Crossing 70: Fish in the Pond Have Good News

"Then just tell me whether you ate it or not!" Jiang Yu threw the firewood in his hand to He Yuanchao's feet and looked at him expressionlessly.

He Yuanchao swallowed his saliva, and suddenly remembered Jiang Yu's swift movement when he stepped on Chen Lei yesterday at noon. For a moment, he even forgot to argue.

Fang Qianqian said with a worried look on her face, "We have returned your food too. Didn't you get your rations back exactly as they were? Why are you spreading rumors everywhere, ruining the reputation of our educated youth camp? We are all educated youth sent to the countryside, we should have united, not only are you forming cliques, you are also spreading rumors, you really don't care about the overall situation."

"Come on! You still want to put a accusation on us? Isn't it the case that you old educated youth are bullying us new educated youth because you came here first? What do you mean by spreading rumors? Is that a rumor? That's the truth! You bully people and want to turn the tables on them? Dream on!" Xiong Lijin heard the noise in the backyard and rushed out with firewood in his hand. He looked like he was going to fight with someone, and scared the women among the old educated youth so much that they shrank back.

This shrinkage revealed Guan Wenbin.

Guan Wenbin's face turned pale and blue. From yesterday to today, not only did he lose all his prestige, but he was also called a thief in the mouths of those ignorant old farmers? It was ridiculous!

Jiang Yu watched his expression change, snorted, bent down to pick up the firewood he had thrown away, and went back to the backyard.

Guan Wenbin just opened his mouth to speak when he was interrupted by Jiang Yu's action. Then the new educated youth followed Jiang Yu and left one after another, leaving only a group of old educated youth who were labeled thieves standing in the front yard looking at each other. Guan Wenbin's face turned red with anger, and he glared at Fang Qianqian and shouted, "Why don't you go cook! It will be dark if you dawdle any longer!"

Fang Qianqian's eyes suddenly turned red, but she didn't dare to say anything. She ran into the kitchen, throwing things around.

Guan Wenbin, who was in charge of making the fire today, went back to her room. Her lackey Liu Qiang followed her into the kitchen and whispered to her, "My dear, please don't drop it. The paint on this enamel basin is peeling off. Stop it and cook first..."

It was as lively and bustling as a big opera in the Youth League center. The old ladies who were eavesdropping outside the courtyard wall were still not satisfied. They held each other's hands and wished they could stay outside at night so that they could be close to the gossip in the Youth League center and get real-time updates.

The kang and stove in the backyard were repaired. Representatives elected from the villagers received their wages and money for the bricks and left happily.

Wu Aiqing still cooked corn grits porridge at night. There was no other way. Among the 30 kilograms of rations distributed to the educated youth, 20 kilograms were corn grits, and the remaining 10 kilograms were divided in half with potatoes and sweet potatoes. There were no fine grains.

In addition to corn grits porridge, there are also scrambled eggs with tomatoes, stewed eggplant with beans, and cold cucumber salad.

I would like to thank Xue Li for providing various sauces. The male educated youth thought her package was like a treasure, containing all kinds of surprising seasonings.

"We'd better exchange some soybean paste or something with the aunt in the village. Stews still need soybean paste to taste good." Wu Aiqing served the stewed eggplant and green beans. The stew with only a little soy sauce looked bland and the color was not dark enough.

Xue Li smelled the aroma of the food and sat obediently in front of the rectangular dining table. He nodded and said, "Tomorrow when I go to work, I will try to get close to the aunties and find out which store in the village has the best soybean paste. Once I find out, we will go and get some back."

"Let's ask around later to find out who is the best person to contact in the village to exchange eggs and vegetables." After washing his hands, Chen Jinghan sat down next to Xue Li.

Jiang Yu sat on the other side of Xue Li, her eyes fixed on the dining table, but she still paid some attention to her companions. When she heard about exchanging vegetables, she asked, "I asked the team leader, and the vacant land in the front yard of the house was allocated to the old educated youth as private plots. The land behind Xue Li's and my room can be used for growing vegetables. Can we find time to open up the land later?" You can't always exchange vegetables with the villagers. Even if you have money, you can't spend it like this, otherwise you will easily be taken advantage of.

The male educated youth had no objection. "Then let's get the farm tools tomorrow and tell the team leader that we won't return them at noon and will come back to cultivate the land."

"Uh-huh."

After dinner, Xue Li took a bath before the old educated youth had a chance to wash up.

Seeing this, the male educated youth also went to occupy the bathroom.

There was no other way. Although there weren't many people at the educated youth camp, there was one bathroom for each man and woman. What should I do if I don't fight for it? Should I wait until late at night to take a bath?

After cleaning up, Jiang Yu took out the work gloves from the space. The extra-long leather gloves could protect her hands from being scratched by metal. She put on the gloves, placed the two wheels in front of her, and began to adjust the shape.

Xue Li was reading a book. Seeing this, he took the book and sat with her by the door. In between reading, he would watch Jiang Yu break the wheel hub from time to time. "I have to say, Jiang Yu, you are really strong."

The metal wheel was like plasticine in her hands, which she straightened little by little until it returned to its round shape.

It was not until the sun set and the light dimmed that the new educated youth who had been sitting together in the yard returned to their rooms.

The bathroom was empty, so Jiang Yu picked up the basin and went in, locking the door. While taking a shower, he lit a candle and took out his super-high temperature furnace, and melted and reshaped the worn-out rubber tires. He did this three times in a row before taking a shower, packing up and going back to his room.

They would officially start work tomorrow, so Xue Li and Jiang Yu didn't say much. They took the towel to cover their belly buttons and fell asleep.

The next morning, a loud speaker started to sing loud military songs.

Jiang Yu and Xue Li sat up from the door panel as if they were dead, looking at each other, confused and helpless.

Thanks to the hard-working comrade Wu Aiqing, the new educated youth hurriedly finished a bowl of corn porridge and rushed to the brigade headquarters.

This was the first time that Jiang Yu met all the people from the First Brigade. Well, not really, but all the people who went to work. There were a few white kids mixed in among the uniformly dark-skinned villagers, and they were as obvious as light bulbs in the dark night.

Everyone knew that new educated youth had arrived, but not everyone had seen them. The villagers who had never seen them turned their heads to look, while those who had seen them smiled friendlyly.

Xue Li breathed a sigh of relief, leaning against Jiang Yu's shoulder and saying to her, "I've heard that many villages are xenophobic and unfriendly to the educated youth who went to the countryside. Fortunately, it doesn't seem to be the case here in the Construction Brigade, otherwise life would definitely be difficult."

Jiang Yu nodded indifferently. They had just met each other, so as to whether they were truly friendly, only time would tell. "We don't take the initiative to cause trouble, but we're not afraid of it either." She patted Xue Li's shoulder.

In such an unfamiliar environment, it is always better to have a small group of people with the same identity and be able to stick together than to be alone and helpless.

At this time, people's words are scary. It is too difficult to keep yourself out of trouble here. It is easy to be framed by others, and when something happens, there will be no one to help you speak.

This is also the reason why Jiang Yu, who used to be a lone ranger, is willing to work with Xue Li, Chen Jinghan and others.

The end of the world is definitely different from the peaceful times. At least for now, the character of these people is okay. If there is any discomfort in the subsequent interactions, Jiang Yu is not a procrastinating person and will naturally not get involved with them.

Life should always be sober, if it fits, it comes, if it doesn't, it goes, don't force it. Although being too sober may lose some fun, at least you can stick to your heart.