There are now two educated youth centers in the village. Because the newly built one is close to the river, in order to facilitate the water supply for female educated youth, the male and female educated youth are separated. Except for Shen Anning who lives alone, the other seven men and eight women are divided into two different educated youth centers.
The branch secretary first sent Liu Cheng to the male educated youth site. Shen Anning and the others also got to know the old educated youth Zhao Aiguo, a 24-year-old from Yunnan Province, who had been in the countryside for four and a half years and was also the site leader of the educated youth site.
The courtyard where the female educated youth lived was not far from Shen Anning's courtyard. It was separated by three households and two plots of land, and was only a few minutes' walk away.
She and Xu Hongxia first went to the female educated youth site to get familiar with the place, and repeated the excuse she had made before about living alone in front of several girls. These girls immediately said that if she had any problems in the future, she could come to them for help.
Everyone got to know each other. The eight people from the female educated youth, plus Shen Anning, made a total of nine people.
The person in charge of the female educated youth is the eldest sister Qi Wanli, who has been in the countryside for two and a half years. She is from Guangzhou and is 22 years old this year. Another old educated youth is Qian Hui, who is from Guizhou and has been in the countryside for two years. She is 21 years old.
The six new educated youth were Shen Anning, from Beijing, fifteen years old (seventeen years old), Xu Hongxia, from Beijing, seventeen years old, Sun Miaomiao, from Anhui, seventeen years old, Liu Fang, from Tianjin, eighteen years old, Wang Xinrong, and Wang Xinhua, from Shanghai. They were cousins, both eighteen years old.
Because they just arrived today, they still have to pack up and go to the village and town to buy daily necessities. They can rest for another day tomorrow, so they made an appointment to get together again tomorrow night. Shen Anning said goodbye because she still had to move.
Looking at his own small yard, Shen An Ning liked it very much. The toilet was built separately outside the yard. In order to facilitate access, a corner door was opened on the east side of the yard wall. There was no west wing, so a rain shelter was built on the west side against the yard wall, and a small warehouse was built with adobe to store firewood, farm tools and other sundries. The yard was not very big, but it was enough to grow some vegetables for self-sufficiency.
Wang Liqiu looked at the yard, which he had personally supervised and built, and was very satisfied. "Chen Zhiqing, is this yard okay?"
"Grandpa Secretary, I'm sorry to bother you. This house is very good. You can call me An Ning from now on. I'll need your care in the future." Shen An Ning looked at the raised wall and knew that this must be Wang Liqiu's idea. She was very grateful.
"Hey, An Ning, it took twenty strong laborers to build this house, plus it took almost eight days to build and heat the kang, so the total labor cost was eighty yuan, which is the bulk of it. The adobe bricks are not expensive, and the villagers made them themselves, so they only cost a few yuan. The village charged you fifty yuan for the foundation, and the bricks, tiles, and glass windows were all sent by your relatives. According to your request, the courtyard wall is half brick and half earth, which is sturdy. I took the initiative to make you three kang cabinets and kangqin with the remaining money." Wang Liqiu explained the cost of the entire courtyard clearly. Including the kang cabinets, the total cost was 150 yuan. He gave the remaining money to Shen An Ning, and Wang Liqiu explained everything clearly.
"Thank you for your hard work, Secretary Grandpa. I just arrived and the house is not cleaned up yet. It's too messy today. I will invite you to dinner after the house is cleaned up in a few days." Shen An Ning built a new house, so he must have a half-housewarming party, but there was nothing at home today and nothing could be done.
Thinking of the luggage still in the post office, Shen Anning asked: "Grandpa Secretary, my quilt and large luggage were all sent here. There are a lot of things. I want to ask if the village ox cart can help me pull them today?"
Wang Liqiu looked at the two bags on the ground and said, "Of course, of course. Today and tomorrow are for you to rest. The oxcart went to town this morning and hasn't returned yet. Let's take a break this afternoon. You can pay two cents and ask Old Man Wang, the driver, to give you a ride."
"Okay, by the way, Secretary Grandpa, there's one more thing. Do I need a recommendation from the village to take the barefoot doctor exam? Do I need any training or anything like that?"
Wang Liqiu was furious at the thought of taking the exam to become a barefoot doctor. A few years ago, two junior high school graduates in the village had taken the exam. The village paid for their training, but they failed the exam several times a year. Those who had taken the training couldn't even cure a simple cold or fever. How could he be confident in entrusting the lives of the villagers to them?
Wang Liqiu placed all his hopes on Shen Anning. "Our village is approved by the commune for one quota every year. When the time comes, just bring a letter of introduction and you'll be fine. People from our village have gone for training in previous years. If you are confident, you don't have to go. Just go and take the exam directly."
After sending the branch secretary away, before Shen Anning could go find his younger brothers and sisters, Geng Yue brought them over.
When Shen Anyu and Shen Anxuan saw their sister, they ran as fast as they could, holding Shen Anning's legs and calling her "big sister" over and over again.
Shen Anning was hugged by the two of them and was very amused. "Isn't the eldest sister here? Look, this is our new home. We will live here from now on."
The two little guys came every day when the house was being built, and they had long lost interest, but they still held Shen An Ning and refused to let go.
Geng Yue sent the people there and put down the twins' luggage. Seeing the family reunited, she didn't feel like disturbing them any further, so she said goodbye and went back.
Shen An Ning walked away for two steps and made an appointment with Geng Yue to come over and play in a few days after the place was cleaned up.
After closing the side door, he carried the luggage to the north room, the east and west bedrooms, and used the middle area as a public area. Shen Anning looked at the somewhat empty house and knew that he had to add the furniture one by one.
Pots, pans, basins, and water jars are all in short supply. We also need to buy two pots, a coal stove, a wardrobe, a desk, a table and chairs for dining, and a cabinet for storing food in the kitchen.
There are too many things!
The villagers were very honest. They helped Shen Anning build the house and cleaned it up. They also laid a layer of Ula straw mat on the kang and piled several bundles of firewood under the shed in the yard.
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