Chapter 13

That night, the female educated youth dormitory didn’t turn off the lights until very late. Everyone was too excited about moving into the cave dwellings.

Those with money had already reserved their caves in advance, while close friends paired up to share one.

After all, who would still want to squeeze into a big shared kang when you could have a room to yourself or just one roommate?

But even those without money weren’t upset. With nearly ten people moving out at once, the dormitory suddenly felt much more spacious. For everyone, this whole thing was nothing but good news.

The next morning, everything was bathed in fresh sunlight, the world looking crisp and bright.

Though the girls had gone to bed late, their spirits were surprisingly high.

After washing up, Lin Kexin and Yunying didn’t line up for the big communal pot at the youth point. Instead, they ran over to the caves and used their own iron pot.

Lin Kexin took out a handful of cornmeal from her bundle, while Yunying brought two steamed corn buns and some homemade pickled vegetables.

For breakfast, they had corn porridge, buns, and pickles. Simple, yes, but tasty enough—especially since Lin Kexin had added a bit of sugar to the porridge.

After breakfast, the two of them went together to the brigade office. The girls who had signed up for the caves last night went straight to see the captain. Judging from the smiles on their faces when they came out, Lin Kexin knew it must have gone through without a hitch.

“Kexin, this is great. With so many people moving in with us, no one will dare gossip anymore!” Yunying said happily, casting a sidelong glance at Liu Xuewei, who was standing off to the side.

“Mm, and now you don’t have to worry about ghosts either,” Lin Kexin teased lightly.

She had already noticed Liu Xuewei that morning—or rather, noticed her absence. Normally, Liu Xuewei would never wake up early unless she had no choice, but today, she had been the very first one at the brigade office. That in itself was unusual.

Today was Lin Kexin’s first official day of work. To ease the new female educated youths in, the team sent them to cut pig grass, while the male youths went up the mountain to chop wood.

Cutting pig grass was considered easy work, usually given to half-grown kids.

But Lin Kexin was more than capable—she had done this kind of farm labor for eight whole years in her past life.

It was the height of the season, and pig grass was everywhere. Lin Kexin took the sickle she’d been issued and got right to work.

Liu Xuewei had also been assigned to pig grass. She came from a poor family, but at home she had only ever done house chores—never this kind of labor. Watching Lin Kexin’s basket fill up quickly, she rolled her eyes and thick-skinnedly walked over.

“Kexin, I have something to say to you.”

Lin Kexin didn’t even look up. She wanted to finish quickly—she still had to go into town at noon to deliver goods to Brother Long.

When she got no reply, a flash of resentment passed through Liu Xuewei’s eyes. Still, she forced herself to be patient.

“Kexin, you and I are the only relatives here. Life away from home isn’t easy—why make things so tense between us? Here, let me help you.”

With a fake smile, she tossed the small handful of grass she’d cut into Lin Kexin’s basket.

Lin Kexin almost laughed out loud at the ridiculousness of it.

Who was helping who here?

Her own basket was already nearly full, while Liu Xuewei’s had barely a thin layer covering the bottom. Clearly, Liu Xuewei was hoping that by “helping” with a handful, Lin Kexin would feel obliged to help her cut a whole basket in return.

“I have no relation to you, so I don’t need your help. You’d better focus on finishing your own task first,” Lin Kexin said coolly, flicking her eyes toward the two baskets. The meaning couldn’t have been clearer.

Each of them only needed to cut two full baskets by noon to finish their assignment. For Lin Kexin, it was an easy two-hour job. She could even finish early and head to town.

But Liu Xuewei, buzzing around her like a fly, was the real nuisance.

“Kexin, I…”

Embarrassed after being called out, Liu Xuewei hurried to save face.

“I’m just not used to it yet. I’ll get better later. Can’t we reconcile?”

“There’s nothing to reconcile. There was never anything between us in the first place.”

Lin Kexin bent down again, her tone flat and distant.

“Just stay away from me. Unless you want my sickle to slip and cut your leg.”

She deliberately swung the sickle close to where Liu Xuewei was standing, making her jump back in fright.

“Lin Kexin! Aren’t you afraid I’ll tell my aunt? You don’t plan on going home, is that it?” Liu Xuewei snapped, humiliated.

“That’s right, I don’t plan on going back. What can you do about it?”

Lin Kexin deliberately said it to make her fume. She had stopped paying attention to her, but Liu Xuewei just wouldn’t quit.

The type to never move unless there was something in it for her—pretending to be nice on the surface but scheming behind the scenes—there was no way Lin Kexin would trust her.

“Fine! I’ll tell my aunt and uncle exactly what you said! Just you wait!”

With that, Liu Xuewei stormed off with her basket, not even glancing back, trying to look proud.

Hah. The Lin family.

By now, they were probably in chaos.

And sure enough, just as Lin Kexin suspected, the Lin household had been turned upside down.

After seeing Lin Kexin off at the train station, Lin Jianguo had gone fishing with a friend, only returning at noon.

When he stepped into the courtyard, he thought he had gone to the wrong place. Just to be sure, he went out again to check the house number several times before confirming it really was his home.

But the courtyard was eerily empty. Even the clothesline that always smacked him in the head was gone.

He ran to the kitchen first. Nothing. Even the pile of firewood in the corner had disappeared.

Panicked, he rushed into his own room—empty. A few mice squeaked as if equally unsettled by the bare space, then scurried away.

Not giving up, he checked his son’s room, then Lin Kexin’s storage room.

Gone. All of it.

Lin Jianguo collapsed to the ground in shock, sitting there dazed for a long while before he finally came to his senses.

Staggering, he ran to Wang Cuihua’s workplace, muttering under his breath:

“Gone… gone… all gone…”

Wang Cuihua had never seen him like this before. Startled, she quickly dropped the broom in her hands.

“What happened, husband?”

“Gone… all gone…”

“What’s gone? Speak clearly!”

Seeing that he kept repeating the same words, Wang Cuihua was so angry she nearly slapped him to wake him up—but she didn’t dare.

“Our home… everything’s gone… not a single stick of firewood left…”

Lin Jianguo clutched her wrist, eyes full of disbelief and fear.

“Cuihua, we’ve been robbed! They didn’t leave us a thing—not even a piece of kindling!”