Everyone carried their luggage and walked into the educated youth compound.
The courtyard was large. It was said to be a residence left behind by an old landlord more than ten years ago.
Two people were standing in the yard. When they saw the group enter, they hurried over to greet them.
“Alright, this is our educated youth compound,” the brigade leader said as he stood in the middle of the yard and looked at them.
“This is the team accountant, Gu Youkang. This is an older educated youth, Fang Jian.
Get to know each other. They’ll explain the situation here. If you have any questions, come find me later.” After saying that, the leader left.
Fang Jian watched him go just like that and felt helpless. He braced himself and stepped forward to greet the newcomers.
“Hello, comrades. My name is Fang Jian. I’m twenty two this year, and I’ve been in the countryside for five years.
In the front, there are two side rooms, east and west. The east side room houses the male educated youths, and the west side room houses the female educated youths.
In the middle is the kitchen and a small meeting room. The woodshed is in the northwest corner, the latrine is in the northeast corner, and there’s a newly dug well in the yard, so it’s convenient for fetching water…”
After he finished, Fang Jian glanced at their expressions, as if he wanted to say more but hesitated.
Accountant Gu Youkang nudged him with his elbow, signaling for him to continue.
“Heh… it’s like this. The east and west side rooms already have three male educated youths and two female educated youths living there.
Right now, the conditions in the side rooms are fairly tough, and they probably can’t fit so many of you.” Fang Jian took a deep breath and continued, “So, considering your housing situation, the brigade leader had new rooms built in the back.”
As he spoke, he led them toward the rear courtyard.
The accountant remained in the front yard and waved for them to follow. Nan Mo felt a headache coming on. Somehow it felt like she had stepped into one of those later day pyramid scheme setups.
The group followed Fang Jian into the back yard. Two neat rows of brick and tile rooms were lined up, similar to row houses, except they were only one story.
In front of each unit, bamboo fencing enclosed a small yard, making each one look like an independent little home.
Fang Jian brought them into an empty room. “All the houses are the same. This is the kitchen. The stove is already built, so you just need to buy a wok and you can start cooking.
This is the bedroom. The kang has been built. Later, you can buy a kang table, and you can rest and eat here.
There’s also a private latrine. Female comrades can put a bathing tub in here, it’s very convenient…”
Nan Mo almost laughed at Fang Jian’s sales pitch. It felt like a real estate agent had possessed him.
The educated youths looked excited. They had not expected Xiangyang Brigade’s conditions to be this good.
Xu Mei and Wu Mingyue had already started picking their spots. Neither of them had their own room at home, yet here in the countryside, they were suddenly getting one.
“Only…” Fang Jian saw that everyone was satisfied and looked embarrassed to say what came next.
Seeing him hesitate, the accountant took over. “It’s just that these rooms require an additional rent.”
“What?” Xu Mei cried out. “We came to the countryside, and the production team isn’t arranging housing for us? Why do we have to pay rent?”
Xu Mei had not expected rent. Wu Mingyue was unhappy too.
“This comrade, if you don’t want to pay rent, you can live in the front courtyard, can’t you? We’re giving you more choices, hehe,” the accountant said naturally.
Aside from Xu Mei and Wu Mingyue, everyone else felt it was reasonable.
Tang Yifan spoke up at the right moment. “How is the rent calculated?”
Gu Youkang saw everyone could accept it and continued. “Three yuan a month, paid yearly. The land in the yard out front counts as your private plot.”
Nan Mo and the others all felt the price was fair and said they wanted to rent.
Wu Mingyue did not think three yuan a month was expensive, but when she heard it had to be paid for a whole year at once, it became thirty six yuan, and her heart ached.
Still, she did not want to be outshone by the other girls in front of Tang Yifan, so she forced herself to register for a rental with the accountant.
There were two rows of houses, five units per row. Chen Ruonan stayed with Nan Mo and the others while they chose.
Nan Mo wanted the first row. Lu Yuanyuan immediately followed her lead. Hu Mingliang also chose the first row with them.
When it came to Chen Ruonan, the three of them knew her family was struggling. They were already thinking about how to help her accept their support without making it awkward.
