As soon as the brigade captain finished speaking, Qin Ziqi immediately spoke up. If she could have a room to herself, who would want to live in a crowded communal dormitory with several other people? To be honest, three yuan a month for a room was certainly not cheap in this era, but Qin Ziqi wasn’t short of money.
The brigade captain was delighted that the village would have an extra three yuan in income every month, but at the same time, he began to worry. Educated youths who weren’t short of money were usually educated youths who couldn’t do farm work.
What a headache. What a huge headache.
The captain led them through the moon gate beside the house into the backyard. There was another row of brick-and-tile houses, but each room had its own enclosed courtyard.
“Each of these is a private room. There’s a kitchen in the front and a latrine in the back. You can take a look. Our village only managed to build four of these.”
Qin Ziqi casually pushed open the door of the first room and took a look.
The courtyard wasn’t large. At the corner between the courtyard wall and the house, there was a roofed structure with a stove underneath. All they needed to do was put an iron pot on it and they could start cooking. The roof was fairly spacious, and the empty space underneath was probably meant for storing firewood.
The room was roughly thirty square meters. In the northeastern corner was a kang, about 1.5 meters wide and 2.5 meters long, leaving plenty of space for a kang cabinet.
There was also a small door at the back. When Qin Ziqi opened it, she found a narrow latrine that had been built behind the room. There was also a roofed area beside it, though Qin Ziqi had no idea what it was for.
The brigade captain explained, “You can use this empty space to store miscellaneous things or stockpile firewood for the winter. We’ve even dug a cellar for each room.”
The captain knew that three yuan a month wasn’t cheap, so he had tried to make the rooms as well-equipped as possible.
Not a single one of the older educated youths could afford to rent one. More than a year had passed, and no one had rented them. The entire village was worried sick. They had spent quite a bit of money building these rooms in the first place, and the captain was afraid the investment would go to waste.
“Captain, I’ll rent one. I want the room on the far east,” Qin Ziqi said, pointing to the innermost room near the wall of the main courtyard. It only had a neighbor on the right.
“Captain, I’ll rent one too. I’ll take the one on the far west.”
Zhou Xue immediately claimed the room they were currently looking at. She didn’t want to be sandwiched between other people.
Lu Chengxiu hesitated for a long time and ultimately didn’t dare rent one.
Three yuan a month meant thirty-six yuan a year. She only had one hundred yuan, and her parents wouldn’t be able to send her money in the future.
Zheng Hongjun couldn’t afford one either. The money in his pocket was only enough to cover three months’ rent.
Shen Changzheng struggled with the decision for a while but didn’t say anything either. He didn’t have much money, and his parents might not be willing to send him money every month. So he decided to forget it.
Shen Xingheng, however, had brought enough money.
“Captain, I’ll rent one too. I’ll take the second room from the west.”
Thus, from west to east, the rooms were occupied by Zhou Xue, Shen Xingheng, one vacant room, and Qin Ziqi.
This arrangement made Qin Ziqi extremely happy.
There were no houses or neighbors on either side of her. The room to her left was vacant, and there was no neighbor on the other side either.
That meant she wouldn’t have to worry about making a little noise and having someone overhear her.
“Good. You can pay month by month, or pay several months at once. Later, go to the brigade office and pay the rent. You can also collect your grain ration while you’re there. You can rest for the next two days. If you want to go to the county town to buy things, you can take the ox cart at seven in the morning. Or you can walk around the village and familiarize yourselves with the place.”
The three people who had rented private rooms immediately carried their luggage to their rooms in the backyard. Those who hadn’t rented private rooms had no choice but to go to the large kang in the front courtyard.
After putting down their luggage, they returned to the front courtyard, where a male educated youth somewhat older than them was standing beside Lu Chengxiu and the others.
“Hello, I’m Zhao Jun. I’m the head of the educated youth settlement. I’ll take you to the brigade office to collect your grain rations.”
Zhao Jun had been in the countryside the longest among the educated youths here. He had already been sent down five years ago.
