"Bullshit, Li Ping! Let me tell you, don't talk nonsense. You say I stole Ye Chen'er's grain coupons and cloth coupons, then produce the evidence."
"My tickets are all written with the three letters YCE in pencil. I just erase them with an eraser when I need to use them," Ye Chen'er explained.
"Wang Yan, do you dare to show your ticket to everyone?" Li Ping asked.
“What’s there to be afraid of? If there’s nothing to say, what would you say?” Wang Yan raised her head.
“I’m not apologizing to you, but with you, I’m a thief,” Li Ping said, glancing sideways at Wang Yan.
"Okay, whatever you say."
There weren't many coupons, only a dozen or so, including sugar coupons, cloth coupons, grain coupons, soap coupons, and so on. Tian Fang started looking for them.
National grain coupons were easy to find; Wang Yan didn't have many, but Tian Fang spotted a three-jin national grain coupon at a glance.
Upon picking up the grain coupon, I found the three letters YEC in the corner, which would have been easily missed if I hadn't looked closely.
Upon seeing this, Ye Chen'er immediately ran up to find the cloth ration coupons. A five-foot cloth ration coupon also had "YEC" written on the corner.
Li Ping laughed: "Wang Yan, the evidence is right here. What do you suggest we do?"
Wang Yan was furious: "Li Ping, you framed me, didn't you? You like Ye Chenming, so you don't like me, right?"
Li Ping completely ignored her and looked at the male educated youth: "Are any of you missing anything?"
"Haha, our educated youth settlement has now become a den of thieves, how wonderful!" Zhang Dali said sarcastically.
Ye Chenming had just returned from outside: "What happened? What's going on?"
"Chenming, it's just in time you're back! Li Ping framed me, saying I stole Ye Chen'er's grain coupons. I didn't steal them!" Wang Yan rushed over.
Ye Chenming quickly dodged away. Was this woman sick?
"Then why did you come to our room yesterday and rummage through Ye Chen'er's luggage?" Li Ping asked.
Wang Yan was speechless. Could she say that she wanted to see if Ye Chen'er had any food in her luggage?
"Who will go and call the village chief?" Ye Chenming asked.
Everyone looked at each other, realizing that if they really called the village chief, things would escalate.
"I'm going!" Tian Fang exclaimed before she even finished speaking, and she was already at the entrance of the educated youth settlement.
Wang Yan was terrified and quickly pulled Tian Fang away, saying, "Tian Fang, I was wrong, please don't go."
Tian Fang pushed Wang Yan away and ran out in a flash. Wang Yan collapsed to the ground, utterly defeated.
“Ye Chenming, let’s let her off this time. If this gets out, the educated youth community will lose all face, and we’ll have no way to move an inch here in the future,” Liu Limin said.
Ye Chenming looked at Ye Chen'er, who nodded. Yes, if they really reported it to the authorities, the eight educated youths would lose the trust of the village.
The village chief finally arrived, and everyone watched Tian Fang with bated breath, wondering what she would say to him.
"Speak up, what's the matter? You called me here in such a hurry, but you won't say what it is. Are you too free?"
The educated youth were all relieved; it seemed Tian Fang did have some sense after all.
“Village chief, we’ve been here for two or three months, but we don’t have a box to put our clothes and money in. What if someone steals them? Who can we turn to? So we need a box with a lock,” Ye Chenming said.
Village Chief Ma looked around each room and saw that the educated youth's clothes and daily necessities were piled up in the corner of the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed). It was time to get some boxes, no, it should be called kang qins (a type of traditional heated brick bed).
"Then let's make four kangqin for the eight people, each kangqin with two doors, one for each of you, and make your own locks, okay?"
Everyone nodded. As long as there was a place to put the things, that would be fine. They could just buy a lock in town; it wouldn't be a big deal.
"Is there anything else? If not, I'll be going," the village chief asked.
"That's all, that's all, thank you, Village Chief, have a safe journey." The educated youth fawned over Village Chief Ma as they saw him to the door.
"Ye Chenming, I don't want to share a room with Wang Yan anymore, it's too scary," Tian Fang said, making her request.
Ye Chenming remained silent. The predicament before him was laid bare, and he had no way of solving it.
“Ye Chenming, let’s eat separately. Liu Limin and I will eat together,” Zhang Dali said again.
Ye Chen'er smiled: "I'm partnering with my brother."
Tian Fang "......"
"Then I'll go with my sister," Li Qiang agreed.
"I'm alone, I'm not going with anyone." Tian Fang was furious. She wanted to change rooms, how did it turn into eating separately?
“The firewood should be collected separately, and the boys should be responsible for carrying water. If they need anything, they should ask for help. If they are sick, they should also ask. Everyone should take care of each other,” Liu Limin suggested.
Everyone nodded. Since they had already broken off relations, there was no need to force themselves to stay together. However, they still needed to stick together for warmth during difficult times.
Several boys were already dividing the firewood, which was divided into four piles. As for Tian Fang and Wang Yan, they were left to divide it themselves.
The food provided by the village to them had run out, so there was no rice or flour left in the educated youth settlement, only sweet potatoes, which were piled up in the kitchen.
Everyone took out their rice bags and started filling them with sweet potatoes, one for each person, going around in circles to get them, except for Wang Yan, whose ration was the smallest.
Ye Chenming was cursing inwardly. He finally had a day off, but he almost got into a fight in the morning and then had another argument in the afternoon. What a miserable life.
Before dawn, the Ye siblings got up, and Ye Chenming picked up a bucket to fetch water.
Ye Chen'er started a fire to cook rice and boil water. She also needed to wash Ye Chenming's quilt today so that she could send it to the Yan family tomorrow to have cotton added.
After breakfast, the brother and sister tidied themselves up and grabbed their quilts before rushing to the Yan family's house. Time was tight in the morning, and they needed to get back to work.
Grandma Yan, Cuihua and Yan Xiaoqiang are having breakfast. After finishing breakfast, Yan Xiaoqiang has to go to work, and Cuihua still has to cook pig feed to feed the pigs and chickens. There are many things to do at home.
There was a knock on the courtyard gate, and Cuihua hurriedly went out to open it. It must be the Ye siblings bringing quilts.
Upon opening the door, it was indeed the Ye siblings.
"Come in quickly, have you had breakfast yet?" Cuihua asked politely.
"Nan Nan's mom, we've already eaten. This quilt was just washed yesterday, it's clean. Thank you for your help." Ye Chen'er said a little embarrassed.
"It's alright, give it to me. Or you can have a steamed bun. Eating dry food in the morning will keep you full." Cuihua took the quilt and put it on the kang (heated brick bed), and then handed them two steamed buns.
The two quickly shook their heads, saying they had already troubled them and couldn't possibly ask for more help, firmly refusing.
Yan Xiaoqiang finished his breakfast, picked up his farm tools, and ran to the field, completely ignoring the brother and sister.
Oh dear, this is so embarrassing!
Not only were the Ye siblings embarrassed, but Cuihua and her grandmother were also embarrassed. What was Qiangzi up to?
Ye Chenming, being more experienced, bowed to the two women and said, "Grandma Yan, Mama Yan, we are new here and are very grateful for your help."
Cuihua had never received such a sincere thank you before, and she was a little at a loss for words.
Grandma Yan smiled and said, "It's pitiful that he left home at such a young age. Don't worry about it. We're just doing a good deed."
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