After nearly an hour of jolting along, the tractor finally arrived at Quliu Production Brigade.
It was just after work, and everyone was hurrying home for lunch, so there weren’t many villagers gathered at the entrance.
Wang Fugen stopped the tractor briefly at the village entrance and pointed toward a courtyard.
“That’s the brigade office. If you need anything in the future, just come there and find me.”
Then he drove straight to the educated youth quarters.
“We’re here. This is the educated youth residence. Grab your luggage and get down.”
The veteran educated youths were all in the courtyard. Hearing the tractor arrive, three men and three women came out of the house.
Wang Fugen pointed to one of them.
“He’s Zhao Xingguo, the person in charge of the educated youth residence. If you have any questions, ask him. Once you’ve settled in, come to the brigade office to collect your grain.”
With that, he left.
The young man named Zhao Xingguo wore glasses and looked calm and capable.
“I’m Zhao Xingguo. I’m temporarily responsible for managing the educated youth residence.”
He then introduced the others.
The three female educated youths were Li Xiao, Zhang Aihua, and Wu Min.
The other two male educated youths were Sun Weiguo and Zheng Ping.
Pei Nian remembered all of them clearly from the novel.
Zhao Xingguo, who was obsessed with authority and loved managing every little matter in the residence.
Sun Weiguo, a frail man whose greatest ambition was to marry a rich woman.
Wu Min, a Beijing native who thought she was above everyone else, along with her devoted admirer Zheng Ping.
Li Xiao, who charged money for absolutely everything—even borrowing a bowl came with a fee.
And Zhang Aihua, who looked quiet and gentle but was actually incredibly hot-tempered.
Pei Nian glanced at Zhang Aihua and completely understood why she had become so irritable.
She had been the only educated youth assigned to Quliu Brigade the previous year. That wouldn’t have been a problem, except she soon discovered that none of the veteran educated youths were normal. After living with them for a year, her originally gentle personality had turned into one of constant irritation.
“Everyone, come inside,” Zhao Xingguo said as he secretly sized up the newcomers. They all looked like they came from good families. He wondered whether they’d be willing to follow his rules.
From the outside, the educated youth residence looked impressive.
But once inside, it turned out there were only two rows of buildings, and the houses in the backyard were practically falling apart.
Zhao Xingguo quickly explained the layout.
“This place used to be the estate of a wealthy landlord. Most of the original buildings were torn down. What’s left are the main house and side rooms in the front courtyard, plus a few run-down houses in the back.
“The main house has been divided into three rooms. The left side is the men’s dormitory, the right side is the women’s dormitory, and the middle serves as both the common room and kitchen. The two side rooms are the men’s and women’s bath rooms, and the two mud-brick buildings by the gate are the men’s and women’s toilets.”
He then pointed toward the well beside the vegetable garden.
“There are two wells here. There’s another one in the backyard. The dorms are a little cramped, but we have everything we need.”
Pei Nian thought the conditions actually sounded decent.
That was, until she followed the women into the west room.
The room wasn’t large.
The first thing she saw was a massive heated kang bed that could sleep seven or eight people, taking up over half the room.
The head of the kang was neat and tidy. Three adjacent sleeping spaces already had kang cabinets, clearly occupied by the veteran educated youths.
The remaining spots contained nothing but old straw mats that looked salvaged from who knew where.
Across from the kang were three pairs of tables and chairs, along with various daily necessities, separated by a narrow aisle.
At that moment, Pei Nian finally understood why her original character had moved out in the novel.
Six women sleeping side by side on one kang.
No curtains.
No privacy whatsoever.
This wasn’t sleeping.
It was practically setting up a market stall.
She couldn’t accept living like this.
And she had no intention of trying.
She immediately decided she would move out.
Without worrying much about bed assignments, she chose the spot nearest the door at the foot of the kang.
Zhou Jin picked a place with one sleeping space between them.
Gao Juan chose a spot closer to the veteran educated youths.
After setting down her bundle, Pei Nian asked Zhang Aihua,
“Comrade Zhang, where did you buy your kang mats, kang cabinets, and kang tables?”
Li Xiao immediately jumped in.
“Comrade Pei, I’ll take you there. Two cents for showing you the way.”
Pei Nian looked at Li Xiao, who sounded completely justified.
She really had the nerve to charge.
