Chapter 74: Contradictions Emerge
They brought them to the educated youth site. Wang Jianmao and Liu Changqing had gone to work and were not there at the moment. The door was locked. Several male educated youth put their things there and planned to walk around and take a look. They called out to Lu Dongping, "Secretary Lu, where is the work site today? Can we go take a look first?"
"Want to take a look? Sure, over there, do you see it? Follow the path to the foot of the mountain and you will see the road. Go up along the road, and you will see people working over there." He did not intend to lead the way. Today, there were people repairing dams and canals, turning over the fields, and carrying manure. He could see human figures from a long distance where he pointed, so there was no need for a guide.
Xu Qingming stood there without moving, so Huang Wancheng called out to him, "Comrade Xu Qingming, aren't you going?"
Xu Qingming didn't want to go, but he had just arrived and couldn't be so unsociable, so he nodded and said, "Go, let's go together." After that, he glanced at Wen Wan and left.
The remaining few female educated youth had already entered the house and were looking at the large bunk bed against the wall, discussing how to make the bed.
Lu Dongping called out to Wen Wan, "Are you going over there or not?"
Wen Wan definitely couldn't go over there at this moment, so she called out to Lu Dongping: "Wait for me."
As he said that, he walked into the room, pulled out the large backpack that was full of things on the bedside, rummaged through it, simply kept a few things he needed, and then moved everything out: "Please help me take it to your side first, and I can get it when I need it."
Lu Dongping nodded: "Then I'll take it home and put it in my room over there. When you're done, come over early." After a pause, he said: "Call your seventh brother to come along."
Wen Wan agreed.
Only then did he put on his large work cloth backpack and walked away carrying his original snakeskin bag.
Wen Wan turned around and went into the house. Two of the three female educated youth had already started making their beds. Wen Wan wanted to tell them to get some wheat straw to dry in the sun so it would be warmer, but before she could open her mouth, the female educated youth named Deng Hongjuan spoke up, "Well, Wen Wan, I want to discuss something with you!"
Wen Wan looked at her in confusion. They had just met and weren't familiar with each other. Did she have something to discuss right away? She didn't respond.
Seeing that she didn't respond, Deng Hongjuan could only continue to talk to herself: "You sleep over there alone. Can we switch? I'm not used to sleeping with others." The three of them were not from the same place and were not familiar with each other. Sleeping together, although not covering the same quilt, still felt strange.
Wen Wan said, "I'm sorry, I can't, because I'm not used to sleeping with others." If she was used to it, why would she give up the big bed so early? Now it seems that it was a very wise move.
Deng Hongjuan didn't achieve her goal, and she was a little unhappy but also unwilling to give up: "Can you help me? I just got here."
"I'm only two months ahead of you."
After saying that, he thought for a moment and said, "It's not that I don't want to help, I'm used to my bed. It took me two months to get used to it, so I really can't change it. Besides, this bed was made by my partner, so there's no way I'm going to change it with you."
There was really nothing more to say after hearing this, and Deng Hongjuan could only start to make the bed with a sullen face.
There was a large bunk bed against the wall. Wen Wan had only used half of it when she was alone, and the other half was not full even for pockets or something. Now, it was just right for three people to spread out three mattresses.
Wen Wan also tidied her bed and asked Lu Dongping to take the big bag away. She also placed two small bags on the bedside, one containing shampoo and other daily necessities, and the other containing opened malted milk and milk powder, as well as biscuits and candies. As for the money and bills, she had packed them up early in the morning and they must not be left lying around.
If Xu Qingming hadn't come, she would have gone directly to Lu's house. She was really not used to having three more people in the house.
After sitting on the bed for a while, Zhang Yun and Xu Wenfang made it up. They poked and prodded each other, and finally, the older Zhang Yun spoke first. "Comrade Wen Wan, you came here two months earlier than us, so you must be more familiar with the situation. Could you give us a general idea of the situation here? We're new here, and we're completely in the dark."
Wen Wan thought for a moment and said, "I don't know what to say. There's not much work right now. The men on the team are all plowing, digging ditches, and digging manure. The women are either following behind and breaking up clods of earth, or picking pig grass to exchange for work points at the pig farm. There's not much work in the fields right now. They said the real work won't start until two days later."
"What time do we start work?"
Wen Wan also didn't know the exact time: "In this weather, we have to eat breakfast and go to work. We should get up at daybreak to cook breakfast, and it will be bright after we eat. There is a warehouse next to the educated youth site. The members have to go to the warehouse to get farm tools in the morning, so you can tell at a glance."
Xu Wenfang asked again: "Well, we live here, what about food? How do we prepare meals?"
"Well, you'll have to ask the captain about this. I came here in the winter of the previous year. Their team distributed rations at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. I just arrived and there was no rations. You're coming now, I don't know if there are any, you'll have to ask the captain. If there isn't, you'll have to borrow money. There's a shed next to it, which is the kitchen. Before cooking, people took turns to cook. When everyone comes back later, you can ask Comrade Liu Changqing and Comrade Wang Jianmao."
"Well, could you show us around here?"
