Lu Xun said, "Let's move out of the Zhiqing Dormitory."
Seeing the two of them stunned, Lu Xun continued, "There are too many people at the Educated Youth Center. The Datongpu on the boys' side is very crowded, and we often have extra meals. Others don't have that privilege, and seeing it too often can easily lead to resentment. Although only He Yuting spoke up today, how do we know if those who remained silent feel the same way? After all, it's not scarcity but inequality that causes discontent."
"Ah Xun is right! What do you think, Jiajia?" Zhou Zhipeng's eyes lit up.
Xu Jiajia thought about it and also felt it was a good suggestion, though she wasn't sure if the brigade would agree.
It was no wonder Xu Jiajia had confronted He Yuting.
After the rush harvest ended, Xu Jiajia received news from home. The original plan to arrange a job for her to return to the city after one year had to be postponed. Because the Xu family's political opponents were watching them closely, looking for opportunities to target them, the Xu family decided to lay low for now. It wouldn't be convenient to arrange a job for Xu Jiajia in the short term, and it was actually better for her to stay in the countryside for the time being.
Moreover, Zhou Zhipeng and Lu Xun had also been sent down to the countryside with her. They were children the Xu family had watched grow up, and everyone trusted their character. So, the Xu family asked Xu Jiajia to mentally prepare to stay in the countryside for two more years.
Although they couldn't bring Xu Jiajia back to the city so quickly, the Xu family still had the means to ensure she lacked nothing in terms of food and clothing in the countryside. If not for other concerns, Xu Jiajia wouldn't even need to work and still wouldn't worry about food. But not working at all wasn't an option—at most, she could earn fewer Work Points, but she couldn't outright stop working.
After all three agreed to move out of the Zhiqing Dormitory, Lu Xun planned to go directly to the brigade leader to apply.
Ning Xuan hadn't expected to run into Lu Xun talking about their plan to move out just as she and Zhao Yulian were leaving.
Ning Xuan's mouth moved faster than her brain. As soon as she saw Lu Xun and the others heading toward the brigade leader's direction, she called out to them directly.
"I also want to move out of the dormitory. Let me go with you to see the brigade leader."
Zhao Yulian looked at Ning Xuan in surprise. "Why do you want to move out too?"
It was mainly because when Ning Xuan first arrived, her poor condition was obvious to everyone and left a deep impression. Even though Ning Xuan later received packages from home, she never went to the State-Run Restaurant to improve her meals, and her only extra meals were boiled eggs for a while. So, hearing that Ning Xuan also wanted to move out, Zhao Yulian was very surprised. Moving out required a place to live, whether renting a room from a team member or building a house, both of which cost money.
As for Zhao Yulian, although her conditions were decent and she wasn't particularly poor, she had to budget her money and coupons carefully. Her family couldn't provide any support, so she could only rely on herself. By being frugal, she could save a little by the end of the year. In any case, Zhao Yulian couldn't bring herself to spend extra money on living elsewhere.
Ning Xuan didn't explain anything about money and simply said that sharing a room with others made it hard for her to sleep soundly, and she was afraid her health would deteriorate in the long run.
Zhao Yulian didn't ask further after hearing this. Seeing that Ning Xuan and the others were going to the brigade leader's house, she didn't join them and returned to the Zhiqing Dormitory.
Xu Jiajia and the others waited for Ning Xuan after she spoke up, and the group soon found the brigade leader.
"You're also moving out of the Zhiqing Dormitory?" Zhou Jianguo frowned. "There are no vacant houses in the village for you to live in. Previously, some Educated Youth stayed with brigade members' families, but it caused too many complications, so later we stopped allowing Educated Youth to live with brigade members' families."
"According to regulations, only married Educated Youth should move out. It's easier to manage when single Educated Youth all live together in the dormitory."
Lu Xun spoke as their representative: "Brigade Leader, the male dormitory currently has eleven people – five on one side and six on the other. It's really too crowded. Even when Comrade Liu moves out and frees up one spot, it will still be very cramped."
"If we continue like this without proper rest, our health will deteriorate, and that would be even more troublesome. We plan to build houses like Comrade Liu and the others."
Lu Xun directly presented Ning Xuan's reasons for wanting to move out.
"If you really want to move out, that's acceptable, but you can't be too far from the original Educated Youth Compound. How about building nearby? I'll approve the foundation for you, but you'll have to pay for it yourselves. The brigade can at most provide labor to help build the houses. Fortunately, there's not much work in the fields these days, so we can spare some hands for construction."
Ning Xuan and the others immediately nodded in agreement.
Zhou Jianguo added, "We were just about to allocate the foundation for Comrade Liu and the others. You can join them."
Ning Xuan and her group followed Zhou Jianguo, first going to the Educated Youth Compound to fetch Liu Jun and Huang Xiaomei, then together they went to mark out foundations on the vacant land beside the Educated Youth Compound.
Since Liu Jun and Huang Xiaomei were married, even if they had children in the coming years, one room would be sufficient for now, which would also save some money. However, they needed to build a wall to enclose a small courtyard so they wouldn't need to apply for additional foundation if they wanted to expand later.
Both Lu Xun and Zhou Zhipeng had sufficient funds. Since they were moving out anyway, they wanted to live more comfortably, so each decided to have their own room. Consequently, they marked out two plots on the vacant land on the side of the Educated Youth Compound away from the toilets.
The smaller plot was for Liu Jun and his wife, while the larger one was for Ning Xuan, Lu Xun, and the other two. They planned to build a row of single-story houses divided into four rooms, then enclose them all within one courtyard.
This would essentially create a small Educated Youth residential point, avoiding situations of unrelated men and women living alone. Building connected houses would also save some materials.
Thus, Ning Xuan's group's move was settled. The foundations were marked, and they gave money to the brigade leader to help procure materials and find construction help.
Each person contributed fifty yuan initially, with the understanding that any excess would be refunded or shortage supplemented after construction was completed.
Ning Xuan's group wasn't planning to build brick houses either – they would construct mud-brick houses like the Educated Youth Dormitory, with earthen walls for the courtyard.
Thinking that they would finally be able to move out and it would be more convenient to have private meals later, Ning Xuan felt particularly happy.
Ning Xuan's spirits lifted considerably, but the next day she woke up to find herself running a fever.
It was probably due to accumulated exhaustion from previous work. While she had been mentally tense before, nothing had happened, but now that she had relaxed, her body couldn't hold up anymore.
Ning Xuan secretly used the thermometer from the warehouse and discovered her temperature had reached over 39 degrees. No wonder her head felt like it was about to explode. She quickly found the fever-reducing medicine that Lin Yuhan had given her and took it.
Unfortunately, it was her turn to cook today. In her condition, she couldn't get out of bed, so she swapped shifts with Zhao Yulian.
"Ning Xuan, should you go to the health clinic to get checked?" Huang Xiaomei asked with a worried expression.
"I won't go for now. I'll cover myself with the quilt to sweat it out. If the fever hasn't subsided by this afternoon, then I'll go." Though Ning Xuan had no real intention of sweating under the covers, she still used it as an excuse.
Seeing that Ning Xuan truly didn't want to go out, Huang Xiaomei could only remind her to rest well and assured her she would handle the leave request.
Ning Xuan lay in bed resting, but having a fever didn't stop her from making trades on the System.
What she didn't expect, however, was to receive a plea for help from Wang Er Ya.