Dang Aiguo led the group into the courtyard, and the old educated youths who were sitting on small stools eating all turned their gazes over in unison.
There were eight old educated youths at the sent-down youth point, and with the five new arrivals, there were now thirteen people in total.
The female educated youths were astonished by Gongsun Shinian’s striking features—every move he made carried a unique charm. Combined with his attire, he clearly came from an impressive family background.
The male educated youths, on the other hand, were staring transfixed at Li Qingge’s and Bai Wei’s faces. These new female educated youths were really something to look at.
Li Qingge’s gaze swept toward Zhang Wei.
[Oh, isn’t this the female lead’s second simp, Zhang Wei? Haha, look at his infatuated expression—he’s fallen for the female lead at first sight, hasn’t he? Here it comes, here it comes, the familiar plotline is about to begin. The first simp plus the second simp, and the male lead Gongsun Shinian on top of that—what a lively scene.]
Gongsun Shinian: Why does this keep involving me? Even if it killed him, he would never marry that woman Bai Wei. He was getting shot while lying down for no reason at all.
Wen Shaoqing stared intently at Li Qingge’s face.
Case closed.
What he had heard earlier was this woman’s inner thoughts.
He just couldn’t figure out what she meant by “female lead,” and how his childhood friend had become the “male lead.”
The group looked exhausted, so Dang Aiguo had the senior sister Liu Hongmei take the female educated youths to get settled, while he handled the male side.
The courtyard had four rooms in total. The eight old educated youths occupied two, leaving the remaining two for the new arrivals.
Don’t think the old educated youths were being noble by leaving rooms empty—they knew more new educated youths would be coming in the future.
Li Qingge and Bai Wei stood in the small room of about ten square meters. Apart from a dirt kang bed and a rickety broken-legged table, there was nothing else.
A thick layer of dust had accumulated on both the kang and the table, looking like it hadn’t been cleaned in eight hundred years.
Bai Wei’s expression was extremely sour. Even though she had experienced this once in her previous life and had some psychological preparation, seeing this filthy, dilapidated place again still made it hard for her to accept deep down.
After all, in her previous life, she had married the male lead, and while they lived separate lives, she had been wealthy—living in a big villa and eating delicacies from land and sea.
Coming back to this place was like being cast from heaven down into hell.
While she was lost in a daze, Li Qingge had already borrowed a rag and a broom from Liu Hongmei, swept the floor, and wiped clean her own half of the kang.
Bai Wei shot her a dissatisfied look. This vicious supporting female character was really too clueless—didn’t she know she should wipe Bai Wei’s half of the kang clean too?
But it didn’t matter. She smiled with confidence. This woman had been completely under her control in her previous life. She had that brainless Li Qingge figured out through and through.
Timid, starved for love—every time she acted weak, this woman would charge ahead for her. Later, she had schemed to marry Li Qingge off to a village good-for-nothing, and the stupid woman was still counting money for her after being sold out.
She really didn’t want to deal with this fool anymore, so she told her the truth. After Li Qingge learned everything, she was devastated and began constantly opposing her, only to be slapped down every time. Even after returning to the city, she was still suppressed by Bai Wei.
A dark smile hung on Bai Wei’s innocent-looking face. People like Li Qingge belonged in the mud and gutters, never to see the light for the rest of their lives.
Li Qingge, who was just making her bed, turned around and caught sight of that smile. She grew wary—this female lead was definitely up to no good. She had only come to the countryside to watch the drama unfold. But if someone was reckless enough to reach their claws toward her, she wouldn’t mind chopping them off.
“Hello, we’ll be roommates from now on. My name is Bai Wei, what’s yours?”
“Li Qingge.”
Bai Wei put on a pitiful expression. “Qingge, my hands hurt. Could you help me clean the dust off the kang?”
Li Qingge had already finished laying out her bedding. She said coolly, “Oh, I’m not feeling well either—my back aches all over. If your hands hurt, you don’t have to make the bed at all. Just lie straight on the kang and sleep. Much simpler.”
Bai Wei was stunned. In her previous life, she had also shared a room with Li Qingge, and when she used this same excuse, that woman had obediently cleaned up and made the bed for her.
What was different this time around? She was rejected the moment she opened her mouth. Bai Wei racked her brain but couldn’t figure it out.
She lowered her eyelids to conceal the thoughts in her eyes, and without another word, picked up the rag and began cleaning her own half of the bed.
Li Qingge looked at the empty room and thought that the wardrobe in her Dimensional Space would finally come in handy. As for how to take it out and use it openly, that would require some effort.
Liu Hongmei’s hearty voice came through.
“Comrade Li, Comrade Bai, come out and eat.”
Li Qingge responded, “Coming!”
When they came out, the cart driver had already delivered the grain and left. The old educated youths had also finished eating, but knowing they were coming, they had saved some food.
Bai Wei and Mu Chuan looked at the wild vegetable porridge and dried radish strips on the table, and their faces turned green. Was this food fit for human consumption?
The two were displeased inside, but seeing that Li Qingge and the other two had already started eating, they had no choice but to force it down with grim faces.
After the meal, the new and old educated youths introduced themselves to one another, officially getting acquainted.
The eight old educated youths were Dang Aiguo, Zhang Wei, Han Wenjun, Li Kequn, Liu Hongmei, Wang Lan, Li Xiuzhu, and He Qiuju.
[These female educated youths’ names together form “plum, orchid, bamboo, chrysanthemum,” haha, interesting.]
[Hey, Wang Lan, a cannon fodder in the book. Apparently she has a thing for the male lead and even tried to force herself on him, but ended up getting taken out by the female lead.]
Gongsun Shinian found it both amusing and exasperating: Was he some kind of Tang Monk’s flesh? And she tried to force herself on him?
Wen Shaoqing kept winking at him from the side—Shi Nian really did have incredible charm, popular with girls wherever he went.
He glanced sideways at Wang Lan’s short, stout figure and the few dozen strands of hair left on her head, just like Qiu Qianchi, and couldn’t help but shiver. His eyes felt dirty.
He was extremely curious—this woman Wang Lan was ugly as sin but sure had some wild fantasies. He really wanted to run over and ask Li Qingge about the specific details of what happened.
But since none of it had happened yet, he made up his mind to stick close behind Li Qingge in the future—he was bound to get plenty of juicy gossip.
Dang Aiguo saw that the new educated youths all looked listless and, being quite perceptive, told everyone to go rest.
“Li Qingge, let me help you carry that.”
Dang Aiguo saw that Li Qingge was pretty and innocent, her skin so fair it seemed to glow, and it made his heart itch with ideas.
A few dozen pounds of grain—she definitely couldn’t lift that. It was the perfect chance for him to score some points.
He Qiuju, who had an ambiguous relationship with Dang Aiguo, glared unhappily at Li Qingge. Shameless—she’d just arrived and was already trying to seduce her man.
“No need, I can handle it myself.”
As the words fell, Li Qingge easily lifted the forty pounds of grain, her expression relaxed, with no sign of strain at all.
Everyone at the educated youth point froze on the spot.
Where was the sweet, cute girl they’d expected?
What kind of freakishly strong woman was this?
She lifted forty pounds of grain with one hand—even the men struggled with that.
This wasn’t just capable—she was way too capable!