Shen Mu Ning hadn't expected that the little boy was actually from the brigade leader's family. So they followed Gu Xiao Hu to the brigade headquarters, listening to him boast along the way that he knew everything in the village, even telling them what they could exchange goods with at which households—he certainly seemed to know a lot about the brigade's affairs. He kept reminding them that if they needed help, they could ask him for assistance. Shen Mu Ning was amused by his antics. Once they arrived at the headquarters, she gave the children candy and watched them play wildly.
Shen Mu Ning and the others knocked on the door and entered the brigade headquarters, where they saw Gu Chengyi. Upon seeing them, he greeted them and invited them to sit down, saying, "Come and sit down, how come you've settled in so quickly?"
Zhang Jiayang answered Gu Chengyi first before speaking to the brigade leader, Gu Chengde: "Not yet. We just heard from Zhu Zhiqing that we can rent houses, so we wanted to ask the team leader what the rules are for renting houses."
Upon hearing this, Captain Gu Chengde smiled and quickly called Gu Chengyi to bring the accountant, Cao Hua, over. After completing the formalities, they collected the money from the three men and gave them the keys. They then weighed 40 jin of grain for each person at the granary, consisting mainly of cornmeal, buckwheat flour, and a small amount of brown rice. Only after all the formalities were completed did the four men return to the educated youth settlement.
Zhu Yang was still at the educated youth settlement. Today it was his group's turn to cook, so he decided not to go to work and stayed at the settlement to fetch water and irrigate the vegetables they had planted.
Shen Muling and Zhang Jiayang carried the grain back. Shen Muling and Zhang Jiayang seemed perfectly fine, their breathing barely changing. Lin Siqi and He Xiaolan, on the other hand, were in much worse shape; their hands were trembling as they carried the grain, and they were breathing heavily.
It was already past four o'clock, and it was almost time to cook. Zhu Yang saw that they had brought back the food, so he asked, "Do you want to cook your own meals or eat from the communal pot?"
This time, Shen Mu Ning asked first, "How do you cook in your communal kitchen?"
"There were six men and four women in our group of educated youth, and we were paired up. Except for me and another male educated youth, Chu Mingxu, who were in the same group, the others were paired up, one man and one woman. Every day, in addition to cooking, the person who cooked also had to go up the mountain to collect firewood and fetch water to irrigate vegetables."
Hearing Zhu Yang say this, they understood that girls generally cook better food, while boys have an advantage in physical strength, so their grouping was indeed very scientific.
Collecting firewood and cooking vegetables every day wasn't difficult for Shen Mu Ning, who was strong. The problem was her large appetite; she wanted to eat well, and eating with others every day would leave her hungry. Eating delicious food also attracted unwanted attention, so cooking for herself was much more convenient.
"I have a big appetite and eat a lot, so I'll cook for myself. You guys can do whatever you want."
After thinking it over, Lin Siqi decided to eat at the communal kitchen. She couldn't be as slow and sluggish as she was when she first came to the countryside in her previous life. She had to work harder and try to leave a good impression on everyone, otherwise no one would be willing to help her when she needed it.
However, she's not as efficient at work now. If she has to collect firewood and cook every day, she definitely won't be able to handle it. It's better for her to eat with everyone in the communal pot for now, and then she can cook on her own once she gets used to it.
Besides, since he had decided to live alone, He Xiaolan would basically have no chance to contact him. Eating together would give him more opportunities to interact with He Xiaolan and see if she would slip up.
As for Zhang Jiayang, all he knows how to cook is noodles. He can't stand eating noodles every day, so he also chooses to eat communal meals.
Needless to say, He Xiaolan lived in the large dormitory and naturally ate communal meals. So, the three of them ate communal meals, and Zhu Yang temporarily divided them into three groups to cook.
Having agreed on the meal arrangements, the three of them handed over their food to Zhu Yang, giving him the amount they could eat.
When cooking communal meals, after each meal, the people would hand over the grain they needed for the next meal to the cook, who would then distribute the food according to the amount they had given.
After that, the group hurriedly started packing their things. It was almost dinnertime, and they hadn't even started packing their luggage yet.
Shen Mu Ning took out her key and opened her own room. The room was about ten square meters, and you could see the whole thing at a glance. There was only a kang (a heated brick bed) and a stove inside, nothing else. They had to add other things themselves.
Shen Mu Ning borrowed a broom from the educated youth settlement to sweep the floor first, and then wiped the kang (a heated brick bed) with a damp cotton cloth. Seeing that there were still watermarks on the kang, she couldn't lay out the bedding for the time being.
After thinking about the layout of the house, she realized that she needed a kang cabinet, a floor-to-ceiling wooden cabinet for storing things, a long table, a cutting board, and other things.
So she immediately went out of the room to ask the other three if they wanted to go with her to the brigade to exchange some things.
Before she could speak, the courtyard gate was pushed open, and a tall man with sharp eyes and bright eyebrows, and a wheat-colored complexion walked in. Even though he was dressed in coarse linen clothes, his imposing presence was undeniable.
Shen Mu Ning was captivated for a moment; she finally understood what those young girls in her past life meant by "touching the heart."
As soon as Chu Mingxu entered the room, he felt a gaze fall on him. He looked up and saw a little girl he didn't recognize. She was fair-skinned and delicate, but she looked very young.
Shen Mu Ning snapped out of her daze the moment Chu Mingxu looked over. He was a handsome stranger, someone she had no connection with.
"Zhu Yang, have you watered the vegetable garden already?" Chu Mingxu was in a cooking group with Zhu Yang. Zhu Yang used to cook while he watered the vegetables, but he didn't expect Zhu Yang to have already done it all today.
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