“Coming, coming!”
A loud reply came from inside. A moment later, a kind-looking middle-aged woman opened the door.
“You must all be the new educated youths. Come in. Here to buy some things?”
Pei Nian stepped forward to speak for the group.
“Yes, Auntie. We’d like to buy kang mats.”
“All six of you?”
The six of them answered in unison, “Yes.”
Pei Nian added, “Auntie, I’d also like a straw hat.”
“Do all of you want straw hats too?”
Everyone nodded, including the male educated youths. Gao Juan hesitated for a moment before nodding as well.
Once Aunt Qian came out carrying six single-person kang mats, they paid for them and headed to Carpenter Zhao’s house.
Carpenter Zhao’s courtyard was spacious, piled high with stacks of lumber. After hearing what they needed, he took out a charcoal pencil and an old notebook to write down the order.
Pei Nian only ordered the necessities for now: a kang cabinet, a kang table, a storage table, two wooden washbasins, and a wooden bucket. She could buy the rest after moving out later.
The educated youth dormitory was so cramped that adding too much furniture would leave no room even to turn around.
After recording the order, Carpenter Zhao nodded.
“I already have these items made.”
When he’d heard that new educated youths were arriving, he had prepared materials in advance, hoping to earn a little extra income.
As expected, it took two trips to haul everything back.
By the time they had more or less settled their belongings, someone outside called everyone to dinner.
Inside the common room—
Zhao Xingguo adjusted his glasses and greeted everyone.
“Take a seat. We’ve got new comrades joining us today, so our educated youth family has grown. This meal is to welcome the newcomers, and while we’re eating, I’ll explain how things work around here.”
He cleared his throat.
“First, about meals. Everyone keeps and cooks their own grain rations. You steam however much you plan to eat. We don’t pool our grain together.”
“The vegetables mostly come from the small plot in the front yard. We all grow them together and share the harvest. Fetching water, cooking, cleaning, and other chores rotate among everyone, regardless of gender.”
After a pause, he swept his gaze across the newcomers.
“Of course, if you don’t like communal meals, you can cook for yourselves. There’s only one stove, though, so you’ll have to coordinate its use.”
As soon as Zhao Xingguo finished speaking, Zhou Jin said,
“I’ll cook for myself.”
The moment Zhou Jin had transmigrated, she’d discovered that the Nostalgia Store that had caused her transmigration had come with her. Since she had that advantage, she naturally intended to live as comfortably as possible.
Almost without thinking, Pei Nian followed.
“I’ll cook for myself too.”
Communal meals came with too many restrictions. Everyone’s circumstances were different. Sharing meals either meant shortchanging yourself or letting others take advantage of you. Too troublesome.
Gu Zheng glanced sideways at Pei Nian before calmly adding,
“So will I.”
Shen An immediately chimed in.
“I’m with Brother Zheng.”
Jiang Xu nodded as well.
“Separate.”
Just like that, among the new educated youths, everyone except Gao Juan had chosen to cook independently.
Zhao Xingguo pushed up his glasses. His expression remained calm.
“That’s fine. Cooking separately means more chores, but as long as you’ve thought it through.”
Gao Juan tightened her grip on her coarse corn bun and said sourly to Zhou Jin,
“Oh, Xiaojin, you all really have means. Those of us without family support can only make do with communal meals.”
Zhou Jin set her chopsticks down with a loud smack and stared directly at her.
“Gao Juan, what the hell does my ability have to do with you?”
She’d been holding back her frustration for a long time.
She’d been a perfectly happy food blogger in the modern world, with over a hundred thousand followers on Douyin. Every day she cooked delicious food, filmed videos, enjoyed her life, and earned a decent income.
Then one trip to a store later, she’d been hit by a flying thermos and sent back to the 1970s, becoming the naïve girl who’d been tricked into volunteering for the countryside.
That alone would’ve been bad enough.
But Gao Juan simply wouldn’t stop.
The entire journey, she’d lost every confrontation yet kept coming back for more, always finding something irritating to say.
Caught off guard by Zhou Jin’s blunt retort, Gao Juan’s face flushed crimson.
“Xiaojin, I was only making a casual comment. Why are you being so vulgar?”
“Don’t call me Xiaojin. We’re not close.”
The two exchanged a few more sharp words, and the dining room fell silent.
While everyone else remained quiet, Wu Min unexpectedly spoke up.
