Because it was the height of the farming season, the Educated Youth Courtyard was empty. Captain Xiong sent a child playing nearby to the fields to call Miao Qiucui and Ma Mingchuan back.
The group waited for the senior educated youths to return, taking the opportunity to observe their surroundings. The courtyard was a distance from the production brigade headquarters; it had originally been the home of a local landlord, and because it wasn't suitable for distribution to regular brigade members, it had remained vacant. Later, when the "Up to the Mountains and Down to the Countryside" movement began, the brigade, looking to save on construction costs, simply repurposed it for the educated youths arriving in succession.
The courtyard faced south. The main building had five rooms: the two on the ends were for the male and female youths respectively, while the center room served as the dining area. Behind the dining table was the mouth of the stove; in cold weather, cooking was done in this central hall so that the heat would keep the kang beds in the side rooms slightly warmer.
In front was a large yard divided into small vegetable patches where seasonal produce was growing. Outside to the left were two stove pits, which the youths used for cooking during the hot summer months. The courtyard was enclosed by a waist-high mud wall. The original brick-and-tile wall of the landlord’s estate had long since collapsed, and this current wall had been built bit by bit by the educated youths themselves, at least providing some modicum of privacy.
While the others looked around, Feng Qingqing knew that behind the house lay another yard with a small path leading to the back mountain. She had walked this path often in her past life. Whenever she was starving, she would head to the mountains alone in search of food, sometimes finding wild fruit or persimmons.
Before long, the two senior educated youths arrived. Looking at them, Feng Qingqing saw they were just as she remembered, though their faces were sunburned a deep red from their time in the fields. Their faces and hair were drenched in sweat, and their lips were chapped from the heat.
Seeing them approach from a distance, Captain Xiong stood up and shouted, "Educated Youth Miao, Educated Youth Ma, I’m leaving these people in your hands. If there are any issues, come find me at the brigade headquarters."
With that, he headed back toward the production team. He seemed in a hurry, likely needing to check on the progress of the day's tasks for the various squads.
Miao Qiucui and Ma Mingchuan welcomed the newcomers, though they couldn't help but mutter internally that with so many people arriving at once, the Educated Youth Courtyard was bound to get noisy. They enthusiastically helped move everyone’s luggage into the yard and provided a brief introduction to the layout and structure of the residence.
When it came to room assignments, since there were two rooms for each gender and one of each was currently vacant, they settled into the empty rooms accordingly. Zhuang Shan complained under her breath, feeling that four people to a room was too crowded, but she had no choice but to move in.
The female dormitory was reasonably spacious, with a south-facing window and a long row of kang beds along the north wall that could easily accommodate seven or eight people. Feng Qingqing acted quickly, claiming a spot against the east wall; because it was near the stove, it would be very warm in the winter. Jiang Yun saw her move and intended to claim the spot next to her, but Hu Fangming, who had been holding onto Feng Qingqing’s hand the whole time, snatched it first.
Furious, Jiang Yun’s face darkened, but she forced herself to maintain her composure and spoke to Hu Fangming in a conciliatory tone: "Educated Youth Hu, you see, I wanted to be near my cousin. Could we swap seats?"
"I want to be with Educated Youth Feng too. Isn't it the same if you sleep next to me? We're all in the same room anyway, it's such a trivial thing. Besides, I really like this spot. I'm not swapping with anyone." Having said that, she began arranging her own bedding.
"You... how could you be like this?" Jiang Yun fumed, standing there for a long time, but with no one paying her any mind, she had to go and sullenly organize her own luggage.
Feng Qingqing didn't care about any of this, but she was pleased to be able to keep a little distance from Jiang Yun, that troublemaker.
Because the kang hadn't been slept on for a long time, it was covered in a layer of dust. Feng Qingqing took a rag she had prepared from her large pack, fetched two basins, and went outside to get water. Once she had finished cleaning her section of the kang, she lent the rag to Hu Fangming, who had been watching her expectantly. The young girl gave her a sweet smile the moment she took the cloth.
Once everyone had finished cleaning and tidying up, Feng Qingqing announced to the group, "I’m going to walk around the brigade to see if anyone has any wooden trunks to trade. Do you want to come along?"
The others agreed in a clamor. Although Jiang Yun was tight-fisted with the money in her pocket, she looked around the room and realized she would need a trunk or a small cabinet to store her personal items.
Because Feng Qingqing was extremely familiar with this place where she had lived for several years in her past life, she pretended otherwise, giving a piece of candy to a child and asking for directions to the carpenter's house.
When they arrived, they saw a man in his fifties sitting on the steps smoking a dry pipe. He was filthy, his legs caked in mud, clearly having just returned from the fields. Feng Qingqing knew the carpenter was Old Mietou. His wife had passed away years ago, and he lived with his only son's family. Thanks to his craft and the work points he earned in the fields, Old Mietou’s family lived quite well for the brigade.
Seeing the finished products ready in the yard, the group picked out a few items. Feng Qingqing selected a large camphor wood trunk; it was really just to keep up appearances, as her truly valuable items were kept in her spatial dimension, which was safer than anywhere else. She also bought a wooden basin and a wicker basket.
Seeing what Feng Qingqing bought, Jiang Yun hesitated. Considering she didn't have much money and had to account for her two brothers, she didn't dare spend too much. Thinking that her brothers had nothing, she turned to Feng Qingqing and said hopefully, "Cousin Qingqing, look at Second Brother and Third Brother. Should we buy them a few things to take back?"
"Jiang Yun, let’s get this straight: they are your brothers, not mine. If you want to buy them something, buy it yourself, don't ask me. Besides, aren't their relocation subsidies with you?" Feng Qingqing looked at her with an expression of utter bafflement.
"But, but... I have other uses for my money. You brought so many things, you shouldn't have many expenses. We grew up together like sisters, can you not be so calculating? They are your cousins, after all."
Jiang Yun looked like she was about to cry. She genuinely didn't want to spend her own money, so she played the emotional card. In her view, if she could get Feng Qingqing to buy things for her brothers, perhaps their relationship could return to what it once was. Jiang Yun was panicking. While she had always been jealous of Feng Qingqing’s life and the advantages she had as an only child, she had always benefited from their friendship. Lately, however, Feng Qingqing hadn't just stopped providing benefits; her constant "stay away from me" attitude filled Jiang Yun with a deep sense of crisis.
"Jiang Yun, let’s tally things up. How many good things have you eaten at my house since you were little? How many of my clothes have you worn? And when are you going to pay back the 120 yuan you borrowed from me off and on? I didn't ask you for it before because we are cousins. But what did you just mean? Are you saying I don't care about our family ties? Fine, I'll show you exactly how little I care."
She stared straight at Jiang Yun, who grew flustered and panicked. She hadn't realized she had borrowed that much money, but there was no way she could ever pay it back.
Stiffening her resolve, Jiang Yun cried out, "Cousin Qingqing, do you really have to be so heartless?" With that, she left her things and ran out.