Li Weihong looked the three newcomers up and down. When her gaze fell on Lin Xiaxia in particular, her brows knitted even tighter, and her tone was clearly reluctant.
“Uncle, it’s not that I want to complain, but the educated youth station only has three rooms. We’re already packed in like sardines. There are four people in the women’s room already, and there’s barely enough space to turn around. We really can’t squeeze in anyone else. You should find somewhere else for them to stay.”
Zhao Jianjun pushed up his glasses and was about to speak when Lin Xiaxia quietly tugged at him.
She knew there was no point arguing right now. It would be better to see how things played out first.
“Let’s hear what the village chief has to say,” she whispered.
The village chief was troubled as well. Rubbing his hands together, he said, “Well… there really aren’t any spare houses in the village. How about putting up with the crowding for a few days? Once the autumn harvest is over, we’ll see if we can build another small room.”
“Put up with it?”
Li Weihong raised her voice.
“We’ve been crammed together since the beginning of spring and haven’t had a good night’s sleep since. Why should we have to keep suffering just because someone new arrived? If you ask me, let her stay with the male educated youths. There are only two men in that room anyway. They can squeeze together and make do!”
As soon as those words left her mouth, Lin Xiaxia’s face turned pale.
Zhao Jianjun frowned as well.
“How could that possibly work? Men and women shouldn’t be sharing the same room.”
Lin Xiaxia stepped forward and looked directly at Li Weihong. Her voice was calm but firm.
“Comrade Li, since we’re all educated youths, we should look out for one another. We just arrived, and we don’t want to cause trouble for anyone. If the women’s room really is crowded, I can set up a temporary sleeping space there. Once the village makes other arrangements, I’ll move out. Would that be all right?”
She didn’t want to start a conflict the moment she arrived, so she decided to compromise first and see how the other woman responded.
Li Weihong’s expression darkened even further, her tone firm and uncompromising.
“Our room has nothing except a large heated brick bed and a narrow walkway. There’s barely enough room to turn around, let alone fit another person. If you ask me, you’d better find somewhere else to stay.”
There was indeed a little extra space in the male educated youths’ room, but once Zhao Jianjun and Gao Hongjun moved in, it would be full as well.
Besides, they couldn’t possibly have a female educated youth living together with the men. That would be completely inappropriate.
The village chief looked at Lin Xiaxia and hesitantly suggested, “Educated Youth Lin, how about finding a family in the village and staying with them for a few days? They’re all honest, decent families. They won’t mistreat you.”
A troubled expression appeared on Lin Xiaxia’s face, and she gently shook her head.
She had only just arrived in the village and knew nothing about the personalities or temperaments of the local families. If she ended up staying with people who were difficult to get along with, there would inevitably be friction every day.
That would only create even more trouble.
Seeing her expression, the village chief understood that she didn’t want to stay with a local family. After thinking for a moment, he spoke again.
“Actually, there’s an empty house on the eastern side of the village. It’s quite clean. The original owners’ son works in the city, and last year he took his elderly parents to live with him, so the house has been vacant ever since. The only thing is… you’ll have to pay rent if you want to live there.”
Lin Xiaxia’s eyes immediately lit up.
That was perfect!
If she lived alone, not only would she have peace and quiet, but she could also secretly use the supplies from her storage space to cook meals for herself. She wouldn’t have to squeeze in with everyone else or eat from the communal pot.
It was exactly what she wanted.
She quickly asked, “How much is the rent for a year?”
Seeing how readily she agreed, the village chief was momentarily stunned. Clearly, he hadn’t expected her to be so decisive.
“The owners said that if someone wants to rent it, it’ll be ten yuan a year.”
Ten yuan a year wasn’t expensive at all for the time.
Lin Xiaxia immediately nodded.
“All right, I’ll rent it! Village Chief, please take me over to have a look. If it’s suitable, I’ll move in today.”
Listening from the side, Li Weihong curled her lips disdainfully but said nothing more before turning and heading inside.
