've long since stopped caring that they don't exist."

Yes, it's good that you can take it easy.

As they approached the educated youth settlement, Lin Qingyan remembered what had happened at noon and said to Yi Zhiheng, "Xiaoheng, go back to your dormitory and do what you need to do. If that Lin Guanghui dares to cause you trouble, you must call your older sister."

"I understand, sis."

"good."

Because Tong Jiaojiao was picking pig manure in the pigsty, she always smelled strongly of pig manure. Song Qingfang scolded her several times, and even Jiang Meihong, who was her best friend, told her to her face that she didn't want to cook with her anymore.

The reason was that she was afraid Tong Jiaojiao would get pig manure on her body into the pot, so she always let Tong Jiaojiao tend the fire. If this went on for a long time, she would do more work and Tong Jiaojiao would do less, and she would be the one who suffered.

Tong Jiaojiao also disliked the food ordered by the educated youth, so she bought an iron pot by herself and ate at the new house.

In this way, Jiang Meihong will have no partner when cooking, which is perfect for her to team up with Lin Sisi.

However, it wasn't their turn to cook today.

In the evening, the female educated youth, as usual, would boil some water to wash themselves if they felt unwell after a day's work, and then go to sleep.

While Chen Lu and Hu Jiajia were showering, Lin Sisi smelled the lingering odor from the train and decided to wash herself and change her clothes.

Perhaps because she was used to bossing Lin Qingyan around at home, she sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and casually said something to Lin Qingyan in a condescending manner.

"Qingyan, I want to take a bath. Quickly boil some water for me."

The way he acted and the tone he used were as if he were a master giving orders to a servant.

Du Xiaoyue stood next to her and clicked her tongue: "Oh, if I didn't know we were educated youths here, I would have thought we were some capitalist's daughters. Is Qingyan your maid? Why should she serve you? And you're acting all high and mighty here. Who do you think you are? I bet it's because of you that Qingyan has to put up with so much mistreatment at home."

She felt a little guilty for not being able to stop Lin Guanghui from taking Lin Qingyan's bedding during the day.

Lin Sisi felt resentful after being scolded by Du Xiaoyue: "I misspoke earlier. What I meant was that I wanted Qingyan to help me boil some water. However, this is a matter between Qingyan and me. Aren't you being a little too nosy?"

Du Xiaoyue shrugged: "I'm Qingyan's good friend, and I can't stand you ordering Qingyan around like this."

Lin Qingyan said, "Lin Sisi, put away your spoiled young lady attitude. If you want to be a young lady, you can have the captain find you a few maids to serve you well."

"Yes, yes, let everyone know that we have a young lady here," Du Xiaoyue added.

Hu Jiajia smiled and pursed her lips: "A capitalist's daughter."

Lin Sisi naturally knew that being called "Miss" was not a good thing, so she quickly said, "I was just a little rude just now. I won't talk to Qingyan like that again. Please stop making a fuss."

There was nothing she could do; she had to bow her head when she was under someone else's roof, and she couldn't afford to have any unpleasantness with these educated youths right now.

Shen Man said, "This is Lin, the educated youth. They all boil their own water to wash themselves. Let's boil water together and wash together."

Lin Sisi had long been on guard by Shen Man. During the day, this woman kept staring at her neck and hands, and now she wanted to take a bath with her, which was clearly ill-intentioned.

She didn't want to shower with Shen Man.

"Oh, Shen Zhiqing, my stomach suddenly feels a little uncomfortable. I need to go to the toilet. You can wash up first."

Shen Man didn't insist, since Lin Sisi would have to wash sooner or later anyway.

"Alright then, I'll go first. If you want to take a shower later, you'll have to boil the water yourself."

"It's okay, I'll cook it myself."

Shen Man boiled some water, and Lin Sisi returned from the bathroom after she finished washing up.

Seeing that everyone else had finished washing, Lin Sisi went to the kitchen. Too lazy to do it herself, she called Lin Guanghui out and asked him to add water and start a fire for her.