The cave dwellings have already been built, and the number is there. The newly arrived educated youth had already privately discussed who would live with whom.

Jinbo and Gaoming definitely live together; if Jinbo has furniture, it means Gaoming also has furniture.

Zhang Yao and Xue Xinrui's kiln needs to be vacated and returned to the team headquarters, so they also need to move over.

It just so happens that Lin Zhiheng is with Xue Xinrui. Xue Xinrui has all the necessary furniture, so Lin Zhiheng doesn't need to buy anything.

The female educated youths lived together for a few days, and they got to know each other's personalities.

Zhang Yao had all her belongings, so she chose to live with Zhang Kangmei.

Qin Hanshu lives alone.

There was only one female educated youth in the first batch, who happened to be paired with the remaining Zhao Ru.

However, the female educated youth had previously lived with the locals and had nothing.

Seeing that everyone had finished dividing up the timber without considering her at all, Zhao Ru couldn't help but speak up to remind them, her expression timid and aggrieved.

Ma Chaoyang and Jin Bo completely failed to grasp Zhao Ru's true intentions and were still offering suggestions on her behalf.

"What are you going to do? Why don't you do what Zhang Yao and Xue Xinrui did and go to the villagers' houses to see if they have any scrap wood?"

"But you'd better hurry, I heard it's quite difficult to gather enough."

“But I’m not used to asking for favors, especially from strangers…” Zhao Ru looked at Qin Hanshu, wanting to ask him to make fewer pieces of furniture and give her some wood, but when she met his cold, all-seeing gaze, she didn’t say anything.

He then turned to Ma Chaoyang and Jin Bo, saying, "I don't need much, just a table and a chair. Or could you make them smaller to save me some wood?"

Make it smaller? The original plan wasn't big, how much smaller can it be?

Ma Chaoyang and Jin Bo exchanged a glance and decided to refuse Zhao Ru's request.

To avoid Zhao Ru saying anything more, Jin Bo quickly said to Qin Hanshu, "I'll make it for you first. Let's go to your cave dwelling now to take the dimensions! After we're done, I'll go ask the carpenter in the team to borrow some tools."

Qin Hanshu: "Let's go."

Watching Jin Bo and Qin Hanshu walk away, Zhao Ru could only look pitifully at Ma Chaoyang.

Ma Chaoyang didn't know how to refuse again. He glanced at Zhang Kangmei passing by and quickly followed, saying, "Zhang Kangmei, wait a minute, I have something to tell you..."

Seeing how indifferent everyone was to her, Zhao Ru couldn't help but feel that her life was miserable. Her nose tingled, and tears slowly welled up in her eyes.

***

Although the furniture wasn't finished yet, the educated youth couldn't wait to tidy up their new cave dwellings, set up the kang (heated brick bed), and go there to sleep at night, returning to the team headquarters for meals.

The first group of educated youth who had stayed at the homes of local villagers gradually moved into the dormitories.

The eight-hole cave dwelling instantly became lively.

Qin Hanshu lived in the easternmost room, next to a small earthen slope. From the slope was a loess mound, which was relatively high, and from there you could see most of the village.

The small slope was overgrown with weeds, and there was a wild jujube tree. The jujube tree bore jujubes, but they weren't ripe yet. It's said that they can only be eaten after the first frost, and they'll be very sweet.

When the workers were building the cave dwellings, they dug a drainage ditch that circled the courtyard in front of the cave dwellings. Qin Hanshu's cave dwelling was on the very edge, right next to the ditch.

She chose to plant the trees next to the ditch, so that once they grew, they could partially block the view of the sewage ditch.

The tree species chosen is paulownia, a small tree about half a meter tall that was transplanted from the hillside. It is said that if it survives, it will grow to at least two meters next year.

Qin Hanshu secretly watered the tree with the spring water from her space. After one night, the tree, which had been drooping, immediately perked up.

The courtyard is for public use, but Qin Hanshu has already applied to the team to cultivate a vegetable garden in front of her cave dwelling.

The team gave her all the vegetable seeds and even lent her a hoe.

The production brigade has always been very supportive of the hardworking and positive attitude of the educated youth – the paulownia tree was transplanted with the brigade's permission and assistance.

So, after planting the trees, Qin Hanshu stopped working and started digging the ground.

The soil in the courtyard was very hard, and although she could dig it, her movements were clearly not very skilled.

When a clod of dirt accidentally bounced onto Zhang Kangmei, who was passing by, she predictably launched into a sarcastic remark.

"You've been working in the countryside for over twenty days now, and you can't even dig a field. Have you even bothered to learn agricultural techniques? Tsk, looking at your delicate, fair-skinned appearance, I can tell you haven't been putting your heart into the work and have only been thinking about shirking your duties, haven't you?"

More than twenty days of working under the scorching sun was enough to darken everyone's skin several shades. Even Zhang Yao, who is naturally fair-skinned, had a red face every day and said that she would only regain her fair complexion in winter.

Only Qin Hanshu, nourished by the spring water in her space, not only didn't become dark or rough, but actually became even fairer and more delicate than when she first came to the countryside.

"I said, Comrade Zhang Kangmei..." Qin Hanshu stopped what she was doing and looked at Zhang Kangmei. But before she could finish speaking, Zhang Kangmei walked up to her and snatched the hoe from her hand.

"I'll teach you, so learn carefully!" With that, Zhang Kangmei picked up a hoe and started turning over the soil, patiently explaining things to Qin Hanshu.

“You’re holding the hoe at the wrong angle, no wonder the soil is crumbling. Working is about using the right technique, not brute force like you are… This soil has no nutrients, you need to turn it deeper… After you plant the vegetables, don’t water them, go to the village’s manure pit and fetch manure to water them.”

Qin Hanshu's lips twitched, indicating her refusal.

"The excrement in the cesspool is collective property, and I can't just pick it out whenever I want."

“That’s true,” Zhang Kangmei paused, “Then let’s use our own! From today onwards, we’ll stop sending the manure from our educated youth settlement to the cesspool; we’ll compost it ourselves for our own use.”

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