The ten-minute journey stretched into twenty minutes for Yáng Zhēnzhēn. On the way, she saw a river and thought about how there must be fish in it. Mother Yang's braised fish last time was delicious, and she wanted some.
Since she thought of it, she had to solve it. Looking at the fish in the water, Yáng Zhēnzhēn immediately communicated with Huāhuā, asking Huāhuā to create a small pond in the space. It didn't need to be wide, just enough to raise a few dozen fish.
"Huāhuā, are the wild boars and rabbits in the space still alive?" she wondered if the space could raise animals.
"Zhēnzhēn, they are all alive and well. However, the wild boars have moved their location. I feel like they are going to move to the dividing zone."
Huāhuā planned to move them back to their own areas once the wild boars arrived. This game was extremely fun.
Yáng Zhēnzhēn was perplexed. The wild boars were not dead and had not changed. This meant they could form their own ecological cycle.
She was now certain that the acceleration in the space only applied to plants, and not to live beings, such as herself or the animals when they entered.
Huāhuā heard her request for a pond and thought it was just a pit. It found a good spot, rooted itself, then expanded, creating a pit. It was very simple.
"Zhēnzhēn, it's done. Do you think there's enough room for fish?"
Yáng Zhēnzhēn's consciousness entered and looked. The pit was quite deep; she could swim in it herself.
"Huāhuā, where did you get the water from?"
"When I rooted myself, water came out. It filled up shortly after I withdrew."
Yáng Zhēnzhēn gave Huāhuā a thumbs-up. It was amazing. Her own mind hadn't quite grasped it. Since there were mountains, forests, and fields here, there must be groundwater and air below. This space was only missing the sun compared to the outside.
Glancing at her watch, she realized time was running short. Seeing pedestrians carrying baskets on their backs in twos and threes, Yáng Zhēnzhēn quickened her pace towards the assembly point.
When she arrived, everyone except Lǐ Báiyǔ and Yì Zǐjiàn had arrived at the assembly point.
Wáng Sījiā saw Yáng Zhēnzhēn from afar and ran to meet her, saying happily, "Zhēnzhēn, you're here! Whose house are you staying at?"
"Let me tell you, I stayed at an auntie's house yesterday. They have so many family members! Her daughter slept with me, and the kang was so hard..." Yáng Zhēnzhēn didn't say a word; she just listened to Wáng Sījiā talking.
Yáng Zhēnzhēn just listened to the chirping sounds and her consciousness had already entered the space to check on Huāhuā digging the fish pond.
Meanwhile, the Old Branch Secretary and Lǐ Mùhéng also walked over. Yáng Zhēnzhēn noticed that Lǐ Mùhéng seemed much more relaxed today than before.
Perhaps they had talked about the five of them last night. She found him good-looking and admired him, but she had no other thoughts.
"Where are Lǐ Báiyǔ and Yì Zǐjiàn?" the Old Branch Secretary asked the Educated Youth present.
The Educated Youth looked at each other and shook their heads. They were not familiar with these two and had no information.
The Old Branch Secretary's brow twitched. He thought to himself that these two had no sense of time.
"I've asked you all to gather here today because everyone worked hard yesterday. After resting last night, I believe you've all recovered."
A group of Educated Youth nodded. They had indeed traveled hard to get here. Traveling by car was one thing, but the weather here was also very cold. It wasn't this cold in their hometown in November, and the chilling wind was biting.
Yì Zǐjiàn saw that everyone had arrived and vaguely heard the Old Branch Secretary speaking at the front. Regardless, he started to jog, quickening his pace with Lǐ Báiyǔ behind him.
Lǐ Báiyǔ saw Yì Zǐjiàn speeding up and called out unwillingly, "Brother Yì, wait for me."
Finally, Yì Zǐjiàn reached the Old Branch Secretary and asked, "Old Branch Secretary, what were you just saying?"
The Old Branch Secretary took a deep breath. Hmph, these two could have been even slower. With just a few more words, he would have finished speaking. What a pair of lazy donkeys, taking their time.
Yì Zǐjiàn also noticed the Old Branch Secretary's displeasure but admitted they genuinely hadn't heard anything. What if they missed something important?
"Nothing earlier was important. Where's Lǐ Báiyǔ?" the Old Branch Secretary retorted directly.
"How is it not important? We didn't hear any of it earlier." Yì Zǐjiàn felt he was being targeted by the Old Branch Secretary. He had only arrived a little late.
As soon as Lǐ Báiyǔ arrived, he heard Yì Zǐjiàn's angry shouts. He quickly ran over, grabbed Yì Zǐjiàn, and turned to yell at the Old Branch Secretary, "Old Branch Secretary, don't bully us just because we're new. My family has given me experience!"
The Old Branch Secretary was so angry he laughed. He calmed himself and said with a cold smile, "You have family members. Where are they from? Tell me. I don't believe there's no reason or logic in this world. You two just arrived and are already accusing me of bullying you Educated Youth."
Yì Zǐjiàn cleared his head. His family had warned him. He was here to seek refuge, not to cause trouble.
Suppressing his anger, Yì Zǐjiàn pulled Lǐ Báiyǔ back and said with a smile, "Old Branch Secretary, we apologize. We were just disoriented from the cold earlier and spoke nonsense. Please continue; we'll listen." He then pulled Lǐ Báiyǔ back into the group of Educated Youth.
The Old Branch Secretary didn't want to waste more words on these two. He would deal with them when the Village Chief returned; he wouldn't bother anymore.
"Now that everyone is here, the first matter is that you Educated Youth can rest today. You will officially start working tomorrow. The people you are staying with will inform you of the working hours. In our countryside, we speak in terms of work points. Without work points, you won't receive your share of grain or money at the end of the year."
"The second matter is that as newly arrived Educated Youth, you will each receive a subsidy of two hundred jin of grain tomorrow after work. As for the subsidy money, you will sign for it and collect it later when the accountant returns to the village."
After speaking, the Old Branch Secretary turned and left, taking his handheld pipe with him. Looking at the group of Educated Youth, he felt that only Yáng Zhēnzhēn, Wáng Sījiā, and Lǐ Mùhéng were decent; the others were either muddleheads or troublemakers.
Lǐ Mùhéng thought about the information the Old Branch Secretary had quietly shared with him yesterday, and how he had taken him to see his grandparents. He felt much more at ease.
He thought about how he had followed them down to the countryside secretly and hadn't prepared much. Yesterday, he had even shared a quilt with Zhāng Hóngjūn.
Seeing the Old Branch Secretary and Lǐ Mùhéng heading back, Yáng Zhēnzhēn thought for a moment and asked in a low voice, "Wáng Sījiā, are you going to town to buy anything?"
"I don't need to buy anything; I brought everything. Are you going to town?"
"Yes, I'm going to town," Yáng Zhēnzhēn replied with a nod. She had considered whether to ask Wáng Sījiā, but ultimately decided to ask. After all, Wáng Sījiā had given her a good impression so far. In her time, an eighteen-year-old would just be starting university.
Wáng Sījiā thought she could rest and also wanted to go to town, but she didn't need to buy anything, so she decided against it. If she went, she would just be a burden to Zhēnzhēn.
After they parted ways, Yáng Zhēnzhēn also headed towards the Old Branch Secretary's house. She still needed to inquire for information, and ideally, borrow some transportation. She had many things to buy, and carrying too much alone wouldn't be about inability but about attracting too much attention.