When Gu Xiaohu took them to the brigade before, he emphasized two families: one was the Cao family, who were skilled in carpentry; the other was the Li family, who were skilled in weaving various bamboo products.

Their two families lived at the foot of the mountain in an area with a large bamboo forest, which made it convenient for them to gather materials. Shen Mu Ning and her three companions walked along the path at the foot of the mountain toward the bamboo forest.

They arrived at Cao Xin's house first. Zhang Jiayang went up and knocked on the door. Everyone was at work at the moment, so it was most likely that it was Grandpa Cao who was at home, so it was fine for him to answer the door.

"You're here." A kind female voice reached their ears, indicating that Aunt Cao was also home.

The courtyard gate opened, and sure enough, there was a kind-looking old lady with a gentle smile. Shen Mu Ning stepped forward and said, "Auntie, we want to ask Uncle Cao Xin to make a cabinet."

Aunt Cao led the group into the courtyard, where they saw Uncle Cao sitting and polishing furniture.

"Go inside and pick out whatever furniture you want. If you don't see it, just tell me and I'll make it for you." Cao Xin knew these were new educated youths sent to the countryside, so he didn't say much to them and just let them choose the furniture.

Shen Mu Ning walked into the shed on one side of the courtyard and saw that the area was full of polished furniture.

After some picking and choosing, Shen Mu Ning selected a kang cabinet, a kang table, a long table, a chair, a cutting board, and a large box.

Shen Mu Ning was genuinely happy after selecting these items. She had thought they would all need to be made to order, and the long table met her requirements. As for the wooden frame she wanted, she would have to ask Grandpa Cao if he could make it.

Lin Siqi and Zhang Jiayang ordered the same set that Shen Mu Ning had chosen, but instead of a cutting board, they replaced the long table with a small desk.

"Grandpa, besides the ones I've picked out, I'd also like you to make me a floor-to-ceiling wooden frame to put at the end of the kang (heated brick bed).

"It can be done, but we need to take the measurements first, and it will take about a day to complete."

Lin Siqi didn't know why Shen Muning wanted a wooden frame, so she immediately asked her for advice: "What do you need this wooden frame for?"

Shen Mu Ning whispered to her, "I was thinking that there are a lot of mountain products in the Lingbei Mountains, and I want to bring back more to store. Besides, we're going to hibernate, so we need to store more food. But our house is very small and can't hold much, so I was thinking of building a wooden shelf to store things."

Lin Siqi and the other person thought it made a lot of sense. Although they wouldn't bring back a lot of mountain products, it was necessary to stock up on food for winter, so they followed suit and ordered one as well.

After selecting their items and calculating the cost, it came to 27 yuan just for Chen Mu Ning's things. This filled Aunt Cao with joy. Uncle Cao even said that he would deliver the goods to the three of them when his son and grandson returned.

Shen Mu Ning and the other three expressed their gratitude. Individually, these items were not heavy, but they couldn't take so many with them in one trip.

Shen Mu Ning and the others then went to Grandpa Li Gan's house. Grandpa Li Gan lived with his wife. Their son went to fight in the war when he was young and never came back, so the two old people lived alone.

On weekdays, his nephews and nieces help them with some heavy work, and Grandpa Li also makes a living by selling bamboo products. Apart from being a little lonely, the two old people live quite comfortably.

Shen Mu Ning bought a large bamboo basket and a small bamboo basket from Uncle Li Gan's house, and also ordered several large bamboo baskets. Once the wooden frame is finished, she can use them to store some odds and ends.

When the four returned to the educated youth settlement, the older educated youth had already finished work and were sitting in the courtyard resting and waiting for dinner.

As soon as the four of them opened the courtyard gate, they were met with eight or nine pairs of eyes staring at them.

Shen Mu Ning and the others also looked at the old educated youth sitting under the eaves. To the right were four girls, each with their own characteristics; to the left were four boys with very different styles. Chu Mingxu and Zhu Yang were nowhere to be seen; they were still cooking in the kitchen.

As the two groups stared at each other, Shen Mu Ning was considering whether to greet them and introduce herself when she saw Zhu Yang walk out of the main room.

"You guys are back. It's almost time for dinner. Come on over, let me introduce you to the old educated youth!"

Upon hearing this, the group joined the former educated youth in the dining hall and sat down. With Zhu Yang's introduction, the two groups finally got to know each other. Shen Mu Ning learned the names of the former educated youth and their hometowns from him.

These educated youths were Wei Sheng and Zhuang Xue from Hebei Province, Zhao Chuan, Wang Zhu and Hu Meiling from Shanxi Province, Zhu Yang, Xu Ji and Shi Wenju from Liaoning Province, and Ding Xiang from Sichuan Province. Chu Mingxu came from Beijing.

Shen Mu Ning thought that going to the countryside was the farthest he had ever gone, but he never expected that Ding Xiang had gone even further than him, and that she was from Sichuan Province, where she was from in her previous life.

After the introductions, the educated youth began to eat, but Zhuang Xue noticed that Zhu Yang hadn't shared any food with Shen Mu Ning. She looked at Shen with a puzzled expression: "Comrade Shen Mu Ning, aren't you eating with us?"

As she asked the question, all the old educated youth focused their attention on Shen Mu Ning. "Well, I have a big appetite, so I won't eat with everyone. I'll cook for myself."

Apart from Xu Ji and Hu Meiling, who had ulterior motives, everyone else nodded in understanding. In fact, those of them who remained at the educated youth settlement, neither integrating into the village nor returning to the city, could feed themselves on their own.

To be honest, they used to be very afraid of new educated youth coming. If the new educated youth were not good at their work and had no family support, they would not be able to get enough to eat, and the older educated youth would have to support them.

However, three of the newcomers are very qualified. Even if someone holds them back, it can only be He Xiaolan, which is much better than the situation they encountered before.

So the first meeting between the new and old educated youth was relatively harmonious, and no one caused any trouble.

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