Yuan Jiansi frowned, clearly not expecting Guo Yuanyuan to stand up for Luo Xi.
However, he considered himself too dignified to argue with a village girl, so he simply lowered his head and said nothing.
Song Xingui couldn’t stand it anymore. “What does it have to do with you? Who asked you to interfere?”
Guo Yuanyuan had never been afraid of anyone when it came to arguing. “Of course it has something to do with me. Your lecherous gaze offended me.”
Song Xingui was furious. “Who’s lecherous? Are you blind?”
Was that really a lecherous look? She was obviously angry!
Guo Yuanyuan snorted. “Only the people looking at you know what your expression means. You’d better hurry home and look in the mirror, or you’ll keep making lecherous faces everywhere without even realizing it.”
Luo Xi couldn’t help twitching the corner of her mouth. She had never noticed it before, but Guo Yuanyuan was actually an expert at arguing.
Song Xingui was practically beside herself with rage. “You’re lecherous! Your whole family is lecherous!”
Guo Yuanyuan couldn’t resist firing back sarcastically. “You drag the whole family into everything. Your family must be incredibly unlucky to have someone like you.”
Since the whole matter had started because of her, Luo Xi tried to mediate. “Stop arguing. We’re all good revolutionary comrades. Wouldn’t it be better if everyone just got along peacefully?”
She looked at Song Xingui. “Comrade Guo is only trying to help you. Your gaze really is rather lecherous, with a touch of indecency too. I noticed it a long time ago, but I was embarrassed to point it out because I was afraid of hurting your self-esteem.”
“Now that Comrade Guo has finally been honest with you, you should be grateful for her frank reminder instead of making your gaze even more lecherous.”
Before anyone could react, Luo Xi turned to Guo Yuanyuan again.
“Comrade Guo, I know you meant well when you warned Educated Youth Song, but not everyone has such a broad-minded heart.”
“So, in that respect, you did make a mistake. No matter how lecherous she is, you should have just endured it and let her continue being lecherous. Being too honest isn’t always a good thing.”
Pfft.
Qi Le hurriedly covered his mouth. “I’m not laughing. I just… remembered something funny.”
He had discovered that Educated Youth Luo really had a vicious tongue.
Song Xingui finally couldn’t take it anymore and burst into tears.
But whether it was Guo Manchang, who was driving the ox cart, or the people sitting on it, nobody paid her any attention.
Even Yuan Jiansi didn’t comfort her.
Amid her sobs, they finally returned to Wushan Village.
By then, it was already dark. Luo Xi still went to check on her house. It was basically finished, with only the installation of the roof beams and tiles left to do.
That very evening, Qi Le found an opportunity to give her the rest of the money.
Early the next morning, Guo Yuanyuan accompanied her mother, Ye Cuicui, to see Luo Xi.
Ye Cuicui handed over a basket of eggs. “Thank you so much for what you did yesterday. Please, you must accept these.”
Her daughter was so carefree that she hadn’t told her what happened until after dinner the previous night, nearly scaring her mother into fainting.
Early that morning, her husband had ridden his bicycle to the county police station to find out what had happened. She was worried that rumors might spread afterward and damage her daughter’s reputation.
She had taken out all the eggs the family had saved for a long time to sell for money. She couldn’t bear to imagine what might have happened if Educated Youth Luo hadn’t been there.
Luo Xi quickly waved them away. “No, no. We’re all revolutionary comrades. Of course we should help one another.”
Ye Cuicui was very insistent. “They’re only a few eggs. They’re not worth much. If you refuse them, it means you look down on them.”
Luo Xi silently accepted the basket. “I don’t look down on them, I don’t! Eggs are delicious.”
Only then was Ye Cuicui satisfied.
“Good girl. Come over to Auntie’s house whenever you have time.”
After chatting for a few more minutes, Ye Cuicui finally left with Guo Yuanyuan.
Several more days passed in the blink of an eye, and Luo Xi’s house was finally completed. She didn’t bother picking an auspicious day. After letting the house sit for two days, she took a day off and prepared to move in.
First, she went to the county town to buy a cooking pot and door locks, along with some rice, grain, salt, cooking oil, two jin of meat, and vegetable seeds.
Fortunately, she had been saving her industrial coupons and grain ration coupons, and now they finally came in handy.
By the time she returned home from the county town, it was already afternoon.
