Chapter 3 Breaking the Bottle's Mouth is Good_2

Wen Lan and Wang Shumei exchanged glances upon hearing this, working together to pick up Lin Nianhe's luggage, just waiting for Li Dahe's command to help her move.

Lin Nianhe smacked her lips.

It seemed that everyone was a good comrade willing to learn from historical lessons.

Li Dahe smacked his lips around his cigarette and despite losing a couple of hairs, he couldn't think of a better solution and could only nod in agreement.

He stepped out to call for Sun Guanghui: "Educated Youth Sun, take a few male Educated Youths and move the firewood out of the backyard house, tidy it up for Educated Youth Lin to live in."

Sun Guanghui was a bit confused, scratching his head and said, "Isn't it inappropriate for a female comrade to live in the firewood room? I'll go instead."

Li Dahe was annoyed by his thick-headedness and rolled his eyes: "What's the use of you going? Wouldn't that room still be too small for three people to sleep in?"

Only then did Sun Guanghui belatedly realize that the key issue wasn't who would live in the firewood room, but that there was not enough room in the female Educated Youth's dormitory.

Chuckleheaded, he acknowledged and turned to summon several older Educated Youths to get to work.

There wasn't much firewood, and it was all moved out after three or four trips by five people. The three girls went inside and felt very complicated.

This room, including the inside and the outside room, was about fifteen square meters. There was a stove, but no pot; there were windows, but no glass; there was a kang bed, but it was broken... and it was all covered in dust and unidentifiable trash.

Wang Shumei frowned and said, "Nianhe, shall we discuss the order in which we stack ourselves on the kang?"

Wen Lan pouted, "Or shall we figure out where to hang a hammock?"

Lin Nianhe said, "I don't want to break my legs or dislocate yours, so let's just clean it up and that'll do."

Hearing her determined tone, Li Dahe took another drag on his cigarette and said, "I'll write you a note, and you can go down to the commune this afternoon to get some glass panes. I'll have someone... forget it, I'll have my son get some glass panes to replace yours."

He was truly afraid the little bastard might get snatched away by a wolf on the way.

"Thank you, Uncle Team Leader! You're the best team leader I've ever seen!" Lin Nianhe said cheerfully.

She was telling the truth, after all, as she had only ever seen Li Dahe as a team leader.

Li Dahe gave her a look: "You certainly have a silver tongue."

Having said that, the little old man walked out with his hands behind his back, addressing the three Educated Youths who were watching the commotion: "The three of them have just arrived, they're young, so give them a hand if you can. If you have any problems, come find me at the Ten Miles Team's office."

In front of the team leader, the older Educated Youths, no matter what they were thinking inside, had serious expressions on their faces and agreed quickly and readily.

However, after Li Dahe left, only an older Educated Youth named Wang Xue came around, saying she had to cook but would help afterward.

The other two, perhaps genuinely busy, did not appear.

Regardless of the others, they didn't wait for help, as self-reliance has always been an unwavering truth.

The house was small and with no furniture, so it was quickly cleaned.

Wang Shumei was nimble, had sprinkled water around the house, and swiftly cleaned up the trash;

Wen Lan was strong and carried the bags full of garbage out with two fingers;

Lin Nianhe… Lin Nianhe took out some White Rabbit Creamy Candy, unwrapping and stuffing them into their mouths.

She couldn't keep up with their work, so the best she could do was to provide logistics and not make a mess.

"Hey?"

The two of them stopped working and looked at Lin Nianhe as if she was wasting family resources.

Wen Lan snatched a candy wrapper from Lin Nianhe, wrapped the candy back up, and only then, savoring the residual sweetness in her mouth, said, "You silly girl, why don't you keep the good stuff for yourself?"

Wang Shumei also added, "Yeah, besides, we should all be doing this work together."

Lin Nianhe stretched out her clean hand: "But you never gave me a chance to do the work."

Every time she wanted to sweep, Wang Shumei told her to cool off on the side; when she wanted to throw out the trash, Wen Lan told her to stop blocking the way.

She felt guilty.

"What can you do with those tiny arms and legs?"

"Since we all came together, what's the big deal about lending a hand? Is it really worth a thank-you candy?"

