Chapter 15

The dormitory for the educated youth was a row of small bungalows built against the mountain behind the soldiers’ quarters. Behind the houses was a small forest, and to the right, there was a small river about two meters wide and one meter deep.

Su Nian loved this kind of living environment surrounded by mountains and water.

“This is what the conditions are like here. When it gets cold, you’ll have to sleep on heated brick beds (kang). You’ll need to go up the mountain yourselves to collect firewood to heat them. Two people to a room—choose your own roommates.

Oh, by the way, the other educated youths are all staying near the office canteen.

If we hadn’t expanded our team, you guys wouldn’t even have gotten the chance to come here. These dorms were only built last year.

Take the next two days to walk around and rest. After that, training classes begin. Once you join our corps, you’re part of the army. You’ll also wear uniforms.

But you won’t have military badges or carry weapons. Your main task is land reclamation.

Dinner is at 5:30 sharp. I’ll have someone from the logistics department come by to issue your uniforms and take you to the canteen. After dinner, it’s free time. Remember, any area with guards posted is off-limits. Absolutely no taking pictures.”

Su Nian, who was holding a camera, stuck out her tongue. “Got it!”

Quick on her feet, Su Nian had already picked out her room.

Hearing that two people could share a room, Fu Mingjun rushed forward and slipped a wax paper package to Xiao Jiang. “Comrade, is it okay if I room with my wife?”

There weren’t any rules against it, so if they wanted to, it was fine.

The commander had already said that no more educated youths would be coming, and five rooms were more than enough, so Xiao Jiang nodded.

In the end, the room assignments were: Su Nian had a room to herself; Su Yue and Fu Mingjun shared one; Qiao Qiqi and Xu Zhaodi shared another; Huo Chen got a room to himself; and Shen Mo and Ji Lin shared one.

Su Nian was pleasantly surprised to get a room to herself.

But then she realized she’d have to prepare firewood on her own, which annoyed her. Fetching water wasn’t as bad—at least she could use the spiritual spring water from her space for bathing.

If she weren’t afraid of her space being discovered, she would’ve chosen Xu Zhaodi as her roommate.

After Xiao Jiang left, Su Nian quickly shut the door and went inside. While the effects of the spiritual spring water were still fresh, she hurried to clean up the room so she could sleep in it that night.

The room was small—the kang could only sleep two.

At the end of the bed were two wooden chests for storage, which were now hers alone.

There was a washbasin stand on the floor. The room didn’t even have a table, so items like face cream had to go on the windowsill. Thankfully, Su Nian only needed one to put on appearances.

Her suitcase was filled with large, lightweight items—no one knew what was really inside.

First, she made a simple curtain from a piece of cloth, then took Su Yue’s new quilt from her space and laid it underneath, covering herself with the one she bought.

Even though it was September, nights in Heilongjiang were already very cold.

She put all her clothes into one chest and her food and daily necessities in another.

Checking her watch, she saw there was still an hour and a half until dinner—enough time to take a bath in the spiritual spring and change clothes. She was covered in dust after the long journey.

Just as she finished tidying up in her space, someone knocked on the door.

“Su Zhiqing, come out and get your uniform!”

When Su Nian opened the door, she saw a pretty girl with big eyes and thick eyebrows.

“Su Zhiqing, here’s your uniform. Get changed quickly—we’re going to the canteen. Meal times here are fixed.

Breakfast is from 6:00 to 7:30 a.m., lunch from 11:00 to 12:30, and dinner from 5:00 to 5:30 p.m.

If you miss it, you’ll go hungry. After all, this is the Corps, and there’s nowhere nearby to get food. It’s best to follow the set schedule.”

Su Yue and Qiao Qiqi groaned in unison, “Huh? We have to eat that early? Doesn’t that mean we have to wake up at 5?”

The girl from logistics blinked her big eyes and said innocently, “Waking up at 5 isn’t enough. You need to be up by 4:30 to wash up and prepare your farming tools.

If the commander weren’t being considerate, you’d also have to run drills at 4:30.”

Su Nian was miserable too. In her previous life, she might’ve gone to bed at 4:30, but waking up at that time? No way. Now she was being forced into it.

All this was Su Yue’s fault. Staying in the city wasn’t good enough for her? Why did she have to drag them out here?

“Comrade, I’d like to ask—can we call home? We’ve been here half a day and haven’t contacted our families. Can I just report that I’ve arrived safely?”

The girl immediately scowled.

“Tch, we get it—your families are well-off. Showing off, huh? Can’t write a letter instead? The communications office makes a trip to the post office at the end of every month.”

Su Nian didn’t expect her to turn hostile so quickly.

“Heh, you’re really something. We arrive at the beginning of the month, and our letter gets sent out at the end of the month. That means our families will know we’re safe… next month. Very efficient, huh?”

Ji Lin chuckled.

“Exactly. Reporting safety a month late really shows our unit’s discipline. Telephones were clearly invented just to be wasted.”

Fu Tingchuan had originally come to check on the new girl and see how she was adjusting—he didn’t expect to walk into this scene.

“Qin Meili, what’s going on here? I asked you to take the new recruits to the canteen. Why are you holding a meeting?”

When Fu Tingchuan showed up, Qin Meili’s expression changed several times. “Commander Fu, I didn’t expect you here. I was just saying a few things—not a meeting.

These city kids have no sense of discipline. They’re hard to manage.”

Fu Tingchuan walked forward a few steps, frowning as he looked coldly at Su Nian. “Is that true?”

“No! Comrade Qin Meili wouldn’t let me call home to report my safety and accused me of showing off, insisting I write a letter instead. That’s why we argued.”

Qin Meili didn’t expect Su Nian to confront her so directly in front of Fu Tingchuan.

“You… you’re twisting my words! That’s not what I meant!”

Seeing her pale face and frantic attempts to explain, Fu Tingchuan knew she was up to her old tricks again. Qin Meili was fine in most ways, but she had a deep-seated dislike for people from wealthy families.

“Xiao Jiang, take any comrade who needs to make a call to the communications office. Qin Meili, you’re dismissed for now.”

“Commander, am I the right person for this? Isn’t this a logistics task? Minister Qin might get upset. Maybe you should go—she wouldn’t dare get mad at you.”

Xiao Jiang didn’t want to get on Qin Meili’s bad side again.

Last time, he helped some of the older educated youths bring a few personal items, and Qin Meili gave him a hard time for days—she even delayed his supply rations.

He wasn’t about to do that again.

Fu Tingchuan seemed to remember that incident, and with a sigh, he ended up going himself.

As the new educated youths followed Fu Tingchuan away, Qin Meili stood there fuming, stomping her foot. Fu Tingchuan was supposed to be on her side—why was he helping the newcomers instead?