Chapter Nineteen: How Much Laughter Can Be Induced
The female dormitory at the educated youth settlement had large communal sleeping platforms on both sides, with a long table in the middle for meals or meetings. In addition to these, there were two standing cupboards facing the door.
In the usually spacious dormitory, there were two very large packages on the ground, and next to them were two smaller burlap sacks. Clearly, the two large packages belonged to Shen Yuzhu.
After all, her name is written on it!
"Your family loves you very much."
Shen Yuzhu: "......."
Before she could say anything, Qiao Wangshu walked over, grabbed two sacks, and headed towards the empty bed.
Shen Yuzhu wanted to cover her face, cursing Zhou Congsheng in her heart. This man was always reliable, how could he have the nerve to hand over two such big packages to the educated youth office?
For the first time since her rebirth, she felt like she wanted to disappear into the ground.
One can imagine how ridiculous it was when the people from the Ningyang County Educated Youth Office transported this batch of luggage to the Xiangyang Production Team!
With no other option, she took out a small pair of folding scissors from her bag, unpacked the package, and carried it onto the bed piece by piece. Besides Qiao Wangshu, only Lin Wanwan came to help her.
She had barely unpacked one package before it nearly filled the entire bed. Shen Yuzhu lost her patience. If this weren't the countryside, she would have called Zhou Congsheng and given him a good scolding.
"Thank you all. Let's just leave it here for now. Wangshu, could you help me move that big package over? It's blocking everyone's way. I'll move it myself once my house is repaired."
"Don't be so polite with me, I'll help you move it later."
Shen Yuzhu smiled, took out two large apples from her bag, gave one to Lin Wanwan and the other to Qiao Wangshu.
Lin Wanwan declined for a moment, but then accepted it. She blushed and held the apple, reluctant to eat it.
Qiao Wangshu was different; she started munching on it as soon as she got it.
Shen Yuzhu tidied up her things, made the bed, and put all her food and drink items into her carry-on bag, stuffing them into her storage space when no one was looking.
Just as things were set up, the door to the room was suddenly pushed open, and two educated youths walked in hand in hand. When one of them saw Shen Yuzhu, his gaze paused for a moment, but then he smiled again, as if he didn't recognize her.
Shen Yuzhu glanced at Liang Manxiu, and seeing that she was pretending not to know her, she didn't approach her.
Qiao Wangshu pulled her along to the main group, intending to collect the rations first. They couldn't haul back several hundred kilograms of grain, so they met two male educated youths who had come with them. The four of them discussed it and each contributed one cent to find a villager to haul it back on a flatbed cart.
As soon as the grain was transported back, Shen Yuzhu saw that people from the old educated youth settlement had already come to repair the houses.
"Brother, does anyone in our production team know carpentry? I want to have two cabinets made. We're all new here, and we don't have any cabinets or anything like that. Could you give me some directions?"
Zhang Bo had only received four cents. He had a good impression of the educated youth and said with a smile, "Hey, this is nothing. Go west along the path that the main group just took. The third house from the back is owned by a carpenter named Zhang Li. You can call him Uncle Seven."
Shen Yuzhu paused, then abruptly looked up at Zhang Bo.
Who are you talking about?
“Zhang Li, I’m not as famous as Uncle Qi in Xiangyang Production Team. Whenever someone’s table or chair breaks, they go to him to fix it. You can’t go wrong with him. It’s just that he has a bad temper.”
Qiao Wangshu noticed that Shen Yuzhu was in a bad mood and pulled her aside.
"What's wrong?"
After regaining her senses, Shen Yuzhu quickly lowered her head.
"Oh, it's nothing. I just didn't hear you clearly. Do you want to get the kang cabinet? We can do it together."
"Okay, let's go together then. Should we invite Lin Wanwan? I think she's alright."
"If you think it's good, then it's fine."
Qiao Wangshu noticed that her voice sounded a little hoarse and thought it was because of the weather, making her feel unwell. Thinking about it, it made sense; it was warm in Haicheng, but it was quite cold in Heilongjiang Province in the mornings and evenings. Now that it was getting dark, the wind was making her head ache.
Shen Yuzhu lowered her head and followed the flatbed cart toward the educated youth settlement, but her heart was already churning with turmoil and resentment.
That Zhang Li is the one who harmed my sister. She was tormented by him for decades. He never gave her a kind look and would beat and scold her at the drop of a hat. Her poor children were also beaten a lot for trying to protect their mother. Thinking about the tragic death of her sister, she wished she could rush into Zhang Li's house right now.
But that won't work.
She was unfamiliar with the area and couldn't act rashly.
After having a quick bite to eat that evening, Shen Yuzhu went to bed. The next day, before she even opened her eyes, she heard loud work chants coming from the production team's loudspeaker.
"...That guy flew up to the sky!"
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
"The ground shook from the impact!"
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
"Everyone, put all your strength into it!"
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
"Let's build that new home!"
"Heave-ho! Heave-ho!"
...
Wang Liping got up, put on her clothes, called out "Get up" to everyone in the room, and then went out to wash up.
She had simply arrived a little earlier than them. Deep down, she had no intention of disciplining them. After all, she didn't want to put in the effort for nothing, and she wasn't willing to be a pushover.
Shen Yuzhu got up, dressed, and washed up before waiting at the kitchen door to collect her meal.
"Ugh~, this tastes awful! Are we going to eat this from now on?"
Wang Yanhong had only taken a sip of the wild vegetable porridge when she quickly spat it out, and Zhang Shujuan next to her also looked disgusted.
Wang Liping glanced at the two of them. They were already being fussy about having something to eat. If they were so capable, they should cook for themselves.
Qiao Wangshu picked up her chopsticks and rummaged through the lunchbox. It was wild vegetable and cornmeal porridge. Actually, she just didn't know how to make it. If she did, this stuff would smell amazing!
Heilongjiang Province is a great place; it's a place that educated youth from all over the country who want to go to the countryside are eager to come to.
In spring, you can dig for wild vegetables, and in winter, you can go up the mountain to hunt wild game. As long as you have courage, strength, and skills, you can endure hardship here.
Shen Yuzhu thought the same thing.
Lu Guangzhi is a very kind person. As long as they are not troublemakers, he and the commune members will lend a helping hand when they encounter difficulties.
After quickly eating breakfast, Shen Yuzhu washed the lunchbox, slung her small bag over her shoulder, and headed outside.
Qiao Wangshu quickly followed, and as she passed by, she slipped a pair of work gloves into her hand.
"Why are you leaving in such a hurry? I called you several times but you didn't hear me. Take this. You've only just arrived and you're already working in the fields. You definitely won't be able to handle it. This will make things much better."
"Thank you so much. You've prepared so well, it's like you're used to working in the fields all the time."
Shen Yuzhu paused for a moment after speaking, as if she had just seen a hint of sadness in Qiao Wangshu's eyes and ears.
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