Wen Qinghe didn't care about the people talking about her. People can say whatever they want, and as long as they don't cause her any real harm or say anything too outrageous, she could turn a blind eye.
"Hello! I am Wen Qinghe, and I am one of the educated youth who came today."
A pretty, tall girl walked over; she was the only one who hadn't been talked about earlier.
"Hello, Comrade Wen. My name is Tang Lingling. I've been here for a year and a half."
With her taking the lead, everyone else introduced themselves in turn.
The two girls who talked the most about her before were Zhu Lin, who had slightly yellow skin and some freckles on her face, and Chen Zhaodi, who was short and stocky. There was also an older girl named Wang Xiaomei.
Among the male educated youth, there was an older director of the educated youth compound named Zhou Zhengyi, and two others who had just been making frivolous comments about her, one named Zhang Yang and the other Zhao Liming.
There are now six female educated youth, including Wen Qinghe and Liu Meihua, and six male educated youth, including the new ones who arrived today.
Fang Ming, Yao Min, and Zhao Lele, the thin male educated youth who had accompanied them today, also returned after going to collect their rations.
The small courtyard, which housed about ten people, was quite lively at this moment. Since the newly arrived educated youth had not gone to work, they had no food rations.
The brigade leader then suggested that each of them take 20 jin of grain first, and then offset it with work points at the end of the year. Those who did not have enough work points could use cash coupons to buy more.
It's evening now, and the educated youth who went to work are tired after a long day. A few more educated youth have come, so it's a bit crowded to sleep at night.
In places where nothing else was affected, the increased number of people meant that, with division of labor and cooperation, the educated youth at the settlement could get an extra day of rest.
Originally, there were seven people: four women and three men. The male educated youth had a heavy workload, and after returning from work, they were also responsible for carrying water and chopping firewood back to the educated youth settlement. The four female educated youth were responsible for the three meals a day for the entire educated youth settlement, and they took turns cooking in pairs throughout the day.
Now that there are a few more people, the female educated youth can work one day and rest two days, which is a relief. There are also three more male educated youth, which can also lighten the burden.
Today it happened to be Zhu Lin and Chen Zhaodi's group cooking. The rations for the newly arrived educated youth were also brought over. It was just a matter of cooking more corn porridge, which wasn't too much trouble.
However, when everyone at the dinner table tacitly agreed that the newcomers Liu Meihua and Wen Qinghe would be cooking together the next day, Liu Meihua showed resistance.
"I disagree, I won't be in a group with her."
Everyone looked bewildered, not understanding what this seemingly easy-going female educated youth was up to.
Only the newly arrived male educated youth knew the truth, but considering that the pretty young educated youth was also there, they remained silent.
Although Tang Lingling didn't understand why, she thought that Wen Qinghe's gentle and weak appearance meant she probably couldn't cook.
He then took the initiative to say, "Then I'll team up with Comrade Wen."
Upon seeing this, Liu Meihua glanced at Tang Lingling, then hesitated, as if she wanted to say something but couldn't.
As long as it's not her partnering with that sickly guy, that's fine.
Wang Xiaomei had no objection; she figured she'd have to cook no matter who she partnered with.
Wen Qinghe hadn't thought about cooking, imagining that the housekeeper would be in the kitchen and could quickly bring out delicious food.
I thought cooking shouldn't be too difficult, right?
She was grateful to Tang Lingling for helping her out of this predicament, but she wondered if she would regret it when she heard how sickly Tang Lingling looked tomorrow.
She looked at the beautiful golden porridge beside her, picked up the bowl of porridge, and brought it to her mouth.
If she changes her mind tomorrow, I might consider paying the villagers to cook an extra meal for her.
"Cough cough cough... cough cough..."
Wen Qinghe clutched her chest and coughed laboriously for a long time before she recovered.
The feeling of something stuck in her throat almost made her go away.
She stared at the beautiful, golden-yellow paste in the bowl with blurry, incredulous eyes, unable to believe that it would choke her and be difficult to swallow.
Tang Lingling, standing to the side, had reddened her beautiful eyes and looked pitiful, as if she was about to shed tears.
Thinking of his younger sister at home, he felt a pang of tenderness.
He handed her his handkerchief so she could wipe her tears.
"Are you alright? This corn porridge is a bit rough on my throat. I wasn't used to it when I first arrived either. Actually, you'll find it tastes pretty good after drinking it for a while~"
"Thank you, I feel much better now..." Wen Qinghe took her handkerchief.
The men felt pity for the pretty young educated youth when they saw her delicate and frail appearance. However, they knew that even a beautiful flower in full bloom would wither quickly without nourishment in this impoverished and backward countryside.
The moment Liu Meihua heard her cough, she frowned and moved her bowl far away.
………
Wen Qinghe barely ate any dinner. She couldn't eat the thick porridge at all, except for the first sip she took because it looked nice, which made her choke.
After dinner, she took her thermos, filled it with hot water, and put it back in her room.
Then she took a small basin, prepared to take the hot water back to her room to rinse off.
When the female educated youths first learned that she wouldn't be sleeping in the dormitory with them, they were happy to have one less person to squeeze in with.
Later, when she went to fetch water, she saw that the old woodshed had been cleaned up and a small bed had been placed inside.
Who wouldn't want a private room?
It's a bit small, but at least I don't have to squeeze in with everyone else!
They all secretly regretted not acting sooner.
Only Tang Lingling didn't pay attention to these things; she noticed that Wen Qinghe didn't live with them.
He told her that she could ask him for help if she needed anything or anything else.
Seeing that she was struggling to carry the basin of water, he offered to help her carry it back to her room.
Wen Qinghe looked grateful and gave her a handful of fruit candies.
After she finished wiping herself, she changed the water again and used the hot water from the thermos to wash her hair, then changed into dry and comfortable clothes.
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