“Accountant Gu, I’ll take this one.” Tang Yifan walked over and pointed to the unit next to Nan Mo’s.
“Then I’ll take the one next to Brother Yifan,” Lu Zhihui said. She did not know why Tang Yifan had chosen that spot, but Wu Mingyue knew.
“Brother Tang, choose the back row instead. I’m scared to live back there alone,” Wu Mingyue said. She was determined not to let Tang Yifan stay too close to Nan Mo. This was the man she had set her sights on first.
“No way. If you want to live in the back, why drag Brother Yifan along? We don’t even know you!” Lu Zhihui snapped.
She had seen Wu Mingyue’s intentions long ago. On the train, she had already decided Wu Mingyue was a schemer.
“Educated Youth Lu, how can you say that? We’re all revolutionary comrades going to the countryside together. How can you say we don’t know each other…” Wu Mingyue spoke as if she were about to cry again.
Nan Mo only wanted to stay far away from those lunatics, and she used the opportunity to persuade Chen Ruonan. Three yuan a month was nothing, and it was worth paying for peace.
“Ruonan, live here. I’ll pay your rent. If you feel uneasy about it, then help me with some work when you can.”
“Yes, Ruonan, live here. Hu Mingliang is useless. You protect us, and Nan Mo and I will cover your rent,” Lu Yuanyuan added.
Hearing that Chen Ruonan would protect them, Hu Mingliang hurried to declare his stance too. “And me. Nan Mo, my cousin, and I will each pay a share!”
Chen Ruonan was truly conflicted. She had already eaten so much of their food. Having them pay her rent too felt unacceptable.
“No, no…” she said quickly, waving her hands.
“Alright, it’s settled. You’re renting because of us. Just live here with peace of mind,” Nan Mo said.
Then Nan Mo turned to the accountant. “Accountant Gu, Chen Ruonan will rent this one.” As she spoke, she handed thirty six yuan to Gu Youkang.
Chen Ruonan was the youngest at home, but among the four of them, she was now the oldest. After a few days together, she had grown fond of these three younger companions.
Besides, it was only work. Protecting them was something she had already planned to do anyway. How could that be used to repay rent? She sighed inwardly. From now on, their matters were her matters too.
Just like that, the four units in the first row, from west to east, were taken by Hu Mingliang, Lu Yuanyuan, Nan Mo, and Chen Ruonan.
The accountant took out paper and pen, collected the money on the spot, and wrote receipts.
Tang Yifan had grown annoyed from the two women’s bickering. He also felt a bit irritated with Nan Mo’s attitude of avoiding him.
He casually pointed to a unit in the back row. “I’ll take that one.”
Wu Mingyue and Lu Zhihui chose the units on either side of Tang Yifan.
After the houses were chosen, Fang Jian told them to clean up on their own, then gather in the front yard once they were done.
One after another, they carried their luggage into their new homes. A few people who did not rent rooms remained in the yard, staring at each other.
Seeing no one else wanted to rent, Accountant Gu left Fang Jian to handle things and walked away with the money.
Fang Jian and the remaining educated youths stared at each other awkwardly. He let out a dry laugh. “Well… I’ll take you to the front.”
The others followed Fang Jian back to the front yard, leaving Xu Mei behind, stomping her feet in anger.
With the back yard houses as a comparison, the communal sleeping platform in the front side rooms suddenly looked unacceptable.
This was exactly the tactic the brigade leader and the accountant had worked out together.
After looking around, Chen Hongxia and Peng Liang also asked to rent houses in the back.
After all, those who could be assigned to Xiangyang Brigade had usually pulled connections, and their families were not poor.
People like Xu Mei, Chen Jianming, and Jiang Haodong were the ones who had relied purely on luck.
The two male educated youths carried their luggage into the male dormitory. Seeing that every female educated youth on this trip had rented a house, Xu Mei stared resentfully toward the back yard.
“Educated Youth Xu, take your time cleaning up. Later, go gather in the meeting room,” Fang Jian said, then hurried away. Xu Mei’s expression looked too ugly to deal with.