A single work point was only worth about two cents these days.
Even in a relatively prosperous brigade like Quliu, one work point was only worth five cents.
Zhou Jin and Gao Juan were equally stunned.
Was daylight robbery really this open now?
Pei Nian ignored Li Xiao.
It wasn’t even about the money.
She simply didn’t want anything to do with someone like Li Xiao.
There was nothing wrong with liking money, but demanding payment the moment you opened your mouth was excessive.
Being around someone like that meant you’d constantly find new debts added to your name. Who could stand that?
Zhang Aihua rolled her eyes at Li Xiao before answering.
“You can buy kang mats from Aunt Qian. Her house is right next to the brigade office. You can stop by when you collect your grain.
“As for kang cabinets, go to Carpenter Zhao’s house. They’re the only family in the village living in a brick house. You can’t miss it.”
Pei Nian took out two pieces of candy and handed them to Zhang Aihua.
“Thank you, Comrade Zhang.”
Zhang Aihua’s face visibly brightened.
“It wasn’t worth candy. You could’ve found out by asking around.”
Good heavens…
Finally, some normal people had arrived at the educated youth residence.
No one knew better than she did how she’d survived this past year.
Pei Nian simply pressed the candy into her hand before walking outside.
Seeing that Pei Nian hadn’t hired her as a guide, Li Xiao looked unhappy.
She only charged two cents, while those two candies were worth far more than that.
She gave an annoyed snort and walked away.
As Pei Nian stepped into the courtyard, Shen An happened to be there.
Seeing them come out, he asked,
“Comrade Pei, where are you all going?”
“To collect our grain rations and buy some furniture while we’re at it. Are you coming?”
Shen An’s eyes lit up in relief.
“Yes! We were just wondering how we’d sleep tonight.”
Zhao Xingguo had spent ages lecturing them about the residence rules after returning inside without telling them anything actually useful.
Hearing the conversation, Gu Zheng and Jiang Xu also came outside, and the group left together.
Along the way, Pei Nian carefully observed and memorized the village layout.
The livestock sheds.
The firewood stacks.
The grain-drying yard.
Only after reaching the edge of the village did they finally arrive at the brigade office.
When they got there, Brigade Leader Wang Fugen and Accountant Fang were already waiting.
“Everyone’s here? Hurry up! Sign your names, put down your thumbprints, and collect your grain ration for the first month!”
Wang Fugen’s booming voice echoed through the yard.
“During your first year, each new educated youth gets thirty-five jin of unprocessed grain every month. You’ll collect it monthly from the brigade. After one year, you’ll have to earn your own grain through work points.”
Thirty-five jin sounded like a lot.
But it was raw grain. Once milled into rice or flour, there would be considerable loss.
It was barely enough for the female educated youths.
The men would almost certainly have to buy additional grain.
After signing her name, Pei Nian checked her ration.
It consisted mainly of cracked corn and some coarse wheat flour.
Once everyone had collected their grain, Wang Fugen gave his final instructions.
“You have one day to get settled. The day after tomorrow, you’ll start working. Follow the veteran educated youths and learn the routine. Understood?”
Everyone nodded.
Just as Pei Nian bent down to lift her grain, someone naturally picked it up for her.
“I’ll carry it.”
Before she could argue with Gu Zheng, her attention was caught by several flatbed handcarts sitting in the courtyard.
Her eyes immediately lit up.
She hurried back toward the office.
“Brigade Leader! Can we borrow one of the handcarts?”
“Sure.”
They still needed to buy furniture.
With a handcart, they could transport both their grain and furniture in a single trip.
There were several handcarts available.
The three male educated youths suggested borrowing only three since the carts themselves were heavy. They would handle the hauling.
Pei Nian had originally wanted to push one herself.
She had more than enough strength.
Besides, the six of them would be buying quite a lot, and three carts probably wouldn’t be enough for everything.
“Then we’ll just make two trips.”
Gu Zheng placed Pei Nian’s grain onto the cart he was pushing.
“Don’t worry. We’ll make sure you get everything you need today. You should get some proper rest.”
Pei Nian: …
Fine. She’d just go along with everyone else.
Zhou Jin and Gao Juan had already agreed to let the men help.
They had each tried pushing a handcart themselves earlier.
The carts were heavy even when empty, and once loaded with furniture, there was no way either of them could manage it.