Chapter 9

An Jinsheng’s eyes narrowed when he heard the words “fiancé.”

But he quickly adjusted his attitude, gave a faint smile, and maintained his last shred of dignity, “Oh, I see.”

After that, An Jinsheng didn’t speak again for the rest of the journey.

Back at the educated youth point, Song Shishi immediately started tinkering with her seeds in her private plot.

It was autumn, perfect for planting them and trying them out.

She had just finished with the seeds and was about to wash her hands and go into the room to pack her luggage when she saw a young man peeking into the educated youth courtyard.

The young man was Zhao the carpenter’s apprentice, Stones.

He was an orphan without parents, Zhao the carpenter felt sorry for him and took him in as an apprentice, teaching him how to make a living.

Song Shishi washed her hands and walked over, smiling, “You’re Zhao the carpenter’s apprentice, right? Are you here to deliver the cabinet?”

As she spoke, Song Shishi looked at the cart behind Stones.

On it was a cabinet about half a man’s height.

Stones looked her up and down, then nodded, “You’re Song Zhiqing, right? Master asked me to deliver the cabinet to you, which room do you live in? I’ll move it in for you.”

“Oh, okay, it’s the third room from the right.”

Song Shishi said, helping Stones open the courtyard door a little, then went into the room first to take a look.

Fortunately, there was no one in the room now.

Stones placed the cabinet according to Song Shishi’s instructions, against the wall by the bed, and then left.

Song Shishi wiped the cabinet clean before putting her luggage from her package into the cabinet one by one.

When she finished packing, she was about to lock it when Jiang Cuihua and two other female educated youth came back.

“Wow, Song comrade, where did you get this cabinet, it’s so beautiful?”

Su Yu had always been worried about her luggage being piled together with others, it was not safe, it was easy to mix up, and it didn’t look good.

Now seeing Song Shishi’s cabinet, she was extremely envious.

But before Song Shishi could reply, Jiang Cuihua said sourly, “Some people just like to be special, they have to do things differently from everyone else, it’s so capitalist.”

Song Shishi locked the cabinet before turning around and giving Su Yu a gentle smile, “I ordered it from Zhao the carpenter in the village yesterday, I also bought the two wooden basins from him yesterday. Zhao the carpenter is very skilled, if you want one, just go to him and order one.”

“It must cost a lot of money to make one, right?” Jia Jingwen asked in a low voice.

Song Shishi nodded, “I have a lot of things, so it’s normal for it to be expensive, you can order a smaller one, but I don’t know the price, you can ask first, if it’s not suitable, don’t make it.”

Su Yu felt that Song Shishi was completely different from what Jiang Cuihua had described, she wasn’t selfish or stingy, and she didn’t see that Song Shishi liked to get entangled with men.

On the contrary, she felt that Song Shishi was easy to get along with and was generous.

Jiang Cuihua had said such harsh words, but Song Shishi could still talk to them calmly, completely ignoring them.

Jiang Cuihua couldn’t stand it when others ignored her.

The more Song Shishi looked down on her, the more she wanted to find opportunities to provoke her.

“It’s just a broken cabinet, what’s so great about it, it’s not like it’s bought with your own money anyway.”

Su Yu felt a little sorry for Song Shishi, and immediately retorted, “Comrade Jiang, we’re all in the same dorm, why do you have to say such sarcastic things? You’re making yourself look petty.”

“That’s right, you’ve said so much, Song comrade didn’t even bother with you, you still don’t know how to restrain yourself, you’re getting worse, you’re really too ungrateful.” Jia Jingwen chimed in.

Song Shishi saw Jiang Cuihua’s face, which was already green with anger, and she was in a good mood.

But she pretended to be a good person on the surface, and persuaded, “Forget it, don’t let this cause any unpleasantness, it’s just a cabinet, I’m just not used to leaving my things open like that, so I bought a cabinet, I didn’t expect…”

Song Shishi finished speaking and looked at Jiang Cuihua innocently.

Su Yu quickly comforted her, “Song comrade, you’re too kind, with your personality, you’re going to get taken advantage of.”

Su Yu and Jia Jingwen wanted to buy a cabinet, so as they talked, they pulled Song Shishi out of the room.

Jiang Cuihua was so angry that she was about to tear the sheet in her hand, she glared at Song Shishi’s departing back.

I’ll make you pay, just you wait!

…

The morning sun shone through the window into the room, waking up the educated youth who were still asleep.

Song Shishi was quick, she simply tidied up and went out.

Zhang Qingmei and Chen Hui were already waiting in the courtyard.

The old educated youth were holding their farming tools, ready to go to work.

