The main entrance of the Great Hall had two open wooden doors, leading into a small hall with two earthen stoves.
Four educated youth, two men and two women, were sitting at a table next to one of the stoves and eating together.
Zhou Qiang and Zhao Fang came over from the table next to another earthen stove.
According to what Zhao Fang said, there should be two male educated youth who are not here.
There is a pitch-black doorway at the innermost part of the front hall.
Although it was almost evening, the afterglow of the setting sun was still there, and it was not dark at all outside.
But once you enter the youth cadre center, the front hall is fine and you can still see people clearly, but the doorway is very dark and deep inside.
The light from the hollowed-out alley roof allowed one to vaguely see that there was a two-meter-wide alley inside.
The walls on both sides seemed to be made of earthen bricks, with holes in some places filled with straw and rags.
There were some black things piled up against the walls.
Zhou Qiang and Zhao Fang have returned to the front hall to eat.
The newly arrived educated youth trembled for a moment when they looked at the dark alley.
"It's too dark!" Wang Lingling complained.
Li Mengxue reached into her bag and took out a mini flashlight.
Yi Qingqing took advantage of the light to open the small bag and took out a large flashlight, a flashlight that was very suitable for this era. It came from her mother Zhao Xianglan's dowry. After so many years, it was just a little old, but still strong.
It felt heavy in the hand, and although the light it emitted was not as bright as Li Mengxue's small flashlight and was a little dim and yellowish, it was enough.
"Qingqing, please help me take a look. I also have a flashlight," Wang Lingling also started searching.
Her flashlight was packed in a big bag. It was similar in style to Yi Qingqing's, but it was brand new.
With three flashlights, everyone was finally able to see the situation in the alley clearly.
The alley is more than thirty meters deep. There is a wooden door every three meters on both sides, and a small window next to the door. There are about twenty rooms in total.
The rooms near the front hall are all locked, and the dark space before was filled with firewood.
This meant that all the educated youth could be assigned a separate room, which made them feel a little better.
The front half of the alley was more lively, and the door had obviously been cleaned. There was candlelight coming through the crack of one of the doors, so there must be someone there.
But after these eight inhabited houses, the further you go in, the more desolate and dilapidated the place becomes.
The layout of the houses is similar, about 15 square meters in size, with a brick bed.
The better ones had a simple earthen stove next to the kang, but it was also in a state of disrepair and there was no furniture at all.
The earthen bricks are not very tight, and some walls even have air leaks. Some of the tiles are not very tight either, and may even leak rain.
Moreover, there was a thick layer of dust in every room, and there was not even a place to sit.
The joy that everyone had just had in a small room suddenly disappeared.
"Is this really habitable?" Wang Lingling couldn't believe it.
"I have no choice but to stay here. I'm really tired and can't walk anymore, so I chose this one." Liu Chunxing pounded his waist and took the outer room first. "You can live across from me. I'll help you clean up the kang first. Can you lend me a flashlight later?"
"Of course no problem," Wang Lingling said. She had just suspected Chun Xing, but she had lent her a dollar without hesitation, so borrowing a flashlight now was nothing.
So the two of them stood in the two rooms next to the old educated youth.
Yi Qingqing and Li Mengxue did not compete with them.
Li Mengxue prefers a quieter house near the inside. As long as it is not too rotten, she thinks she can find a way to clean it up.
Yi Qingqing wanted to look at all the rooms before making a decision.
Qian Lailai was more familiar with them, so he followed them in.
After checking all the empty rooms, I found that the two innermost rooms were basically abandoned, with half of the tiles rotten, making them completely uninhabitable.
The remaining ones are all in about the same state of disrepair, so it doesn't matter which one you choose.
In the end, Li Mengxue lived in the second to last room on the left. The tiles in this room were fine, but the door panel was a bit loose and needed to be replaced.
The heroine chose this room, and Zheng Xiaolong, who had a crush on her, naturally chose the room opposite her, while Chen Zhihe chose the room next to Zheng Xiaolong.
Yi Qingqing didn't want to be too close to the heroine and the second male lead, so she chose a room on the same side as the heroine, one room away from her. This room belonged to Qian Lailai, and she lived opposite Chen Zhihe.
Yun Guyuan lived next to Chen Zhihe and was across the street from Yi Qingqing.
In this way, boys live on the right side and girls live on the left side.
"Among us, only Qingqing and Mengxue have flashlights. Why don't we split into two groups and help each other, so we can be faster," Qian Lailai suggested.
"Mengxue and I are in the same group," Zheng Xiaolong answered quickly.
"Then I'll go with you," Chen Zhihe also said.
Yi Qingqing blinked. Is the second male lead so obvious in his expression?
Section 9
"Then come on, Yun Guyuan, let's go together?" Yi Qingqing looked at the remaining two people.
Qian Lailai had no objection, and Yun Guyuan nodded. He threw his luggage at the door, took the rotten broom standing in the alley, and went into Yi Qingqing's room first.
Yi Qingqing quickly followed in, "Everyone is tired today, let's clean up the kang and make do for the night!"
"I think so too," Qian Lai said. "I really want to fall asleep and have no appetite. But there is dust everywhere and there is nowhere to sit."
Then, Yun Guyuan swept the accumulated dust on the kang first, and Yi Qingqing and Qian Lailai took a rag and wiped it.
The dust on the earthen kang could not be completely wiped clean, so Yun Guyuan brought some old newspapers and put them on the kang, and Yi Qingqing took out the bedding from her bag and spread it on the kang.
Then a few people went to Qian Lailai's room, and finally it was Yun Guyuan's turn.
"The captain is here, you guys go out first." Zhao Fang came to notify them just after they finished cleaning the kang in Yun Guyuan's room.
"Hey!" Yi Qingqing agreed. When Zhao Fang went inside to inform Li Mengxue and the others, she turned around and reminded them, "Did you bring a lock? If you did, remember to lock the door. If not, you can leave your valuables in my room first, or carry them with you."
Yun Guyuan locked her door and brought no money with her. She knew the situation was serious. If her money was lost, her family would definitely not be able to send it to her in a short time, so she took out all the banknotes and kept them on her.
After Yi Qingqing and Yun Guyuan locked the door, Li Mengxue and the others came out.
"Oh, you even brought the lock?" Zheng Xiaolong asked in surprise.
"My mother was so thoughtful," Yi Qingqing said with a smile. She was really grateful to Zhao Xianglan for her consideration. She even thought of small things like the flashlight and the padlock.
"Your mother really dotes on you," said Li Mengxue. She lives such a comfortable life thanks to the supermarket space, and Yi Qingqing lives entirely because she has a good mother who prepares everything for her.