As long as Lin Xiaxia wasn’t squeezing into her room, she couldn’t care less where the woman chose to live.
But after taking a few steps, she couldn’t resist making another sarcastic remark.
“Oh my, some people really are something. We came to the countryside to receive reeducation from the poor and lower-middle peasants and contribute to building the nation. Paying money to rent a private house? Isn’t that the behavior of a capitalist?”
The village chief’s face immediately darkened.
“Comrade Li Weihong, that’s going too far. When I asked you to make room for Educated Youth Lin, you refused. Now that she’s willing to pay for her own place, you’re criticizing her for that too. What exactly do you want her to do?”
Li Weihong rolled her eyes and went inside.
After the village chief finished arranging accommodations for Zhao Jianjun and Gao Hongjun, he left with Lin Xiaxia.
He led her toward the eastern end of the village, explaining as they walked, “It’s an adobe house with two main rooms and a small courtyard. There are pots, bowls, and other household things inside. They’re a little old, but once you clean the place up, it’ll be perfectly livable.”
It didn’t take long for them to arrive.
The courtyard wasn’t large and was surrounded by a wooden fence. Several fruit trees grew inside, though most of their leaves had already fallen.
The two main rooms were indeed clean. Fresh paper covered the windows, and when Lin Xiaxia pushed open the door, she found the furnishings simple.
There was a wooden table and two long benches. The inner room contained a heated brick bed covered with an old felt mat, while a pile of dry firewood was stacked in one corner.
“The old couple took very good care of this place when they lived here. They even came back earlier this year and replaced the paper on the windows.”
Lin Xiaxia looked around both inside and outside the house and was extremely satisfied.
“This is great. I’ll take it. Village Chief, should I give you the rent now?”
“No hurry, no hurry.”
The village chief waved his hand.
“Get yourself settled first. I’ll have someone bring over some firewood so you can heat up the brick bed. It’s already late, and if the bed isn’t warm, it’ll get pretty cold when you sleep tonight.”
“Thank you, Village Chief!”
Lin Xiaxia thanked him sincerely.
After putting down her luggage and getting settled, the village chief offered to show her around the village so she could familiarize herself with the roads and let the villagers get to know her as well.
When they reached a fork in the road, a woman wearing a coarse cloth jacket suddenly came rushing toward them from a dirt path, clutching a child in her arms.
She was frantic, and her voice trembled with sobs.
“Village Chief! Village Chief! Please, hurry and take us to town! My child is dying!”
The village chief hurried toward her.
The moment he saw the child in her arms, his expression changed drastically.
“What happened to Little Hu?”
“The little rascal got greedy and secretly ate an egg at home. He didn’t chew it properly and choked! I’ve been patting his back for ages, but I can’t get it out!”
Tears streamed down the woman’s face, and her hands trembled violently.
Lin Xiaxia stepped closer to take a look.
The child appeared to be only two or three years old. His small face had already turned bluish-purple from lack of air, his lips were pale, and his eyes were half-open. His breathing had become weak and irregular.
The sight was terrifying.
It would take at least three hours to get from the village to town.
The child would never last that long.
Lin Xiaxia had no time to think. She immediately took the child from the woman’s arms.
“What are you doing?!”
The woman cried out in alarm and instinctively reached forward to snatch her child back.
“Stop!”
Lin Xiaxia barked sharply.
“If we waste any more time, he’ll die!”
She quickly turned the child over, laying him facedown along her forearm. Supporting his jaw with one hand, she used the other to deliver several quick, firm blows between his shoulder blades.
After five or six blows produced no result, she immediately repositioned him and began performing a series of rapid abdominal thrusts.
Once.
Twice.
Three times…
On the fifth thrust, there was a sudden sound as a small piece of poorly chewed egg shot out of the child’s mouth.
Immediately afterward, the little boy began coughing violently.
The frightening bluish-purple color gradually faded from his face, and a healthy flush slowly began to return.