Because Song Shishi had cooked dinner the night before, everyone had a good impression of her, they smiled and greeted her when they saw her.

Song Shishi smiled back one by one.

Looking at the energetic new educated youth, Chen Hui cleared his throat and pointed to the golden wheat field, “The autumn harvest task is heavy this time, everyone must work together. This wheat field is divided into several areas, the male educated youth are responsible for the larger and more complex areas, the female educated youth are mainly responsible for the smaller plots. But everyone can’t slack off, we must strive to complete the harvest task as soon as possible.”

Before he finished speaking, Jiang Cuihua frowned and jumped out impatiently, “Captain Chen, I’m not feeling well today, can you give me a lighter job?”

Chen Hui looked at her, who looked like she would fall if a gust of wind blew, and said helplessly, “If you’re really not feeling well, then go and cut grass for the pigs, but you’ll get fewer work points.”

Hearing that she didn’t have to go to the field, Jiang Cuihua didn’t care about the work points, she quickly nodded in agreement.

Song Shishi snorted coldly in her heart, she didn’t even have money to eat, and she still only cared about being lazy.

The tasks assigned by Chen Hui were already very considerate to the female educated youth.

The male educated youth were responsible for much larger areas than theirs.

And coincidentally, An Jinsheng’s area was right next to Song Shishi’s.

She just glanced over there at the beginning, and then she focused on harvesting wheat.

After all, she hadn’t worked in the field for a long time, Song Shishi adapted, and her movements gradually became smoother.

The new educated youth just arrived, they couldn’t stand the hardship, they started to complain about being tired after working for a while, the villagers were used to it.

But until everyone rested, they discovered that among the new educated youth, there was a girl who had never complained about being tired, and hadn’t rested much.

Sweat ran down her forehead, soaking her clothes.

“Look, this new educated youth, Song Zhiqing, is really good, she looks delicate and weak, but she’s so capable.”

“Yes, I thought she was just putting on a show, I didn’t expect her speed to be as good as the old hands in our village.”

Jiang Cuihua passed by, she happened to hear the villagers discussing Song Shishi.

Jiang Cuihua glanced in Song Shishi’s direction, seeing An Jinsheng walking towards Song Shishi, she said sourly, “Humph, she just knows how to pretend and seduce men, I’ll see if you can even get up tomorrow.”

Su Yu glared at her, “Just stop being so sour, Song Zhiqing is much better than you.”

“Better than me? You’re all being fooled by her.”

After saying that, Jiang Cuihua turned and ran away.

Song Shishi didn’t hear what everyone was saying, she felt a little tired, she straightened up, pounded her back twice, and went to the side to drink water.

She had just taken two sips when she saw An Jinsheng walking over.

“Song comrade, this is an apple I brought, it’s very sweet, I can’t finish it alone, let’s share it.”

As he spoke, An Jinsheng broke the apple in half and handed it to Song Shishi.

“No need, thank you.” Song Shishi didn’t want to get entangled with him, she put down her water cup and prepared to continue working.

It was okay to rest for a while, she was afraid that if she rested for too long, she wouldn’t be able to work later.

An Jinsheng looked at Song Shishi, not knowing what to say for a moment.

“Comrade An, if you can’t finish this apple, I’ll help you eat it.”

On the other side, Zhong Jianmin, a new educated youth who came with Song Shishi and the others, came over, his eyes fixed on the apple in An Jinsheng’s hand.

An Jinsheng was so angry that his teeth were itching, he glared at him, “Who said I can’t finish it?”

Then, he deliberately took a bite of both halves of the apple in front of Zhong Jianmin.

“Cheapskate, fine, don’t give it if you don’t want to.”

Zhong Jianmin rolled his eyes at him angrily and continued with his own work.

They worked until noon, everyone sat together, chatting and laughing, eating the food they brought.

Song Shishi didn’t want to get involved in any trouble, she found a shady spot, leaned against a tree trunk, and took out the dry food her mother had prepared for her.

As she was taking it out, she felt a stinging sensation in her palm.

She spread it out and saw that it was full of blisters from rubbing.

The blisters couldn’t be popped yet, otherwise, she wouldn’t be able to work in the afternoon.

“Shishi, Shishi…”

Song Shishi had only eaten half of her dry food when she heard someone calling her name.

Yang Huifang ran over with a cloth bag, “I guessed you would hide here.”

“What’s wrong?”

Song Shishi put the remaining half of the pancake in her cloth bag, stood up, and patted the grass off her clothes.

“Deputy Captain Zhang asked me to call you to the head of the brigade’s office to get your rations, she said the brigade office is giving us new educated youth an advance, and we’ll pay it back with work points later.”

