Today's trading opportunities were used up again, and she'd have to wait another eight days for the upgrade. Ning Xuan suddenly felt time was passing too slowly.
She decided to wander around the Educated Youth Center again, scanning the large iron pot in the kitchen, bowls and other kitchen utensils, along with the large vats in the courtyard. Basically, she scanned anything that might earn her Points. After making a full round, she had earned nearly 200 more Points.
Although she currently had sufficient Points, she didn't mind having more since the System warehouse required Points for ongoing storage fees.
Right now, her warehouse only contained three copper coins, which didn't take up much space. However, she didn't dare take them out at this time. If someone with ill intentions used them against her, it would cause trouble.
So Ning Xuan preferred to spend extra Points to keep them safely stored in the warehouse rather than risk having them outside.
At noon, the Educated Youth returned for lunch, eating the same Dacha porridge and flatbreads cooked that morning. Since they had to work during the day, preparing another meal at noon would be too troublesome, so they always cooked enough in the morning for two meals.
Moreover, with the current hot weather, they didn't need to reheat the food when returning at noon and could eat directly, which was very convenient.
After lunch, there was still some rest time. Ning Xuan ate with the others but again stored away the flatbread portion she received.
Ning Xuan somewhat regretted trading earlier. She wasn't sure if the flatbread would spoil in this weather, but she really didn't want to eat it.
The coarse grain flatbread was rough on the throat, made without oil or sugar and only a bit of salt. She truly wasn't accustomed to eating it.
Although she had been an ordinary person in modern times and hadn't indulged in delicacies, having white rice and meat daily wasn't a problem for her.
Plus, since she hadn't started doing physical labor yet, she really couldn't stomach such unpalatable flatbreads.
As for those who had gone to town to buy things, since it had been arranged in advance, He Yuting had reduced their portions when cooking. The deducted portions would be returned to their personal grain bags.
Due to the large number of people, there had been many conflicts when the Educated Youth first arrived and cooked collectively.
For instance, female comrades felt male comrades ate more and took advantage of them, while male comrades claimed they weren't full and felt wronged.
Some even suspected those cooking might steal others' grain. After some time of trial and error, they developed the current cooking model.
Portions were first averaged—a quantity they had determined through experience. Those with bigger appetites could add more, with precise measurements for how much extra to cook.
Thus, Liu Jun and others continued using this method. While not perfectly precise, it effectively prevented complaints from anyone.
When Xu Jiajia and the others returned in the afternoon, they surprisingly brought back a piece of meat, astonishing He Yuting who was cooking.
Meat was hard to come by these days; even people in the city lining up might not get any.
Ning Xuan couldn't help but marvel at the main characters' luck and capability.
Confirming that the meat was to be cooked for everyone to share, He Yuting didn't refuse. Honestly, the last time she had eaten meat was during the brigade slaughtering and pork distribution period.
When the Educated Youth returned for dinner and discovered there was meat again—this time fresh pork, and in a larger portion than yesterday's canned meat—they were thrilled. At least when cooked with green beans, you could actually see slices of meat.
Yesterday's minced meat mixed with the beans was so sparse that you had to search carefully to find even a few meat particles.
Today, there was a full two jin of meat. Since the hot weather made it impossible to store for long, He Yuting generously sliced it thinly.
Otherwise, if there was too little meat and it was sliced, everyone would only get one or two pieces, which would be troublesome.
"Xu Jiajia, Lu Xun, and Zhou Zhipeng bought the meat. We shouldn’t take advantage of them, so let’s split the cost evenly. Everyone can pay with money or grain. I’ve already asked them, and they’re fine with either." Before the meal, He Yuting brought up the matter of sharing the cost for the meat.
No one objected, as they were all craving meat. At a time like this, being able to buy meat was quite an achievement.
Most of the Educated Youth weren’t well-off, but after splitting the cost, it only came to five fen per person.
The others were actually getting a bargain with this price, as it only accounted for the money and not the food stamps. However, Xu Jiajia and Lu Xun didn’t bother to haggle over such details.
Moreover, Zhou Zhipeng had helped Xu Jiajia carry back a bag of fine grain, so from now on, her portion would be steamed separately in a lunchbox.
Ning Xuan gained a deeper understanding of the female lead’s family’s resources.
With this meat meal, Xu Jiajia’s two roommates visibly became much warmer toward her.
Among the old Educated Youth, aside from Huang Xiaomei, the other female Educated Youth paid more attention to Lu Xun, while several male Educated Youth also frequently glanced at Xu Jiajia.
Ning Xuan sighed inwardly—the main characters were too generous, making them easy targets.
Huang Xiaomei and Liu Jun noticed this as well. Worried that the Educated Youth Center might face more trouble, they privately reminded Xu Jiajia and Lu Xun to be cautious about flaunting their wealth and to keep a low profile to avoid unnecessary complications.
As for Ning Xuan, having come from the city wearing heavily patched clothes, with so little luggage, and being thin and sallow-faced, everyone’s first impression of her was that of a pitiful soul.
After a day of rest, they had to start working the next day.
Since they had gone to bed early, no one struggled to wake up.
When it was time to head out, Ning Xuan realized she hadn’t prepared a straw hat—and it seemed the others in her batch hadn’t either.
Huang Xiaomei slapped her forehead. "Look at me, I was so focused on your daily necessities yesterday that I forgot about what you’d need for work. These next few days, we’ll be weeding. You’d better prepare gloves, and since it’s hot, wear a hat too."
"You can check with Daniang, the one we traded the grass mat with yesterday. She’s skilled at weaving things—our straw hats came from her too."
"As for gloves, I have a new pair here. I originally prepared them for the autumn harvest, since the ones I’m using now won’t last till the end. Does anyone need them? Just remember to return them in a couple of days."
Then, a few other old Educated Youth mentioned they had also prepared new gloves for the autumn harvest. Together, they managed to gather five new pairs, one for each of Ning Xuan’s group. They would have to buy new ones to return later.
Liu Jun finished breakfast quickly and kindly went to Daniang’s place to exchange for straw hats for the new Educated Youth.
It was also their oversight for not reminding them yesterday—it was only natural for the new Educated Youth to overlook such details. Liu Jun wanted to make up for missing this point.
By the time Ning Xuan and the others finished breakfast, Liu Jun and his group had just returned.
Ning Xuan thought that since they had just finished dinner, she would check what food was left from the day before trading with Wang Er Ya, so there was no rush for today's transaction.
Now, it was time for her to get to work.