Ye Chen'er opened a corner of her clothes and glanced at it, then was startled. She knew the value of these magazines, so why was she giving them to Yan Xiaonan?
“Chen’er, you probably don’t know, but Yan Xiaonan is reading ‘English Learning’ right now. It’s not safe to leave these things here, so let’s lend them to Yan Xiaonan to take a look,” Ye Chenming explained.
Ye Chen'er felt a surge of joy upon hearing this, and a thought flashed through her mind, but she couldn't quite grasp it, leaving her somewhat frustrated.
She put on her cotton-padded coat, grabbed her books, and ran to the Yan family's house. The gate to the Yan family's courtyard was not closed, but Ye Chen'er politely knocked on the door a few times: "Nan Nan, are you home? Come out for a moment."
Yan Xiaonan also came out carrying a bag; she was waiting for Ye Chen'er to bring the books.
Ye Chen'er looked around and, seeing that no one was around, took the book out of her clothes and handed it to Yan Xiaonan.
Yan Xiaonan took a look and found that they were all English teaching books and some reflections written in English.
Yan Xiaonan was also very good at English in her previous life, but looking at the notes in her hand, she sighed and thought to herself that she couldn't understand them and was not sure how to write them.
In any case, the value of these books is immeasurable; otherwise, the Ye family would not have allowed Ye Chenming to bring them out.
Yan Xiaonan said to Ye Chen'er, "Sister Ye, don't worry, these books will definitely return to your Ye family in the future."
Ye Chen'er nodded. Yan Xiaonan was a new friend she had made, but she trusted Yan Xiaonan from the bottom of her heart. On the other hand, she was somewhat wary of Li Ping, whom she had grown up with.
Yan Xiaonan handed Ye Chen'er a bag containing ten pounds of white rice, which was her thank-you gift.
Ye Chen'er's eyes lit up when she saw the white rice. Her cousin had borrowed cornmeal from the village, but she was from Shanghai and didn't like eating noodles. Rice was really hard to come by, and she didn't expect Nan Nan to have it.
“It was sent by my uncle. It’s not much, so this is all I can give you for now,” Yan Xiaonan explained.
"That's enough, that's enough. Just taste it. Thank you, Nan Nan." Ye Chen'er decided to cook plain white rice when she got back.
Watching Ye Chen'er's cheerful departing figure, Yan Xiaonan felt a lump in her throat. Oh well, as long as Grandma and her family are safe and healthy, that's enough. We'll worry about the others later.
Ye Chen'er carefully washed the rice with water and put it into the pot to cook. She locked the excess rice in the kangqin (a heated brick bed), and while the stove was on fire, she threw in a few sweet potatoes.
I only cooked two small bowls' worth, which was definitely not enough for my cousin, so he could only eat sweet potatoes to stave off hunger.
When Ye Chenming saw Ye Chen'er cooking, he initially thought she was cutting sweet potatoes into chunks to make soup. However, a fragrant aroma of rice wafted out, startling Ye Chenming so much that he quickly ran out of the house.
"Nannan gave me this rice, it weighs ten jin (5 kg), I'll just cook two small bowls." Ye Chen'er was very happy.
Ye Chenming nodded. Since they were eating separately now, they wouldn't consider others' needs when it came to food anymore; it was all about reciprocity.
Ye Chenming scooped out some pickled cabbage from the jar. Grandma Yan's pickled cabbage was so delicious, it was perfect with white rice.
The two ate large mouthfuls of white rice. The long-lost taste made them reluctant to swallow the rice, so they held it in their mouths and chewed it continuously until the rice went down on its own with their saliva.
Ye Chen'er even put some water in the pot to soak the rice that was already a little burnt at the bottom, and then put the pot on the stove while it was still hot.
Ye Chenming felt incredibly sad, and his determination to exchange for food on the black market grew even stronger. Bei Nan's voice appeared: "Ye Chenming, Ye Chenming."
Ye Chenming quickly ran out and saw Bei Nan's bright eyes. He knew there was a way, so he found a sheltered and secluded place to discuss it.
Li Ping leaned against the doorway, smiling but not laughing, and said, "Chen'er is really capable now, she can even get white rice."
Ye Chen'er was most annoyed by Li Ping's sarcastic tone: "Yeah, my dad can even get braised meat, why don't you ask about it?"
Li Ping choked. She had her own bag of braised meat, but she couldn't bear to share it.
Wang Yan laughed loudly: "I've seen shameless people, but I've never seen anyone this shameless."
Li Ping was furious: "You shameless thief!"
Wang Yan sneered: "I'm a thief, I only stole Tian Fang's face cream, and you think you're so great? You tricked the Ye siblings out of all their good stuff, you liar."
Li Ping blushed, that was an undeniable fact, but so what? It was given to her willingly, not something she had begged for. Thinking of this, Li Ping straightened her back.
Liu Limin had just returned from chopping firewood and said to Li Ping, "You've been using Ye Chen'er's firewood to heat the kang for two days in a row, haven't you? You're sleeping on the kang, but you're using someone else's firewood. You're really good at scheming."
Li Ping quickly glanced at Ye Chen'er and saw that Ye Chen'er was also looking at her. No wonder the firewood seemed to be less these past two days; it turned out that someone had stolen it.
Each person contributes their own share of firewood for heating the kang (a traditional heated bed). Since Li Qiang sleeps in a room by himself, he needs twice as much firewood as everyone else. Li Ping has to provide him with her own firewood, otherwise he would freeze to death at night.
But there's only so much firewood. We need to heat the kang (a heated brick bed), cook rice, and boil water. Since no one is familiar with how much firewood to use, we tend to use more than we need, which benefits Li Ping.
But later, as everyone became more and more familiar with the stove, they knew exactly how much firewood to use for how much food to cook. Li Ping could no longer take advantage of the situation and could only pretend to be stupid and use Ye Chen'er's firewood.
In the educated youth settlement, Ye Chen'er and Ye Chenming had the most firewood and snacks, because they would follow Bei Nan and Nan Nan to chop firewood, pick fruit, and collect pine cones. Then there was Liu Limin, whose diligent bees always managed to collect nectar.
Tian Fang and Zhang Dali sometimes work together to chop firewood, which is much more effective than chopping firewood alone. Wang Yan, having made a mistake, is very sensible. She either cooks one meal a day to eat, or spends all day outside looking for food and firewood, which is enough to make ends meet.
The worst off was Li Qiang. He desperately wanted Ye Chenming to sleep with him again, which would at least solve their current predicament. However, he also knew Ye Chenming well; he wouldn't easily lose his temper, but once he did, there would be no turning back.
Since Ye Chenming can't sleep back, he'll just go to Liu Limin's room and hang out there. It's just for sleeping at night, and it'll save them some firewood.
Liu Limin, Zhang Dali, and Ye Chenming discussed it and all agreed that in difficult times, the overall situation should be prioritized. Ye Chen'er thought it was a good idea and went to discuss it with Tian Fang and Wang Yan as well.
Wang Yan wholeheartedly agreed with Ye Chen'er's actions. She even gave up her spot on the kang (heated brick bed) and carefully made up the bedding for Ye Chen'er.
Tian Fang originally wanted to share a room with Ye Chen'er, and now that Ye Chen'er had come over, she naturally agreed.
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