Chapter Seven: The Single Room at the Educated Youth Camp

After taking two puffs of dry tobacco, seeing that everyone remained silent, the team leader smiled knowingly and turned to introduce the adjacent single rooms.

“Of course, if anyone feels the big dormitory isn’t enough or doesn’t want to stay there, there are single rooms available. Like those two with firewood piled by the door—that's where the older educated youth rent.”

“Each room is five meters long and four meters wide, with doors and windows at both ends. There’s about three ‘li’ of land behind—around 20 square meters—where you can grow some vegetables yourself. Inside, there’s a kang bed-stove… just the kang. The flue beneath it is already installed, but you have to bring your own cabinets and build your own stove. It’s not free—ten yuan a year.”

“Our village has electricity now too, and if you want to run electric wires, that’s possible as well, but that costs extra.”

“So, which would you like to stay in?”

Xie Jingquan always wore a cheerful smile, making it impossible for Yun Shu to imagine how intimidating he might look when serious. Hearing the question, the group exchanged glances and silently made up their minds; after all, ten yuan a year was quite affordable.

Just as they were about to decide on single rooms, Yang Yue, who had remained silent throughout the journey, spoke up first.

“I’ll stay in the main house.”

Indeed, the book had mentioned that Yang Yue’s family was not well-off. With many siblings and no job arrangements, she was one of three brothers and sisters sent to the countryside; only one older brother remained in the city. Her family also held traditional preferences for sons, and their supplies for going down to the countryside were insufficient. If it weren’t for borrowing a bit of money from male classmates thanks to her looks, plus the subsidies for educated youth, she likely wouldn’t have been able to afford even the new unpatched clothes she wore. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have immediately targeted Yun Shu, hoping to intimidate and win her over as an easy mark.

Ten yuan’s rent per year might be unthinkable in the city but was reasonable in the countryside—yet even this amount was beyond what Yang Yue’s family could spare.

Or rather, she was unwilling to part with it.

The team leader nodded without surprise, agreeing and telling Yang Yue to discuss arrangements with the older educated youth. Then he turned to Yun Shu and the others.

As expected, this group of educated youth were generally wealthier than the previous batch. Among the six, five wanted single rooms—and all wanted to have electric wires installed.

The team leader smiled warmly as he led them to choose rooms. There wasn’t much to pick from—all were bare shells, with almost nothing inside except a two-by-two-meter kang bed-stove.

Since the single rooms on the right were already occupied by two male educated youth, Yun Shu and Lin Jingshu chose the two adjacent rooms on the left. The three male educated youth—Jiang Xiucheng, Chen Ming, and Pei Wenyuan—stayed opposite.

After settling two years’ rent in one go, electricity fees were to be paid monthly. The team leader held ten ten-yuan bills and gave some pointers.

“The educated youth site across the way is Wang the carpenter’s house. He has cabinets, wooden basins, tables, chairs, stools—all reasonably priced.”

“His wife also weaves kang mats, but for bowls, plates, and pots, you’ll have to buy them in the county town.”

“For building stoves, go see the eldest son of the accountant’s family. He’s skilled and doesn’t cause smoke problems, so it’s safer to live there. Their home is just next to mine. If you want, come with me later.”

“Don’t rush on wiring today—the guy’s away visiting his wife’s family. You’ll have to make do for now. When he’s back tomorrow, I’ll have someone come handle it.”

He detailed everything clearly, and Yun Shu and the others quickly expressed their thanks. After hurriedly settling their luggage in their small rooms, they followed the team leader to the accountant’s house to arrange stove building, then, recalling directions, went to Wang the carpenter’s to buy furniture.

Yun Shu never thought there could be too much storage. In her previous life, she had filled a forty-square-meter single apartment to bursting, let alone now with only a twenty-square-meter bare room.

So besides two kang mats, Yun Shu asked Wang for a large kang cabinet—one meter eighty long, half a meter wide, and about one meter fifty tall, divided into two layers—perfect for placing on the kang against the wall.

The large upper space was for storing quilts. She remembered that when she was a child living in the countryside, her family had a big kang cabinet, and she loved crawling inside it. The cabinet’s lower part was divided into four small compartments, suitable for storing personal clothes and valuables.

Generally, such large kang cabinets were for families with many members, used to hold all bedding or just stacked on the kang without much fuss. So Yun Shu, a young girl, choosing one surprised Wang the carpenter.

But Yun Shu thought, the book said the emotional storyline between the female and male protagonists would mainly unfold here in Fengsheng team for the next two years, with no chance to return to the city before the college entrance exams. So she would most likely live here those two years—why not make herself comfortable?

Like her single dorm when she went to university: no matter how big the space or how much storage, it was never enough for a girl.

Moreover, she never intended to hide the fact that she had money and a good family background. She wanted everyone to know that educated youth were not all the same—that she was wealthy, spoiled at home, and could live comfortably and freely.

Being sent down to the countryside did not strictly require one to eat coarse grains, endure hunger, or suffer the cold, nor were there rules stating that only by doing so could one accept re-education by the poor and lower-middle peasants. Nowadays, sending educated youth down was often more of a formality; as long as one didn’t cause trouble, few cared much.

As long as she remained vigilant and didn’t let herself be taken advantage of, she had decided to live according to her own standards in food, clothing, housing, and transportation.

After briefly mentioning that many things would be sent from home later and storage was needed, Yun Shu chose two double-door wardrobes, each about one meter wide and one meter fifty tall. Fortunately, they were only 40 centimeters deep, so placed by the wall, they didn’t block her path.

She also picked two wooden trunks for off-season clothes and sundries, which could be placed on top of the wardrobes or kang cabinet.

Besides these large items, Yun Shu selected a one-square-meter small table with two stools for meals, a basin with a towel rack, a bowl rack, and a storage shelf.

The northeastern winters were harsh. Even though the educated youth site had a well, it could easily freeze in the coldest months. So every household generally prepared two large ceramic jars to store water for convenience.

However, these jars were not sold by the team. They could only be bought when someone who made or repaired jars came around shouting through the village.

The weather hadn’t turned bitterly cold yet, so there was no rush.

As for cups, toothbrush holders, washbasins, and footbaths, she planned to take two enamel basins out of her luggage later.

Lin Jingshu, who was also well-off, bought roughly the same items, plus a large bathing bucket—something not readily available and had to be custom made.

The male educated youth bought much less, lacking the refinement of the two girls with their golden privileges. One wardrobe shared between two was enough, let alone the kang cabinet.

Perhaps because the two girls bought more, Wang the carpenter made a good profit. When the three young men discussed how to move their things and how many trips it would take, he happily said not to worry and that he would have his two sons use a cart to deliver everything.

The group gratefully accepted the offer.

After leaving Wang’s house, Yun Shu and Lin Jingshu walked arm in arm ahead, while the three young men seemed to tacitly fall into step behind them, quietly listening to the two girls whispering excitedly.

From the bumpy tractor ride to Pei Wenxuan unexpectedly speaking up to bargain with Wang and breaking the image of a sheltered scholar unfamiliar with worldly hardships, it was as if, in that instant, among these five strangers in a foreign land, a bond called revolutionary friendship was born.