Although no one spoke about Wang Meixiang's suggestion, it was clear from the expressions of many that they agreed with it.
Although the male comrades weren't very good at cooking, they put in a lot of effort in managing the private plots in the yard. From cultivating and sowing to fetching water, it was all done by the male educated youth. Even the female educated youth were responsible for watering and fertilizing.
But these newcomers do nothing and just eat for free, which is one thing, but they actually eat more than the rest of us, which makes us unhappy.
The female educated youth all had their own little schemes. With so many women, there were bound to be more problems. In addition, Yang Wanqiu had been doing almost nothing after coming home from work these past two days. She would just sit on the kang (a heated brick bed) after eating, which had already made some people unhappy.
It's worth noting that among the new batch of female educated youth, Chen Shuning and Zhong Lingling were going to start their own businesses, and Wang Chunni and Xu Laidi would also be leaving in a few days.
Yang Wanqiu and Yang Xiaohong were left. One was lazy and greedy, while the other, although not lazy, had an unpleasant habit of taking advantage of others.
If we can take this opportunity to squeeze people out, that would be good. Even if we can't squeeze them out, it would still be good to improve the current situation.
Just as the atmosphere reached a stalemate, the captain's voice came from the doorway.
"Everyone's here, I have something to tell you all."
The captain clearly didn't notice the strange atmosphere in the courtyard. As soon as he entered, he got straight to the point and stated his purpose.
"I went to a meeting in town this morning. The commune secretary said that another group of educated youth will be coming to our commune in a few days. I'm letting you know in advance so you can all discuss how to settle them properly."
"More people are coming, Captain. The house is only so big. Where do you think we'll put them? We can't just have them stay in the yard, can we?"
The brigade leader was also in a dilemma. The commune only cared about letting each brigade take in the educated youth, and didn't care about anything else. Each educated youth only received a small resettlement fee, and not everyone was like Chen and Zhong, who were willing to spend their own money to build houses.
Thinking of Chen Shuning and Zhong Lingling, the brigade leader looked hopefully at the two sitting quietly at the end of the table, his face crinkling with smiles, and said, "Hey Chen and Zhong, I heard your houses are finished. I wonder how many people can live in them? And look at these new educated youths, I wonder..."
As soon as the captain spoke, Yang Wanqiu's eyes lit up, and her mind raced as she tried to figure out how to please Chen Shuning and get her to agree to let her live with her.
They had all noticed how well the house in the backyard was built. She wasn't familiar with Zhong Lingling and couldn't talk to her, but Chen Shuning was different. Although she seemed a bit different lately, they still remembered that they had grown up together since childhood.
If the brigade leader really wants to arrange for someone to live there, then I should lower myself and beg that girl again; maybe I can actually move into that new house.
Others may not know, but she does. The Chen family values this daughter highly. They are a dual-income family, with the eldest son in the army and the eldest daughter also working in the countryside, though she works in the production and construction corps and is reportedly earning a salary.
With four people in the family earning money, they'll definitely need to contribute more in the future. If I can really build a good relationship with Chen Shuning, I won't have to worry about not being able to benefit from him in the future.
Thinking about this, Yang Wanqiu truly regretted why she had ever gone against Chen Shuning. If she had been able to get along well with her while they were in school, she wouldn't have to rack her brains trying to please her now.
Yang Wanqiu was secretly calculating in her heart, but unexpectedly, after the brigade leader finished speaking, Chen Shuning, who had just acted as if it was none of her business, interrupted: "Uncle Captain, when we built the house, we agreed that I would pay for it myself and that I would be in charge of what was done after it was built."
"Don't tell me my house is too small to fit anyone else. Even if you could, don't even think about arranging for someone to live in my room. I spent so much money so I could live more comfortably, not so someone else could benefit from it. Uncle Captain, we even wrote a written agreement back then, and you even put your fingerprint on it and stamped it with the brigade's official seal. You can't go back on your word."
"Yes, Captain, you promised us that the team has no right to arbitrarily arrange for others to live in the houses we paid for."
The captain knew that his request was a bit excessive. He had only wanted to try it out. If it worked, great; if not, he couldn't force anyone to be assigned to the job.
However, he felt somewhat displeased after hearing what the two said, and his smile faded a bit. He turned to Liu Shumei and Feng Baoguo and asked, "You two are in charge of the educated youth settlement. What do you think we should do to resolve this?"
Neither of them were stupid. They were just young educated youth sent to the countryside, with no money and no power. How could they solve this?
“Look at what you’re saying, Captain. What can we do? We’ll just do whatever the captain decides.” At this moment, Feng Baoguo, who usually communicates with the villagers, naturally had to step forward.
"Regarding the resettlement of the new educated youth, the team has decided that the team will first pay for the construction of a few small houses like Chen's. Of course, the team doesn't have the money to build brick houses, so they will just be mud-brick houses of that size. If any of you want to live in a single room, you will have to pay the team two yuan a month for rent, payable every six months. Is that acceptable to you?"
Regarding the resettlement of the new educated youth, the team had actually held a meeting for half a day to discuss it. The final decision was that the village would advance the money to build a few small houses like Chen Shuning's at the educated youth settlement.
Of course, the village had limited funds, so they wouldn't build a brick house like Chen Shuning's. Instead, they would build ordinary mud-brick and thatched houses, which would then be rented to the educated youth for two yuan a month.
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