“Comrade Zhou, Comrade Gao really was only making an offhand remark.”
Then, with obvious implication, she continued,
“And besides, it’s fine if you all want to cook separately. But today’s meal was prepared by us veteran educated youths. It may not be much, but it’s the thought that counts. Deciding to separate immediately after eating…”
Li Hong’s eyes lit up instantly.
“Exactly!”
Firewood, grain, vegetables—they all cost money.
Pei Nian had been happily enjoying the drama until she heard Wu Min implying that they were freeloaders.
Fine, say whatever you wanted.
But why keep looking at her while saying it?
Her smile disappeared.
She had actually planned to contribute a jar of meat sauce to the meal. It was sitting in her shoulder bag.
But as soon as everyone sat down, Zhou Jin and Gao Juan had started arguing, and she’d become so absorbed in watching that she’d forgotten to take it out.
Pei Nian spoke bluntly.
“Comrade Wu, is something wrong with your eyes? Why are you giving me side-eye?”
Wu Min choked on her words.
“I wasn’t looking at you.”
“Just wait.”
Rolling her eyes, Pei Nian turned and walked back to the dormitory.
Everyone at the table watched her leave, wondering what she was doing.
At that moment, Gu Zheng silently stood up as well and headed toward the dormitory.
When Pei Nian returned carrying a bowl, she happened to meet Gu Zheng coming from the opposite direction.
He was also carrying a bowl filled with grain.
She paused, glanced at him, then entered the room first.
Walking to the table, Pei Nian placed her bowl directly in front of Wu Min.
“This is my grain ration. It should cover today’s meal. Comrade Wu, please check whether it’s enough.”
Without saying a word, Gu Zheng set his own bowl beside hers.
His stance couldn’t have been clearer.
Wu Min was completely stunned.
Without waiting for her response, Pei Nian continued,
“As for the firewood and vegetables, I’ll trade with the villagers tomorrow. I’ll repay whatever I owe. I won’t take advantage of anyone, not even by a single cent.”
The room fell into complete silence.
Zhao Xingguo quickly stepped in to smooth things over.
“Comrade Pei, that’s really unnecessary. This meal was meant as a welcome from us veteran educated youths to the newcomers. No one intended to settle accounts.”
Zhang Aihua hurriedly added with an awkward smile,
“That’s right. She wasn’t even the only one who contributed.”
Inside, she was cursing.
Damn it. Wu Min had stirred up trouble again.
Pei Nian turned to them. Her expression softened, but her tone remained firm.
“Comrade Zhao, Comrade Zhang, I understand your good intentions. You wanted to welcome us newcomers with a meal. But if someone in the group objects, then we can’t just eat for free. Otherwise, we’ll never be able to hold our heads high afterward.”
The atmosphere became unbearably awkward.
Shen An, Zhou Jin, and even the usually quiet Jiang Xu exchanged glances before silently getting up and returning to their rooms to fetch their own grain.
None of them wanted to earn a reputation as freeloaders on their very first day.
Soon, several more bowls of grain sat on the table.
Only Gao Juan remained seated, her face pale.
She looked from one person to another before lowering her head, not daring to move.
She wasn’t getting along with the new educated youths.
She still needed to eat with the veteran educated youths in the future, so she didn’t dare draw any attention to herself.
Watching the newcomers’ reactions, Wu Min’s expression darkened.
She had only wanted to put the newcomers in their place and discourage them from cooking separately.
They all looked like they came from wealthy families.
If everyone shared meals together, she’d benefit from their better food too.
She especially disliked Pei Nian.
Not only did she have better circumstances, she was also strikingly beautiful.
Unable to resist, she’d taken a couple of verbal jabs at her.
She hadn’t expected to end up humiliating herself instead.
Pei Nian ignored Wu Min from then on.
Without touching any of the food on the table, she nodded to Zhao Xingguo and Zhang Aihua.
“Comrade Zhao, Comrade Zhang, I’m finished eating.”
She stood to leave, then suddenly remembered something.
Turning back, she picked up the coarse mixed-grain bun that belonged to her.
After all, she’d already contributed her grain. Even if she didn’t want to eat it, she wasn’t about to leave it behind.
Before leaving, Pei Nian deliberately threw one last remark at Wu Min.
“Comrade Wu, don’t forget to return my bowl. Let’s make sure neither of us takes advantage of the other.”
Gu Zheng quietly followed her out.