He had just heard that among the six newly arrived educated youths, three had rented private rooms in the backyard.
Looks like this batch of newcomers has some wealthy ones among them.
But that also meant they wouldn’t be easy to manage.
“Thank you, Educated Youth Zhao.”
Shen Xingheng smiled politely, while Zhou Xue and Qin Ziqi also nodded in acknowledgment.
The seven of them headed toward the brigade office.
The educated youth compound was at the very back of the village, near the foot of the mountains, while the brigade office was located near the entrance to the village.
It took about fifteen minutes to walk from the educated youth compound to the brigade office.
Along the way, Qin Ziqi asked Zhao Jun, “Educated Youth Zhao, there should be a carpenter in the village, right?”
“There is. I’ll point him out when we pass by. Uncle Zhuzi is the village’s old carpenter. He can make ordinary kang cabinets, wardrobes, tables, stools, and so on. He also has some finished pieces at home.”
When they passed an earthen-walled courtyard, Zhao Jun pointed toward it.
“This is Uncle Zhuzi’s house. There’s a poplar tree by the entrance, so it’s easy to recognize.”
“Okay, thank you, Educated Youth Zhao.”
Along the way, they encountered quite a few middle-aged and elderly women, all of whom knew Zhao Jun.
“Educated Youth Zhao, are these the new educated youths who just arrived?”
“Yes, Auntie Zhao.”
“They’re certainly prettier and more delicate-looking than the girls in our village.”
Several pairs of eyes swept over the group, eventually stopping on Qin Ziqi almost in unison.
The women huddled together and whispered.
“Look at that girl. Her skin is so fair and delicate, and she’s so pretty. She looks just like a fox spirit. Once they start working, won’t all the young men in the village fall for her?”
“Exactly. I need to go home and warn my son. A woman like that is not someone he can afford to get involved with. Forget whether she can work—just look at how she’s dressed. She’s even wearing a watch. Who could afford to support someone like her? And a woman that beautiful won’t be able to keep herself out of trouble.”
They seemed to be chatting casually, but their voices were loud enough for everyone to hear.
Qin Ziqi rolled her eyes.
Auntie, you’re worrying too much. There’s no way I’d ever consider your son. And a fox spirit? If I’m going to charm anyone, I’d rather charm a handsome scholar.
Lu Chengxiu couldn’t help smiling smugly.
Qin Ziqi, I knew it. With your looks, the village women would never like you. But these country bumpkins have never seen anyone like you. If even one of them develops bad intentions toward you, you’re finished.
They finally arrived at the brigade office.
The brigade captain was already waiting there, accompanied by two other people.
“This is our village secretary, Zhao Xingfa, the Party branch secretary.”
The captain pointed to the older man, then introduced the younger one.
“And this is our village accountant, Gao.”
“Your monthly grain ration is thirty-five jin. Come over and sign for this month’s ration.”
Behind the captain was a long table with six cloth sacks already prepared.
“The brigade is lending you these grain sacks. Once you have your own sacks, return these to the brigade.”
Each person received a sack, signed their name, and took it away.
The sacks were filled entirely with coarse grain.
Zhou Xue and Qin Ziqi also paid eighteen yuan each for six months’ rent. Shen Xingheng paid month by month, handing over three yuan.
“This is all coarse grain. How are we supposed to eat this?” Zhou Xue complained.
She had hardly eaten coarse grain at all in her life. She had only tasted it occasionally at home, just for fun.
A flicker of surprise crossed Zhao Jun’s normally serious face before he said, “If you don’t like coarse grain, you can exchange it with the villagers for fine grain. But thirty-five jin of coarse grain won’t get you much fine grain. At most, you can exchange it for twenty jin, which won’t be enough to last you a month.”
“Then I’ll exchange it anyway. If it isn’t enough, I can buy more. I refuse to eat this coarse grain. It scratches my throat.”
Zhou Xue pouted.
How is this supposed to be a life experience? This is clearly just coming here to suffer.
She was going to call her family.
She didn’t want to go to the countryside anymore.