Chapter 152 Moving to the Sheng Family
Zhou Qinglan is not one of those unambitious girls who only think about getting married and enjoying a life of luxury.
Besides, she and Sheng Xiping aren't married yet, so how can she just do nothing and let Sheng Xiping support her?
So when she heard that she could become an inspector, she was overjoyed and almost jumped for joy.
"Really? Can I really become an inspector?"
"Oh, that's wonderful! I'll definitely learn from Sister Chen."
Having a skill that allows her to earn a living is such a wonderful thing, and of course she'd be happy to do so.
Seeing Zhou Qinglan's joyful expression, Sheng Xiping couldn't help but smile as well.
"Then hurry up and pack your luggage and clothes, and move to my house with Li Xue and Wang Lin."
"I see everything's almost ready here, and I'm really worried about you staying here."
They were about to go up the mountain to work, and most of the male educated youth had packed their bags and gone home, leaving the area deserted.
“Okay, I’ll tell Li Xue and the others right away.” Zhou Qinglan turned around happily and went into the house to tell the other two female educated youths.
Li Xue and Wang Lin were naturally delighted to hear this, so they quickly packed their luggage.
Actually, there wasn't much, just a set of bedding and a few sets of clothes to change into.
The luggage was rolled up and tied with leg straps, including the washbasin, and clothes and other items were put into pockets.
He was carrying his luggage, a bag in one hand and a thermos in the other; that was all his belongings.
The local female educated youths had also packed their things, so everyone came out together and locked the door.
Just then, Chen Weiguo came to pick up Liu Hongxia, and Wang Jianshe, who had nothing to do at home, also came over to see what was going on.
Sheng Xiping reached out and took Zhou Qinglan's luggage, while Chen Weiguo carried Liu Hongxia's luggage on his shoulder.
When Wang Jianshe saw that Li Xue was thin and small, and was having some trouble carrying the large bundle of luggage, he went over and took it from her.
"Let me help you carry it."
Li Xue felt a little embarrassed, her face flushed slightly, "Thank you."
With no one to help them, Wang Lin and the other female educated youth simply carried their own luggage and headed towards the forest farm.
And so, the group left the collective household, and Chen Weiguo escorted Liu Hongxia home.
Wang Jianshe helped deliver Li Xue's luggage to the Sheng family.
Upon seeing everyone return, Zhang Shuzhen warmly invited Zhou Qinglan, Li Xue, and Wang Lin into the house.
"The west room has been cleaned up, and the kang (heated brick bed) is on fire. The three of you can stay here in peace and don't have to worry about anything."
"When you're out working in the mountains, you don't need to tidy up the house. I take care of everything—the kang (heated brick bed), the hot water, everything."
Zhang Shuzhen is such a warm-hearted person, not to mention that she has her own daughter-in-law who is not yet married into the family, so how could she not take good care of her?
"Auntie, we've come to stay with you. Thank you for your trouble."
"Thank you, ma'am. We'll settle the rent with you later." Li Xue and Wang Lin both felt quite embarrassed.
They were already feeling awkward about staying at the Sheng family's house because they were benefiting from Zhou Qinglan's hospitality. And yet, the Sheng family was so warm and considerate, always thinking of their needs.
The two of them figured that no matter what, they had to show their appreciation.
"Oh, no need, no need. You guys just settle in and don't worry about anything."
The house is just sitting idle anyway, and I still have to light a fire in the dead of winter.
"If someone lives there, the house will have a lifespan, wouldn't that be great?" Upon hearing this, Zhang Shuzhen couldn't help but offer a few polite words.
And so, the three girls put their luggage on the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room.
The Sheng family's house is newly built. The west room is very tidy. Zhang Shuzhen just cleaned it again, so there's nothing else to do.
So Zhang Shuzhen called the young people to the east room, made them tea, and chatted with them for a while.
Zhang Shuzhen had only met two girls, Li Xue and Wang Lin, before, but didn't know much about them.
Now that we're going to let them stay at our home, we definitely need to ask them more questions.
It has to be said that these older women are really good at finding out about other people's situations.
In just a few words, they got the general situation out of him.
Li Xue's family works for the railway engineering team, while Wang Lin's family works for the forest railway.
Li Xue is nineteen years old and graduated from high school. Wang Lin is eighteen years old. She dropped out of high school after one year and went to the mountains to become an educated youth.
"You two both went to No. 1 High School? If that's the case, Li Xue, you should be a year younger than me. How come I don't think I've seen you before?"
When Wang Jianshe heard that Li Xue was also a student at No. 1 Middle School, he felt strange, as he didn't seem to have seen her before.
“My family moved here from Wangou Forestry Bureau in 1969, so we arrived relatively late,” Li Xue explained softly.
After hearing this, Wang Jianshe and the others understood.
Back in 1969, everyone was busy digging tunnels. With so many students in the whole school, from junior high to senior high, it was normal for a new student to be unfamiliar with them.
These people were of similar age and were all alumni of the same high school, so the more they talked, the closer they became.
Wang Jianshe didn't know what was going on. He had never seen him talk so much before, but today he was chatting happily with Li Xue.
Seeing this, Zhang Shuzhen simply went to the kitchen to grab some food, cooked a few extra dishes for dinner, and invited Wang Jianshe and Zhou Qinglan to have a meal together, which served as a welcome ceremony for the three girls.
When the girls saw this, they quickly went to help. Li Xue and Wang Lin even secretly found some food coupons, planning to give them to Zhang Shuzhen that evening.
Nowadays, everyone is short of food, so it's a favor if someone invites them to stay for a meal; they shouldn't take advantage of them.
When the Sheng family children returned home from school in the evening, they found that there were several more people in their house, including Zhou Qinglan and Wang Jianshe, as well as two pretty older sisters.
Sheng Yunfang and the others were naturally curious, so they went to inquire in a low voice.
Upon learning that Zhou Qinglan and the two beautiful older sisters would be staying at their home, the two girls were overjoyed. They clung to Zhou Qinglan and wouldn't let go, insisting that they also sleep in the west room that night.
“Auntie, let Yunfang and Yunfei live with us. That would be perfect. I can watch them read books at night.”
Zhou Qinglan quite liked the two girls from the Sheng family. Anyway, the kang (heated brick bed) in the west room was not small, so there was enough space for them to live in.
"Mom, please agree. We promise we won't cause any trouble or disturb my sister's rest."
Sheng Yunfang and Sheng Yunfei clung to Zhang Shuzhen's arms and pleaded.
In later times, there would be many rules, and daughters should have their own rooms when they grow up.
But right now, people don't really have that concept. Many families have seven or eight, or even ten people, crammed together on one kang (a heated brick bed) to sleep.
In some families, even when their sons get married, they only hang a curtain in the middle of the room and still sleep on the same kang (heated brick bed). They don't have the means to give their daughters a separate room.
Logically speaking, the Sheng family now has three kang beds, so they should have the means, but Zhang Shuzhen never even considered that possibility.
At this moment, her daughter suggested that she live with Zhou Qinglan and the others. Zhang Shuzhen thought about it and figured that since there was plenty of space at home, she could stay wherever she wanted.
"That's settled then, you're not allowed to disturb these three older sisters' rest."
People have to work up the mountain during the day, so don't go around making a ruckus and shouting at night."
Zhang Shuzhen first set rules for her daughter to avoid bothering people later, so that they wouldn't feel embarrassed to say anything.
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