The village carpenter had already delivered the tables, chairs, and cabinets she had ordered, placing them in the courtyard. Although the furniture was simple in design, it had an authentic old-fashioned feel, and Luo Xi was very satisfied with it.
Just as she was wondering how to arrange all the furniture, she heard someone knocking on the door.
Luo Xi shouted, “Who is it?”
Chu Yan: “…Me.”
He had also chosen today as his housewarming day.
“Is something wrong?” Luo Xi opened the door.
Chu Yan asked, “I wanted to ask, are you inviting people over for your housewarming?”
Luo Xi shook her head. “It’s not a big deal. I’m only planning to invite my two roommates, Educated Youth Shi and Educated Youth Xu, over for dinner.”
Although she had been sent down to the countryside for more than a month, her relationships with the other educated youths were only so-so. She didn’t have any particularly close friends yet.
“What? Are you planning to throw a big housewarming party?” she asked curiously.
Speaking of which, Chu Yan actually had pretty good connections. Despite usually looking cold and distant, he got along quite well with the male educated youths in the compound, as well as quite a few men in the village.
Chu Yan looked helpless. “They said they’re going to come over and make a little noise.”
Luo Xi didn’t understand. “So why did you come to me?”
Surely he hadn’t come just to brag about having so many friends?
Chu Yan looked a little embarrassed. “My courtyard is small, and I don’t have enough bowls and chopsticks. I thought that if you weren’t inviting many people, I could borrow your tables, chairs, and dishes.”
Luo Xi: “…”
Was he mocking her for having no friends?
Chu Yan had no idea how far Luo Xi’s thoughts had already wandered. He was about to leave when he noticed all the furniture in the courtyard. He stopped and asked, “Do you need help?”
Luo Xi didn’t stand on ceremony. “Yes.”
Chu Yan was very tall. He had to be at least 188 centimeters, if not 190. When he rolled up his sleeves, the smooth, well-defined muscles of his arms were full of strength.
As if sensing Luo Xi’s gaze, Chu Yan silently pulled his sleeves back down.
Luo Xi: “…”
Was he going to lose a piece of flesh just because she looked at him?
He quickly carried all kinds of furniture into the house, hardly needing Luo Xi’s help at all.
What Luo Xi hadn’t expected was that the people who came to celebrate her housewarming that evening included not only Shi Yanlan and Xu Qian, but also Qi Le and Guo Yuanyuan.
Shi Yanlan and Xu Qian helped prepare dinner because they both knew that Luo Xi’s cooking skills were terrible.
Even breaking in the new cooking pot was done by them.
As the hostess, Luo Xi was basically reduced to washing vegetables and helping on the sidelines.
Fortunately, she had bought meat, which made the several people who hadn’t tasted meat in a long time very satisfied.
As they ate and chatted, laughter occasionally drifted over from Chu Yan’s place.
Shi Yanlan sighed. “Chu Yan invited a lot of people!”
Qi Le nodded with a laugh. “There must be ten or twenty people.”
If Luo Xi hadn’t been moving in today, he would have gone over there too. But when forced to choose between the two, he naturally chose Luo Xi.
Xu Qian was very envious of the well in Luo Xi’s courtyard. “Having a well is so convenient.”
They had to carry water from a place several hundred meters away.
Fortunately, they didn’t need to carry water for washing clothes or watering vegetables. There was a small stream nearby.
However, it was ordinary stream water and couldn’t be used for drinking.
Luo Xi also thought carrying water from so far away was too much trouble. She knew she couldn’t endure that kind of hardship, so she simply had a small well dug.
It wasn’t until after nine that night, after everyone helped clean up, that they finally left.
Only then did Luo Xi have time to look at the housewarming gifts they had brought.
None of the gifts were particularly valuable, but there was certainly enough to make another meal.
After closing the door, Luo Xi sat on a chair in the courtyard, gazing at the stars overhead and enjoying the rare tranquility.
The next day, Luo Xi was assigned to weed again.
Holding her hoe, Luo Xi worked very carefully—and very slowly—because she was afraid of accidentally hoeing up a corn seedling along with the weeds.
Although she had somehow been transported into this world, her mental state had been surprisingly good lately. Still, she knew that in this era, grain was essentially life itself.
Besides, she didn’t care much about earning work points. As long as she could earn around five work points at her current pace, she was perfectly satisfied.
Just as she was thinking this, she heard a commotion coming from somewhere in the distance.