NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 8: Chapter 8: Settle
Zhao Yonglan and Zhang Huihui came to the kitchen after washing up. They were quite unhappy when they saw that there was no food left.
Zhang Huihui was much more sensible than Zhao Yonglan. She reached out and pulled her sleeve. Liu Yingjun also came out of the male educated youth dormitory, and the group of five walked towards the brigade headquarters.
Jiang Youtao and Zhang Huihui were originally close friends. They were all educated youth and had the good fortune to be sent to the same place to work in the production team. It was normal for them to take care of each other. Zhao Yonglan had occasionally said one or two unpleasant things on the train, but Jiang Youtao pretended not to hear them.
But this morning, Zhao Yonglan took her anger out on her as a matter of course, and she was unhappy about it. Her friendship with Zhao Yonglan had not reached the point where they could vent their anger on each other at will.
At this moment, the five people were divided into two groups. Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei walked side by side, while Zhang Huihui, Zhao Yonglan and Liu Yingjun were together.
The team headquarters is not far from the educated youth site, and it takes only a few minutes to walk along the main road of the village. The team headquarters is a typical three-courtyard apartment. There is a wooden flagpole in the center of the entrance, and a brand new five-star red flag flutters in the wind.
Gu Nianwei took them to one of the main rooms and knocked on the door.
"Come in."
Gu Nianwei led them inside. The captain was sitting behind a simple desk. He was only in his forties, but he looked as old as sixty.
In this day and age, no one looks young.
He scanned Jiang Youtao and the other three with his shrewd eyes, and said without any expression on his face, "You educated youth who went to the countryside will receive subsidies for the first two months. Each person will receive 20 kilograms of food per month. There are still more than two months before the autumn harvest. I've added 10 kilograms and asked someone to weigh 50 kilograms for each of you. It's all there."
The captain pointed to several cloth bags in the corner.
In this era, the bags used to hold grain were basically made of cloth, and these cloth bags were not given to them for free. They had to either return them to the production team after they had finished eating the grain, or use a kilogram of food to offset the cost.
As usual, the captain said a few bland words of welcome, and then let them go back.
Fifty kilograms of food was quite heavy, and Jiang Youtao and the other girls had a hard time carrying it. Zhang Huihui, Zhao Yonglan and Liu Yingjun stood in the team compound and discussed how to move the food back.
Jiang Youtao started walking with the bag of grain. After taking a few steps, the weight on her hand lightened. She turned around and saw Gu Nianwei holding the corner of the bag for her: "Let me help you."
Jiang Youtao was not hypocritical and thanked Gu Nianwei generously. She sighed in her heart. How could such a kind and gentle heroine be so desperate to become someone else's stepmother?
When Zhang Huihui and the other two saw Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei carrying the food away, they also thought this was a good idea.
"Yonglan, let's make two trips. Let's transport your bag back first, and then come back to transport my bag." Liu Yingjun is a man, and fifty kilograms of things are not a problem for him.
"Okay." Zhao Yonglan and Zhang Huihui followed Jiang Youtao and the others and carried the bags.
Fifty kilograms of food is not light. Zhao Yonglan has never done this kind of work before. She felt a little suffocated: "Huihui, look at Jiang Youtao. She was so nice to us on the train, but she became different when she arrived at the educated youth center. You see, she didn't even want to talk to us this morning."
Zhang Huihui glanced at Jiang Youtao and the other person who were walking further and further away, and said, "If it were me, I wouldn't talk to you either. Look at what you said this morning. Youtao came to wake us up with good intentions, but you scolded her. If it were me, I wouldn't talk to you either."
Zhao Yonglan curled her lips and said, "I didn't do it on purpose. Who asked her to wake me up so early? Doesn't she know how tired we are on this journey?"
Zhang Huihui didn't say anything.
When the two of them carried the food back to the dormitory, Jiang Youtao was drinking water and Gu Nianwei was sitting on the kang reading a book.
Zhao Yonglan had never been so tired before. She felt a little angry when she saw the two people leisurely. Zhao Yonglan sat down on the kang and couldn't get up. She looked at Jiang Youtao, then at Gu Nianwei, and said to Gu Nianwei.
