Chapter 32 : Self-introduction

Around thirty new and old educated youths stood around the table, looking at a large bowl of corn steamed buns and two plates of hearty stew. The most eye-catching parts were the red and white slices of bacon and ham, along with cabbage, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, eggplants, and gourds.

Li Zhengyang looked at the delicious dishes on the table and said deliberately, “Today, we must thank Yun Siying for providing the bacon and Lin Zikang for providing the ham to improve our meals. We haven’t had any oily food in our stomachs for half a year. Today, we’re grateful to Yun Siying and Lin Zikang.”

The other old educated youths looked at the greasy dishes with shining eyes. Having gone without meat for half a year, they couldn’t help but swallow their saliva.

These days, people only got to eat meat during the Chinese New Year, so everyone voiced their gratitude to the two.

“Comrade Li, you’re too polite. Food is precious these days. You old educated youths were willing to use such valuable ingredients to treat us. We can’t just accept it without appreciation or conscience,” Yun Siying said, knowing full well that Shu Ruxue and Shen Subai hadn’t contributed anything. She put the newspaper away and glanced meaningfully at the pair as she spoke.

“Yes, I agree with Comrade Yun. We’re new here and lack experience. I hope everyone will be tolerant and guide us in the future,” said Lin Zikang. He was new to the area, so naturally he wanted to build good relationships with the veteran educated youths.

Shu Ruxue and Shen Subai caught Yun Siying’s glance, but they didn’t care. They thought Yun Siying and Lin Zikang were fools for not keeping the precious food to themselves and instead sharing it with everyone.

Li Zhengyang continued, “Now let’s each introduce ourselves, starting with the old educated youths. My name is Li Zhengyang, I’m 25 years old, from Lin Province, and I’ve been working in the countryside for seven years. I’m the person in charge of the educated youth settlement. If you have any questions, feel free to ask me.”

“My name is Guo Haiyan, from Ming Province. I’m 23 years old and have been working in the countryside for six years,” said Guo Haiyan, glancing at Yun Siying from time to time.

“My name is Wang Haixia, I’m from Sichuan Province, I’m 24 years old this year, and I’ve been working in the countryside for five years.”

“Nangong Ruochen, from Beijing Province, 22 years old, one year in the countryside.”

“My name is Han Yuecheng, also from Beijing Province, 21 years old, one year in the countryside.”

“My name is Chen Banghua, from Beijing Province, 22 years old, one year in the countryside.”

“My name is Liu Qingqing, from Sichuan Province, 19 years old, and I’ve been working in the countryside for two years.”

“My name is Li Laidi, from Jin Province, 20 years old, and I’ve been in the countryside for four years.”

“My name is Guo Dongming, from Wan Province, 23 years old. I’ve been in the countryside for five years and am married to fellow educated youth Wang Panpan.”

“My name is Chen Siming, from Yunnan Province, 19 years old, and I’ve been working in the countryside for two years.”

Yun Siying felt that some of these names sounded familiar, but she couldn’t quite place them at the moment. Not wanting to embarrass herself, she kept quiet and continued listening.

“My name is Xu Ronghua, from Qing Province, 18 years old, and I’ve been working in the countryside for two years.”

“My name is Wang Panpan, from Wan Province, 22 years old, and I’ve been in the countryside for four years.”

“My name is Shu Ruxue, from Jing Province, 18 years old.”

“My name is Shen Subai, also from Jing Province, 19 years old, and I’m Ruxue’s fiancé.”

“Yun Siying, 18 years old.”

“My name is Lin Zikang, from Dingnan Province, 19 years old.”

“Now that everyone knows each other’s names, it’s a blessing for us to be here together. I hope we can work as a team, help and support each other. I won’t say any more, let’s eat,” Li Zhengyang said with a smile.

Then he began handing out the steamed buns. Each female educated youth received four buns, while each male educated youth got six.

When Shu Ruxue received her buns, she immediately reached her chopsticks toward the bacon in the stew pot. Seeing this, the others quickly followed suit, their chopsticks all darting toward the bacon and ham.

Over a dozen pairs of chopsticks reached into each pot simultaneously, hunting for the slices of bacon and ham. Yun Siying, who had survived eight years in the apocalypse, was lightning-fast when it came to grabbing food. She even had psychic powers to cheat a little. In the blink of an eye, she picked up two slices of bacon and two slices of ham and dropped them into Nangong Ruochen’s lunchbox. She also grabbed two slices of bacon and two slices of ham for herself, moving so quickly she left an afterimage.

Nangong Ruochen looked at the bacon in his bowl, and a faint smile flickered in his eyes. The other educated youths were stunned by Yun Siying’s speed. They couldn’t figure out how she could always grab exactly two pieces of meat so quickly, while they struggled just to find one. Everyone managed to snag one piece of bacon and one piece of ham except Shen Subai, who got nothing.

Everyone noticed the two pieces of bacon and two pieces of ham in Nangong Ruochen’s bowl and swallowed hard. Some even turned away, bracing for what they thought would be Yun Siying getting scolded or hit. But instead, the notoriously aloof Nangong Ruochen simply ate the meat Yun Siying had given him, his expression unchanged.

Shu Ruxue saw this and cursed Yun Siying as a vixen in her heart. Trying to gain favor, she put the piece of bacon she had finally managed to grab into Nangong Ruochen’s lunchbox. Unexpectedly, he dodged swiftly, and the bacon dropped to the ground, getting covered in dust.

The air went still. No one dared to breathe as they looked at the bacon on the ground with heartache.

Nangong Ruochen said coldly, “Shu Ruxue, if you don’t want to eat, don’t waste food.”

“Comrade Nangong, I just saw that you couldn’t reach it, so I was being kind by picking up food for you. Why would you dodge me?” Shu Ruxue could no longer maintain her composure. Her eyes turned red as she looked at Nangong Ruochen, full of grievance.

“Shu Ruxue, you and I are not close enough for that. You should be picking up food for Shen Subai,” Nangong Ruochen said sharply, his face dark.

“Pfft!” Yun Siying couldn’t help laughing. She gave Nangong Ruochen a thumbs-up, admiration shining in her eyes.

“Comrade Nangong , I’m your neighbor too, we’re from the same compound. I’ve always treated you like an older brother. Even though Siying and I were mistakenly switched and you grew up with her. I’ve always envied that and wanted to be friends with you. How could you treat me like this?” Shu Ruxue said, feeling that all her plans had been failing ever since Yun Siying had fought back.

“Comrade Shu, Yun Siying was also just a baby back then, she was a victim too,” Nangong Ruochen replied seriously, his dark eyes fixed on Shu Ruxue.

Shu Ruxue noticed the gloom on Shen Subai’s face and immediately realized her words had crossed the line. She knew it was more important to eat for now, she’d have plenty of chances to deal with Yun Siying later in the Hongxing Brigade.

At that moment, Li Laidi suddenly ran over and squatted next to Shu Ruxue. With lightning speed, she picked up the fallen bacon with her bare hands and exclaimed excitedly, “If you don’t want it, I do! It’s a shame to let it go to waste this is meat!”

She quickly wiped off the dirt with her hands, and before Shu Ruxue could react, she had already shoved the bacon into her mouth. She then took a few big bites of her steamed buns, clearly enjoying her food immensely.