Unfortunately, the person at home refused no matter what. It was understandable. Back then famine was raging, and even getting a bite to eat at home was difficult.
Qin Chengyi did not keep the people outside waiting long and soon opened the door.
Then Ye Cai’e’s gaze was captured by the half-naked, dark-skinned man in front of her, his upper body covered in muscle.
In the rural areas of Hei Province in the 1960s, the moon shone brightly. Under the silvery moonlight, the man’s face was clearly visible.
Sword-like brows, starry eyes, and sharply defined features. He was at least 185 centimeters tall, rare for that era. He was the kind of handsome man who never went out of style. Even by Ye Cai’e’s twenty-first-century standards, she had to admit he was top-tier.
Because he had been working, the man had a strip of cloth tied around his waist. On his lean frame, eight-pack abs were clearly visible. Above that were his chest muscles, biceps, collarbones…
Ye Cai’e swallowed unconsciously.
At that moment, she had only one thought: Who said this man had a hard fate that killed people around him? She felt her own fate was pretty tough too. She should be able to take on the challenge.
Qin Chengyi noticed her undisguised stare and coughed lightly in embarrassment. “Uncle Niu, what brings you here?”
Uncle Niu laughed. “Chengyi, don’t you have two rooms at home? This is Cai’e. She grew up in our village. You remember her, right? She’s come back as an educated youth, but the youth station is full, so we wanted to ask you if you’d be willing to sell her one room.”
Qin Chengyi had not expected that. He pressed his lips together, hesitating, though it wasn’t because he was unwilling to sell.
“Uncle Niu, you know about my situation. Maybe you should look somewhere else.”
Ye Cai’e hurriedly said, “If you don’t want to sell, renting is fine too. Name your price. I’ve heard about those things, but this is a new society now. I don’t believe in that.”
Qin Chengyi stared at her for a long time. Her thin face was full of determination. In the end, as if possessed, he nodded and rented the room to her for twenty yuan a year.
The price was fairly reasonable. It was one of the most remote houses in the village, but the building quality was good.
The Qin family’s two rooms were in two separate courtyards, divided by a one-and-a-half-meter brick wall. From one side, you could see the other.
After the Qin family members had died one by one, no one had lived there for a long time.
Before, some people had set their sights on the house, especially relatives of the Qin family. They wanted to move in under the pretense of taking care of Qin Chengyi. Back then, young Qin Chengyi had stood at the door with the only kitchen knife in the house, ready to fight anyone with bad intentions.
Coupled with the fact that Qin family members kept dying one after another, rumors spread through the village that he was a jinx. No one let their children play with him. Over time, no one dared to covet his house anymore.
After he grew up, no one introduced him to potential partners. Occasionally, if a young woman glanced at him on the road, her family would immediately twist her ear and scold her back home.
Qin Chengyi actually did not want to agree, but this was the first time Uncle Niu had ever asked him for help. He also had some impression of Ye Cai’e. She was one of the few people who had shown him kindness. Seeing that she did not seem like someone trying to seize his house, he agreed.
With Qin Chengyi’s help, the two of them worked for two hours before barely getting the room cleaned up. At least it was livable for the night.
Neither of them spoke the entire time. After they finished cleaning, Ye Cai’e took out twenty yuan and two White Rabbit milk candies.
“Brother Chengyi, we agreed then. You’re renting this room to me for one year. If I want to continue renting later, you have to consider me first. If that’s fine, let’s sign a written agreement now.”
Qin Chengyi stared blankly at the candy in his hand. When he was a child, what he envied most about others was that they had sweets to eat. As for him, forget about candy. Being able to avoid starving to death was already a blessing.
He never imagined that the first piece of candy he received in his life would come from a girl younger than him.
He pressed his lips together and handed it back. “We can sign, I can’t accept this. Take it back.”
“Brother Chengyi, you should know my relationship with the Ye family is very tense. I came here alone, and there will be many inconvenient things in the future. I’ll need your help a lot, so don’t be so polite with me.”
Qin Chengyi nodded calmly, put his hand back into his pocket, then pressed his fingerprint where Ye Cai’e indicated. For some reason, he was not worried at all about being tricked even though he couldn’t read well.
After returning to his own room, his mind was full of questions. What kind of tension did she have with the Ye family? Wasn’t she the Ye family’s daughter? He had no idea about any of this. Something felt off…
Just like that, the largest batch of educated youths in the history of the North Wind Brigade was finally all in place. Five male youths shared one room, and six female youths shared another.
Fortunately, it wasn’t very hot that night. Everyone was extremely tired, so they endured it and got through.
Early the next morning, Lu Shanshan and Zhu Youdi got up very early. They still had to work today, so they simply made two wild vegetable pancakes.
The people in the room smelled the aroma from outside and couldn’t fall back asleep. Yao Yulan had not eaten enough last night. What kind of stir-fry was that? It didn’t even seem edible.
When she came out, Lu Shanshan and Zhu Youdi had already packed up and were about to leave.
“Hey, what did you make? Why is it all gone?” She didn’t think anything was wrong. Weren’t they the ones who cooked last night too?
Lu Shanshan was already annoyed. Yesterday, it was this new arrival who kept nitpicking. First she said their food was pig slop, then she said where they slept was a pigsty. In the end, didn’t she still quickly choose a spot by the wall?
What an act. If her family really had power, she wouldn’t be sent to the countryside at this time. She’s already here but still has so many complaints. Sooner or later someone will put her in her place.
“That’s our grain. What does it have to do with you? If you want to eat, go borrow grain from the brigade yourself and cook it. And you need to return the grain you ate last night.” After saying that, she continued walking off arm in arm with Zhu Youdi.
Zhu Youdi had a softer personality. She had always listened to Lu Shanshan. She just wanted a peaceful life. No matter what, this place was still better than her home. At least the grain she earned here belonged to her.
“Fine, I’ll cook for myself. It’s not like I don’t know how!” Yao Yulan glared at their backs, then walked to the male youths’ room and knocked. “Brother Jiahui! Brother Jiahui!”
Inside the male youths’ room, Zhang Qiushi was already gone. In the mornings, he went to learn carpentry from a villager. The master’s family was very kind and let him bring his grain to eat at their place.
With all this noise, everyone in the educated youth courtyard who was still sleeping lost their drowsiness and got up to see what was going on.
Qi Jiahui had slept badly all night. That room smelled of everything imaginable. There had been no hot water to bathe last night, and his whole body felt sticky. He hadn’t managed to grab a good spot and ended up sleeping in the middle, listening to snoring for half the night.
He had just fallen asleep when he was woken up. Annoyed, he went out with a dark expression and saw a crowd gathered in the middle of the courtyard.