"I,"
She wanted to say she didn't do it on purpose, but to others it was just sophistry. Even the other educated youths she was with looked at her with blatant condemnation.
"Wang Zhiqing, how could you be so careless?"
Finally, Wang Hongmei reluctantly agreed to replace the two bowls the next day, and Li Yan reluctantly agreed as well. Back in the kitchen, Lin Zhaodi was still heartbroken.
"How could this person be so careless? Those two bowls were just bought before the New Year!"
They've always been frugal and careful with their belongings, and for the past six months, there hasn't been the slightest bump or scratch. So, today two of them suddenly broke. It's impossible for them not to be heartbroken.
"I need to keep an eye on her tomorrow, and I'll take her back when I get back."
Li Yan sighed.
"Look at how they were grabbing for food just now, their chopsticks were flying everywhere, they were practically spitting into their bowls!"
"Stop!"
Being there in person was one thing, but replaying it was another. Jian Dan immediately felt nauseous and quickly stopped her.
"Please stop talking, I can't take it anymore. I just managed to eat this little bit of food, don't make me feel so nauseous that I throw up."
Li Yan and the others weren't being overly dramatic, but they were genuinely uncomfortable.
"I'm so glad Chen spoke up quickly and we didn't get involved with them. Otherwise, I'm afraid I wouldn't have been able to last even one meal. Someone like her, my little hand is already itching to slap her."
Clenching her little fists, Li Yan exuded a heroic air, while the girls burst into laughter.
"Haha, I think I'm thinking too soon. This is only the first day. There are many days ahead. We'll all be in this same courtyard. It's not like we can solve the problem by cooking separately, is it?"
Tanya Jun also sighed.
"Yes, we were all sent-down youth, and we live so close to each other. We see each other all the time, so it's hard to say what will happen in the future."
"Don't worry, I'm here. I don't believe they can do anything if they've already separated from the start."
Lin Zhaodi was a little worried, but she was simply watching the show. After all, she was several hundred meters away, and apart from going to work, she probably wouldn't have many chances to see her. Besides, she wasn't the type to swallow her anger.
Seeing that they had almost finished tidying up, and with the sun about to set, Li Yan and the others had already washed the pots and pans and were getting ready to wash up. They said their farewells quickly and decisively.
"Alright, you guys pack up and get some rest. I'm going back now. By the way, are you going to the commune tomorrow?"
Tanya Jun said,
"I'm going to mail a letter to see if I can buy two more pairs of gloves, which I can use when I'm weeding in a few days. There's nothing else I need to buy."
Li Yan and Lin Zhaodi both said that they would ask Tan Yajun to bring them the gloves, and that they would not go themselves.
“Jian, you mean you’re going too? That would be perfect, we can keep each other company tomorrow. I reckon all the other new educated youths will have to go. Just thinking about it is giving me a headache.”
She simply got up and walked outside.
"Okay, let's go together tomorrow, I'll go check the letter too."
It's not too cold this season, so the kang (heated brick bed) doesn't need to be heated too much, but there's still a chill in the air, so you need to warm it up every day.
When we got home, we lit the stove, added a few handfuls of firewood, and that was enough heat. The fire was only going to be extinguished for an afternoon anyway.
After the New Year, the wooden trough on the kang (heated brick bed) in Jian Dan's house was retired. The greenery there was meant to provide fresh food for winter. In spring, each family's private plot and vegetable garden became busy, and Jian Dan followed suit.
Some seedlings need to be grown in a greenhouse first, and then transplanted outdoors when they grow to about four inches tall, which will result in a higher survival rate.
That's still the case now. However, some people don't like to do it, while others are diligent and keep an eye on this, even making a living from it. When the time comes, they cultivate all kinds of seedlings in their greenhouses, and when they are big enough, it's time to transplant them. They just take them to the market, and quite a few people actually buy them because it's really convenient.
However, there were none at this time. Instead, each family would set up a small plastic shed in their garden. A dozen or so bamboo poles, each a meter or so long, were bent into a semicircle, covered with a plastic sheet, and the edges were secured with soil. Only one opening was left for entry, exit, watering, and ventilation. That's how a simple shed was made.
They plant eggplants, peppers, persimmons, cucumbers, and bok choy seedlings early on. After all, the weather here is unpredictable, and we need to be patient while waiting for the weather outside to warm up. Even now, when it's time to plant corn, the weather isn't really warm yet. These everyday vegetables also have their own growing seasons, so we can't just wait indefinitely.
Therefore, it is very important to start seedlings in advance. In some years, spring comes early, and many hardworking housewives start starting seedlings almost before the end of the first month of the lunar calendar. At that time, it is still cold outside, so the seedling pots are placed in the house, on the kang (heated brick bed), windowsill, cabinet, etc. Many families have them in the house except for the sleeping area.
This is obviously not easy, since I've never had any experience with it in my past life. Last year's cabbage and radishes were already an exceptional performance.
So she never expected to be able to unlock this skill herself. She had already told Grandma Liu San that she would bring her seedlings with her. She planned to wait for them to be ready-made, and then just dig a hole and plant them.
The old lady could tell from the cabbages and radishes that Jian Dan was capable, but when it came to farming, she was still a novice. So when she heard about it, she immediately agreed and explained everything to her in detail, what to plant in her private plot and garden, what to plant first and what to plant later. There was a reason for this, which a novice like Jian Dan would naturally not understand.
The old lady even planned to bring her daughter-in-law over to help with the garden planting for a few days, but she hadn't told Jian Dan yet, so Jian Dan didn't know. Right now, she was worried about what to plant in the back garden, which was so big.
The base has everything, but how much of it can't be brought out into the open?
Thinking back to her purpose in going to the countryside, Jian Dan sighed. Since she had already decided to stay there for more than ten years, she still had to do things herself.
Don't talk about liking rural life now. Rural life at this time is completely different from that of later generations. The former is for retirement, while the latter is for survival. The living environment and mindset are also completely different. The imagined and the real are completely different.
The only consolation is that this is simply starting to enjoy retirement life ahead of schedule.
The next morning, Jian Dan was woken up by the alarm clock. She struggled to open her eyes and was in a daze for a while before she realized, "Oh, I'm going to the commune today."
I regret it, I regret it. Why did I agree to get up so early and go to the commune with them?
Thinking about it, I had no choice but to leave the comfortable bed, painfully got up, shook my head, and washed my face with cold water to wake myself up.
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