Wang Qing and Lu Yu introduced themselves.“I’m Wang Qing, the person in charge of the educated youth compound, mainly responsible for the male side. This is Lu Yu—she’s in charge of the female side.”
Hu Jiaojiao and the others introduced themselves one by one. Wang Qing nodded. “Alright, let’s go take a look at the rooms.”
The group followed them inside. As they walked, Lu Yu explained, “Right now, we have five male educated youths and four female ones living here. Some have married into local families and moved out—you’ll meet them later. The left row is for the women, the right row is for the men. This place used to house long-term laborers for a landlord, which is why there are so many rooms.”
Without pausing, she continued, “There’s still space for one more person in my room. The rest of you can decide whether to live alone or share.”
On the male side, there wasn’t a single free bed left—the three new male youths would have to figure it out themselves.
Su Yi paused for a moment, then said, “Sister Lu Yu, could you show us the rooms first?”
Lu Yu led the girls through the rooms one by one. There were three empty rooms left on the women’s side.
The first room, next to Lu Yu’s, had only a kang bed—nothing else. It could fit about three people. The next two also had kang beds, but the last one was smaller—after placing a cabinet, it could only fit one person.
Lu Yu added, “In winter, you’ll need to collect firewood to heat the kang. If you live together, you can gather wood together. If you live alone, you’ll have to handle it yourself.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yan quickly said, “Sister Lu Yu, I’d like to stay with you.”
Lu Yu smiled. “Sure.”
She then looked at Su Yi, Hu Jiaojiao, and Lin Xue.
Having been used to spacious living in her previous life, Su Yi didn’t want to live too crowdedly, so she chose the larger room next to Lu Yu’s. Lin Xue followed her choice—she didn’t dare sleep alone at night.
Lu Yu assumed Hu Jiaojiao would join them, while Su Yi actually preferred to live alone but didn’t want to say it outright. She was still hesitating when Hu Jiaojiao’s soft voice came:
“I’d like the last room.”
After saying that, she lowered her head and said nothing more.
Lu Yu didn’t question it. “Then you’ll have plenty of firewood to collect later,” she said casually. “Alright, get settled for now. Later, come eat with me. Tomorrow we’ll figure out cooking arrangements.”
Hu Jiaojiao quickly brought her belongings to the last room. Digging through her nylon bag—actually taking things from her hidden space—she pulled out a chipped washbasin she had taken from home.
She went to the courtyard’s hand pump and skillfully drew water. No need to ask—her previous life had the same kind of pump: pour in a bit of water first, and it would start working.
She filled half a basin, folded a paper hat from old newspaper, and began cleaning.
She didn’t bother paying attention to how the male youths were arranging their rooms.
Meanwhile, Su Yi borrowed tools from the older youths and cleaned her room with Lin Xue. Zhang Yan, having no room to clean, eagerly went to help in the kitchen, showing good awareness.
After more than half an hour, Hu Jiaojiao finally cleaned all the dust. She splashed water on the floor—the smell of damp earth rose up. Sitting at the doorway, she fanned herself with the paper hat. Even at the end of July, it was still hot.
Watching Su Yi and the others still busy cleaning, she felt secretly pleased. With my room this small, no one will want to squeeze in later—even if new people arrive. But their room? That’s another story.
Su Yi glanced at her resting and felt a bit envious, but then looked at her own larger space and reassured herself—it was still a good choice. Sharing with just one other person felt spacious enough.
Soon, Lu Yu called out, “Dinner’s ready!”
Hu Jiaojiao set down the paper hat, picked up her small stool, and walked to the kitchen. Lu Yu stopped her. “Don’t come in—just go to the main room.”
Inside, a low table was already set, with several people seated. Hu Jiaojiao quietly chose a corner and sat down.
Once everyone had gathered, Wang Qing cleared his throat. “Let’s introduce ourselves. Li Gang, you start.”
A dark-skinned young man said, “Hello, I’m Li Gang, from Huaicheng in Jiang Province.” He sat down without further words.
“I’m Gao Zhuang, from Yangcheng in Jiang Province. Nice to meet you.” True to his name, he was tall and strong. Hu Jiaojiao couldn’t help but comment inwardly.
“Zhu Aiguo, from Sichuan Province,” said a short, kind-looking man.
A man with a northern accent spoke next, “I’m Zhao Zhiguo, from the northeast. If you need help, come find me—but don’t expect it for free.” He immediately started slurping his corn porridge, grabbing pickles as he ate.