Wen Wan smiled and refused: "You guys can just walk around here. Their things are still outside. We have to keep some people here."
After saying that, she remembered, got up, went outside, brought Xu Qingming's things in and placed them next to her bed.
Deng Hongjuan didn't say a word the whole time, but now she turned her head and looked at him: "What are you so proud of? You've fallen into depravity. What's so proud about dating a country bumpkin?"
Wen Wan stepped into the room carrying her things, looked at her twice, and said nothing.
Zhang Yun called out to Deng Hongjuan, "We want to go for a walk nearby. Do you want to come?"
Deng Hongjuan shook her head: "No, I want to sleep for a while. I've been on the crowded train for so long, I'm exhausted."
"Okay, let's go then!"
Xu Wenfang and Zhang Yun put their things away, said goodbye, and left. They were tired, but being in a new place, curiosity trumped everything else. Everything seemed new to them, so they naturally wanted to explore.
Only Wen Wan and Deng Hongjuan were left in the room.
Wen Wan thought that because the bed-changing incident was not pleasant, the other party would not talk to her anymore. She had nothing to do, so she took out the wool. She had finished knitting the gloves, and the gray and black yarn was almost used up. She couldn't mess around with the remaining blue-gray yarn anymore. She had to at least knit a complete sweater first.
I had just started and hadn't knitted a few stitches when I picked it up and my hands started moving non-stop.
The room was quiet. Deng Hongjuan said she was very tired, but she couldn't fall asleep even after crawling under the covers. Perhaps it was because she had been on the train for so long, she felt like she was still on the train, swaying around.
She got up again and looked over at Wen Wan sitting on the bed knitting. She sat there with her back straight, making people feel so tired just looking at her.
"Hey, you've only been here for two or three months, and you're already getting along with the people here?"
Wen Wan nodded without raising her head.
Deng Hongjuan sneered, her disdain evident in her words.
Wen Wan ignored her, but felt very annoyed.
It's only the first day, and she's already annoyed. Who knows how much more trouble there will be in the future!
Deng Hongjuan didn't get a response, and she couldn't talk to herself, so she felt particularly bored. She looked at Wen Wan a few times, curled her lips, changed her position and lay down.
She came from a wealthy family, so she was inevitably a bit spoiled. As the youngest, her older siblings always gave in to her, so when she first arrived, she wanted to swap beds with Wen Wan, never expecting her to refuse. But everyone was spoiled by their parents growing up, so why should she spoil others?
Being rejected is destined to make the relationship between two people unhappy.
Not long after, voices were heard outside. Liu Changqing and the others had returned, and Xu Qingming had followed them. They probably had gotten to know each other on the way, and the men were getting along quite well for the time being.
Liu Changqing opened the door and showed them: "It's no problem to squeeze two more people on the bed, but it's definitely not enough. You have to go find the captain and find a solution."
Zhou Guoping and Li Hongtao were not polite and took up the place without hesitation with their bedding rolls. Xu Qingming looked around and saw that his things were not outside. He guessed that Wen Wan had taken them away, so he just stood there without moving.
"Okay, then I'll go ask how to do it later." By the way, the food problem was also solved.
"Seventh Brother!" Wen Wan called him.
Xu Qingming turned and walked towards her: "Come on, take me and Huang Wancheng to find the captain and find a way to set up the bed. Otherwise, where will I stay at night?"
Wen Wan nodded: "Okay, let's go and ask before dawn." After that, she walked towards the Lu family. Huang Wancheng followed Xu Qingming. She originally wanted to briefly tell Xu Qingming about what happened with Lu Dongping, but now with this person there, she couldn't say anything.
It was just a coincidence that I met Lu Dongping just halfway through my journey.
Lu Dongping came here specifically to call people.
Calling Wen Wan and Xu Qingming.
Someone came to Wen Wan's house, and it was an educated youth who was sent here. Naturally, he had to tell his family.
Gao Xiulan happened to be at the door. Without waiting for Lu Mingjiang and his wife to say anything, she slapped her thigh and told him to quickly call the people home for dinner.
Since they have come from so far away, how can we not seize the opportunity and build a good relationship with them?
This brother is crucial to the success or failure of this.
After Lu Mingjiang and his wife thought about it, they realized that this was exactly the case. They urged him to go to the educated youth site as soon as possible to talk to Wen Wan first and see how the matter between the two of them should be explained.
Halfway through the journey, I met Wen Wan and the other three.
"What a coincidence! I was just about to call you."
Wen Wan pointed at Xu Qingming and Huang Wancheng and said, "Over at the educated youth camp, the room they live in is too crowded to fit in the beds. I'll take them to see Uncle Minghai to ask what to do."
"The warehouse should be open now, right?" Lu Dongping looked at the sky. The sun had just set and it was time to get off work, so it should be open.
Wen Wan nodded: "It's open. When I came over, I saw someone returning something."
"Just open it. I'll go check the warehouse. I remember there were some extra things piled up there. I'll check and see if I can temporarily set up a bed. If not, we'll have to sleep on the floor or stay at a member's house."
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