Unable to persuade Jiang Meihong, Tong Jiaojiao then asked Du Xiaoyue, "Xiaoyue, what about you? Can you stand it here?"
Du Xiaoyue shook her head; she didn't want to spend unnecessary money.
Tong Jiaojiao could only ask Lin Qingyan again: "Qingyan, you said you're sick, you might cough at any moment, don't disturb them, let's go out together."
Lin Qingyan waved her hand at her: "I coughed less all night than you yelled. I think it's fine here, I'm not leaving."
Not only did she not want to live with Tong Jiaojiao, that troublesome girl, but she also knew her own limitations. Even with the help of her personal space, she was still a weakling. Until she had absolute self-protection, she had to stay put in the educated youth settlement.
Tong Jiaojiao didn't care that no one was with her.
"Fine, if you don't want to move out, I'll move out myself."
Everyone knows these poor people just can't afford to spend money on rent.
In about half an hour, it would be time to start work. The older educated youth didn't need to sleep anymore; they all got up with dark circles under their eyes, washed up, and went out.
After a while, Song Qingfang also ran back. She was a little embarrassed and consciously kept her distance from the three female educated youths. She put on her clothes and left.
Because the former educated youth had to go to work today, Du Xiaoyue and Lin Qingyan were asked to cook.
The two women lay down for a while and then got up. The older educated youths were supposed to come back for breakfast at eight o'clock, so they had to prepare the food before eight o'clock.
Before leaving, Chen Lu had already told them what to cook. They picked a few cucumbers from the vegetable garden. Breakfast was still corn porridge, and the dish was cucumber salad.
When cooking, Du Xiaoyue took good care of Lin Qingyan.
"Qingyan, you're not feeling well, so you only need to keep the fire going. I'll take care of the rest."
Are you sure you can do it?
“Why not? When I’m at home, my parents are too busy with work, so I have to take care of my four younger siblings. I do all the chores around the house, big and small. I’m very quick and efficient.”
“Alright then.” Lin Qingyan didn’t stand on ceremony with her. “If you can’t handle it, I’ll do it.”
Du Xiaoyue put the water for cooking into the pot, and Lin Qingyan lit the fire. While the fire was burning, she peeled a few cloves of garlic, crushed them, and used them to mix with cucumbers.
Half an hour later, they had finished cooking the meal. Just then, the older educated youth finished their work and everyone started eating.
Tong Jiaojiao went out to look for a house early in the morning. She didn't look blindly, but went to find the brigade leader first. The brigade leader was in the field. She searched for a long time before she finally caught sight of him.
He told the brigade leader that he wanted to move out of the educated youth settlement.
The brigade leader then took her to look for other houses, but either the family members had already taken them back, or the houses belonged to old bachelors; there wasn't a suitable one.
The brigade leader looked at the two dilapidated mud-brick houses at the north end of the village that had no roofs and said, "If you don't mind, you can repair those two houses and live there. However, even if they are old houses, you have occupied the homestead and the frame of the house, so you will have to pay rent every month. It won't be as much as a new house. You will only have to pay one yuan a month. If it were a new house, it would cost two or three yuan."
Tong Jiaojiao immediately agreed when she thought about being able to live in the house however she wanted.
"Okay, Captain."
"However, if you stop living here in the future, you must return it to the brigade. You cannot sell it privately or sublet it."
"Okay, I agree."
"Okay, I'll find you a bricklayer. The fields aren't too busy right now, so we can fix it anytime."
"Let's not delay, let's do it today."
"Okay, I'll go find a bricklayer."
Tong Jiaojiao didn't know that building a house required supervision. After seeing that the brigade leader had arranged everyone, she returned to the educated youth settlement.
Because she had to go to work the next day, she asked Jiang Meihong to go sightseeing in the county town together.
Du Xiaoyue also wanted to go to the county town to buy some things, so she asked Lin Qingyan if she wanted to go.
Lin Qingyan didn't sleep well last night. What she needs most is rest. Rather than wandering around, she would rather stay at the educated youth settlement and sleep.
"Xiaoyue, I have everything I need, but I feel so tired and want to rest. I probably won't be able to stay with you."
Du Xiaoyue knew about Lin Qingyan's situation: "It's okay, you rest. I'll go with Tong Zhiqing and Jiang Zhiqing."
After they all left, Lin Qingyan was the only one left in the dormitory.
The older educated youth had just gone to the fields. After closing the dormitory doors and drawing the curtains, she slipped into the space.
After taking several deep breaths of spiritual energy, I immediately felt much more comfortable.
We walked under the grape trellis and picked and ate grapes as we went.
It would be even better if a swing could be hung under the grape trellis.
After staying in the space for several tens of minutes, fearing that the other educated youth might suddenly have something to do and come back, she left the space, opened all the doors, and then lay down on the kang (a heated brick bed). Without being disturbed, she fell asleep soon after.
When she woke up, Du Xiaoyue and the other two had already returned.
Feeling refreshed after waking up, and seeing that it was almost noon, I went to cook with Du Xiaoyue.
In the afternoon, the veteran educated youth continued to work, while the new educated youth rested in their dormitories.
When they felt bored, they would sit under the jujube tree in the yard to cool off.
As soon as Lin Qingyan stepped outside, she saw Yi Zhiheng returning with water. The child looked the same as before, and as soon as their eyes met, he immediately looked away.
After that, he never looked at her again.
Tong Jiaojiao's house was repaired in just one day, but she would have to wait two or three days for the mud to dry before she could move in.
That night, in order to reduce the number of times she screamed, Chen Lu took the initiative to switch sleeping positions with her.
The next day, the new educated youth also had to go to work in the fields.
Lin Qingyan specially wore a long-sleeved shirt, her straw hat, cloth shoes, and work gloves, and also brought her handbag.
She asked Du Xiaoyue, and when she learned that the other party didn't have any work gloves, she gave them a pair.
The brigade was divided into six teams, and six new educated youths arrived.
When the six of them stood in front of the six squad leaders, all six squad leaders' eyes were fixed on Lin Qingyan, who was the thinnest and most frail.
They all gave each other disgusted looks.
She's a female educated youth, and she's a frail-looking one at that. What can she possibly do?
No matter which squad you're assigned to, you'll always be a burden to that squad.
The squad leaders looked at each other, and the captain seemed to see their concerns and shook his head.
The brigade always assigned the educated youth to different teams by drawing lots. The team leaders sighed inwardly, wondering if they could avoid drawing Lin Qingyan's team.
All six squad leaders were cautious, hoping in their hearts that they wouldn't draw Lin Qingyan. In the end, only the leader of the sixth squad looked gloomy and wiped his face.
But he didn't complain. He just walked up to Lin Qingyan and told her, "Little girl, you'll be a member of our sixth squad from now on. I'm the squad leader."
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