Feng Qingqing knew she wouldn't get it back. There hadn't been an IOU or anything when she lent the money, so the chances of recovering it were slim to none. Still, she just wanted to make Jiang Yun's stomach turn—anything to keep her from constantly showing up right in front of her trying to steal the spotlight. Frankly, she found her exhausting.
The other two watched the whole thing unfold without saying a word. After all, they had already faintly sensed that the relationship between these two families wasn't exactly close, and hearing this today only confirmed it.
Once the three of them finished picking their items, they went back to wait for Old Mietou's son to bring them over to the Educated Youth Courtyard later that evening.
They walked back together. Along the way, Feng Qingqing glanced at Zhuang Shan, who was walking with them but showing no unusual behavior. This girl actually had a simple mindset and wasn't a bad person at all; she only acted overly theatrical to catch Qi Hongsheng's attention when he was around. In front of everyone else, whether out of disdain for talking or something else, she was extremely quiet the entire way, leaving Hu Fangming to chatter away incessantly by herself.
Having just arrived down in the countryside and without yet experiencing the baptism of the busy farming season, they were still in a state of absolute curiosity about everything.
Upon returning to the Educated Youth Courtyard, Feng Qingqing went to her room and immediately noticed obvious signs that someone had rummaged through her bundle. She cast a calm, sweeping glance around the room and saw that Jiang Yun had already returned and was currently sitting on the courtyard steps.
Feng Qingqing understood the situation without needing to ask and didn't make a fuss. Instead, she picked up a hammer, drove a nail into the north wall by her bed, and pulled out a bedsheet, snipping it a few times at random to quickly fashion a partition curtain. She hung it right between her bed and Hu Fangming's, giving herself at least a semblance of personal space.
Seeing her do this, Hu Fangming loved the idea. As it happened, she had also brought a bedsheet from home, so she simply copied Feng Qingqing's method and clumsily made one for herself.
As for the other girl, Zhuang Shan, she certainly wasn't short on fabric and immediately made one as well.
So when Jiang Yun came back and saw that she was the only one without a curtain, she was utterly dumbfounded. What kind of people were these? They were ridiculously lavish, treating fabric as if it didn't cost a cent and just hanging it up like that.
There was no helping it, though—she was the only one who hadn't brought any. However, since the girls on both sides of her had hung up curtains, it effectively gave her some independent space of her own.
*Fine, whatever. I'll just leave it for now.*
By evening, the educated youths who had been working in the fields returned one after another. Knowing that several new educated youths had arrived this afternoon, everyone greeted each other with great courtesy upon meeting.
When it came time to prepare dinner, Miao Qiucui and Ma Mingchuan explained the established dining arrangements of the older educated youths to the male and female newcomers respectively.
Everyone's grain rations were handled by taking out only what they ate each day, and two educated youths were specifically assigned to cook each day.
Since such a large group of new educated youths had arrived all at once, the issue of meals still needed to be laid out clearly.
Jiang Yun first consulted with her two brothers. Since the three of them had virtually no cooking skills—and knowing their own family's situation all too well—they had come to the countryside with nothing to their names except the two hundred odd yuan in Jiang Yun's possession; Jiang Hongwei and Jiang Hongbing didn't have a single coin on them.
Joining the communal meals with everyone else not only saved trouble, but if they truly ran out of food, the other educated youths wouldn't just stand by and watch them starve, right?
Once the Jiang siblings decided to eat with the old educated youths, Qi Hongsheng joined their group because of his relatively good relationship with them, and naturally, Zhuang Shan followed wherever Qi Hongsheng went.
That left only Feng Qingqing, Hu Fangming, and Lin Feng without a finalized arrangement.
Wanting to cook on her own, Feng Qingqing didn't speak up right away. She glanced over at Lin Feng. In her past life, this person had been rather silent and aloof, usually moving through the world entirely alone; she really couldn't guess what he would do now.
Seeing the others look his way, Lin Feng paused for a moment and said, "I'll cook by myself." With that, he turned and walked back to his room.
The others exchanged awkward glances. This guy certainly had a strong personality.
Next was Hu Fangming. She had already made up her mind to stick with Feng Qingqing, so whenever anyone else looked at her, she kept her eyes fixed squarely on Feng Qingqing.
