Chapter 5: Accommodations

Everyone took a quick look around the youth-sent-down-point. Since they were the first group of young intellectuals to arrive, the place was still in its original, raw state. It was very clean, though, probably because the villagers had tidied it up. There were only some basic items like a pot, a water vat, and a few bundles of firewood. They would have to acquire everything else themselves.

At that moment, Huang Jianshe came out and stood opposite everyone, looking like he was in charge.

“Everyone’s had a rough look around. To be precise, there are three rooms: two large rooms and a small one for storage. The large rooms can only fit three people, and the small room can only hold one.”

The small room’s advantage was that you could have it to yourself. Its drawback was the tiny window, which made the space feel dark and cramped.

At this point, Wang Xixi spoke up in a delicate voice.

“I’m too scared to sleep by myself. Maybe you can see who wants the single room.”

Zheng Xiuhong and Xu Zhaodi glanced at each other, saying in unison,

“We’re also too scared to sleep alone.”

Everyone looked at An Ran.

An Ran: “…”

So, I look very tough, do I?

Even though she desperately wanted to sleep alone to make using her spatial dimension easier, she couldn’t set this precedent. Otherwise, she’d seem like a pushover. She had to take the moral high ground and make them all realize how much she was sacrificing.

“That room is so gloomy, I’d be scared to sleep in it alone too,” An Ran said. “But the big brothers and sisters are all older than me, and I have a spirit of yielding. I can do it myself.”

Humph, anyone can be a white lotus, she thought, this is how you play the game.

Everyone was very touched, but Wang Xixi’s face stiffened.

Then, they all started to clean the rooms and unpack their luggage.

An Ran looked at the house she would likely be living in for several years and felt full of determination.

The room was roughly square. Even the storage room had a kang, a special type of heated bed common in the Northeast. Someone must have lived here before, but after being vacant for so long, she wondered if the stove would smoke when lit. She’d need to find someone to check it, or winter would be miserable.

The door was directly opposite the kang, which was about as big as a queen-sized bed. The remaining space was just enough for a cabinet and a washbasin. Anything else would make it feel incredibly cramped.

An Ran planned how to arrange things efficiently. Actually, no matter how I arrange it, it’s not going to be efficient. It’s a tiny space.

First, she pulled out a towel from her spatial dimension, saw it was too new, and instead took the original owner’s towel and washbasin out of her luggage. Time to clean. It was going to be a big job.

An Ran went to the kitchen, got some water from the vat, and started to wipe everything down.

“How am I so capable? I look good no matter what!” An Ran hummed a little song.

The kang was covered with a mat woven from cattail grass, which was incredibly dirty. She had no choice but to take it out to the yard, scrub it clean, and hang it on a line to dry. Since it was June, the weather was already hot, and it would dry quickly.

An Ran figured she should ask someone if they had a spare cabinet and washstand. With that thought, she walked out of the youth point.

She saw a group of children playing and walked over to them.

“Hello, I’m the new young intellectual, my name is An Ran. I have a question for you. If anyone can answer, I’ll give them a piece of candy.”

A chubby little boy named Huzhi said,

“Really? If you’re really going to give us some, go ahead and ask!”

An Ran smiled and ruffled the little boy’s head.

“Do you know who has extra cabinets and washstands?”

A slightly skinny boy timidly spoke up.

“My family has some. We got them when we were clearing out a landlord’s house before. Big sister, do you have brown sugar? My mother just had a baby brother, and if you have brown sugar, I’ll go home and ask my grandma.”

“I have brown sugar,” An Ran said. “Could you lead me to your house? I’ll speak to your family’s elders.”

Then, An Ran took out a few White Rabbit candies and handed them out to the children, one to each.

An Ran learned that the skinny little boy was called Goudan. Yes, it was a name meant to make a child easy to raise.

Goudan happily led the way, but he didn’t eat the candy An Ran had given him.

An Ran asked him, “Why aren’t you eating it? It’s delicious.”

“I want to give it to my mother, so she can get better,” Goudan replied.

