Thinking that they were all neighbors and that having more friends meant having more paths to walk, Ye Cai’e agreed to Qin Chengyi’s request.
It was just a meal together anyway. Besides, Qin Chengyi was someone who dared to go into the mountains to hunt. Maybe there would even be some kind of wild game she had never tasted before.
The two of them also discussed it beforehand. If Ye Cai’e was tired and did not want to cook, she would just give instructions from the side while Qin Chengyi handled the actual work. In any case, she would not be taken advantage of.
“After a meal, walk a hundred steps and you’ll live to ninety-nine!” Ye Cai’e had not done much work that day, so in the name of living to ninety-nine, she planned to go out for a stroll.
The place they lived was a bit of a distance from the educated youth compound. That compound was too small anyway. She remembered that several more groups of educated youths would arrive later in the story.
They would definitely need to expand the space then. The village could not possibly spend money to build houses for them, so the most likely option would be the empty houses near the cattle shed.
It was said to be unlucky and had been unoccupied for many years, but it had many rooms.
She took a small bowl of spicy stir-fried rabbit meat she had just set aside and went to look for Tong Xin. From far away, she saw a large crowd gathered around the educated youth compound.
People on the outer ring stood on tiptoe to look inside. Even the nearby trees were full of people standing on branches. Many of them were holding bowls or just a steamed bun in their hands.
She moved closer, but there were simply too many people. Even standing on tiptoe, she could not see anything, so she grabbed the sleeve of the person next to her. “Hey, brother, what’s going on inside?”
Wang Ermao turned his head, frowned immediately, and said, “Why is it you? I’m not playing with you!” Then he quickly slipped off in another direction to continue watching the drama.
Ye Cai’e was completely baffled. After digging through the original owner’s distant memories, she finally remembered who he was. When they were kids, he had played with the original owner, only for Wang Xiu to scold him harshly. After that, he was beaten badly.
Tsk, fine. This time she would not ask someone young. She switched to someone older. “Uncle, what happened here?”
“I don’t know either. I can’t hear clearly!”
…
Ye Cai’e fell silent. Relying on others was not as good as relying on herself. With her thin body, she bent over and squeezed through the crowd. At last, she made it to the innermost area.
The team leader looked as if he had aged ten years, standing at the entrance of the educated youth compound.
Inside, several small groups had formed.
Lu Shanshan and Zhu Youdi stood together. “Why should we have to cook extra meals? The cooking pot was bought by us older educated youths together. Letting you use it is already generous. Since you don’t want it, then build your own stove from now on!”
Yao Yulan and Qi Jiahui stood together. “Neither of us knows how to cook. Since you do, what’s wrong with you working a bit harder? We’re all educated youths. We’re supposed to help each other.”
Lu Shanshan retorted, “Why should it always be me helping you? What have you done? How can you be so thick-skinned!”
The remaining new educated youths all stood together, seemingly neutral.
Some of them even had messy hair and rumpled clothes.
Tong Xin spotted Ye Cai’e and hurriedly waved at her, but realizing that the situation was not quite right, she quickly restrained herself.
Then, while no one was paying attention, she walked over to Ye Cai’e. The two leaned together in a corner to watch the scene unfold.
“What exactly happened?”
“Oh, it’s been going on forever. I don’t even know why Yao Yulan and Qi Jiahui are so troublesome. It’s just cooking. Rotating turns would have been fine. They already agreed with Sister Shanshan and Sister Youdi about using the pot together. Then those two just kept saying they didn’t know how to cook and wanted Sister Shanshan and Sister Youdi to do it for them. Now no one has cooked dinner at all, and no one wants to be in a group with them.”
“They really don’t have any sense. They’ve gone to the countryside and still expect people to serve them?”
“Exactly! Whoever gets tangled up with them is definitely going to be taken advantage of.”
Ye Cai’e fully agreed and nodded. “This is for you. If I’d known you hadn’t eaten dinner yet, I would’ve brought some staple food too.”
“It’s meat! Cai’e, where did you get this? It smells amazing!” Tong Xin felt a bit embarrassed, but she was truly starving and could not hold back.
She started gnawing on the pieces right away. The rabbit meat was a bit cold, but it did not affect the taste at all. It was chewy and satisfying, just a bit lighter in flavor.
Nearby villagers kept swallowing unconsciously. It smelled so good.
Niu Xiangqian frowned and wiped his sweat. “Enough! You two. Since you’re here, you should know what kind of place this is. This is not where young ladies and young masters can reach out for clothes and open their mouths for food. If you can’t stay, then leave early. If you can’t leave, then behave and work properly. Don’t cause trouble for others. Things among the educated youths were originally peaceful. Why is it that as soon as you arrived, you stirred things up!”
The team leader was extremely irritated. In a couple of months, another batch of educated youths would arrive. The village would not even have room for them by then. By the time autumn harvest was over, what would they even be doing here?
It was maddening.
Being scolded in front of so many people, Yao Yulan felt her face burn. Since getting on the train, nothing has gone smoothly.
Back in Lianhua City, although her family conditions were not particularly good, Qi Jiahui treated her very well. In order to marry her to him, her parents barely let her do any work.
Especially the kitchen, with all that grease and smoke, they never let her go near it, afraid her skin would worsen.
But once the policy came down, there was no way her older or younger brothers would go to the countryside. She was the one who got abandoned.
Only now did she accept the reality that from now on, she could only rely on herself. She even had to take care of this pampered young master who did not lift a finger or know a grain from another.
Very clearly, here Qi Jiahui would only become her burden.
It was fine. Once Brother Jiahui’s money arrived, things would get better.
After a long while, she lowered her proud head. A bit awkwardly, she said to Zhang Qiushi, “Brother Qiushi, I’m sorry. I was too naive before. Since we’re already here, there’s no reason to give up. The two of us don’t know how to cook. Could we split up and join your teams, and have you teach us?”
In the end, it was Zhu Xiangqian who finished assigning the cooking groups, two people per team, rotating daily.
The pairs were Lu Shanshan and Zhu Youdi, Tong Xin and Fang Hong, Shi Zhaolin and Li Xiangrong, Xu Yi and Qi Jiahui, and Zhang Qiushi and Yao Yulan.
With no more excitement to watch, the villagers gradually dispersed, walking off in small groups while chatting.
Only the people around Ye Cai’e did not move.
“So this is the Ye family’s youngest daughter. Oh my, the Ye family really had no conscience. Such a good girl. How could they bear to treat her like that since she was little?”
“Ah, child, your bitterness is over now. Look at you, already eating meat, and with so much oil too.”
“Little Bao, hurry and call her Auntie!”
The child with mud all over his pant legs drooled as he spoke. “Hello, Auntie. Auntie, you’re so pretty.”
Ye Cai’e felt a headache coming on. Their intentions were far too obvious. “You’re good too. You’re good-looking as well.”
After saying that, she grabbed Tong Xin and quickly left the small encirclement.