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As they arrived at the entrance of the Educated Youth camp, they saw the door wide open, and everyone knew that the person they were expecting had probably returned.
Looking up, they saw smoke rising from the kitchen chimney, which confirmed their guess.
“It seems like the person on duty is back to cook. Let’s head in!”
With Li Datong’s words, the group stepped forward and entered the Educated Youth camp.
From the vegetable garden, Du Xiaomei, who had just finished picking some vegetables, smiled and greeted them as she saw the group walking in.
“Hello! I’m Du Xiaomei, an educated youth from Tianjin. I’ve been here for two years now. It’s a pleasure to meet you all!”
“Hello, Du Zhinqing! I’m Li Datong, from Yancheng. Please take care of me!”
Following Li Datong’s lead, the others introduced themselves one by one. Du Xiaomei smiled and spoke again:
“Today’s meal doesn’t require you to bring your own rations. It’s a welcome dinner from us ‘senior’ educated youths to the new ones. This has always been the tradition here at our site.
You must have just returned from Zhang the Carpenter’s house, right? Go ahead and rest for a while. I’ll be off to cook now!”
“Wait a moment, Du Zhinqing!”
Zhang Zhenzhen called out, laughing as she spoke.
“Du Zhinqing, I brought two sausages with me. I’ll take them to the kitchen later, and we can cook them together. It’s just a small gesture from me to add a little something to the meal for everyone!”
Sure enough, it was the same as in the past!
Because of those two sausages, Zhang Zhenzhen was the first to catch the attention of the senior educated youths and became the target of many people’s attempts to please her.
Even Li Manyu, after tasting the sausages, became Zhang Zhenzhen’s sycophant.
Seeing this, the others also chimed in, going to their rooms to bring out some of their own food to contribute to the meal.
Wen Nuan, who had nothing in the past, just watched silently. During mealtime, Zhang Zhenzhen even brought up the incident, causing Wen Nuan to be mocked by others, called a freeloader who was just eating for free.
Taking a deep breath, Wen Nuan turned around and took a piece of cured meat, about the size of her palm, from her bundle, noticing it was roughly half a piece.
This was from the time of “eating black for black” – a spoil taken from the kitchen in Hai Ye’s yard.
Since she had to eat this meal anyway, there was no need to make it unpleasant. After all, it was just half a piece of cured meat; she might as well consider it a way to bring some peace.
However, Wen Nuan never expected that this small piece of cured meat would make her the target of others’ attention.
Half an hour later, Zhang the Carpenter delivered all the items that had been ordered. By the time the Senior educated youths had returned, the new ones like Wen Nuan had just about finished organizing their things.
“Time to eat!”
Since it was summer, and the weather was nice, everyone sat at the long table in the courtyard to eat. The commune followed a system of dividing the food based on the grain ration each person contributed, and the dry food for the meal was distributed accordingly.
Today’s meal was particularly plentiful. The cabbage and beans were supplemented with luncheon meat, sausages, cured meat, and several other delicious ingredients.
The Senior educated youths, who hadn’t had meat in a long time, couldn’t help but start salivating. Their eyes were fixed on the serving ladles, anxiously watching to make sure that no one was getting more or less than their fair share.
Luckily, Du Xiaomei was experienced in these matters. She made sure the distribution was fair and even. Whether it was sausages or cured meat, everything was allotted according to the number of people, ensuring no one could take advantage of the situation.
After the meals were served, everyone held their food containers and sat at the long table. Du Xiaomei introduced the extra dishes contributed by the new educated youths for today’s meal, and then she took her seat.
The arrival of new educated youths naturally followed a routine, which included self-introductions. Before the meal started, the team leader, Sun Dongxu, led the way. Starting with the Senior educated youths, each person introduced themselves by name.
There were twelve new arrivals, but twenty senior educated youths, meaning that there were a total of thirty-six educated youths at the commune now.
All thirty-six of them had filled up the rooms and bed spaces, making this the largest group of educated youths the commune had ever had.
“Alright! The introductions are complete. Now, everyone can enjoy the meal. I wish everyone here success in their endeavors, may everything go smoothly, and may you all be safe and happy!”
Camp leader Sun Dongxu gave a concluding speech. Luckily, it was summer, so even if the food was a bit cool, it didn’t affect the taste.
After working for a while, the Senior educated youths were naturally starving. The new educated youths had slept in late, and after taking a long walk around the village in the morning, their stomachs were already growling with hunger.
Soon, the whole commune was filled with the sounds of people eating and swallowing, and it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that they were devouring their meals like wolves.
Once the meal was over, it was time for a break. Wen Nuan also saw her new roommate for this life in the room.
Unfortunately, she had chosen this side to avoid Zhang Zhenzhen, but had forgotten that Li Manyu lived here.
In the past, Li Manyu had constantly flattered Zhang Zhenzhen and made cruel remarks at Wen Nuan’s expense. Those biting and sharp words were still fresh in Wen Nuan’s memory.
So, even though this life they hadn’t interacted much yet, Wen Nuan couldn’t treat Li Manyu normally. After all, she was a very ordinary person who would hold grudges!
However, to her surprise, when Wen Nuan chose to ignore Li Manyu, Li Manyu took the initiative to approach her.
“Wen Nuan, the cured meat we ate today, was that from you? It was really delicious, but there was so little, I only got two slices!”
Wen Nuan blinked, glanced around at the others, and then smiled, saying:
“Yes, the cured meat was from me. Although there was little, it was a small gesture on my part. Meat tickets in the city are also very scarce. This half a piece of cured meat was saved by my family, who’ve been cutting back on everything!”
Wen Nuan’s tone made it clear that she didn’t have much of the cured meat left, but Li Manyu, undeterred, was convinced that Wen Nuan must have other good things hidden away.
“That’s a shame, but Wen Nuan, you didn’t just bring cured meat, did you? When I saw your big bundle this morning, I thought you must have other tasty things hidden in there!”
Li Manyu appeared to be joking, but in reality, she was testing Wen Nuan’s limits.
Sure enough, these people always seem to take things a little too far.
“Li Zhiqing, I see each of you is guarding such a large locked box. Is there something tasty hidden inside? Maybe you can share with us new educated youths!”
She subtly hit a soft spot, and Li Manyu awkwardly chuckled, trying to cover up her probing.
“We don’t have anything good, just a habit of locking things up! Well, you go ahead with your work, I’ll just go to the bathroom, hehe…”
Noticing the tone in Wen Nuan’s voice had turned unfriendly, Li Manyu, the type who loves to take advantage of the weak and backs off when confronted, quickly made an excuse to slip away.
The other senior educated youths in the room, seeing that Li Manyu hadn’t gotten anything out of the situation, also averted their gazes.
Wen Nuan observed everything quietly. Sure enough, whether it was the dormitory on the left or the one on the right, none of these senior educated youths could be trusted.