"Comrade Gu, we are all new educated youth. Why do you only help Youtao and not us? It's not good to be partial to one and neglect the other, right?"
Gu Nianwei and Jiang Youtao frowned at the same time. Gu Nianwei closed the book in her hand and looked at Zhao Yonglan: "How do you want me to help you?"
Zhao Yonglan's father was the deputy director of a TV factory. From childhood to adulthood, Zhao Yonglan was always the one being flattered. She did not become so restrained when she arrived in the countryside. She still felt that everyone in the educated youth camp should flatter her.
"Can you help us carry the bag of food back to the team headquarters, or help us cook a meal? We didn't eat this morning and we are starving."
Gu Nianwei snorted, got up from the kang and said, "Then you wait." Then she left the dormitory.
Zhao Yonglan lay down on the kang with a smile on her face.
Zhang Huihui looked outside, then looked at Zhao Yonglan: "Yonglan, this is not good, let's go to the team headquarters to get food ourselves."
Zhao Yonglan glared at her and said, "Just wait for Comrade Gu to get it back for us. Why bother?"
Zhang Huihui stopped talking, but her eyes became more and more anxious.
They brought back Zhao Yonglan's food. The bag at the team headquarters was hers! If someone took it away, what would she eat for the next two months?
After waiting for more than ten minutes without any movement, Zhang Huihui couldn't bear it any longer and went to the male educated youth dormitory to call Liu Yingjun to go to the team headquarters together.
Liu Yingjun glanced at the female educated youth dormitory and asked, "Where's Yonglan? Why doesn't she go with you?"
Zhang Huihui sighed and said, "She is tired and is resting."
Liu Yingjun's expression changed, and he felt very aggrieved: "What kind of luck do we have? How come we are assigned to the same group as her?"
There were more than ten people from the TV factory who went to the countryside, but they were the only ones assigned to the same place as Zhao Yonglan. If his parents were not still working under Zhao Yonglan's father, he really wouldn't want to serve Zhao Yonglan.
She has a willful and bad temper. She was somewhat restrained on the train, but started to act up again as soon as she arrived.
Zhang Huihui was in a worse mood than Liu Yingjun. She was originally going to be assigned to the Construction Corps in Heilongjiang Province, where there were more people than land, and where she could not only eat well but also receive a salary every month.
Before she could be happy for two days, her place of work was changed from the Construction Corps to Liushugou in Harbin. Her mother told her that this was arranged by Zhao Yonglan's father, because she was the only one in the compound who had a good relationship with Zhao Yonglan.
The Zhao family was not without compensation. Zhao Yonglan's father promised to give her family a big house this year, and also turned her brother's temporary job into a regular employee.
Compared with the house and her son's future, Zhang Huihui's personal grievances were not worth mentioning in the eyes of her parents.
When they arrived at the team headquarters, the bag of food that belonged to her was still lying alone in the corner.
Liu Yingjun picked up the food with one hand. Zhang Huihui didn't let him take it all. She grabbed the corner of the bag like she did before, and carried it to the educated youth site with Liu Yingjun.
Jiang Youtao was already lying on the kang taking a nap.
Zhao Yonglan was leaning on the kang, reading a book and eating peach cakes. When she saw her come back, she sighed, "I told Comrade Gu to get it for you, but you insisted on going. Aren't you tired?"
Zhang Huihui marked the grains silently. Zhao Yonglan felt bored and snorted before continuing to read with her legs crossed.
It was almost noon when Gu Nianwei came back from outside leisurely eating a cucumber.
Today it was Gu Nianwei's turn to cook. The old educated youth had already placed the rations for lunch in the kitchen. Gu Nianwei went to the dormitory to tell them.
Jiang Youtao climbed up from the kang and handed a lunch box to Gu Nianwei. On the way back with the food, she had already asked Gu Nianwei how much food should be cooked for each meal.
Zhang Huihui also learned from Liu Yingjun that after seeing Zhang Huihui had loaded the food, Zhao Yonglan simply reduced her share by half.