Lin Nianhe looked into their two clear eyes, filled with disdain, and laughed.

She said: "Since we all came together, what's wrong with offering you a piece of candy?"

Wen Lan and Wang Shumei didn't yet understand the concept of fighting magic with magic, and both fell silent, unsure how to retort.

Looking at Lin Nianhe's smiling face, Wang Shumei and Wen Lan simultaneously thought: In the future, we must keep an eye on this prodigal girl, she's the type to count the money for someone after being sold by them.

After eating the candy and moving Lin Nianhe's luggage, her dorm was considered cleaned.

Wang Shumei and Wen Lan didn't linger, going to arrange their own belongings in the front courtyard.

Upon closing the door, Lin Nianhe took out a piece of oiled paper, wrapped up half a bag of Da Bai Tu milk candies, wrote down a couple of lines in her notebook, stuffed the candy and paper into a green canvas bag, and went out.

The female Educated Youths in the front courtyard were still cooking, and a few male Educated Youths were building a shed for firewood under Sun Guanghui's direction, intending to use it as a temporary firewood storage.

Spotting Lin Nianhe with a bag on her back, Sun Guanghui casually asked: "Comrade Lin, are you going out?"

"Mhm." Lin Nianhe nodded, "Comrade Sun, could you tell me where Uncle Team Leader's house is?"

Pausing, feeling several inquisitive glances from the kitchen, she raised her voice a bit: "Uncle Team Leader mentioned this afternoon his son would go to the commune to fetch glass; I wanted to ask if I could send a telegram home."

Sun Guanghui's slow wits didn't get tangled in intricacies, and hearing her, he immediately led her out, pointing out the direction to the Team Leader's house before speaking: "It's the midday break now; if you can't find it, just knock on any door and ask."

"Thank you, Comrade Sun." Lin Nianhe voiced her gratitude, then asked further, "By the way, I wanted to ask, how do we prepare our food?"

"Usually, we take turns cooking. Since you've just arrived, we'll take care of today's meal. Later on, you can borrow some grain from the team and then pay it back." Sun Guanghui continued, "The Team Leader just said that you newcomers can rest this afternoon and start work tomorrow."

"I see there's a small kitchen where I'm staying; can I cook for myself?" Lin Nianhe asked what she most wanted to know.

Her rice and flour couldn't be openly displayed, but it shouldn't be a problem if she ate it herself.

Although it would last her eight lifetimes.

Sun Guanghui was taken aback for a moment, sounding somewhat uncertain: "You don't plan to join the communal meals?"

"Mhm," Lin Nianhe smiled, "I love spicy food and I'm picky."

Sun Guanghui asked naively: "If you don't eat with us, what about vegetables?"

At that time, every household grew their own vegetables, and the vegetable plot in the backyard of the Educated Youth Corps was tended by the elder Educated Youths, taking turns looking after it.

In an era where every mouthful of grain was vital, even in the countryside where vegetables were not scarce, nobody would casually give them away.

Lin Nianhe wasn't short on vegetables, but she still couldn't reveal that; she could only respond to Sun Guanghui's concern by saying: "I don't eat much; just opening a small plot in front of my place would be enough."

Sun Guanghui, once again belatedly realizing, acknowledged that Educated Youth Lin had firmly decided to be independent.

He nodded: "Alright, I'll mention it to them later. There isn't much work these days; if you want to start a plot I can help you."

Sun Guanghui, having been in the countryside for three years, knew how to do all kinds of work and was considered a big brother among the Educated Youths.

Although simple and honest, he was very discreet about personal matters; the group would work together on the collective tasks, but for private help, he wouldn't drag others into it.

"Thank you, Comrade Sun."

Lin Nianhe bid farewell to Sun Guanghui and started down the small path of the Ten Mile Team, swinging her small hand.

Sun Guanghui watched her departing figure, smiling wryly with a sense of helplessness.

She doesn't know hardship now, but after working in the fields tomorrow, she'll probably wilt.

He turned back to his work, having just nailed two stakes, when a clear, masculine voice came from the door:

"Comrade, may I ask if Lin Nianhe is here?"