“I’m Gu Chenye, from Haishi. We’ll be seeing each other often—take care.” His voice was deep and magnetic, making several of the girls blush.
“Lin Yang, from the capital. Nice to meet you.” He kept it brief, clearly exhausted.
“Cheng Chen, from the capital.” Just a few simple words.
“I’m Lin Xue—Lin Yang is my brother, and Cheng Chen is like a brother too—we grew up together…”
“I’m Tang Ling, also from the capital,” said another girl, her gaze drifting toward the boys, lingering on Cheng Chen before shifting to Gu Chenye. She lowered her head shyly.
Hu Jiaojiao noticed everything and thought, She’s not simple either.
“Hu Jiaojiao, from Sucheng in Jiang Province,” she said quietly, offering nothing more.
After introductions, Wang Qing said, “You’ve just arrived, so we didn’t prepare much. Make do for tonight. Tomorrow morning, we’ll take you to collect your grain. Now, let’s eat.”
A somewhat sharp female voice added, “You’ll need to return the grain tomorrow. The vegetables are from our private plots.”
Wang Qing and Lu Yu didn’t stop her—grain was precious in this era.
This speaker was Li Aihua—a tough character in the novel, capable of earning high work points. Though she herself was thin from hunger, she still sent grain home for her younger brother.
The new youths exchanged glances and agreed to return the grain after receiving their own.
The meal was simple: each person had a bowl of thin porridge, shredded salty pickles, a plate of smashed cucumber with garlic, and boiled long beans with salt.
Hu Jiaojiao didn’t bother with the dishes—she just drank her porridge with a bit of pickle.
Once everyone finished, she quietly returned to her room, ignoring the dissatisfaction of the older youths.
She was truly exhausted.
Using sheer willpower, she laid down a few sheets of newspaper as bedding, unrolled her quilt, and propped the door shut with her luggage.
Then she slipped into her apartment space.
She ate a big meat bun, collapsed onto the sofa in satisfaction, and quickly fell into a deep sleep.
She was woken by persistent knocking.
Quickly leaving the apartment, she shook out her quilt and called, “Coming!”
Opening the door, she saw Zhang Yan mid-knock.
“What is it?” Hu Jiaojiao asked.
“You really can sleep,” Zhang Yan said. “I’ve been knocking for ages.”
Without waiting for a reply, she continued, “We’re going to the brigade office to collect grain. Came to call you.”
“Sorry,” Hu Jiaojiao said. “The trip tired me out. I overslept. I’ll wash up and come.”
She quickly brushed her teeth and washed her face, then followed Zhang Yan to the front yard.
Only Wang Qing stayed behind to lead them; the others had already gone to work.
The brigade office was just around the corner—conveniently close, separated from the youth compound by a wall.
The brigade leader spoke briefly, “Each of you gets 30 jin of coarse grain, 30 jin of fine grain, and 40 jin of sweet potatoes. This will last until the next distribution. Return what you borrowed later. You start work the day after tomorrow.”
With that, he left.
Lin Xue complained, “Why no white flour?” The cornmeal was coarse, mixed with leftover beans.
No one responded.
Lin Yang carried two people’s share. Su Yi took the lightest bag, leaving the rest to Gu Chenye.
Hu Jiaojiao said nothing—she carried her coarse and fine grain first, then returned for the sweet potatoes. Struggling but refusing help, she dragged them back herself.
Cheng Chen needed help from Lin Yang—his body was clearly too weak.
Seeing everyone cooperating, Wang Qing nodded and went off to work.
Finally free, Hu Jiaojiao sat at the doorway and looked around the compound.
The male side had a small vegetable plot and a pit toilet at the edge. The female side had a similar plot and another toilet near the wall.
The yard was large—kitchen on the left, main room on the right, a hand pump in the front yard, and firewood stacked nearby.
Turning around, she saw the three new male youths cleaning a room—they had decided to share.
As she observed, she thought about what she needed: a kang cabinet, a mat for the bed… She had plenty of supplies, but she needed a reasonable excuse to bring them out.
A nylon bag couldn’t explain everything.
Seeing Su Yi finish tidying up, Hu Jiaojiao spoke, “Comrade Su, I’m going into the village to ask if anyone has a cabinet to trade. Want to come?”
Su Yi thought for a moment—then nodded.