"I never thought I was ugly."
Yu Jiu muttered to herself, she had a pretty good idea of what she looked like.
"That's good."
Xu Zi smiled slyly, not wanting to linger on the topic for too long, fearing that Yu Jiu might think he was being presumptuous. After all, they had only met for the first time today, and even if he wanted to pursue her, he had to take it slow.
"Where will I put the grain?"
He picked up another bag of grain and changed the subject.
"I'll take it."
Xu Zijiang didn't insist, standing there watching her huff and puff as she carried the grain into the house, like a little squirrel storing food for winter. Her movements were slow and adorable.
Her clothes were loose and not form-fitting; only when she bent over did the clothes cling to her body, revealing her beautiful curves in a fleeting moment.
For some inexplicable reason, Xu Zi felt that her slender waist was perfect to be held captive in his hands. When this thought flashed through his mind, he couldn't help but spit at himself for being a pervert, having such wild thoughts in broad daylight!
"Alright, you can pack up now. I'm leaving. Remember to get up at 4 a.m. for work tomorrow, no lateness. If you can't finish your work... don't force yourself."
He touched the tip of his prominent nose and left reluctantly.
Since there's always work to be done, he can help him with it; he never said he wouldn't allow anyone to help with work.
"Okay, Captain, take care."
Yu Jiu didn't hear his last sentence at all. If she had, she would have known what double standards were.
Not long after Xu Zijiang left, the other educated youth at the settlement gradually returned from work. When they saw an unfamiliar figure suddenly appear in the courtyard, they knew that this was the new educated youth.
"Hello, my name is Zhao En, and I'm also a former educated youth here. I've been here for two years. Are you the only educated youth who came this year?"
Looking at the somewhat graceful figure from behind, Zhao En, a male educated youth, couldn't help but take a step forward and ask excitedly.
"Hello, Zhao, my name is Yu Jiu. Besides me, there were two other educated youths, one male and one female, and they both went out."
As Yu Jiu spoke, she turned around with a faint smile.
She hadn't washed off her face yet; her dark yellow skin still had a few small spots, making her look as ordinary as could be. Even though her smile was gentle, compared to her beautiful back view, it was like heaven and earth.
Zhao En couldn't help but feel disappointed, and his tone turned cold.
"Oh, I see. Welcome!"
After he finished speaking, he went back into the house and didn't talk to Yu Jiu anymore.
The others were similarly indifferent, offering only a greeting and then ignoring her, perhaps because they were tired from work. Only Yu Caihong was more enthusiastic, introducing herself to Yu Jiu and telling her about some unspoken rules of the educated youth settlement.
For example, the educated youth settlement only had one kitchen, and cooking utensils, firewood, and water were all shared. Generally, they would pair up and take turns doing these chores each day. Some people would cook together for convenience, which depended on their personal preferences.
“Three people are fine too. We have seven people now, and with you, we’ll have ten. This way, we can pair up and there won’t be any left over. Before, there was one left over, which made it very inconvenient for us to work.”
Yu Caihong is the oldest among the female educated youth here. She has been here for four years and is the oldest at 25. When she saw a young girl like Yu Jiu, she thought of herself when she first came to the countryside and couldn't help but take extra care of her.
She took the initiative to show kindness to Yu Jiu, and Yu Jiu was not ungrateful. She scooped some water for her, and the two chatted while washing their hands.
"So, when we work here, is it a group of two male educated youths and a group of two female educated youths, or a combination of one man and one woman?"
If two female educated youths were paired up, she would have to find a way to avoid being paired with Li Nannan, otherwise, she would have a lot of trouble later.
"It's a man-woman team because they have to gather firewood and carry water, which is not an easy job. Working together makes the work less tiring."
Yu Caihong joked.
After hearing this, Yu Jiu immediately decided to team up with Qiao Cheng.
"Have you eaten? I need to cook first. After you eat, you need to rest quickly, because we still have to work in the afternoon. This farm work is not easy. I've been here for four years, and I still can't get used to it. I'm exhausted every day, and I can only relax on my days off."
"By the way, when does the team leader tell you to start work?"
Yu Caihong and two other educated youths ate together, taking turns cooking for each other for a day. Today it was her turn, and she couldn't let others eat inconvenience her.
She quickly took out three sweet potatoes, washed them without peeling them, chopped them up, and put them directly into the pot. She added some water and a small handful of rice, then put the lid on.
"They said I have to get up at 4 a.m. tomorrow."
If you add too much water, the resulting sweet potato porridge will be very thin; you'll probably urinate after eating it.
Yu Jiu's beautiful eyes blinked, and she gained a preliminary understanding of everyone's food standards. She would just steam two sweet potatoes later, so as not to attract attention.
"You still have half a day to rest, so hurry up. The days ahead are going to be tough, but don't worry, we'll wake you up if you can't get up tomorrow morning."
Yu Caihong's thoughtful words.
"Okay, thank you, Sister Rainbow."
Yu Jiu spoke politely yet sweetly, and even helped by handing over some firewood.
While they were cooking, Qiao Cheng and Li Nannan returned. Gouzi was nowhere to be seen, and there were no tears on her face, so she was probably comforted.
"Hello, I'm a new educated youth. My name is Li Nannan. It's nice to meet you all."
"My name is Qiao Cheng."
Li Nannan rallied her spirits, grabbed her own hand, smiled radiantly at everyone in the courtyard, and confidently introduced herself. Her striking and beautiful features easily won her favor.
"Hello, where are you from? You must have had a long journey. If you don't know anything, just ask us. We are all veteran educated youth."
Everyone's eyes were openly fixed on Li Nannan, and for a moment they were amazed. Their attitude was much more enthusiastic than towards Yu Jiu, and some people even invited her to have something to eat with them.
Indeed, beautiful people always have an advantage.
"OK."
While chatting openly with everyone, Li Nannan glanced defiantly at the dusty Yu Jiu in the kitchen. What's so great about him? The team leader must be blind to favor Yu Jiu. The other educated youth will definitely like her more, humph!
She was like a little princess surrounded by stars, clearly disdainful of Cinderella's only piece of candy, yet unwilling to leave even that piece of candy for her, trying to snatch it away, displaying an arrogant and malicious air of superiority.
Yu Caihong is very sensitive to people's emotions and immediately noticed the provocation in Li Nannan's smile towards Yu Jiu. She tilted her head and asked in a low voice.
"Have you known each other before?"
"I don't know him, but we had a small argument on the train here."
Yu Jiu shrugged indifferently, not intending to hide the fact that the two didn't get along.
"Sigh, even a family living under the same roof can have conflicts, let alone us. But we were sent-down youth, we had nowhere to go, and we had no choice but to make do."
Yu Caihong shook her head with a wry smile, letting the topic pass.
Yu Jiu lowered his eyes in deep thought, realizing that the people here were not exactly on good terms to begin with.
Li Nannan was unaware of all this. She held her chin high and smiled broadly as she displayed her wealth in the courtyard.
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