Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 83 - 82: All You Need Are Hands

Chapter 83: Chapter 82: All You Need Are Hands

Lin Nianhe was a bit dazed looking at her ripped clothes.

"Tsck, silly girl, you’ve got to pay for the work you want done." Wen Lan clicked her tongue in disdain.

She slid down from the kang bed and grabbed Lin Nianhe’s clothes to take a look, waved her hand and said with a breezy tone, "It’s fine, the rip isn’t big, just sew it up."

New for three years, old for three years, with mending, it endures another three years.

But...

Lin Nianhe asked, "How do I sew it?"

She didn’t know how!

She had never worn clothes with patches, let alone mended them herself.

Wen Lan uttered a melodramatic "Huh" and with pulled lips said, "Well, I could sew it for you..."

She deliberately left her sentence hanging and raised her eyebrows at Lin Nianhe.

"Ah, Sister Lan, you’re the best, the most amazing!" Lin Nianhe shrewdly clinged to her arm, "Speaking of which, I’ve been craving mushrooms too. I’ll join you in the mountains tomorrow!"

Wang Shumei couldn’t help but sneer, "You’re giving in over a single piece of clothing?"

Of course, one piece of clothing wasn’t enough to make Lin Nianhe give in, but she couldn’t outright say she didn’t need this piece, right?

That would be too inconsistent with the spirit of frugality and simplicity.

Saying the brutally honest truth wasn’t advisable, so Lin Nianhe lifted her chin up slightly and declared, "Why would it be for the clothing? I’m doing it for our friendship!"

Having said that, she ran out amidst Wang Shumei’s look of astonishment.

Shortly after, she returned dressed differently, bringing with her five feet of cloth tickets and the damaged shirt.

Aunt Li took the cloth tickets and thanked her profusely.

On the other hand, Wen Lan had already found the needle and thread, ready to tackle the task.

Wen Lan was exceptionally adept at work, threading needles and sewing at such a pace that made Lin Nianhe fear her clothing would surely be ruined.

Ruined... let it be ruined then. She hadn’t held any hope to begin with, just going along with the performance.

She turned away from the scene and asked Aunt Li, "Speaking of which, Aunt Li, I was in town the other day and ran into Uncle Niu from Nine-miles Team. He mentioned that more educated youth are coming. Do you know if it’s true?"

Upon hearing this, both Wang Shumei and Wen Lan stopped their work to look at Aunt Li.

Aunt Li’s worry increased when this matter came up: "Indeed, a few days ago they said another group will arrive before the autumn harvest. I wonder what the commune is thinking, sending them during the harvest. What kind of work can they do? How many points can they earn?"

Here in the Northeast, there’s only one planting season a year; after the autumn harvest, there’s hardly any work left. Without points, there naturally won’t be much grain to divide, and in the end, they’ll just have to borrow from the team.

Lin Nianhe nodded, then asked, "You’ve seen it yourself, it’s not easy to squeeze more people into the Educated Youth Corps, especially the female educated youth... I saw Uncle Niu going to haul tiles that day, he said it was to build housing for the educated youth."

Lin Nianhe’s words carried multiple undertones of probing. She wasn’t particularly concerned about whether they worked or distributed grain, as there were always solutions.

The most troubling issue at hand was housing.

Aunt Li sighed and shook her head: "Your Uncle Team Leader is also worried about this, the team doesn’t have any surplus funds this year. Building the school might have funders, but aren’t the workers our own people? Aren’t those doing heavy labor entitled to some decent food?"

"If it doesn’t work out, we’ll have to let them board with locals for a while," Aunt Li glanced at Lin Nianhe, "By the way, does your little shack leak when it rains? If it needs fixing, just let us know. We can’t afford to lose another livable space."

Hearing Aunt Li refer to her house as a "little shack," Lin Nianhe felt reassured.

"Alright, I’ve got it. I’ll check it again later; there shouldn’t be any major issues."

"Okay, then I als-"

"It’s done."

Wen Lan interrupted Aunt Li and tossed the mended shirt into Lin Nianhe’s arms.

