Chapter 8: Getting Things Together 

After Li Lin and Hu Yingying finished their conversation with Zhao Li, they walked away, but not without exchanging a few low voices.

“I didn’t like the look in that old educated youth’s eyes. We’d better keep our distance from him in the future,” Li Lin whispered.

Hu Yingying nodded, her eyes flickering with understanding. “We live in the same yard, so we have to keep up appearances, at least for now. We’re new here; it’s best not to offend people. Let’s just lay low until we know more. Once we’re familiar with the place, we can deal with things more directly.”

Li Lin agreed, though she wasn’t usually the type to think too much. But seeing how things weren’t as simple as she’d expected, she decided to be more cautious.

After walking for a while, they arrived at a small yard with wooden doors.

“Hello, is anyone there?” Li Lin called out, raising her voice slightly since the yard appeared empty.

“Someone’s here. Come on in,” came the reply from inside.

An old man with graying hair and a hunched back appeared from the house.

“Good day, sir. We’re new educated youths. We were wondering if you have any furniture for sale,” Hu Yingying said, pulling Li Lin inside with a smile.

“They’re inside. Take a look and see if anything suits you,” the carpenter, Zhao, said, leading them to a nearby warehouse. He pointed to the various pieces of furniture. “If none of these work, I can make new ones for you.”

“Great, thank you, sir!” Li Lin said cheerfully. She and Hu Yingying entered and began to look around.

It turned out the warehouse had quite a lot of suitable furniture. 

In the end, Li Lin chose a small rural-style kang table, two wooden boxes, a kang table, a wooden bucket, a cupboard for dishes, a high stool for washing the face basin, a small wooden stool, a grass mat, a back basket, a large earth basket, a small earth basket, a broom, and a straw winnowing basket.

The total came to four yuan.

Hu Yingying, seeing what Li Lin chose, decided to buy similar items. She also spent four yuan.

“This is a stove brush for scrubbing pots. I made it myself, so I’ll give one to each of you,” Zhao the carpenter said, noticing that the two girls had bought quite a few things. He handed them each a stove brush from the wall.

“Thank you, sir,” the two girls said as they gladly accepted the gift.

They then began helping to pack everything up. They made three trips with a wooden cart to bring all their purchases back to the educated youth village.

After everything was delivered, Li Lin went inside, took out a few pieces of fruit candy, and handed them to Zhao the carpenter.

“Here, take these. A little treat for you. Thanks so much for all your help today.”

“Well, I won’t refuse,” Zhao the carpenter said with a smile, taking the candy and tucking it into his pocket. “If you ever need anything, just come by. I’m happy to help.”

As he pushed the wooden cart back to his house, he couldn’t help but think to himself, *These new educated youths seem alright. They’re not like the previous ones who looked down on us farmers.*

Li Lin and Hu Yingying, however, were unaware of Zhao’s musings. With all their furniture now delivered, they got to work organizing and settling into their new space.

First, they fetched water and washed the grass mat, hanging it out in the yard to dry.

Then, they wiped down the cupboard and wooden boxes, making sure everything was clean and ready.

By the time they finished, the room was spotless.

Li Lin and Hu Yingying continued to help each other, bringing in all their newly bought items, each going back to their respective rooms and locking the doors. They then began to organize their personal belongings.

Li Lin neatly folded her clothes and placed them in the kang table. She set her facial cream, oily rags, and other toiletries on the windowsill. Her basin went on the high stool, and the mess of things like her lunchbox was put away in the cupboard.

The last thing was her bedding.

Li Lin unrolled her luggage, staring at the pile for a moment before rubbing her chin thoughtfully. She then disappeared into the shopping mall on the second floor, grabbing a grey cotton duvet cover and a thin single mattress. She returned to her room and placed the mattress between her blanket, stuffing it all into the duvet cover. Seeing it puff up, she was satisfied—it looked soft and no one would notice the secret padding beneath.

Next, she went up to the eighth floor of the shopping mall and found some fabric. With scissors, she cut a large piece to serve as a bedsheet, spreading it over her mattress. She then cut a smaller piece to use as a curtain. After setting up the bed, she tucked away the extra thin blanket under the kang for later use. Since it was summer, this light blanket would be perfect for the night, and she didn’t need to carry more luggage from the mall.

She then went to the supermarket, bought some oil paper, and wrapped up a few packs of peach crisps. She also opened packages of rice cakes, biscuits, and crispy twists, wrapping them all in oil paper. She stuffed everything into a wooden box and locked it with two locks—one for the box, and one as a spare.

“*Knock knock knock…*”

“Li Lin, are you done yet?” Hu Yingying, having finished tidying her own room, knocked on Li Lin’s door, noticing it was getting late.

“I’m done, I’m done.” Li Lin, hearing the knock, quickly looked around the room. Everything seemed fine, so she rushed to open the door.

“It’s getting late, and we still don’t have a pot. Tomorrow, we have to work, what are we going to do about food?” Hu Yingying pulled Li Lin’s hand, frowning slightly as she spoke.

Li Lin nodded. “I do have some food here to get us through a couple of days, but that’s not a long-term solution. How about we ask the village head tomorrow? Maybe we can take a short break from work and go to the commune to buy a pot?”

Li Lin knew the pot was a necessity, so after locking the door, she grabbed Hu Yingying, and they headed out.

Just as they reached the door, a group of people walked past outside the educated youth dormitory. They stopped when they saw the two girls.

“Hello, I’m Hu Yingying, the new educated youth who arrived today. Are you all also educated youths? It’s nice to meet you, and I hope we can get along in the future,” Hu Yingying was the first to react, smiling and introducing herself.

“Hello, I’m Li Lin. Since we’ll all be living under the same roof, I look forward to getting along with everyone.”

Li Lin echoed Hu Yingying’s introduction, smiling.

“I’m Han Xue.”  

Han Xue looked to be around 20 years old, of medium height, with big eyes and double eyelids. She looked like someone who was easy to get along with, with a warm smile.

“I’m Lin Meina, 19. You both look younger than me, so just call me Meina Jie (sister) in the future.”  

Lin Meina was indeed beautiful—slender, with a delicate oval face, fair skin, and almond-shaped eyes. When she smiled, there was a certain charm to her.

“I’m Li Dilai.”  

Li Dilai appeared to be in her early twenties but looked much older—about 30. She was very thin, with a sallow complexion. Though she had big eyes, there was something uncomfortable about the way she stared at Li Lin and Hu Yingying.