Guo Jiandang’s brow twitched. “Comrade Shi, what’s the matter?”
Shi Yanlan smiled awkwardly. “Brigade Leader, I just wanted to ask… The roof tiles on the house we’re living in are leaking everywhere. Could you help us take a look?”
Only then did Luo Xi remember the matter. “Right, right. That house really isn’t fit for people to live in.”
Guo Jiandang agreed without hesitation. “Sure. I’ll have someone repair it for you later.”
The brigade was certainly responsible for the educated youths assigned there.
It was just that, based on his several years of experience, the educated youth compound was always full of trouble. Unless something happened, he couldn’t be bothered to interfere.
Shi Yanlan was delighted. “Thank you, Brigade Leader.”
Luo Xi’s house construction was quickly settled. It wasn’t until construction actually began that she discovered another house was being built at the same time, not far from hers.
After asking around, she learned that Chu Yan was also building a house there.
His was only a single-room house with a small front courtyard.
Guo Jiandang took some time to go to the commune and tried to have Song Xingui sent back.
Someone who would pick up a stone and smash another person at the slightest disagreement made him uneasy. He was afraid something might happen one day.
Commune Party Secretary Li Weidong poured him a cup of water and spoke calmly.
“I understand what you’re saying. Old Guo, these young people were sent down to the countryside to work in the first place so that we could educate and reform them.”
“There has to be a reason to send her back. She already has a stain on her record. Why don’t you educate her a little more and give her another chance?”
Guo Jiandang sighed. “I’m only worried that something will happen. I just feel like there’s a ticking time bomb sitting right beside us.”
“Just think about it. If Comrade Luo hadn’t been alert that night, and that stone had come down… I’m afraid to even imagine the consequences.”
Li Weidong nodded. “I understand. How about this? Let’s observe her for a while longer. If she dares to make another move, then we’ll decide what to do.”
Guo Jiandang thought for a moment and nodded. “All right.”
Song Xingui knew nothing about any of this.
At that moment, she was crying as she wrote her self-criticism.
She had even annoyed Xu Qian so much that Xu Qian couldn’t take it anymore. Yet she didn’t know what to say, so she simply turned and left the room.
She happened to run into Luo Xi and Shi Yanlan, who had just returned from gathering firewood.
“You two went to gather firewood?” she greeted them with a smile.
Shi Yanlan put down a small bundle of wood. “Whenever we have time, we go up the mountain and gather some.”
The firewood at the educated youth compound was a collective responsibility. Everyone had to gather at least two bundles a month.
The last time they had a day off, the two of them had gone to the county town, so they hadn’t completed their firewood quota. Since they finished work early now, they took the opportunity to gather some from the nearby hills.
Seeing her unhappy expression, Luo Xi asked, “What’s wrong?”
Xu Qian let out a heavy sigh. “Nothing.”
Luo Xi raised an eyebrow slightly but didn’t press her further.
Shi Yanlan, however, was very fond of gossip. She pulled Xu Qian into the room.
“Come on, tell us. What happened?”
Xu Qian didn’t hide it.
“Comrade Song has been writing her self-criticism while crying.”
“It’s not that I have no sympathy, but she’s been crying for days. Every day she writes, every day she cries. I really don’t understand how a 3,000-word self-criticism could possibly take her this long.”
Xu Qian had also arrived at Wushan Village with Luo Xi and the others. She was still a newcomer and hadn’t quite adjusted to farm work yet.
Every day after work, she felt like her whole body had fallen apart and just wanted to rest for a while.
Instead, Song Xingui was like a crying ghost, sobbing nonstop right beside her.
Shi Yanlan thought about it. “Why don’t you move in with me? You’ll have to wait until Comrade Luo moves out, though.”
Guo Jiandang had not only repaired the roof tiles for her, but had also fixed the window.
Shi Yanlan herself was very hardworking, and Luo Xi wasn’t lazy either. Together, they had cleared all the weeds around the front and back of the house that had grown as tall as a person.
Xu Qian’s eyes lit up. “Can I?”
Four to six people normally shared one room.
