Transmigration: On the Gossip Front
Chapter 509 - 510 Sister Flowers Educated Youth 27_1

Chapter 509: Chapter 510 Sister Flowers Educated Youth 27_1

Commander Guo looked at the last group of people to choose their houses and then glanced at the not-so-large open space at the top.

"Two people per room."

"For families, one room per family; if there are more people, then one set of rooms for one family."

Of course, Commander Guo’s arrangement disappointed some people. Although it wasn’t a single room, a double room was definitely not as good as a single one.

Those who had fought to choose their houses early were now truly in a foul mood.

They were so close, just a bit more persistence and they could have lived in such nice houses.

But no matter how much they regretted it now, nobody was willing to trade with them.

So, in their scheming, all four of them ended up in double rooms, naturally the top row of houses, with only two sets of rooms: one for the boys and one for the girls.

Even though Huo Lei and his group worked overtime, even during the busy farming season when they were already quite exhausted, they still managed to build the kang-beds for them.

Yes, that’s right, after two months of assisting, Huo Lei and Zhao Yu had indeed learned the craft of building kang-beds.

As for the other two boys, they had managed to dig out the downspouts of the side rooms and then connected them to the main sewer line.

As for Shen Jie and the other three girls, such specialized work was of course out of their league, but they could still lend a hand.

They managed to move into the new house before the snowfall, and they were the last batch of educated youths to do so.

Just a couple of nights after they had moved into their new home, it began to snow. Although it wasn’t heavy and stopped after a few hours, it still caught them by surprise.

They continually counted their blessings for having moved into the new house and for having the kang-beds already warmed up.

Grateful too that even during the busy harvest times, they hadn’t forgotten to go into the mountains to cut branches and collect mushrooms.

Once the autumn harvest was done and the grains were stored, the frenetic pace that had kept them all but flying finally hit a pause button.

The rhythm of everyone’s daily life slowed down, including the supply of food in the cafeteria, which changed from three meals a day to now only two.

It was as if they had entered the state of winter hibernation. Even though they still had to report in every morning, there was no work to be done.

Some would go back and rest on the kang-bed, while others, who had been lazy before and had not anticipated needing so much firewood for the kang during the winter, hadn’t gathered enough wood and were now worried about not having enough, so of course, they went up the mountain to collect firewood.

When Feng Dan heard arguing, she naturally stood at the door with her hands on her hips, looking down the mountain.

Even though climbing up and down the slope every day was tiring for Feng Dan, standing at the door often allowed her to see what was going on below, which really saved a lot of energy.

Shen Jie didn’t go out to watch the excitement. After all, it was just about who was being lazy, not wanting to collect firewood on the mountain but still wanting to enjoy the warmth of the heated kang.

When people are busy, they naturally don’t care about these things. When you’re busy all day long, you have no time to worry about them.

But now that everyone had more free time, even small disputes could blow up into big scenes.

Not to mention an issue as significant as heating the kang—how could it not cause a commotion?

Feng Dan sighed and walked back inside, "It’s true that the more people there are, the fewer are willing to work."

Initially, knowing that they would need a lot of wood to heat the kang, the two of them were really busy after finishing their main work, busy collecting firewood in the mountains.

They occasionally had to share some with Huo Lei and the other men, who, after all, could not gather firewood because they were busy working on their kang-beds and sewer systems.

Shen Jie had just picked some mushrooms a couple of days ago and was now drying them on the heated brick bed. Without the sun to dry them, the heated bed would do just fine to dehydrate the goods.

"They must be nearly dry by now." Feng Dan truly admired Shen Jie, who, although having never been to the Northeast before, seemed to be very familiar with the place.

She was indeed very familiar with it, knowing the ins and outs of the mountains quite clearly.

When they went out to collect firewood and pick mushrooms, they always followed Shen Jie. If Feng Dan wasn’t certain that Shen Jie had never been here before, she might have doubted whether it was the Shen Jie she knew.

"Yes, they’re almost dry; another night on the bed and they should be ready to mail back tomorrow."

These would be mailed back along with a few small ginseng roots she had obtained a couple of days ago. Assuming nothing unexpected happened, they should arrive home before New Year’s Day.

Just as she was contentedly thinking about her family’s surprise when they received the package, she heard a familiar voice.

Counting the days, Shen Yuan should have come to the Northeast as a sent-back youth by now. But given her temperament, she shouldn’t be hovering around Gao Jian, let alone have the time to come to the farm to find her.

Not wanting a certain someone to be on the lookout, Shen Jie knew her family would definitely not inform Shen Yuan.

Yet it was that very person who showed up at her door. What was going on? Shen Jie’s expression wasn’t looking too good.

Liu Ya didn’t recognize the person, but since she could speak about Shen Jie’s situation, and it was broad daylight, if there really was a problem, she wouldn’t have stupidly waited until now.

"That’s right. Shen Jie lives here." Liu Ya, seeing that the laundry was no longer dripping, got ready to hang it up inside and then place it on the bed to dry.

Shen Yuan entered the room and saw Shen Jie calmly sitting on the bed reading a book, with no gesture of welcoming her, which made her quite unhappy.

"Shen Jie, I’m here." Shen Yuan restrained herself and greeted Shen Jie.

"Hello, take a seat. Is it cold outside?" Shen Jie casually turned over the mushrooms and asked Shen Yuan without any particular interest.

There was no thought of getting up to pour water for someone like Shen Yuan, who was known for her brashness.

Even without any action from Shen Jie, Shen Yuan would still advocate for herself, "Do you have hot water? Is there anything to eat?"

She knew that Jian She’s household was well-off, usually stocking up on small snacks, and Shen Jie had a habit of snacking between meals.

The original owner did have snacks, but with Shen Jie now having a different heart, she was indifferent to snacks. If they were available, she would eat them; if not, she would not fuss.

"No, we all eat at the farm’s canteen, we don’t cook for ourselves." Some sent-back youth who had families of their own certainly cooked their own meals.

There was a canteen provided by the brigade, and most single sent-back youth solved their meals there. Although the canteen food wasn’t exactly to everyone’s taste, it was better than cooking alone.

Sent-back youth with families, especially with many children, would never consider eating every meal at the canteen, as it would surely exceed their budget.

"You all have a canteen?" Of course, Shen Yuan knew about the farm canteen, but hearing Shen Jie mention it again made her mood worsen.

"We don’t have a canteen. No matter how busy, we have to go back and cook."

"You all are on a salary." Originally, when Shen Yuan came out to be a sent-back youth, she didn’t know that Shen Jie received a salary.

It wasn’t until her family wrote to her that she found out. Now that she was aware, the look she gave Shen Jie was definitely one of jealousy.

"You get grain rations, you get money, and maybe even fish and pork to share at the end of the year."

"I certainly don’t." It wasn’t just to contradict Shen Yuan; that was simply the truth.