Anyway, not long after the two returned to the educated youth compound, Liu Guangming came over with a cart, bringing over the kang mat and cabinet that Mingzhu had ordered. Wang Hongmei and Chen Hongli pursed their lips again. Jian Dan was there, so she didn't dare to say anything, but she was quite angry.

Going to the countryside is a national policy, but it's like setting up a new home in the place you're sent to. Not to mention big items, you need to have all the little things in life, like firewood, rice, oil, salt, and other necessities, right?

However, apart from the house, everything else is not free; everyone knows that.

However, to put it bluntly, not every family has the ability to afford a second set of household items. And among these families, the vast majority, regardless of their ability, simply don't have the mindset or the willingness to part with their children who have already gone to the countryside. So let them rely on themselves.

As a result, many people were kicked out in this way.

Of course, no parent would openly express such thoughts. Wang Hongmei was like that, and Tang Cui was similar. Before going to the countryside, they made all the right promises, but in the end, reality slapped them in the face.

Thinking of the crumpled letter in her pocket, and looking at the brand-new box and the bright smiling face opposite her, Tang Cui clenched her fingers tightly.

Humans are afraid of comparison.

Jealousy can distort a person beyond recognition.

The former educated youth compound is now firmly divided into three factions. Yesterday's gathering of educated youth left Wang Jiancheng with lingering fears. Even knowing that new educated youth had arrived today, he avoided eye contact and refused to give Li Yan a direct answer.

Li Yan curled her lip, did she really think she was craving that little bit of food?

"Wang, it seems that people are not very welcoming to the revolutionary comrades who have come to the countryside, but as veteran educated youth, we still have great enthusiasm for our revolutionary comrades."

"Wang, this isn't us trying to undermine collective unity. We warmly welcome the new educated youth joining our revolutionary ranks. In that case, tonight, we veteran educated youth will welcome the new educated youth separately."

We're just telling you that we're going to eat something delicious and we're not taking you guys with us; you asked for it.

Wang Jiancheng wanted to say something, but he had neither people nor resources, and as the person in charge, he lacked authority. The older educated youth were well-behaved, but they were exclusive, and he couldn't get any new educated youth, let alone the person in charge.

The two groups of new educated youths are fighting like cockfighting cocks. They've only been here two days, and they've already had several fights.

Smelling the delicious aroma wafting from the old educated youth's place, Wang Jiancheng sighed. Now he understood why Chen Jianguo had been so eager to throw it at him back then. This was no human job! He wondered how the old educated youth had so many good things.

After helping Mingzhu set up the cabinet, Li Yan came over to call for dinner. It was their first meeting, and Mingzhu rummaged through her luggage, looking embarrassed. She had left in a hurry, and all she had left was that bag of pastries, which she had already taken to the carpenter's house. Now that she was empty-handed, she felt even more awkward.

Fortunately, this situation soon disappeared.

Inside the main room, a table was set up, and Lin Dongfang came in looking dejected. Li Yan and the others exchanged glances, their lips pursed in a smile.

"Go wash your hands and eat. A new educated youth has arrived today. There's meat, just for the few of us."

Lin Dongfang was stunned for a moment, but didn't think much of it. He turned around and went out to tidy himself up.

He had just left when Jian Dan and Mingzhu came in. Tan Yajun joked,

"What bad luck! He went out and you came in, and you didn't run into each other?"

Mingzhu was completely bewildered. She simply peeked out and took a look.

"It's getting dark outside. We came from under the eaves, which is in the opposite direction from him."

The group sat down side by side. Mingzhu sat next to Jian Dan, and on the other side, well, there was an empty chair. Next to her was Chen Jianguo, the only other man. Mingzhu looked around and, seeing that no one seemed to be surprised, wondered if she was overthinking things. Then, someone sat down next to her.

She glanced at him and saw that he was a man, but Mingzhu was too embarrassed to look up and didn't look closely before lowering her head to eat.

Lin Dongfang wasn't in a good mood and didn't notice that Chen Jianguo was giving him repeated winks, but he didn't pay attention. Chen Jianguo couldn't help but sigh, "Brother, you're really something!"

Dinner was later than usual tonight, and Li Yan said this as soon as it was served.

"Nothing is bigger than our stomachs, let's eat first, we can talk about anything else after we finish eating."

So the meal was spent in complete silence.

Although the atmosphere was a bit strange, Li Yan and the others, who were secretly eager to see what would happen, remained relatively calm.

"Cough cough,"

After dinner, Li Yan started acting silly, mainly wanting to see Lin Dongfang change his expression.

"Well, now that we've had our fill of food and drink, let's introduce the new educated youth who joined us today."

We've met over the past few afternoons and introduced ourselves. Lin, you're the only one left.

Lin Dongfang was still preoccupied with the unpleasant phone call at the commune. Upon hearing this, he politely looked up briefly, then quickly looked away.

"Hello, I am Lin Dongfang, and I was in the previous batch of educated youth."

Chen Jianguo wanted to break his head off. He knew the man wasn't interested in women, but wasn't this perfunctory attitude a bit excessive?

Who will regret it?

He was in low spirits, and his voice was a little weak. In any case, to Mingzhu's ears, everything except the familiar name sounded strange, so she didn't pay much attention.

"Hello, I'm a new educated youth. My name is Mingzhu. I hope we can become friends and make progress together."

The whole table of people just stared at them, but these two didn't react at all?

They looked at each other, puzzled.

Did they make a mistake?

The group of onlookers remained seated and didn't move. Lin Dongfang didn't think much of it and, following his daily routine, cleared the dishes and headed to the kitchen.

Since it was Mingzhu's first day there, she couldn't just sit there idly. She got up to tidy up the table, carrying two plates behind her. After walking a few steps, Lin Dongfang suddenly stopped, and Mingzhu bumped straight into him.

Fortunately, although Lin Dongfang was distracted, his body's instincts were still intact. He put the bowl and chopsticks in his left hand, turned around and used his right hand to pick up the two plates that were about to fall. At the same time, he also used his right arm to support the pearl that was about to fall, and took a few steps back without making a sound. His right arm was stretched straight out, as if afraid of being stuck to someone.

A group of audience members stared wide-eyed. Was this an added scene?

But Lin Dongfang, isn't your arm a bit too much?

Are you trying to distance yourself from people?

Fortunately, Mingzhu had the same idea. As soon as she could regain her footing, she let go, stepped back, and quickly apologized.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't notice you stopped. Um, did you spill some soup on your clothes?"

"Um, why don't you take it off and I'll wash it for you?"

Lin Dongfang also felt the damp, soft sensation behind his lower back, and thinking about the unpleasant day, he felt inexplicably irritable.

"No need to dry it, I can wash it myself."

As I casually looked up after pulling my arm back, I froze on the spot.