"That's no problem at all. If I go back to the city, the house will be given to the brigade. I don't care what you want to do with it, Uncle Captain. But as long as I'm here, this house is mine."
"Okay, then I'll tell you about building a house. There's a proper way to build a house. If it's a mud-brick house, it would cost over a hundred yuan to build a house like the ones in your educated youth settlement. A brick and tile house would cost around a hundred and seventy or eighty yuan. But if you're living alone, you don't need to build such a big one. A small mud-brick house that's big enough for one person would only cost thirty or forty yuan, while a brick and tile house would cost seventy or eighty yuan."
The brigade leader's eyes lit up as she spoke. "That's right! If we can't afford the big ones, then we'll build the small ones. Don't these city kids all want to live in better conditions? Then they can pay for their own houses. I heard that each educated youth receives an 80-yuan subsidy."
If everyone were like this educated youth, Zhong, who had plenty of money and wanted to build houses, wouldn't the resettlement problem for educated youth be solved? You know, educated youth may not have much else, but they have plenty of space. They just need to go to the commune to submit an application, and the commune is very quick to approve the houses built by educated youth.
The brigade has timber, which is something they can use with just an application. If the educated youth could all pay for their own houses, then he wouldn't have to worry about the resettlement of the educated youth every year.
However, thirty or forty yuan is not a small amount, and these educated youths don't know if they can be willing to spend it on building houses. After all, even if they don't build houses, the village will eventually have to arrange accommodation for them.
Upon hearing that even a brick house would only cost seventy or eighty yuan, Zhong Lingling's expression visibly relaxed, and she immediately decided to build a brick house big enough for two people to live in together.
Before she went to the countryside, her father gave her five hundred yuan. With that money, she could build a house and still have a lot left over, enough for her and Wenqi to live comfortably in the countryside for a while. Besides, her parents said they would send her money regularly, so Zhong Lingling really didn't care about the hundred or so yuan.
On the other side, Chen Shuning was also very happy to hear the amount. When she left, Chen's mother gave her two hundred yuan in addition to various tickets. In addition, she had no shortage of supplies in her space and was not worried about going hungry.
So Chen Shuning was very willing to spend a few dozen yuan to build a house of her own.
Thinking of this, Chen Shuning quickly interjected, "Captain, I also want to build a house, but I don't know how long it takes to build one. Also, what do we need to do to build a house? After all, we've just arrived at the team and we don't know anyone here. We don't know where to find materials or workers."
Yang Xiaohong hadn't said anything when Zhong Lingling mentioned building a house, but now, hearing Chen Shuning speak, she felt uneasy.
Before the team leader could even speak, Yang Xiaohong was already protesting. Upon hearing that Chen Shuning wanted to build his own house, she became incredibly jealous, forgetting all about how building a house would save them the trouble of having to share with the villagers.
Yang Xiaohong, who instinctively couldn't stand seeing Chen Shuning do well, interrupted the brigade leader before he could speak, saying, "Of course it doesn't comply with the regulations, Chen Shuning. We came to the countryside in response to the Chairman's call to receive re-education from the poor and lower-middle peasants and to help build the countryside, not to enjoy ourselves. You come here and want to build your own house. This capitalist's daughter's behavior is unacceptable."
Yang Xiaohong's words caused everyone in the room to change their expressions. Chen Shuning merely glanced at her contemptuously before turning his gaze back to the brigade leader.
Zhong Lingling, who always had a fiery temper, was furious and her face turned red as she scolded, "Yang Xiaohong, you're talking nonsense! I advise you to think before you speak. My family has been poor peasants for eight generations, and starting from my grandfather's generation, we were all working class. My father is now the director of the Revolutionary Committee of Dongcheng District in Beijing. Yang Xiaohong, I can sue you for defamation for saying what you said."
The movement had only been going on for less than two years and was at its most intense. At that time, one could easily be criticized and denounced if things went wrong. Moreover, Zhong Lingling's father was the director of the Revolutionary Committee. Although she had been sent to the countryside, there were still family members in Beijing.
So when Zhong Lingling mentioned that her father was the director of the Revolutionary Committee, Yang Xiaohong immediately wilted and huddled in the corner, not daring to utter a single word.
After hearing Yang Xiaohong's words, the brigade leader's brows, which had relaxed, furrowed again. When he saw that it was that female educated youth carrying two tattered bags who wanted to ride the tractor, his gaze towards her became unfriendly.
The words that came out were not pleasant: "What nonsense! Building a house makes you act like a capitalist lady? Does that mean everyone in our team is a landlord? You know, everyone in the team owns a house and land these days. If we follow your logic, wouldn't we all be landlords? We really can't keep an educated youth like you who so easily labels people. I think I'll send you back to the commune first thing tomorrow morning and let the commune leaders reassign you."
In fact, Yang Xiaohong regretted her words as soon as they left her mouth. Now, hearing the captain's words, she was even more frightened, her face turned pale, and her body trembled like a leaf. She shrank back to the corner and stammered, "Captain, I didn't mean that. I... I was just confused and said the wrong thing. Captain, please forgive me since it's my first offense."
The brigade leader was just trying to scare Yang Xiaohong by saying he was going to send her back, so that these young educated youths wouldn't cause him trouble later. Besides, he was still thinking about how Zhong Lingling and Chen Shuning could build their own houses to solve the problem of resettling educated youths in the brigade.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading!
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
