Chapter 14 Living Alone

Ye Nanyi quickly placed her large package on the ox cart, and the few people who were still half asleep followed her example. “Ye girl, come and drive with the old man in front.” Ye Nanyi heard Qi’s words and didn’t hesitate, directly jumping onto the cart. Qi laughed happily: “Ye girl, you’re quite agile!” Then he turned his head and shouted: “Everyone sit tight, we need to hurry back.” After Ye Nanyi’s operation yesterday, especially Zeng Bailing, she was particularly calm and didn’t say anything sour. She leaned against Wang Fang and fell asleep. Ye Nanyi sat on the ox cart, looking at the scenery along the way, feeling more relaxed than ever. In her previous life, she was always busy with work and never had a good rest. Unexpectedly, coming here, she actually had time to see the beautiful mountains and rivers of her motherland. “Ye girl, why are you so engrossed?”

 Ye Nanyi came back to her senses and said embarrassedly: “Old Qi, I haven’t seen so many mountains, the scenery is beautiful, I must go for a walk when I have time.” The first few sentences made Qi quite happy, but he was startled by the last sentence. “Ye girl, you haven’t seen the mountains, it’s normal to be curious, but you can only stay at the foot of the mountain. Don’t think the scenery on the mountain is good, it’s also dangerous.” Ye Nanyi knew that Qi was concerned about her, so she nodded and said: “I know, when will we arrive?” Qi looked up at the sky. “Soon.” Ye Nanyi was also curious. She was used to looking at her phone, and she was particularly curious about how the older generation could tell the time without any tools.

“Old Qi, you can estimate the approximate time just by looking up, how do you do it? Do you have any secret techniques?” Qi was amused by Ye Nanyi’s words. “You’re really interesting, this is experience, there’s no secret technique.” The two chatted and laughed all the way to the village entrance. “Wake up everyone! We’re here.” The four people on the cart quickly got off and carried their luggage to the ground. “Is anyone at the educated youth point? The new educated youths have arrived.” Qi shouted in a loud voice. Soon, a male educated youth came out of the educated youth point. “Old Qi, you’ve worked hard, I’ll take care of these educated youths!” Qi glanced at Ye Nanyi and said: “Liu Zhiqing, this Ye Zhiqing and I have agreed that she wants to rent that single room, you can take her to choose one later.” Liu Sheng looked at Ye Nanyi wearing a mask and was stunned. You know, that room costs 20 yuan a year, and he didn’t expect the thin and weak little girl in front of him to be so rich. However, Liu Sheng thought to himself, but still enthusiastically introduced the five newcomers. “Hello, my name is Liu Sheng, I’m the male head of the educated youth point, the female head is called Liu Lili, now I’ll show you around the rooms.”

 Under Liu Sheng’s guidance, Ye Nanyi quickly chose a room, located on the edge, with a back door that could be opened to build a shed for firewood. You know, the winters in the north are very cold. “Liu Zhiqing, I’ll take this one, thank you. I’ll go find Old Qi to pay the rent now.” Liu Sheng nodded, thinking that Ye Nanyi was quite discerning, this one was indeed good, it was quiet. “What about you?” Liu Sheng asked after Ye Nanyi left. Zeng Bailing was afraid of not being able to rent a room, so she quickly said: “I want the one in the middle.” Wang Xiangdong was not to be outdone. “Liu Zhiqing, I want this one.” Liu Sheng followed Wang Xiangdong’s finger, it was right next to Ye Nanyi’s. Because it was a single room, Liu Sheng didn’t have any thoughts, he directly agreed. Looking at the remaining two, Liu Sheng waited for Wang Fang and Zheng Chang to answer.

Zheng Chang also had some assets and rented a room. Liu Sheng was a little surprised, he didn’t expect these five educated youths to be so rich! Five people came, only Wang Fang didn’t choose, she stood there awkwardly. Liu Sheng, as the head, directly said: “This educated youth, you go with me to the big dormitory!” Wang Fang looked at Liu Sheng gratefully and followed him to the female educated youth dormitory door with her luggage. “Go in by yourself! I’m a male educated youth, it’s not appropriate for me to go in.” Wang Fang thanked him again and opened the dormitory door. After opening it, Wang Fang took a closer look, it was not bad, just that there were too many people living there, otherwise it was fine. Wang Fang found an empty spot and prepared to tidy up. Ye Nanyi and the others also went to sign the rental contract with Old Qi.

The others rented for one year at a time, Ye Nanyi stopped Old Qi and directly rented for five years. Old Qi was a little confused, why didn’t she pay the rent year by year? “Ye girl, what’s this?” Ye Nanyi gave Old Qi 10 large bills and explained: “Old Qi, there will definitely be more educated youths coming in the future, I’ll pay for five years at once, so no one will have any ideas.” Old Qi thought Ye Nanyi was overthinking, not everyone would be willing to pay so much rent.

“It’s okay, Ye girl, I want to open a back door, who should I find?” “Go find the captain! Go at noon, they’re all working now.” After understanding, Ye Nanyi went back to her rented room, ignoring the others who were still paying the rent. Zeng Bailing accidentally saw Ye Nanyi paying for five years of rent and exclaimed in surprise: “This woman is crazy!” This sentence aroused Wang Xiangdong’s curiosity. Wang Xiangdong also saw Ye Nanyi renting the house for five years at once, and he was a little puzzled, where did she get the money? “What are you doing? Pay the money! What are you staring at? If you don’t pay, let me go first.”

Zeng Bailing pushed Wang Xiangdong aside, paid the rent to Old Qi, and left after signing the paperwork with a swagger. Wang Xiangdong looked at the domineering Zeng Bailing, then cast a sympathetic glance at Zheng Chang, thinking that Yulan was better, gentle and beautiful. Zheng Chang was a bookworm, and he was bewildered by Wang Xiangdong’s stare. He instantly felt that Zeng Bailing was right, if he didn’t want to pay, why come here! He also followed Zeng Bailing’s example and pushed Wang Xiangdong to the back.

Old Qi wanted to laugh a little, finding these educated youths really interesting. He wondered if they would stir up trouble in Xinfu Village. “Alright, Wang Zhiqing, you can leave too. I still need to deliver things to the brigade.” Old Qi packed everything up and didn’t bother with Wang Xiangdong. Wang Xiangdong felt a little aggrieved, why did he feel like everyone was isolating him? Back in Haishi, he was the apple of everyone’s eye. If Ye Nanyi knew that Wang Xiangdong was so narcissistic, she would definitely want to help him clear his head. He was popular in Haishi because of his parents’ influence. Wang Xiangdong walked back with a sullen face. Unexpectedly, his expression was seen by Qi Aiming, the daughter of the village accountant.

 From that day on, Qi Aiming’s heart was lost to Wang Xiangdong. Ye Nanyi drew two buckets of water from the well at the educated youth point, preparing to tidy up. Although the room was well-cleaned, there was still a lot of dust. She would also need to buy some furniture later. Liu Sheng saw Ye Nanyi bringing two large water buckets to the countryside and twitched his lips, admiring this female educated youth. Soon, it was noon. Ye Nanyi took a bag of pastries and half a pound of brown sugar to the captain’s house. Before leaving, she didn’t forget to take a lock from her space and lock the door.