The only reason Luo Xi and the others were currently living in this house was because it was so old and run-down that nobody wanted to stay there.
After Song Xingui had stirred things up, Luo Xi and Shi Yanlan had ultimately been assigned to this place.
Luo Xi shrugged. “I don’t mind. You can move over now if you want. There’s plenty of room on the kang anyway.”
She was also a little worried about leaving Shi Yanlan alone in one room.
Xu Qian was a decent person, so the two of them could keep each other company.
Xu Qian was delighted and immediately decided to move over right away.
And so, the two-person room became a three-person room.
Two days later, Song Xingui finally stood at the threshing ground and, with the villagers watching, read aloud the self-criticism she had written through her tears.
Luo Xi very proactively handed her a loudspeaker.
“I know your throat isn’t feeling very good. Use this so you won’t have to speak too loudly. No need to thank me.”
Song Xingui secretly ground her teeth.
Enduring the lingering pain from her still-swollen face, she took the loudspeaker. She felt humiliated and utterly embarrassed.
Inside, she cursed Luo Xi, as well as the enormous crowd gathered around them.
She suspected that practically the entire brigade had come.
Why weren’t these people staying at home? Did they not get tired from working?
Soon, Song Xingui’s timid voice came through the loudspeaker, distorted by the poor sound quality.
“Five days ago, because of my jealousy…”
One had to admit, her self-criticism was quite well written.
Of course, it had been rejected and sent back by Guo Jiandang four times before she finally produced this final draft.
After who knew how long, Song Xingui finally finished reading the entire thing.
Then she bowed to Luo Xi and apologized.
“Comrade Luo, everything that happened before was my fault. I apologize to you. I hope you can forgive me.”
Luo Xi smiled with an extremely magnanimous expression.
“Since you’ve apologized so sincerely, I’ll generously forgive you. But don’t do something like this again.”
“Jealousy makes people ugly. Only hard work allows you to move forward. So you need to work hard. Although working hard doesn’t necessarily mean you’ll succeed, at least by working hard, you’ll have one more effort than someone who doesn’t work hard.”
Everyone: “…”
There was something strange about that statement.
Song Xingui nearly ground her teeth to pieces.
She forced a stiff smile onto her face. “Yes. I’ve learned my lesson.”
Guo Jiandang watched the two of them interact so “lovingly” and was fairly satisfied.
“All right. I hope Comrade Song will learn from this and never again—”
Guo Jiandang actually had quite a talent for speaking.
Once he started, he went on for half an hour.
It wasn’t until most of the brigade members had already left that he finally stopped awkwardly.
The days passed quickly.
Before they knew it, another half-month had gone by, and it was time for their one day off.
This time, Luo Xi was still planning to go to the county town and develop her “yellow” business.
During her spare time, she had secretly drawn two sets—ten booklets in total.
She was simply too poor.
Besides building her house, she had also gone to the village carpenter and ordered some tables, chairs, cabinets, and other furniture.
There wasn’t much money left in her hands.
She took the village ox cart and slowly swayed all the way to the county town.
After finding a secluded place to change her outfit, she headed to the black market.
Luo Xi first walked around the black market.
Finally, she spotted an elderly man with a stall selling the saw, plane, chisels, chalk line, and other tools she wanted.
Luo Xi glanced at the old man’s hands.
There were obvious calluses on them, clearly indicating that he was probably a carpenter.
Looking at his complete set of tools, it was obvious that he specialized in skilled, fine woodworking.
She just didn’t know why he was selling the very tools he relied on to make a living.
Luo Xi had no interest in worrying about a stranger’s circumstances.
She asked the price.
Although it was a little expensive, she still bought them.
She put the tools into her basket and walked to a secluded place.
When she was sure no one was paying attention, she quietly stored everything in her space.
Only then did she return to the black market, find a spot, and set up her own stall.
The boy was wandering around the black market.
He was determined to find the person who had tricked him last time and report her.
Suddenly, he stopped in front of a stall.
Although the covers of the books here were different from the ones before, they gave him an inexplicably familiar feeling.