Chapter 23 : Renting a House

The two people’s loud voices drew the attention of Li Zhengyang and Lin Zikang, who were in the old house. When they heard that the two new educated youths had lost money, Li Zhengyang immediately walked over.

Lin Zikang was the first to check his own wallet. When he saw the money was still there, he breathed a sigh of relief. He hurried to count it, and the amount matched exactly. Only then did he feel reassured.

“I checked my money just before we got off the train. It was still there at the time. How could it be gone now?” Shu Ruxue was flustered, her eyes turning red. It was a large sum of money, and she had never had that much in her life.

“Mine too. Do you think a thief got it when we got off the train?” Shen Subai was also disheartened, his face gloomy. That was 1,500 yuan.

“Brother Subai, I’m going to the police. Maybe they can get it back.” Shu Ruxue rushed out of the educated youth courtyard.

Shen Subai wanted to call after her, but he opened his mouth and said nothing. He wanted to tell her that money lost like this was unlikely to be recovered. But then again, what if? What if it could be recovered? So, in the end, he didn’t stop Shu Ruxue.

Li Zhengyang glanced at the new educated youths who stood motionless, watching the female educated youth rushing around, clearly confused. But he still said, “She went to call the police. Why didn’t you go with her? If the amount is significant, the police might take it more seriously, and there’d be a better chance of getting it back.”

“Thank you, I’ll go with Ruxue now.” Shen Subai turned and ran after her.

Lin Zikang watched the two of them leave, then walked over to Li Zhengyang and said, “Then I’ll go to the brigade headquarters to collect our food and wait for their news.”

“Go ahead! If you can’t find the brigade office, ask the village kids. They’re all friendly.” Li Zhengyang still had cooking to do and couldn’t accompany them. He had already missed an entire morning of work to help with their arrangements and had earned fewer work points because of it.

—

Soon they arrived at the brigade headquarters. As soon as they got off the tractor, they saw the brigade leader walking out of the office. Yun Siying said, “Captain, I’m here to pay the rent for the room I’m renting.”

When the brigade captain heard that, his face broke into a wide smile, and he shouted into the office, “Old Zhang, Yun Siying is here to pay rent for her house. Come out and give her a rental certificate and a receipt!”

“How can we trouble Uncle Zhang to come out himself? I’ll bring Yun Siying in.” Nangong Ruochen quickly stepped in and opened the office door for Yun Siying.

“Uncle Zhang, this is Yun Siying, the new educated youth who just arrived in the countryside this year. She’s here to rent a room at the youth site. Please issue her a receipt.” Nangong Ruochen introduced her politely.

Accountant Zhang looked at Nangong, this educated youth who was usually cold and distant now introducing a female educated youth so gently. A trace of curiosity flashed in his eyes. This Nangong boy had a good background, a handsome face, and from his clothes alone, you could tell he came from a wealthy family.

That’s why, ever since he arrived at the brigade, all the female educated youth and older unmarried girls in the village liked to get close to him. The older women even tried to set him up with someone, but he rejected them all with a cold face.

Some people didn’t give up and even tried some tricks, but Nangong didn’t fall for any of it. Instead, he taught them a lesson. Regardless of age, gender, or status, if someone crossed a line, he wouldn’t let it slide. At most, he’d pay their medical fees, but his methods were always harsh.

Because of this, the villagers didn’t dare mess with him. When working, they even kept a three-meter distance from him. He was someone you simply didn’t provoke and in their eyes, his good looks were sadly wasted.

“Yun Siying, welcome to the Hongxing Brigade!” Zhang Youliang greeted her politely. He could tell from her attire and demeanor that this female comrade was no ordinary person.

“Hello, Accountant Zhang! It’s an honor to come to your Hongxing Brigade. I’d like to rent a room at the Youth Point. Please give me a receipt,” Yun Siying said directly.

“Of course! Yun Siying is bringing income to our Hongxing Brigade, so it’s no trouble at all. How long would you like to rent it for?” Zhang Youliang asked, his smile becoming more genuine upon hearing that she wanted to rent a house.

Yun Siying took out a stack of big unity bills from her army-green messenger bag, which she had actually retrieved from her secret storage space. She handed the money to Accountant Zhang and said, “Accountant Zhang, here is 120 yuan. Please count it. I’ll rent it for five years to start.”

“Yun Siying, you’re planning to rent for that long? Aren’t you going back to the city?” Zhang Youliang asked in surprise, since no educated youth had ever paid rent for such a long period.

“I’m an orphan now. I came to the Hongxing Brigade, and now it’s my home. If I get the chance to move to the city in the future, I believe the brigade will return the extra rent I paid.” Yun Siying replied with a bright smile.

“Of course, our Hongxing Brigade is an advanced one,” said Accountant Zhang, delighted as he took the money, counted it, and wrote up the rental certificate and receipt.

“Yun Siying, here are your rental certificate and receipt. Keep them safe. I’ll take you to the granary to get your rations. The government is subsidizing the rations for the first three months of this year. After that, you’ll need to earn work points in the fields and exchange them for rations after the autumn harvest.” Zhang Youliang smiled warmly, his attitude toward Yun Siying significantly more friendly.

“Thank you for explaining, Accountant Zhang,” Yun Siying replied politely, maintaining a courteous attitude.

“If you don’t mind, Yun Siying, just call me Uncle Zhang,” said Accountant Zhang. He had a good impression of her, she spoke politely, didn’t look down on anyone, and was different from the other educated youths who often acted arrogant.

“Then I’ll call you Uncle Zhang,” Yun Siying agreed with a smile. Nangong Ruochen, who had been following her, was a bit surprised. He had never seen this side of her before.

In his mind, Yun Siying had always been obedient and well-behaved. Though she had developed good skills under Grandpa Shu’s training, she had always seemed simple-minded and usually followed her fiancé Shen Subai.

Now, her status had changed. When he saw her today, he felt she had changed a lot. Could it be because of what she had recently gone through?

Most girls would be devastated by such a blow and stay depressed for a long time. But he saw no sign of despair or sadness in her, only a renewed zest for life.

“You educated youths get a monthly food subsidy of 32 kilograms, 20 kilograms of corn, 4 kilograms of sweet potatoes and yams, and 2 kilograms each of wheat and rice. So your three-month subsidy is 92 kilograms. We’ve already weighed it out for you,” Zhang Youliang said, pointing to the six portions of food, each packed in bags and placed separately in the granary.

“Uncle Zhang, thank you for all your hard work,” Yun Siying said, then went forward to check her rations: a large 60-kilogram bag of corn, a mixed bag of sweet potatoes and yams totaling 24 kilograms, and two small bags containing 6 kilograms each of wheat and rice.