Pan Dongshan also knew that his family was indeed short of housing. He looked at Ye Shuning and asked, "So, do you want to live in the educated youth camp?"

Ye Shuning shook her head and said, "Uncle Pan, I'm not an educated youth after all, so it's not appropriate for me to live with them. I wonder if there's any vacant house in the village that I could buy."

Pan Dongshan was surprised when he heard this and said, "You want to live alone?"

Ye Shuning nodded and said, "From now on, I will be a member of our Fengyang Village. I still hope to have my own home."

Li Shaozhong said from the side, "Uncle Pan, what Ye Shuning said makes sense. She might be ostracized if she lives with the educated youth."

Pan Dongshan understood immediately. He knew all the houses in the village well, and he said immediately, "There is one empty house in the village. It used to be the house of a hunter in the village. Later, the hunter went into the mountains to hunt and never came back, so the house became empty.

Later, it was used by educated youth to live there for a while, and when the educated youth settlement was built, the house became empty again. Although the house was old, it was still suitable for living.

When Ye Shuning heard this, her heart moved. She decided to buy the house as long as it was habitable. She immediately said, "Can we go take a look?"

Pan Dongshan said: "Come on, I'll take you to see it."

On the way, Pan Dongshan said, "The hunter built three rooms, but the house is a bit out of the way. Do you dare to live there alone?"

Ye Shuning knew the house wasn't in great condition, but she had no choice. She'd rather live in a more run-down house than with the educated youth. After all, it was her own home; she could decorate it as she pleased and live her own life without having to worry about the educated youth or the rest of the village.

She said firmly, "I'm not afraid either. I'll get a dog to keep me company and to guard the house."

Soon the three of them arrived at the hunter's house. The house wasn't too remote, just a little closer to the mountain and farther from the other residents. The nearest one was about 80 or 90 meters away.

Ye Shuning felt that this distance was better, so that it would not be easy for people to discover what she was eating at home in the future.

The three of them walked into the yard. The house had three main rooms, a front yard, and a large yard. However, since no one was there, the yard was overgrown with weeds and would take some time to clean up.

The front and back yards are surrounded by fences, but the fences are very old and need repairing in many places.

She planned to go to the mountains and find some shrubs to plant around the perimeter of the fence. Once they grew, they would block the view of others and form a green fence, both beautiful and practical. She would also plant some roses and barberry for added security.

The house was a brick-and-concrete adobe structure, the outer walls peeling quite a bit. The roof was thatched, and the paper covering the windows had holes in it. Overall, the house looked very shabby from the outside.

The house looked alright after opening the rather sturdy wooden door. The main room was in the middle, and against the east and west walls were two stoves leading to the kangs in both rooms.

There was a table on the floor of the east room, and a row of kang cabinets on the earthen kang near the east side of the room, but nothing else. There wasn't even a kang mat on the earthen kang.

The west room was even cleaner, with nothing in it except the kang, but it did seem cleaner.

After showing Li Shaozhong and Ye Shuning the house, Pan Dongshan said, "This house was renovated when the educated youth lived there, so at least it's still habitable. The house belongs to the brigade. If you want it, you can live in it first and then come back when you have money."

Ye Shuning shook her head and said, "How can I live here for free? You'd better pay first. This is the village property after all. You've already helped me a lot, but I can't let the villagers gossip about you. How much does this house cost? I'll buy it. Don't worry about the money, I have some here."

Seeing that Ye Shuning was so sensible, Pan Dongshan liked her even more. However, he would not let Ye Shuning suffer any loss. After thinking for a while, he said, "If you want to keep this house empty, you can give the village 30 yuan. I will have someone repair the roof and windows for you, and re-plaster the exterior walls.

As for the inside of the house, you can cover it with newspapers."

Li Shaozhong frowned as he looked at the dilapidated house. "Wouldn't Ye Shuning be scared living in such a remote and dilapidated house as a girl?" Besides, it didn't look very safe here.

He said beside Ye Shuning: "Isn't this house too shabby?"

Ye Shuning looked at the house. Although it was very shabby, it was within her acceptable range. "It's okay if it's a little broken. The main structure is fine. I can fix it up slowly in the future. No matter how shabby this place is, I can still have a home."

Li Shaozhong glanced at Ye Shuning deeply upon hearing this. This girl was becoming increasingly difficult to understand.

Ye Shuning gritted her teeth and turned to Pan Dongshan and said, "Uncle Pan, let's go through the paperwork today. I can do the repairs myself, but if I need help, I'll need you to find two people."

Pan Dongshan said: "That's no problem."

He also saw that Ye Shuning didn't want to trouble others, so he thought about helping her more in the future.

When Li Shaozhong saw that Ye Shuning decided to take the house, although he did not quite agree, he did not object either, because he was not in a position to interfere with Ye Shuning's decision.

Li Shaozhong thought of the thatch on the roof and said, "It's better to use tiles on the roof, otherwise it will leak easily when it rains."

Ye Shuning nodded and said, "Indeed. Uncle Pan, where can I buy tiles? I'll buy them myself."

Pan Dongshan frowned and said, "These tiles are not easy to buy. You need a permit and have to queue up. I don't know when I can get one."

Li Shaozhong took over the conversation and said, "I'll buy the tiles for you and have them delivered to you in a couple of days."

Ye Shuning didn't hesitate to answer, "Then I'll trouble you, Comrade Li. I'll give you the money first."

Li Shaozhong was worried that Ye Shuning didn't have any money, so he shook his head and said, "Let's talk about it after we buy the tiles."

It was early spring, and farm work wasn't very busy yet, so Pan Dongshan immediately took Ye Shuning to the brigade headquarters to complete the paperwork. From then on, the house became Ye Shuning's property.

Then Li Shaozhong drove Pan Dongshan to the village to complete Ye Shuning's household registration.

Ye Shuning borrowed some tools from the Pan family and started cleaning the house. She would clean the house first, as she wanted to move in as soon as possible.

Ye Shuning found a stream not far from the backyard. The water in the stream seemed to be a spring flowing down from the mountain. Ye Shuning was very happy to see this. Now she didn't have to worry about using water to wash clothes, wash vegetables, and water the vegetable garden.

Ye Shuning cleaned the room. There were few things in the room, so it was easy to clean.

Looking at the bare, empty earthen kang, Ye Shuning decided to first make a kang mat, then a kang quilt or something. She'd learned hand-weaving straw before, and had woven many small things, so weaving a kang mat was no problem. She could weave more than just a kang mat, and many other things.