Li Yuanzhao is a very sensible person. She hid today because Dong Mingming takes everything for granted, which is unacceptable. She wants to teach Dong Mingming and Gao Weijie a lesson.
If you want to point fingers at others without lifting a finger yourself, you're dreaming.
Li Yuanzhao: "I'll just stay at your house for a day. I'm not Jiang Xiaoxiao, that's your sister, right?" She ate two meals without having to wash the dishes. Li Yuanzhao left happily.
Li Yuanzhao was surprised to find Shen Hanyang, Pan Bo, Dong Mingming, and Gao Weijie all standing in the courtyard when she returned.
Li Yuanzhao: "Why don't you come inside?"
Shen Hanyang looked at Li Yuanzhao as if he had a thousand words to say, "That's about enough, let's go inside!"
Before she even entered the house, Li Yuanzhao knew what was going on as soon as she got closer.
There was a burnt, smoky smell. "The rice's burnt! But why does it smell so strongly of smoke?"
Gao Weijie was very angry. "I was planning to cook some corn porridge. I needed to go to the toilet halfway through, so I asked Dong Mingming to watch the pot. But she fell asleep. When I came back, it was a complete mess."
"And the smell of smoke?" Li Yuanzhao wondered.
Pan Bo added, "In his haste, Gao Weijie pulled the burning wood out of the stove..."
The entire outer room was billowing smoke, and everything was covered in a layer of ash. The kitchen, which was clean this morning, was now a complete mess.
Dong Mingming was still a little indignant. "Was I really that tired? I just fell asleep. You can blame me for the burnt food, but what about all this cigarette smoke?"
Li Yuanzhao suddenly remembered Song Yan's comment about Dong Mingming: "This person is quite eccentric."
"Am I blaming you? A woman is waiting for me, and a man is cooking for you. Who am I to you? Did I even know you before? You ate lunch and didn't even wash the dishes. I must be bored. My parents haven't even eaten my cooking yet." Gao Weijie was truly furious. Corn porridge wasn't very filling, but at least there was food! Now there was nothing left.
The educated youth kept all their belongings together, each using their own things. Shen Hanyang discovered that his pickle jar had been moved. The lid had been opened and not put back on.
Shen Hanyang: "Who touched my pickled vegetables?"
Gao Weijie: "I didn't move!"
Dong Mingming said softly, "It was me. At noon, it was just corn porridge. I couldn't eat it."
"What kind of behavior is it to take without asking? Don't you know? After you finished eating, you didn't even put the lid back on for me. All this dust got inside." Shen Hanyang was furious.
"I forgot. I didn't do it on purpose. It's just some pickled vegetables. Why are you making such a fuss?" Dong Mingming's voice wasn't loud, but she showed no remorse whatsoever.
"Yes, it's just some pickled vegetables. The pickling jar cost money, right? Salt cost money too, right? Pickling vegetables takes time, doesn't it? Now the jar is dirty with dust. Dong Mingming, you should compensate Shen Hanyang! And Hanyang, are you planning to report her for theft?" Li Yuanzhao said coldly. Her original plan was to teach this girl a lesson and make her learn to work properly. But look at her attitude! The pickling jar was dusty; it was a waste to throw it away, but eating it would be disgusting.
Li Yuanzhao was also angry.
Shen Hanyang's pickled vegetables are delicious and clean. Li Yuanzhao felt a pang of regret. She had helped with the pickling process. Li Yuanzhao had also eaten some; now, should she eat them or not?
"You want me to pay for this little bit of pickled vegetables? And you want to report me! Is it worth stealing pickled vegetables? Are you just bullying newcomers like this?" Dong Mingming's tears fell one after another, as if she had suffered a great injustice.
If we're talking about who was the cleanest among the educated youth, it would be Song Yan and Shen Hanyang. Regardless of Song Yan's past work habits, cleanliness was always his top priority. Shen Hanyang, on the other hand, insisted on keeping everything spotless. Take the pickling jars, for example; she'd polish them to a shine. She definitely wouldn't eat pickled vegetables that had gotten dusty.
Shen Hanyang: "Let's go to the brigade leader's place! Is taking things without asking the brigade leader considered stealing? This jar of pickled vegetables is dirty, shouldn't we pay for it?"
Seeing that Shen Hanyang was really going to find the captain, Dong Mingming panicked a little. "Aren't you bullying me? I haven't eaten yet!"
Is this person hopeless? They have hands and feet; how can they blame others for not having food? Can't they even apologize?
Shen Hanyang is a woman of few words and rather aloof. If she gets truly angry, no one can stop her. She really is going to find the brigade leader.
Only after Shen Hanyang left the courtyard did Dong Mingming become frightened. "I was wrong, I'll pay you back, okay?" Dong Mingming clung to Shen Hanyang, refusing to let go.
The matter ended with Dong Mingming paying two yuan in compensation. She was given the pickled vegetable jar.
Even if we lose money, we still have to solve the problem of eating.
Gao Weijie was much more sensible than Dong Mingming. "Comrade Li, Comrade Shen, I'm 18 years old this year. You're older than me, right? I have to call you 'sisters'. I really don't know how to cook. Please teach me. I've only had one bowl of porridge since this morning. I'm so hungry I can't stand it anymore."
Li Yuanzhao and Shen Hanyang genuinely had no intention of bullying the new educated youth. Gao Weijie's words seemed sincere enough, so the two of them decided to lend a hand.
Li Yuanzhao: "Clean out the pot first, and start a fire."
Gao Weijie obediently did as he was told. After he finished doing all that, he took out flour and cornmeal.
Dong Mingming, that oddball, actually went inside and didn't come out.
Pan Bo couldn't stand it any longer and knocked on the door. "If you don't bring out some food, what are you going to eat tonight?"
The cooking at the educated youth settlement was all done by the female educated youth. If Pan Bo hadn't been worried that Dong Mingming wouldn't have anything to eat and that if she continued to cause trouble, it would be Shen Hanyang who wouldn't have peace and quiet, he definitely wouldn't have said a word and would have gone back to the male educated youth's area to rest.
"Here you go!" Dong Mingming handed a bowl of cornmeal to Shen Hanyang.
"Don't you have hands? I'm not your maid." Li Yuanzhao was furious.
"We're all former educated youth, you can help him but not me? Aren't you bullying me?" Dong Mingming really doesn't know what's good for her.
Everyone felt that it was a case of a scholar encountering a soldier—he couldn't reason with him.
"I'm learning how to cook, I'm starting a fire, what are you doing?" Gao Weijie was really afraid that Dong Mingming would drive him away, and then no one would teach him how to cook, and he wouldn't have any food to eat tonight.
Li Yuanzhao suppressed her anger. If the two educated youths really went hungry and suffered serious illnesses, it would be the educated youths who would lose face.
"Pan Bo, you help start the fire. Gao Weijie, wash your hands and do it yourself," Li Yuanzhao said.
Li Yuanzhao was teaching Gao Weijie how to make multigrain steamed buns little by little.
Dong Mingming wanted to stand there and endure it, but then she realized no one was going to help her. So she took matters into her own hands. As for what happened afterward, nobody knows; everyone went inside.
Li Yuanzhao and Shen Hanyang were now feeling even more worried than about the work itself. How were they going to manage with someone like this here?
Who can take care of her every day?
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