An Ran suddenly felt that this little boy, who was probably only five years old, was incredibly tall and noble. In modern times, five-year-olds might be a handful, with their parents chasing them to eat, or they’d be stressing over whether to pick a Transformer or a remote-control car at the supermarket.

An Ran took out another candy, peeled the wrapper, and put it in Goudan’s mouth.

“This one is a special treat from your big sister An Ran, because you’re such a good child for being so filial to your mom.”

Goudan’s eyes crinkled in a happy smile as he sucked on the candy.

Soon, they arrived at Goudan’s house. A slightly dark and skinny old woman was in the yard picking wild vegetables.

“Grandma, this is the new young intellectual,” Goudan said. “She wants to trade for a cabinet. Look, this is the candy she gave me!”

Goudan had been holding the candy in his hand the whole way, and it had melted a little. He divided it in half, put one piece in the old woman’s mouth, and said,

“Grandma, eat it. Is it sweet?”

“You rascal, giving it to me… what a waste,” she said, but her smile was unstoppable.

“I still have half, to take to my mother,” he said, and ran into the house.

The old woman looked at An Ran and smiled.

“Young Intellectual An, you want to trade for a cabinet?”

“Yes, Auntie. You can just call me An Ran. I want to trade for a cabinet and a washstand. Goudan just told me his mother just had a baby brother and needs brown sugar to recover. I was thinking of trading with a pound of brown sugar and some cloth ration coupons. What do you think?”

Goudan’s grandma’s face wrinkled in a deeper smile. She led An Ran into the storage room to look at the cabinet and washstand. It was a very ordinary cabinet, but the wood was of excellent quality.

“Yes, yes, of course,” Goudan’s grandma said. “They’re just old furniture, not worth much. Since you just arrived and the youth point has nothing, I’ll also give you a head of cabbage. I won’t take advantage of you, don’t worry. When my eldest son comes back, I’ll have him deliver it to the youth point for you.”

An Ran smiled. “That’s a deal, then. You’re very generous, Auntie!”

After saying goodbye, An Ran returned to the youth point with a head of cabbage in her arms.

The youth point was very quiet. Everyone was likely resting.

The mat was dry, so An Ran took it back inside and laid it down. She sprayed some bug repellent on it, then put the bedding the original owner had prepared on top. An Ran couldn’t sleep on a hard kang, so she added a layer of foam. She didn’t dare use a latex mattress pad, for fear of giving away her secret. She put another layer of bedding on top, and since it was summer, she topped it with a woven grass mat she had collected earlier, which had a very authentic, period feel. She found a dark, plain, thin quilt in her spatial dimension and folded it neatly.

With some wire, she rigged up a curtain. The little room was basically ready. Once she got the cabinet in place, her little den would be perfect.

There was a commotion in the yard, and everyone came out to see. They saw Huzhi, the little boy An Ran had given candy to earlier, who had come to call the young intellectuals for dinner.

It turned out Huzhi was the village chief’s child.

Everyone had brought a little gift, out of courtesy. It was good manners to visit the local leader, and since they were being invited to dinner, they couldn’t show up empty-handed.

It seemed these young intellectuals understood the rules. That was a good sign; it meant they knew their place.

Dinner was very simple: a one-pot stew and some scrambled eggs. But it was clear that this was an exceptionally good meal for ordinary times.

Perhaps because everyone had brought gifts, the village chief’s wife was very happy. After all, every family was short on food these days.

Everyone ate with their heads down. An Ran managed to eat until she was stuffed. Farm food without pollution was incredibly delicious.

After they returned, Goudan’s father delivered the cabinet and washstand. An Ran gave Goudan’s father the brown sugar and food ration coupons. He didn’t say much, just took them and left, looking like a delivery man. An Ran felt like giving him a bad review.

Everyone looked at the cabinet An Ran had managed to get and said they’d go look for some in the village tomorrow too.

They didn’t chat for too long, probably because they were all tired from the day’s work.

After An Ran got back to her small den, she wiped down the cabinet and washstand. She used some hot water she had stored in her space to wash herself, wondering if anyone would question her if she got a bathtub. She was too tired to organize her luggage; she’d do it tomorrow.

With these thoughts, she fell asleep.

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