Sheng Jinhe’s package included a complete set of bedding—ready to lay out and sleep on anytime, and she could just fold it back up at night. It ended up helping He Yining quite a bit.
The two of them had just finished tidying up when two female educated youths returned.
“Hello! I’m Jiang Hui, and this is Yang Qinqin. You must be the new educated youths, right? Which one of you is Sheng Jinhe?”
Jiang Hui introduced herself openly and asked politely.
“Hello, I’m Sheng Jinhe! This is He Yining.”
“You’re both so pretty! We just came back to make lunch. Zheng Qianjin told us you’d be staying here temporarily—we have no objections. If you need anything, just let us know.”
Jiang Hui continued.
“Alright, wait a moment. I said I’d treat everyone to lunch, but I don’t have that much food right now. I only brought some preserved meat and rice—see if you can figure out what to make with it.”
Sheng Jinhe had placed the ingredients in her bag while tidying her luggage earlier. She took out one jin of rice and one jin of preserved meat, handing them to Jiang Hui.
“Here, do you need us to help?” Sheng Jinhe asked.
“If you’re done tidying, you can watch, but there’s no need to actually help.”
Jiang Hui didn’t expect Sheng Jinhe to be so generous, but it also showed that she was considerate and polite. Jiang Hui had wanted this main room for herself, but no one could really object. Since the meat and rice were in her hands, it was best for her to supervise.
“Alright, we’ll just assist a little!”
“Before the house is finished, we’ll eat together. Once it’s done, we’ll cook separately.”
Sheng Jinhe replied.
“Let’s see—have we already fried the preserved meat? Let’s fry it with some greens and cook the rice along with the coarse grains—it’ll taste better.”
“To be honest, we haven’t eaten meat and rice in a long time.”
Jiang Hui said flatly, though Sheng Jinhe detected a hint of sorrow in her tone.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t much she could do. The whole country was in this situation. She would act where she could in this era, but she wouldn’t recklessly misuse her knowledge of the future or her space. Small-scale actions were unavoidable—otherwise, her time-traveling story would be pointless.
“Then let’s eat more today.”
The four of them became friendly while preparing the meal. Sun Qiu also came by once but said nothing. Sheng Jinhe had already achieved her goal of sending them to the countryside—she wasn’t confrontational, and as long as they didn’t provoke her, there was no problem. After the house was built, their interactions would be minimal.
Jiang Hui also prepared some stir-fried pickled vegetables with eggs and a wild vegetable egg soup.
“This meal is also to welcome you, so it’s plentiful.”
Normally, they wouldn’t eat four eggs at once. When exhausted, one egg in a pot of soup was considered enough to taste something meaty.
Sheng Jinhe and He Yining nodded and helped carry the dishes and utensils to the table.
“We’ll do it!”
Song Jingwen and Qin Ke, having likely finished tidying, appeared sweating outside the dorm.
“Alright!”
The girls didn’t refuse.
As the food hit the table, other educated youths returned.
“What delicious smells! It smells so good!”
Song Qian entered with a smile.
“Educated Youth Sheng brought one jin of preserved meat and one jin of rice. I stir-fried pickled vegetables with eggs and made a wild vegetable egg soup. This is even better than what we eat during the New Year!”
Seeing familiar faces, Jiang Hui responded excitedly.
“Quick, wash your hands! We still need to introduce everyone!”
A few minutes later, everyone was seated at a makeshift table under the big tree.
“Let’s welcome the new educated youths with this wild vegetable soup. I’ll start with a self-introduction!”
“Hello everyone, I’m Zheng Qianjin. If you have anything to ask at this commune, you can ask me. If I can’t solve it, I’ll find the team leader.”
“Liu Wei!”
“Qian Kun!”
“Li Xiangyang!”
“Jiang Hui!”
“Yang Qinqin!”
“Pan Zhaodi!”
These were all the existing youths at the commune.
“Song Jingwen!”
“Qin Ke!”
“Sun Qiu!”
“Sun Dong!”
“Sheng Jinhe!”
“He Yining!”
“Welcome everyone. Let’s help each other from now on. Life here is hard, but the local customs are pure, and the villagers are kind. Of course, there are a few bad families; I’ll tell you privately. Try to avoid direct conflicts. Now, let’s eat!”
Zheng Qianjin concluded.
The new youths then witnessed what “devouring in a flash” really meant.
Sheng Jinhe moved quickly, first taking two chopsticks’ worth of preserved meat and greens for the dazed He Yining, then another two for herself—before the dish was emptied.
Song Jingwen and Qin Ke managed fine, but Sun Qiu and Sun Dong held their small cornbread and chopsticks unsure of what to do.
“Eat, hurry up!” Zheng Qianjin reminded them.
Finally, the siblings managed to pick some stir-fried pickled vegetables with eggs and took a bite.
“Sheng, you don’t sleepwalk during the day, right? Why not rest in our dorm for lunch?”
Jiang Hui asked.
“Sure, He Yining and I will take a mat and pillow over.”
“Good!”
Sheng Jinhe had her reasons. At night it was cooler, so closing the main room door was fine, but during the day with the sun blazing, the big communal bed was more comfortable. She wasn’t one to make herself suffer, so she accepted and liked Jiang Hui a bit more.
Still, she didn’t open her heart easily. He Yining could see through her quickly, and she had connections to the Li family. Others were yet to be observed, and she wasn’t here to make friends—just to get along.
Sheng Jinhe and He Yining found a corner to lie down, all while Sun Qiu watched intently the entire time.
“Stop staring, are your eyes going to pop out?”
He Yining couldn’t take it and warned sharply.
The other three older youths realized some tension might exist between the two newcomers and pretended not to notice, heading for a nap themselves.
Sun Qiu felt wronged and nearly cried. Sheng Jinhe frowned. How much hardship had this kid endured, or had he never experienced it before? Always crying… does he carry the ocean in his eyes? Annoying!
“He Yining, nap time!”
“Okay, Sister He!”
Two hours of rest, and Sheng Jinhe was fully revitalized.
“He Yining, get up and drink some water. We’re going to the team office to borrow some food, but I’m thinking of just buying some instead. With my work points, who knows when I could repay it. I don’t like owing things.”
Sheng Jinhe whispered to He Yining.
“Then I’ll buy some too!”
Money wasn’t an issue—her parents and brother-in-law had given her funds, and more would be sent monthly.
“Alright, let’s go. Tonight, I want to check on the Li family—you’re not going first.”
“But we can find out where they’ll be in the afternoon and sneak a peek.”
“What do you think?”
He Yining instantly became alert.
“Alright, Sister He, I’ll follow your plan!”
“Tch, even if I sold you out, you’d still listen to me!”
“Sister He, I’m clever—I just don’t use it on you, hehe!”
The two picked up their things and returned to the main room.
“Do you have any valuables? Keep them with you.”
Sheng Jinhe frowned at their luggage.
“I have a lock. Should we zip it up and lock it?”
“Alright, I brought one too!”
Even though Sheng Jinhe didn’t have anything really valuable inside.
“Educated Youth Sheng, Educated Youth He, we’re leaving. You can buy a large bed cabinet at the village committee carpenter’s house and lock your important things.”
Zheng Qianjin guessed their intentions and advised.
“Before that, you can just lock the main room door.”
“Right! We forgot, thank you! Let’s go!”
Sheng Jinhe and He Yining exchanged a smile. How could they have forgotten to just lock the door? But they still needed the bed cabinet; after the house was finished, they’d need more furniture anyway.