Yang Huifang said this with excitement.

“I didn’t expect the brigade office to be so nice to us, I was worried about how we would eat for the first month.”

Since there was still plenty of time for lunch break, Song Shishi followed Yang Huifang to the brigade office.

But as soon as they reached the entrance of the brigade office, they heard noisy voices coming from inside.

“Why are we getting coarse grains? How are we supposed to eat this?”

“Everyone else is eating this, why can’t you new educated youth eat it?”

“But we’re from the city, we really can’t get used to eating these coarse grains, can’t you give us some fine grains?”

“If you want to eat fine grains, then pay for it, the brigade doesn’t have fine grains to give you in advance.”

“How much?”

“Eighty cents.”

“That’s too expensive.”

“You’re still picky when you don’t have money, if you don’t want this coarse grain, then forget it, but I’m telling you in advance, if you want to come and get it later, there won’t be any left.”

“…”

Song Shishi and Yang Huifang at the door exchanged glances, the new educated youth were arguing with the people from the brigade office on their first day of work, this wasn’t a good thing.

They walked into the brigade office and saw several educated youth, led by Wang Jingwen, arguing with Zhou Xingxue, their faces flushed.

Song Shishi secretly breathed a sigh of relief, fortunately, the head of the brigade wasn’t there, the situation hadn’t escalated yet.

But Song Shishi didn’t plan to get involved.

This Wang Jingwen wasn’t a good person either.

She pulled Yang Huifang and went straight to Zhou Xingxue, “Comrade Zhou, please register the advance rations for me and Comrade Yang Huifang.”

Song Shishi didn’t say anything extra, Zhou Xingxue was already angry, and she said rudely, “There’s none left!”

“None left?” Yang Huifang was straightforward, pointing to the grain that had been divided into bags, she asked, “Isn’t there a lot left over there? Why is there none left?”

Zhou Xingxue snorted coldly, sat down behind the desk, her arrogance even more evident, “I said there’s none left, so there’s none left, hurry up and leave.”

Yang Huifang was about to say something more, when she heard someone approaching, she turned her head and saw An Jinsheng walking over.

Zhou Xingxue saw An Jinsheng, she immediately changed her arrogant and domineering attitude, her cheeks flushed, she got up and greeted him with a smile.

“Comrade An, are you here to get your rations?”

An Jinsheng glanced at Song Shishi, then nodded to Zhou Xingxue, “Yes, please register it for me, Comrade Zhou.”

“No problem, here, sign your name here, then take a bag of cornmeal and a bag of sweet potatoes.”

An Jinsheng signed his name on the book on the desk according to Zhou Xingxue’s instructions.

Yang Huifang was even angrier.

“Didn’t you just say there was none left? Why did you give it to him when he came?”

Zhou Xingxue rolled her eyes at her and said rudely, “Can you compare yourselves to Comrade An? Do you know your own place?”

The few educated youth who had been dissatisfied with the coarse grain saw Zhou Xingxue’s arrogance, and they began to help Yang Huifang to criticize Zhou Xingxue.

The situation was getting heated, soon Song Shishi saw Chen Hui and Zhang Qingmei rushing over.

“Song comrade, why don’t I go and get your rations for you?”

Suddenly hearing the voice next to her, Song Shishi realized that An Jinsheng had walked to her side at some point.

Song Shishi pretended not to hear, she pulled Yang Huifang, who was arguing with a flushed face, back.

When Yang Huifang looked at her, she raised her chin towards the door.

Yang Huifang saw Chen Hui and Zhang Qingmei, her anger subsided.

She decisively stopped arguing, and even stepped back with Song Shishi.

Since Chen Hui and Zhang Qingmei came over, they naturally knew what had happened.

With Chen Hui and Zhang Qingmei present, Zhou Xingxue didn’t dare to make things difficult for the new educated youth anymore.

Song Shishi successfully received her rations and was about to go back.

But as soon as she and Yang Huifang walked out of the brigade office, An Jinsheng followed.

“Song comrade, these rations are not light, they weigh about thirty or forty pounds, why don’t I help you carry them back?”

Song Shishi didn’t even bother to give him a glance, she walked forward, avoiding him.

Although the sackcloth rubbed against the blisters on her hands, it was painful, but compared to facing An Jinsheng’s disgust, she would rather be in pain.

An Jinsheng frowned, he took a big step forward and blocked Song Shishi’s path again.

Seeing that Song Shishi finally looked at him, An Jinsheng asked in confusion, “Song comrade, do you have some kind of misunderstanding about me? Why do I feel like you’re hostile towards me?”