"There are also wooden basins, buckets, cabinets and the like. Old Liu, who drives the cart, has a son who is a carpenter. The things he makes are all good and durable. I replaced all my wooden things there."
He also had a kang mat, broom, basket, hampers, wooden bowls, chopsticks, and wooden spoons for eating—all those odds and ends.
The three people stared in disbelief, and Li Yan let out a wail.
"We didn't think about any of that; we just realized we couldn't eat without a pot."
Chen Jianguo is usually not the type to be ignorant about family matters; even sitting up straight, his back was slumped.
"Oh my god, how come I didn't think of these things?"
Lin Zhaodi wasn't too surprised, and even went along with the recounting.
"We also have shovels, curtains, oil, salt, soy sauce, vinegar, washing basins, clothes drying poles or ropes, winnowing baskets, sieves, and baskets. These are things we don't have, but they can be shared. We don't use them often, but we still need them."
Oh, and needles and thread too. There's no rush, but we'll need to buy those gradually at the supply and marketing cooperative.
My first thought was that he's a practical person.
"That's good. We'll start work in a couple of days, but it won't be as busy as before. You can prioritize and take your time to prepare."
I heard it snows early here. I estimate that after a few trips up the mountain, it'll be enough. Once it snows, the roads will be difficult to navigate, and getting around won't be as convenient as it is now.
"Jian, why aren't you living at the educated youth settlement?"
I just smiled and said, "It's no secret; someone's bound to ask."
"When I first arrived, I was all alone. The courtyard was so big, I didn't dare to live there."
I happened to see this little house, and I thought, "Isn't this perfect? With a little tidying up, it'll have a room," so I bought it.
"You bought it?"
Simply put, they don't understand. They have a perfectly good place to live, free of charge and in a decent environment, so why would they spend their own money to buy a dilapidated little house?
Of course, we can't tell them that many more educated youth will come in the future, and that there will be a lot of people living there, leading to many conflicts and disputes, and endless trivial matters.
"Yes, we're here to support rural development. We don't even know when we'll be able to return to the city. Buying this place means it's our own, and it'll be a home for us."
It's mainly because it's too dilapidated. It's not expensive, otherwise I wouldn't be able to afford it. Even so, it has almost used up all my savings.
I was still thinking about going up the mountain to get more food, otherwise we wouldn't be able to survive the winter with this little bit of food.
I heard there are a lot of local mountain products here, so let's get more of them; they're all good stuff.
Whether we eat it ourselves, give it as a gift, or mail it home, it will be a good product.
She wanted to use their words to remember that buying a house wasn't expensive, and that she didn't have the money, so that she could spread the word when people came again, lest someone covet it.
Many of them have just started going to the countryside and are full of enthusiasm.
When it comes to large numbers and coercion, with so many people involved, people's minds will be preoccupied, and then there will be even more conspiracies and tricks.
So now she does everything she can think of and do thoroughly and meticulously, even if it's just to lay the foundation for a peaceful life in the future.
Moreover, now that she thinks about it, she suddenly remembers Zhu Yan, who wanted to take her as her sister. It seems that Zhu Yan forgot about her after she arrived. Should she write a letter to let her know that she is safe?
Oh, and there's also Chen Hongjun, the steel factory director who helped out quite a bit.
After looking at it for a long time, Chen Jianguo finally asked the question he had been wanting to ask.
"Jian Zhiqing, aren't you quite old? Are you an adult yet?"
Since yesterday, he has felt that Jianyi looks somewhat childish.
A simple smile.
"You can tell now, I'm 15 years old this year, which is indeed younger than all of you."
Li Yan and Lin Zhaodi were immediately overwhelmed with maternal love.
What? You're only 15?
"Why were you sent to the countryside at such a young age?"
It's said to be about rural development, but which family that truly cares about their children would be willing to do that?
"My family is all gone, I'm all alone now."
My grandfather had arranged a marriage for me, but when he saw that something had happened in my family, he quickly went to break off the engagement.
We don't live far apart, so it'll be awkward if we keep running into each other all the time.
I happened to see a policy about sending people to the countryside, and I thought to myself, since I don't have any relatives left, I might as well go to the countryside for some peace and quiet.
The three of them remained silent for a long time before finally speaking briefly.
“I have an older sister and an uncle over there, and they treat me very well.”
The villagers are going up the mountain, and I was thinking of getting some local produce to mail to them as well.
The three of them skipped over her background and immediately continued with the part about going up the mountain.
"Jian, what are your plans for today? Could you take us for a walk up the mountain so we can get familiar with the area and gather some firewood?"
It's still quite cool in the mornings and evenings, and the kang (heated brick bed) is a bit damp; it's time to light it.
There's nothing wrong with keeping it simple. We agreed to meet at the educated youth settlement in a while and go to Uncle Liu's house to buy a basket first.
The three of them went back. Jian Dan quickly ate a bite of breakfast, slung his basket over his shoulder, packed some dry food and a water bottle, locked the door, and headed to the educated youth settlement.
Chen Jianguo and the others didn't have much to pack, and there wasn't much food left, so they just ate a simple meal. They were already waiting at the door when they arrived.
At Uncle Liu's house, seven-year-old Hu Zi opened the door and was happy to see Jian Dan.
"Sister Jian, are you here to see Grandpa?"
He smiled simply.
"These older brothers and sisters want to exchange some things, who should I ask?"
Tiger turned around and shouted.
"Grandma, Dad, Mom, Sister Jane is here."
Jian Dan was also taken aback. Was this a bit too much?
Liu Guangming and his wife came out first.
"Little Jian, the educated youth,"
It was simple and there were no pleasantries.
"Uncle Guangming, these are the new educated youths who arrived yesterday. They wanted to exchange some things, so I brought them over."
The couple took the educated youth to the warehouse, and the old lady came out smiling too.
"Young Jian, please sit down for a while, there's no rush."
There were benches in the courtyard, so Jian Dan sat down without any hesitation.
"Third Grandma, are these shoes you made for Third Master?"
"Yes, it's getting cold. He goes out frequently, and in winter he has to shovel snow, collect firewood, feed the cattle, and so on. The soles of last year's cotton shoes are all worn out. He's taking advantage of the few days when he's not busy to sew the soles first, and then slowly add the uppers. There's no rush."
These are cloth shoes with a thousand-layer sole. The young lady had seen them on her father's feet in her previous life, but those were custom-made and not exactly the same as these.
I looked at it over and over again.
"Third Grandma, is this what they call 'thousand-layer soles'?"
"Yes, we can wear a pair of thick-soled straw sandals over them, which will be more durable."
"Third Grandma, is the snow particularly heavy here?"
The old woman pulled hard on the shoelaces.
"In previous years, the snowfall was indeed heavy. It would start falling in November and by the end of November or December, the mountains would be basically blocked by heavy snow."
Last year, there was none. There were two rain showers at the beginning of winter, and then it was sunny and dry all winter.
"Otherwise, how could there be such a severe drought this year?"
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