"I have a small appetite, so I can only eat half of Huihui's." She handed the lunch box to Gu Nianwei with a smile.
Gu Nianwei didn't care whether Zhao Yonglan could eat enough or not. She took the lunch box and went to the kitchen. Jiang Youtao quickly folded the kang and went to the kitchen to help her.
"Comrade Gu, let me help you light the fire."
Gu Nianwei was a little surprised as she didn't expect her to come to help.
Jiang Youtao has a characteristic, that is, if others respect her one foot, she will respect them ten feet. Gu Nianwei showed her kindness again and again, she is not a piece of wood, how could she remain indifferent?
Besides, she had made up her mind to remind Gu Nianwei. If she didn't build a good relationship now, would she wait until the matter came to a head before she rashly ran up to Gu Nianwei and told her not to become someone else's stepmother?
Is there something wrong with that impure brain?
"Okay, then I'll trouble you." After a brief surprise, Gu Nianwei reacted and did not refuse Jiang Youtao's help.
Gu Nianwei is obsessed with looks and has liked good-looking people since she was a child. Before she traveled through time, her greatest pleasure was chasing stars. The stars she chased were a little different from others. Others chased one, but she chased a group.
No matter what circle they are from, or whether they are men or women, as long as they are good-looking, she is willing to pursue them. She is very philanthropic.
Gu Nianwei also joked to her friends that she was a romantic person.
It has been almost a year since she traveled to this era, and she has been immersed in heavy farm work all day. Occasionally when she is not working, she will go to the county town. After so many times, whether in the countryside or in the county town, there are very few good-looking people who can catch her eye.
When Gu Nianwei came back from town yesterday, the moment she saw Jiang Youtao, she felt that the dark kitchen became a little brighter.
Although Jiang Youtao was still too thin and small, her delicate features could not be hidden, especially her palm-sized face and watery almond-shaped eyes. Her glances touched the heart of Gu Nianwei, a beauty lover.
People in Liushugou say that she is the prettiest girl among the educated youths, but it seems like this title will soon be lost.
Jiang Youtao tried to get closer to Gu Nianwei, and during the time it took to cook a meal, Jiang Youtao and Gu Nianwei had already reached the point where they called each other by their names.
Gu Nianwei lived alone before she traveled through time, and she had great cooking skills. Under her management, today's dishes were also very rich. Sauce eggplant, stir-fried cucumber slices, and shredded potatoes with chives.
The taste is good and the quantity is large. Everyone eats so well without even raising their heads.
Zhao Yonglan didn't cook enough rice for herself, and after finishing the rice in her lunch box she was still not full, so she stared at Zhang Huihui and Liu Yingjun's lunch boxes.
If they were still in the city, Liu Yingjun and Zhang Huihui would not mind sharing food with Zhao Yonglan, but now they are in the countryside, and the amount of food distributed to them is limited, and once they have eaten it, there will be no more.
They can't possibly starve themselves to feed Zhao Yonglan, right? That doesn't make sense.
Zhao Yonglan threw a wink at the blind man, but Zhang Huihui and Liu Yingjun never made eye contact with her from beginning to end.
Zhou Zhenfeng, however, saw that she was not full, so he took the initiative to ask: "Comrade Zhao Yonglan, are you not full? Do you want me to share some with you?"
As soon as these words were spoken, the atmosphere at the dinner table became quiet, and everyone looked up at Zhao Yonglan and Zhou Zhenfeng.
Zhao Yonglan seemed not to notice everyone's looks and held out her lunch box with a smile: "Thank you, Comrade Zhou."
Zhou Zhenfeng glanced at Jiang Youtao inconspicuously, and gave a small half of the coarse grain rice in his lunch box to Zhao Yonglan.
After dinner, Jiang Youtao stayed to help Gu Nianwei clean up the kitchen.
Gu Nianwei whispered to Jiang Youtao, "As for the educated youth in our courtyard, I won't comment on the new one, but among the old ones, you must be careful of Zhou Zhenfeng."