Upon seeing Jian Dan, Li Guang immediately ran over with a grin to greet him.

"Sister Jian Dan, you're back? Is Xin Xin back?"

Jian Dan paused, turned around, and looked at him.

"You came to me just to ask about Xin Xin?"

"Yes, yes," the little baby's face beamed with joy.

"Sister Jian Dan, hasn't Xin Xin come back yet?"

In the main house, Lin Zhaodi and Tan Yajun could no longer hide; they came out of the house, laughing uncontrollably.

"Dandan, just tell him. It's become an obsession. He asks about it every two days."

It's simple, but also a bit confusing.

"I'd also like to know, what do you and Xin Xin have in common? Are you two... friends despite the age gap?"

Chen Jing grabbed him and waved to Jian Dan.

"You don't need to pay attention to him, he's acting a bit strange."

Jian Dan followed Lin Zhaodi and the other person inside.

"What's going on? I was wondering why they were so happy to see me. Turns out they weren't even here for me at all?"

"Don't talk about him. Why did it take you so long to come back? Are you going to work tomorrow?"

"I should go. I'll go see the village chief to let him know I'm off in a bit."

Then they talked about the purpose of their visit today.

"Weren't there a few educated youths here? I didn't see them just now."

"Ling Weidong and the others went to the village office and were taken there to see the village chief. Look, there weren't any rooms left, so they were assigned this room."

Only then did Jian Dan notice that there were several familiar bundles placed at the side of the kang (a heated brick bed).

After Li Yan moved out, this room had been shared by Tan Yajun and Lin Zhaodi. It seems that there was simply no room left this time, since there were three people living there before and it wasn't crowded.

Tan Yajun brought over some wild berries and sat down as well.

"What's wrong? Do you know him?"

Let's start by asking a question in return.

"Who's in this room? Bai Xiaoqin?"

Lin Zhaodi thought for a moment,

"It seems so. I remember her surname is Bai. You said the two of them came together. It seems they know each other, but they just refuse to live in the same room. Tang Cui's room can accommodate two people, but the two of them wouldn't have it, so Bai Xiaoqin came to ask us."

I'm moving out in a few days, so it'll just be Ya Jun by herself. If anyone else comes, they'll have to move in too. I saw that this person seemed alright, so I agreed."

Tanya-Jun is gossiping again.

"You know him?"

"Not really," Jian said simply, without going into details, only saying that they met in the car because of something going on.

"As it turned out, when we arrived at the station, we all got off the bus and came back together in an oxcart."

It was clear that Jian Dan didn't want to say much. She nodded thoughtfully and didn't ask any further questions. Just then, the group of people who had gone to the village office returned from the courtyard. Tan Yajun glanced at them.

"The other one, what's his name, male, I don't know if it's just my imagination, but I feel like he's a bit creepy,"

"Really? I also found it strange. She wasn't speaking properly, just keeping her head down. It felt like she was terrified?"

Jian Dan thought to himself, "I'm terrified. I just don't know how scared I am, or how many days it will take for me to recover. I'm afraid that with the momentum coming from my family, I'll become even more reckless."

Thinking about it this way, I'll still offer a simple reminder.

"If you don't like it, keep your distance. It's a mess outside."

They both nodded in unison.

"We've heard that some villages not only have educated youth, but also people who were sent down to the countryside,"

“I received a letter from home saying that it’s the same back home. Not to mention serious issues, if you eat or dress a little better, or if you’re not careful with your words, you might get reported. They don’t even need any evidence; they just raid your house like a ransacking operation. They either take all the good stuff or they ruin everything.”

"It's pretty much the same everywhere. We can't let our guard down here either, lest someone find a handle against us."

"Check all your everyday belongings, books, and anything with text. If anything is unsuitable, deal with it immediately. Otherwise, things could escalate and become very complicated."

Tanya Jun and the other person looked serious.

Is it that serious?

"It's better to believe it's true. Do you know whether the people around you are human or ghosts? At least you can't leave any evidence that others can use against you."

Seeing that even the facade of family reunion was being neglected at the former youth educated youth compound, Jian Dan didn't press the matter. He said goodbye and prepared to leave.

"You guys go ahead with your work. I just got back and need to go see the village chief to cancel my leave. I'll come back in a couple of days when I'm done with my work."

The educated youth compound was cooking, and so were the villagers. Liu Weimin's family was also about to set up a table when they saw her. Wang Guihua was very welcoming.

"You're back? Come in quickly, have a bite to eat, then you won't have to cook when you go back."

"Auntie, I've really been craving your cooking, especially your sauces. I haven't had enough of them, but I can't today. I was afraid I wouldn't be able to get any, so I ordered some as soon as I got back."

Is my uncle home? I left at an inopportune time, right during the busy autumn harvest season. I can't say I was deliberately slacking off, so I came here as soon as I got back to report for duty. I'm going to work tomorrow.”

"Alright, get to work quickly, you'll get a lot less grain today."

She didn't take anything valuable; it was just a small bag of dates that she had smuggled out from a corner earlier. These are a specialty of the Northwest, but they're quite rare here.

"Auntie, you can keep it as a snack for the kids."

"By the way, where's Sister Xiu?"

After their last conversation, although they haven't seen each other much, their relationship has become much closer.

Whenever this topic comes up, Wang Guihua wants to ramble on to Jian Dan.

"She's washing up in the backyard. Tell me, ever since my sister-in-law found her that unreliable guy, and tried to introduce her to someone else, she's refused no matter what. She's getting old, so tell me, can she stay at her parents' house forever?"

That's easy to say but hard to answer. She's not older than Liu Xiu and has no experience in this area, so what can she say?

Besides, Wang Guihua clearly has a habit of complaining to anyone she can find. What can an outsider like her say?

After exchanging a few pleasantries, he quickly said goodbye and returned to Mingzhu's place. The virtuous Lin Dongfang had already prepared the meal. The two families had become closer after spending so much time together, and Jian Dan felt quite comfortable there.

While eating, they inquired about the autumn harvest.

"How many more days will it take to finish collecting them?"

"It'll be almost done, there's not much left, only three or four days. There are only scraps of corn left. The village chief said that he will arrange for a few people to go tomorrow, and the rest of you will go to harvest sorghum. There are also some sweet potatoes that haven't been harvested yet, I guess you will be assigned to harvest sweet potatoes tomorrow."

Hearing this, Jian Dan breathed a sigh of relief. To be honest, those corn leaves were a real torment. No matter how tightly she covered them, they would still scratch her every year, causing a burning pain.

"That's good, that's good. I'm not afraid of putting in the effort."

"But you've worked so hard these past month and a half, watching the house and feeding the dog, haven't you?"

Lin Dongfang didn't stand on ceremony either.

"What, are you going to treat me?"

"Of course, I have to treat you. What do you want to eat? I'll arrange it. I'll make it after I'm done with these few days."

"Can I eat meat?"