Hearing this, Liu Yu stammered a few perfunctory words and pulled Su Nan towards the kitchen.
"No, let's eat quickly. I'm starving."
Seeing Liu Yu blushing, Su Nan knew that she was shy and didn't mean it, so he didn't ask any more questions and followed her to the kitchen.
The day's meal consisted of noodles made of cornmeal and a bowl of puffed tofu. This was tofu made from soybeans that the brigade had uniformly prepared not long ago. A portion of it was given to the educated youths, and it was enough to last everyone a long time.
Fresh tofu sprinkled with salt, deep-fried tofu bubbles, and then sprinkled with chopped green onions, it was so fragrant, but perhaps because they were reluctant to use oil, it didn’t taste that crispy. But given Gao Zhongbin’s cooking skills, it was generally delicious.
Su Nan held the small bowl and ate it bit by bit. Apart from the tofu puff, she had never touched the cornmeal lumps because she didn't like them. She was picky about food and couldn't really eat them.
"Nannan, eat more. You'll be hungry later at night." Liu Yu noticed Su Nan's actions and quickly reminded her.
"It's okay, I'm not that hungry." Su Nan smiled back.
Suddenly, a sneer was heard at the dinner table.
Then Yang Feng said sarcastically, "You are so squeamish. If you can't finish it, don't eat it. Who asked you to eat it? Don't look so disgusted. You should know that these food were earned by everyone with great effort."
"Yes, you haven't earned a penny, but you come back and eat everyone's food for free. I don't know what you mean by that. You are so shameless." Zhong Xiaodie replied without getting angry.
As soon as these words were spoken, the kitchen fell into silence, and those who were enjoying their meal put down their chopsticks one after another.
Su Nan was stunned when she heard that. She looked at the two girls sitting across the table from her and knew that they were deliberately looking for trouble. But could they figure out the situation before blaming her?
Some educated youth who were unaware of the situation began to murmur in low voices, and some even echoed Yang Feng and the others' remarks.
"I've noticed that Su Zhiqing has been in a bad mood since he sat down. It's a bit too much and it's really off-putting."
"I didn't think it was a big deal at first, but after hearing what Yang Feng said, I felt that it wasn't very appropriate. Isn't it the same as us raising a person for nothing?"
"We ourselves are still hungry, and now we have to feed another idler. It's really unlucky."
The chirping sound seemed quiet, but in fact everyone could hear it. In an instant, most of the men's faces turned grim.
"Enough." Zhou Rang put down his bowl and chopsticks, and glanced at Yang Feng and Zhong Xiaodie with cold eyes, scaring them so much that they shivered.
Zhou Rang, who seldom spoke on weekdays, spoke up to defend Su Nan for the second time. Some of the educated youth who were insightful would surely guess the hidden meaning behind this.
The young woman who admired Zhou Rang could no longer sit still. She stood up and said, "Comrade Zhou, this matter has nothing to do with you. You should not interfere."
"Su Nan was wrong in the first place. Yang Feng and Xiao Die were just stating the facts."
"Everyone is having a hard time now, how can we let a freeloader to provide food for everyone?"
"Brother, please judge for yourself."
Mao, who had been sitting in his seat without saying a word, threw down his chopsticks and slapped the wooden table, making a harsh sound that shocked everyone into shutting up.
"We are in the educated youth camp and we value mutual help. I didn't want to say anything more, but if I didn't, you would have forgotten the horror. Comrade Yang Feng caught a cold and had a fever. He hasn't been to work for half a month. Did everyone miss a bite of food for you?"
As soon as he finished speaking, Yang Feng's face changed, and he immediately lowered his head, tugging at the corner of his clothes.
"And you, your leg was cut by a sickle and you couldn't get out of bed, so everyone helped take care of you and brought you food."
A male educated youth who had just started complaining also slowly lowered his head.
"We used to help each other and no one had any complaints, but why are they targeting each other now that they've changed a girl? I remember the day Comrade Su Nan moved back, he gave everyone egg cakes to eat, right? That thing is much more expensive than the dumpling soup we eat now."
Everyone was silent.
"Comrade Su Nan doesn't have a big appetite, so she can't eat much food. I'll pay for her share." Zhou Rang continued after Mao, leaving everyone speechless.
"No, Comrade Su Nan gave me the food allowance the day before yesterday, and I have already put it into the public account." Gao Zhongbin walked in from outside holding a bowl, his face not looking very unhappy.
He had taken his bowl to drink water last night. When he was having dinner just now and didn't have a bowl, he remembered that it was left in the bedroom. After he got it, he came back and heard a big show in the corridor outside.
"Then why didn't you say it earlier?" Yang Feng suddenly raised her head and glared at Gao Zhongbin. If he had said it earlier, they wouldn't have been embarrassed by Lu Mao and Zhou Rang's remarks on this matter.
Gao Zhongbin walked to his seat and sat down. He poured himself a bowl of dumpling soup and replied calmly, "You didn't ask me, and it's not the day to publish the accounts yet."
Gao Zhongbin was a cook and was in charge of the kitchen, so he was also in charge of the account book. As long as everyone paid a certain amount of food expenses or grain every month, they could eat together.
The account book is made public every two months, and Gao Zhongbin will review the expenditures from beginning to end in detail.
Yang Feng choked, exchanged glances with Zhong Xiaodie, and said awkwardly, "We misunderstood. Let's continue eating."
"That won't do." Su Nan finished the tofu in the bowl, wiped his mouth, raised his eyes to look at Yang Feng and the others, his tone was very calm, but it revealed an irresistible majesty.
"What do you want?" Yang Feng narrowed his eyes.
"I was scolded twice by you for no reason. You must apologize to me." Su Nan also slammed the table and stood up from the chair with a tough attitude.
Liu Yu, who was sitting next to Su Nan, also stood up to support her.
Yang Feng glanced at everyone in the room one by one, and saw that they were all looking at her with disapproving expressions. Her heart beat rapidly and she couldn't help swallowing.
He suddenly looked into Zhou Rang's eyes and was frightened by the viciousness in them. He took a step back and subconsciously grabbed Zhong Xiaodie's hand beside him.
The latter was so hurt by her strong grip that he frowned and tried to break free but couldn't. He could only whisper, "Yang Feng, let go."
Yang Feng ignored Zhong Xiaodie's words, but looked up at Su Nan, and could only grit his teeth and said unwillingly: "I'm sorry, that's enough."
After saying that, he snorted coldly, didn't even eat, and then pulled Zhong Xiaodie out.
Zhong Xiaodie looked back at the dumpling soup in her bowl and licked her lips. She was not full yet.
But now Yang Feng was obviously angry, so he should not provoke her. Besides, Yang Feng had a close relationship with Qin Xiaolan, and he could only get some benefits from her when Qin Xiaolan came back in a few days.
Thinking of this, Zhong Xiaodie suddenly no longer felt sorry for the bowl of dumpling soup.
After Yang Feng and the others left, Mao invited everyone to continue eating.
However, Su Nan didn't want to eat anymore. Seeing that Liu Yu was still unwilling to eat, he called Zhou Rang's name in front of everyone and walked out of the kitchen first.
So the educated youths holding their bowls just stared blankly at Zhou Rang as he put down his bowl and followed Su Nan out of the room.
Liu Yu was the calmest one among them.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
