Liu Erzhuang was angry and prepared to go back to his room. He decided not to eat dinner! Although he didn't realize that the NPC didn't intend to give him any food.
"No, he closed the door. What do we do now?"
Liu Xiaozhuang looked at the closed door and thought to himself, "Please be gentle, the weather will get cold in a couple of days, and I'm counting on the wooden door to keep me warm."
Liu Dazhuang glanced at the others. "No way?! These people really treat me like an older brother?! Why are they all looking at me like that?! Is it reasonable for an only child, a Gen Z, to act as a real older brother to all these Gen Z kids?!"
Liu Erzhuang lay on the bed, fuming. Hearing the knock at the door, he thought, "Hmph, this NPC mom really is here to coax me after all. It's just being sent back by the patrol officers, no need to be so fierce."
"Erzhuang, open the door. We sleep in this room together."
Hearing the noise outside the door, Liu Erzhuang became even angrier and finally opened the door.
Liu Xiaozhuang looked at his bed, which had been covered by someone lying on it, and said irritably, "Why did you lie on my bed?! I want to sleep on the inside. If you want to lie on the inside, go make your own bed."
The other strongmen also stood in the bunks they had been assigned at the beginning. After all, the kang (heated brick bed) in the large communal room would cool down later, and it would be warmer to be further away from the door. It was because Er Zhuang was late in returning that the bunks had already been assigned to them.
Liu Erzhuang felt his anger intensify. He was furious! Nothing good had happened today!
The other two women, the Third and Fifth, were much more at ease. Their room was the same size as the four people opposite them, but it only had the two of them. They could even lie down sideways, which was incredibly comfortable.
Erzhuang arrived late today. The rest of them had already discussed it and decided to go to the city early the next morning to see if there were any job opportunities. Each of them would visit one factory and then gather information to increase their chances.
They worked all day and were exhausted, but thankfully the food from the communal pot was quite delicious and included meat.
The only pity is that Aunt Liu assigned them various tasks at home today, such as cooking, chopping wood, and carrying water. They even had to hand over part of their wages for food. It's just adding insult to injury.
Not paying is fine, but at home I can only watch the food being eaten and can't actually eat it.
While everyone else hesitated, Liu Xiaozhuang immediately gave all the money he had left to Aunt Liu. He hadn't earned any money that day anyway; it was just the one yuan subsidy from the production team that he had left over after eating a meat bun.
Liu Xiaozhuang thought to himself that paying this amount for meals was a good deal, at least it was cheaper than going to a state-run restaurant. Having never even tried a meal there, Liu Xiaozhuang figured that as a young man, he certainly wouldn't lose out.
"Mom, don't be so formal. You can have all of mine."
Aunt Liu didn't expect the contestant to give her all the money. "You don't need so much. Keep some for yourselves. It's okay now that we eat from the same pot, but if the pot of food is gone later, there won't be enough food for the six of you at home."
Upon hearing this, the others remembered the communal meals and had all sorts of ideas. Dazhuang and Sizhuang hesitated, as they had eaten at home that day and found the food to be crystal clear and sparkling clean.
Since both the third and fifth beauties had already paid, the other two had no choice but to pay as well, since something thin and watery was better than nothing.
Erzhuang came back late and didn't pay the money. No, he didn't earn any money today either.
The five of them looked at their dwindling money. They had earned 33 cents a day, spent 10 cents on food, and only had 23 cents left. Money really doesn't last long. They really needed to find a job quickly.
They have to work in the fields and then work at home; it's doubly tiring. They need to find a job as soon as possible.
Tomorrow is a holiday. Many people from the last season found jobs this time. Although there are still job opportunities later, there are not as many as the first batch of positions released.
[Haha, when it came time to pay for food, these guys were all in a real pain, handing over the money before they even had a chance to hold onto it.]
【Wait, this breakfast costs a dime?!】
[You guys didn't even look at the price list for state-run restaurants! One cent for breakfast is a great deal, and they say they eat there until the end of the communal meals.]
Now that you mention it, I'm suddenly looking forward to the end of the communal dining system. Watching them eat makes my mouth water. I'd rather no one ate at all, hehe.
What is Aunt Liu doing? She's acting so suspiciously, not sleeping at all.
These must be several large rooms, right?!
[That's quite a loud snoring sound; I really don't know how they managed to sleep.]
[After doing so much work and walking all day, it's no wonder she falls asleep the moment her head hits the pillow. I envy her sleep quality.]
The next day, Liu Erzhuang didn't get up even when the rooster crowed. The others forced themselves to get up, realizing after yesterday that if they didn't get up early, their food would probably end up in someone else's stomach.
"Hehe, Erzhuang didn't get up today, so let's quickly divide up the breakfast."
Liu Xiaozhuang lowered his voice and spoke to the others in the courtyard.
"Hurry up, before he wakes up."
Liu Erzhuang was slightly awakened by the noise of several people getting up, and then in the blink of an eye, he saw these NPCs whispering about something in the courtyard, as if they couldn't let anyone sleep.
What are you doing?!
None of the others responded; they continued eating voraciously.
Sanmei and Wumei were so full they could barely lift their heads. Just kidding, they were assigned to cook today, and when they looked at the food stockpiled at home, they couldn't even fill a small cloth bag halfway. There were six people in the family, so if you take one more bite, I'll take one less.
Yesterday, when the two shared Erzhuang and Xiaozhuang's food with others, they felt a little guilty. But when their stomachs rumbled this morning, that guilt vanished completely.
What is guilt? I don't know!
Liu Erzhuang's expression darkened further when he saw that the NPCs were paying attention to him. Suddenly, he recognized one of the NPCs. "You?! Weren't you the one who went to Gongsun Dong's villa yesterday?! Aren't you an NPC?!"
It was only then that Liu Xiaozhuang realized that Liu Erzhuang was actually a contestant from the previous day. He hadn't recognized him at all in the dark last night.
"It's you."
"You weren't arrested?!"
Liu Xiaozhuang nodded, and then Liu Erzhuang looked at the others in the yard and his heart skipped a beat. Could this whole yard be full of contestants?!
Seeing Liu Erzhuang's empty eyes, Liu Xiaozhuang knew he had finally realized what was happening, and smiled mischievously, "Welcome to the Liu family, Erzhuang."
As the other five joked and introduced themselves, Liu Erzhuang felt his worldview crumbling. It's definitely more entertaining to see others make fools of themselves.
"Does this production team have no regard for the law?! I don't want my brothers and sisters anymore!!"
"What's all the noise about! Nobody's leaving the house today until the work is finished."
Aunt Liu's loud voice suddenly rang out, and everyone else quickly finished eating, washed their dishes, and prepared to leave.
Just kidding, they get up so early to work only because of the NPC mom's quest, otherwise they wouldn't need to get to the city so early.
[This guy Erzhuang only just realized the others weren't NPCs? He's so slow!]
[Haha, I guess it's because Dazhuang and Xiaozhuang listened to the NPCs so much yesterday that Erzhuang mistakenly thought these were all NPCs too.]
Little did he know, these were all his "half-siblings" who were there to laugh at him. Hahaha!
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