Feng Qingqing sighed helplessly, pressed the corners of her lips together, and spoke up: "I'll cook by myself, too." After saying this, she glanced at Hu Fangming, the message clear: *My mind is made up, the rest is up to you.*
Before anyone else could say a word, Hu Fangming chimed in eagerly, "I'm eating with Qingqing!" With that, she flashed Feng Qingqing a ingratiating, ingratiating smile.
*I knew she'd do that,* Feng Qingqing thought privately. Still, the girl wasn't a bad sort, and they had always gotten along harmoniously, so she could just eat with her for a while, observe the situation, and make a decision later.
Having someone she could actually talk to in this Educated Youth Courtyard wasn't a bad thing for Feng Qingqing at all.
And so, the dining situation was settled.
Next, Miao Qiucui and Ma Mingchuan, representing the veteran educated youths, expressed a warm welcome to the newcomers. They also announced that tonight's meal would be the new arrivals' very first dinner at the courtyard, and the old-timers would treat everyone to it. They hoped that, as fellow educated youths from then on, everyone would help each other, pull together, and strive hard for a better life.
With these sentiments expressed, the relations between the new and old educated youths got off to a good start—barring the odd eccentric personality here and there.
A little over half an hour later, Miao Qiucui and Ma Mingchuan, who were on cooking duty for the day, brought the evening meal out to the table.
Although the dishes were ordinary, they were at least a gesture of goodwill from the veteran youths.
On the table sat a large basin of stewed napa cabbage and radishes, a plate of cold-dressed wild greens, and a platter of scrambled eggs with Chinese chives.
By the standards of the Educated Youth Courtyard, this was a rare feast. Unwilling to take a free ride on their generosity, the new arrivals also brought out some food items of their own to add to the table.
Feng Qingqing produced half a jar of leftover pickled vegetables from her journey. Though not a meat dish, it went exceptionally well with grains and won unanimous praise from both the old and new educated youths.
The meal was eaten quickly and in silence. With a flurry of slurping and chewing, everyone was finished in no time at all.
When the post-meal chatting began, however, the previously pleasant atmosphere shifted abruptly.
The first to speak was Lü Yulan, and her words were far from pleasant:
"We're all educated youths here, and of course we talk about helping each other out. But nobody's belongings just drop out of the sky on a gust of wind. Things have to be done the proper way if we're going to get along for the long haul. Don't you all agree that's only fair?"
Because her tone was less than friendly—and the old-timers knew her character well—none of them bothered to argue with her. The newcomers, still fuzzy on the dynamics, sat in silence for a moment, and not a single person answered her.
Knowing what Lü Yulan was driving at next, and unwilling to get bogged down here over such trivial matters, Feng Qingqing figured it was better to clear the air now so everyone could wash up and go to sleep. She was bone-tired from the day's journey.
"We're all new here, so if you have something to say, just spit it out directly. Talking in circles like this, who knows what you're getting at?"
Feng Qingqing shot right back without a shred of politeness. She and Lü Yulan had never gotten along in their past lives, and she had no intention of putting on a pleasant face for her now—especially given that look of hers which seemed to say, *If I don't point it out, you lot will just take advantage of us.* It absolutely turned her stomach.
Hearing a newcomer speak to her—a veteran educated youth—with such utter disrespect, Lü Yulan felt her temper flare. Her voice instantly spiked by several notches:
"Fine! Since you want to put it that way, I'll lay it all out nice and clear. First of all, the vegetables growing in the yard were all planted, watered, and fertilized through the back-breaking, bit-by-bit labor of us old-timers. You might have just arrived, but you surely aren't expecting to eat them for free, right?"
With that, she swept her gaze around the group of veteran educated youths. Though they remained silent, their expressions showed they agreed with Lü Yulan's words. After all, a meal or two was fine, but if it went on for long, everyone would inevitably start harboring resentment.
Without vegetables, they would have to gnaw dry corn-flour buns day in and day out, or else spend their own hard-earned money buying produce from the locals. Neither option was something the veteran youths wanted to experience.
Thus, when Lü Yulan finished, the rest of them offered a silent assent.
"And another thing—the courtyard wall, the stove, and the cooking pots were all built and paid for brick by brick and coin by coin by us old educated youths. You can't just expect to use them without contributing a single cent."
When she said this, the veteran educated youths fell even quieter.
The wall only cost a bit of labor, so that could be overlooked. But those two iron woks—leaving aside the cost for a moment—had required pulling strings and calling in favors just to get the ration coupons. To let the newcomers jump in without paying a single penny made it inevitable that some people would feel resentful.