Leaving aside the dire situation on Yang Wanqiu's side, let's just talk about the educated youth settlement. Because of Yang Wanqiu's usual behavior and the series of actions she just took, the people in the educated youth settlement spontaneously chose to stay away from her, fearing that one day they might accidentally become the target of her schemes.

After Shen Wenge carried her away, they each went back to their rooms to rest, since everyone was quite tired after a day's work.

"Shuning, is there anything you need right now? If not, could we chat for a bit?"

Today it was Fang Qing and Sun Xiaoxiao's turn to cook for the old educated youth, so Liu Shumei decided not to rush back to the old house. Instead, she wanted to ask Chen Shuning about Yang Wanqiu's character again. After all, as the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, she couldn't be as indifferent as others.

After a few days of getting to know Liu Shumei, Chen Shuning had a general understanding of her temperament. She could guess what Liu Shumei wanted to say to her. She didn't care, so she pulled Liu Shumei into the house.

Seeing his future daughter-in-law enter the house, Dong Weibing didn't rush back to the front yard. Instead, he talked to He Chaoyang while helping to put the firewood that He Chaoyang had chopped into the woodshed.

He Chaoyang also learned from Chen Shuning that Dong Weibing often helped her fetch water and do chores, and that he couldn't come here often because of his current status. It would be best if Dong Weibing could lend a hand to the girl.

So he unusually chatted enthusiastically with Dong Weibing.

Chen Shuning, who had just settled Liu Shumei into her room, witnessed this scene. While feeling happy for Liu Shumei, he also silently made a mental note of it, noting that both Liu Shumei and Dong Weibing were worthy of being friends.

Since he started cooking, Chen Shuning would occasionally make some delicious food and send it to Wang Chunni and Xu Laidi. The two of them now live alone in the renovated small warehouse, which is quite convenient.

Whenever the two of them made something good, they would send some to Chen Shuning. To be honest, Wang Chunni, as the daughter of a chef, was really good at cooking. Sometimes when Chen Shuning was feeling lazy and didn't want to cook, he would bring the ingredients to Wang Chunni to cook for him. They got along quite well, with each other doing so.

However, Liu Shumei is in a bit of a predicament. The room for female educated youth is now quite full of people, and to be honest, among all those people, Chen Shuning only thinks Liu Shumei is someone worth getting to know.

Everyone else was the type who could only take advantage and couldn't stand being taken advantage of, so after sending things to the old house twice as a token gesture, Chen Shuning stopped sending things there and instead started inviting Liu Shumei to eat at her place in private.

Chen Shuning didn't ask for anything else. First, he felt that Liu Shumei was indeed a trustworthy person. Second, as a veteran educated youth who had been sent to the countryside for many years, Liu Shumei had good relationships with people both in the educated youth settlement and in the village, which indirectly showed that Liu Shumei was a smart person.

Getting along well with such people would only bring benefits to Liu Shumei, a newcomer who was unfamiliar with the place, and there would be no harm in it. Moreover, as the person in charge of the educated youth settlement, Liu Shumei knew a lot of things.

Liu Shumei would tell Chen Shuning about anything, big or small, that happened at the educated youth settlement or in the village.

Then there's Dong Weibing, Liu Shumei's boyfriend and soon-to-be husband. He takes good care of Liu Shumei's friend. Since moving here alone, Dong Weibing has been the one fetching water for Chen Shuning's water tank.

So Chen Shuning was happy to give the couple small gifts from time to time.

That's all Chen Shuning wants. You can't say she's materialistic, that she's picky about who she makes friends with. It's just that Chen Shuning is a very insecure person. In such an unfamiliar environment, a place where even time and space are unfamiliar to her, she's just trying her best to live well.

So when Chen Shuning arrived at the outer room, she first served two bowls of milk tea to He Chaoyang and Dong Weibing, and then served two more bowls back inside.

Smiling, Chen Shuning placed a bowl of milk tea on the small kang table in front of Liu Shumei and took a big gulp. The milk tea was at the perfect temperature, and since he was a little thirsty from eating sunflower seeds, Chen Shuning didn't stand on ceremony with Liu Shumei.

It wasn't until Chen Shuning took a big gulp of milk tea and felt much better that she noticed Liu Shumei looking at her with a hesitant expression. With a touch of helplessness, she pointed to the milk tea in front of her and said, "Sister Shumei, try this. I just made it myself, and it tastes pretty good. I just gave some to Chunni and Laidi, and they both said it was delicious."

I was planning to invite you over later to try it, but unfortunately, things have gotten so noisy here, so now I don't have to go and invite you anymore.

To be honest, I really couldn't be bothered to listen to those sarcastic remarks from the old house.

Liu Shumei had just finished work and came over after hearing the commotion. She was tired and thirsty after a long day of work, and her mouth was dry from eating sunflower seeds. However, when she saw the milky aroma that she could smell from a distance, she didn't touch the bowl.

Instead, he looked at Chen Shuning with a troubled expression and said, "Shuning, you see, no matter what, Wanqiu was a fellow educated youth who went to the countryside with us. We can talk about any conflicts among ourselves, but it's not good if she is really bullied by the villagers. So, could you ask Comrade He to help take a look? After all, he is a soldier, and his words carry more weight than ours."

Chen Shuning didn't say anything after hearing this, just smiled and looked at Liu Shumei until Liu Shumei lowered her head in embarrassment.

Chen Shuning then put down the bowl in his hand, and without saying anything else, he simply explained how the two of them had gone from being best friends who grew up together to where they were today.

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