"Huh? Done already?" Lin Nianhe was surprised and quickly turned the sleeves inside out to inspect.

She had expected to see a centipede-like tear, but after she and Aunt Li had scoured the area for quite a while, they finally found the slit.

Wen Lan had repaired it following the warp and weft of the fabric, so neatly that it was almost invisible, almost as if it had never been torn.

"Wow, Miss Wen’s skills are really something," Aunt Li praised sincerely, "It’s like it was never broken!"

Lin Nianhe was extremely impressed and gave Wen Lan a thumbs-up: "Sister Lan, you’re really talented and modest."

Wen Lan felt a little embarrassed by the praise and touched her nose, saying, "It’s nothing really, anyone with hands could do it."

Lin Nianhe looked at her own hands.

It was superfluous to compliment her.

After seeing Aunt Li off, Wang Shumei lost the mood to read.

She frowned at Lin Nianhe: "I have a feeling that what Aunt Li proposed about the new Educated Youths boarding with villagers isn’t reliable."

"Exactly," Lin Nianhe nodded, "Not to mention the male Educated Youths, what about the females? Not to bring up whether there might be conflicts due to lifestyle habits, just the matter of finding a suitable family for boarding..."

"They would have to have an empty room, right? And there couldn’t be any male comrades aged seventeen or eighteen in the household, right? Throughout the entire Nine-miles Team, only Aunt Wang’s place is suitable, but we’ve all been there, and there’s no spare space. Don’t forget, this room originally was to accommodate three people."

Lin Nianhe analyzed while counting on her fingers.

While talking, she looked meaningfully at Wang Shumei.

They both had their secrets, and living with strangers brought too much danger and hassle.

Wen Lan put her needle and thread away before turning to ask, "What do you mean? Why are you two worrying about this?"

Her question was automatically ignored by Wang Shumei and Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe looked meaningfully at Wang Shumei and said, "From what I hear in Aunt Li’s words, if you’re thinking about building a house, best to speak up now."

Wang Shumei had previously inquired about house construction at Aunt Li’s, who specifically mentioned Lin Nianhe’s small house earlier; first, to reassure Lin Nianhe that she would not cram any more people into her place, and second, to remind Wang Shumei that if she indeed wanted to build a house, now was the best time to do so.

Wang Shumei nodded: "I got the same impression."

Hearing the analysis, Sister Lan was puzzled, "What? How did you two come up with that?"

If she remembered correctly, Aunt Li had simply mentioned to Hezi to check for leaks, hadn’t she? How did they infer the rest?

Wen Lan sat cross-legged on the Kang bed, wondering if perhaps she had been too focused on sewing clothes and missed something.

Yes, that must be it!

Wang Shumei spun her pencil irritatedly, making it a blur to the eye.

After pondering for a moment, she slammed the pencil down on the Kang table: "Well, it’s got to be built sooner or later, better sooner than later!"

Saying this, she threw a chin-up at Wen Lan: "I’m going to build a house; we’ll still live together, how about that?"

Wen Lan understood that.

She shook her head repeatedly: "I’m not building, I have no money."

She could still pay back a meal of dumplings, but a house... Wen Lan was apprehensive.

"I know you don’t have money. My sister won’t be able to make it for the next two years, and I’d be scared living alone," Wang Shumei tugged at Wen Lan, "Plus, I plan to build two rooms. If no one lives there, they might just send a new Educated Youth over to my place, you could just look after the house for me."

"But I..."

"But what? Let’s put it to a vote, those in favor of Comrade Wen Lan keeping me company, raise your hands!"

The vote was cast, and before Wen Lan even responded, both Lin Nianhe and Wang Shumei had raised their hands.

Sister Lan was arranged for, clear as day.

Lin Nianhe, with lips pursed and a soft chuckle, said to Wang Shumei: "If you’re building a house, better not to be too far from the Educated Youth Corps. I suggest pushing back the backyard wall a bit so it’s still one courtyard with the Corps—less trouble that way."

Whether it was two girls or three, having a separate household was fraught with problems and risks.

Aunt Wang was legendary; she couldn’t be compared to.