“Sure! Thank you. Here—share these candies with your friends. By the way, what’s your name?” Yun Ting said as she took out a handful of fruit candies and handed them to the little boy.
“Sister, my name is Xiao Zhuzi,” he replied politely.
He only took six candies from her hand, giving two each to the other two children. He kept two for himself and didn’t take any more.
“These are all for you. Go ahead and take them.”
Xiao Zhuzi shook his head. “Sister, this is enough. Grandma says people shouldn’t be too greedy.”
Who wouldn’t like a sensible child? Yun Ting was instantly charmed by him. His grandmother must be a very reasonable person.
Yang Qingqing also took out a few White Rabbit milk candies and handed them to him.
“Xiao Zhuzi, these are from me. You can’t only accept Sister Yun’s candies and not mine, or I’ll feel sad.”
Xiao Zhuzi looked at her awkwardly, so nervous that sweat formed on his forehead.
“Pfft…” Yun Ting laughed. “Xiao Zhuzi, just take them. Consider them payment for your hard work guiding us to the team office.”
“Alright then!” Xiao Zhuzi accepted the candies, sharing them with his two friends. He carefully placed his own candies in his pocket.
“Sisters, let’s go!”
“Xiao Zhuzi, why don’t you eat the candy?” Yun Ting asked.
“I’m saving it to take home so I can share it with my grandparents and my parents.”
“Wow! Xiao Zhuzi is amazing.”
Being praised made the boy a little shy. His face turned red, and Yun Ting found him adorable.
While chatting along the way, they learned that Xiao Zhuzi was actually the village chief’s grandson.
When they arrived, the chief happened to be at the production team office. Seeing them, he wasn’t surprised.
“You’re here.”
“Chief, we came to collect our grain, and we also wanted to ask if there are any other empty houses in the village where we could live.”
“Well… there is one place,” the chief said. “You probably saw it when you came earlier—the blue-brick tiled house not far from the educated youth dormitory. It used to belong to the old landlord. There are quite a lot of rooms inside, but someone died there before, so no one has wanted to live in it. Also, you’d have to pay rent to the village.”
“Chief, is there really no other option?” Wang Xue asked nervously after hearing that someone had died there.
Yun Ting and Yang Qingqing, however, weren’t afraid at all.
Having lived in modern times and even the apocalypse, they didn’t believe in ghosts.
As people often said—ghosts weren’t scary, people were.
“The other option is to talk with villagers and rent a room from them,” the chief continued. “But honestly, I don’t recommend it. Living with villagers can bring endless trouble, especially for you female educated youths. If you run into someone with bad intentions, you know what could happen. I’ll leave it at that—think it over yourselves. Oh, you could also build your own house if you pay for it, but if you leave in the future, the house belongs to the village.”
From his actions and words over the past two days, it was clear the chief was a decent man.
“Chief, how much is the rent for that house?” Yun Ting asked.
“It’s not cheap—two yuan a month. If you rent it, you’ll need to pay six months in advance, so that’s twelve yuan.”
Yun Ting and Yang Qingqing secretly thought: That’s incredibly cheap.
“Chief, could we go take a look first?”
“Sure. Let’s go. Do you want to take the grain now or later?”
“We’ll get it later.”
The chief led the three of them to the former landlord’s house.
The gate was made of two heavy wooden doors. The red paint had mostly peeled off, revealing the wood grain beneath.
Dry vines crawled along the blue-brick walls. Flakes of plaster had fallen away, exposing dark red bricks like scabbed wounds.
“No one has lived here for years, so it’s quite run-down,” the chief said. “If you decide to live here, I’ll arrange for people to help repair it.”
Inside the gate was a spacious courtyard paved with blue bricks. Some areas were cracked, but it still looked orderly and old-fashioned.
Passing through a narrow patio, they saw roof tiles missing from the eaves. Sunlight filtered through the gaps, lighting up broken tiles and moldy straw scattered on the ground. The wooden doors of the inner rooms hung crookedly on their frames.
There were several side rooms—if they moved in, each of them could have their own room and a bit of privacy.
Yun Ting quietly considered it. The place was actually quite good. With some cleaning and repairs, it would be better than many village houses.
But if the others didn’t want to live here, she couldn’t stay alone. It wasn’t fear of ghosts—she simply knew a young woman living here alone might attract unwanted attention.
“So? Think it over. I have work to do,” the chief said. “Come find me once you’ve decided.”
“Alright, we’ll discuss it and come back to you shortly.”
“Okay.” The chief left.
Yun Ting turned to Yang Qingqing and Wang Xue.
“What do you think? I think it’s pretty nice here—definitely more comfortable than the educated youth dormitory. I want to rent it.”
“Me too,” Yang Qingqing agreed. “If we live together, we’ll have company.”
Yun Ting felt relieved. With Yang Qingqing living here too, she wouldn’t have to worry.
“But… don’t you feel like it’s a bit creepy here?” Wang Xue asked nervously.
“That’s just your imagination. Once people die, that’s the end of it—where would ghosts come from?”
“I bet Lu Jiayan and Zhou Yang might move here too.”
Wang Xue’s heart stirred. She could tell Lu Jiayan seemed interested in Yang Qingqing, but she didn’t want to give up either.
“Then I’ll move here with you too,” she said. “Otherwise I’ll be the only new educated youth left there and probably get bullied.”
The three of them made their decision and returned to find the chief.
“Chief, we’ve discussed it. We’ll rent the house. When can you arrange for someone to repair it?”
“Today is fine. I’ll find a few people after work.”
“Great, thank you. Here’s the rent—I’ll pay for a year,” Yun Ting said, handing over twenty-four yuan.
Seeing this, Yang Qingqing also counted out twenty-four yuan and handed it over.
Wang Xue hesitated before taking out twelve yuan.
Her family wasn’t well-off, and she only had fifty yuan in total. They had just arrived, and the village was lending them grain for now. Life ahead would be long—she needed to save money.
“Chief, I’ll pay for half a year first.”
“Alright. I’ll write an agreement for each of you—black and white on paper so there won’t be trouble later.”
Both sides signed the agreements and kept copies.
“You’ve just arrived, so the grain is being lent to you by the village,” the chief added. “Thirty jin per person. Eat sparingly—it should last until the autumn harvest. Otherwise, you’ll have to find your own way, maybe trade with villagers.”
“We understand.”
The three of them carried their grain back—mostly cracked corn and cornmeal.
“Later we should go clean up the house first,” Yun Ting suggested.
On their way back, they ran into Lu Jiayan and Zhou Yang, with Yin Jiao chattering nonstop beside Lu Jiayan. Li Zhaodi trailed quietly behind them.
“You went to get grain?” Lu Jiayan asked, though his gaze was clearly on Yang Qingqing.
“Yes. We didn’t see you when we left,” Yang Qingqing replied.
“Zhou Yang and I went to take a look around the back hills.”
“You three are really not united,” Yin Jiao complained. “We all came here together as educated youths—why are you acting independently?”
Yun Ting didn’t respond. Yang Qingqing remained distant and indifferent. Wang Xue rolled her eyes.
The three of them simply walked away.