Chapter 58: Just Watching the Show

After a series of introductions, Bai Nuo had memorized almost everyone's basic information.

Besides Hu Ziqiang, who spoke first, there were two brothers living with Xie Weidong and the other male educated youth in the dormitory. They were Wang Dagang and Wang Datie, one 24 years old and the other 23 years old. They had been in the countryside for three years. They had ordinary appearances, but they were tall and strong with dark skin, and looked like good workers.

Another former educated youth is named Wu Yingxiong. He is 25 years old this year and has been in the countryside for five years. He has always been taciturn and has little presence in the educated youth compound.

Now, with the addition of the newcomers Jiang Zihang and Guo Hui, the male educated youth dormitory is almost full. That large communal bed can sleep eight people. It is estimated that if more educated youth come, the brigade headquarters will have to build another dormitory for them unless one more comes.

The same applies to the female educated youth. Zhao Sufeng, a veteran educated youth, had been in the countryside for five years and was 24 years old. She was in charge of the female educated youth group. She was somewhat dull and stubborn, and didn't talk much. She was the type to work quietly and diligently.

Liu Zhenzhu, 23 years old, had been sent to the countryside for three years. She was short and thin, looking malnourished and hungry. She picked at her food several times during a meal, but she mainly picked at the older educated youths who shared a room with her. She probably thought the new educated youths wouldn't understand, so she let them off the hook for the time being.

Bai Nuo and the other two ignored her. After all, it was their first day here, and it wouldn't be good to start another fight. Xie Weidong had been very considerate of them, so they had to give him that much face.

However, it's also clear that this person is a sarcastic and mean-spirited individual who always wants to excel and take advantage of others.

There were two older female educated youth in the dormitory. One was Chen Xiuhua, 21 years old, who had been in the countryside for two years. She didn't talk much, but her eyes were always darting around, either looking at the two meat dishes or at Bai Nuo and the other two. In any case, her gaze wasn't very pleasant.

Another woman, Wang Mudan, occasionally showed pride and disdain in her eyes. She looked down on everyone equally. Even after three years in the countryside, she still maintained the arrogance of a city dweller. Her family was well-off, but she was not favored and received no subsidies from her family. She also couldn't afford to rent a single room and was always hoping for the promise her family had made to arrange for her to return to the city.

The remaining two, He Xiangxiang and Tao Lili, arrived about six months ago, so they were considered relatively new educated youth. They were both 19 years old. He Xiangxiang was also from Shanghai, but she lived on the outskirts of the city, a distance from Bai Nuo's family, a distance that meant they might never run into each other even if they lived in the same city.

Of the remaining new educated youth living in the dormitory, only Liu Xier remained, and she ate with her head down the whole time.

Among the two rows of single rooms next to it, there was only one female educated youth, Qin Xuehua, plus two male educated youth who had arrived half a year ago. One of them was You Jin, who was lively and cheerful. If it weren't for him and Guo Hui, a meal would probably have been awkward eight hundred times.

Another one is Fang Meng, who lives opposite Bai Nuo. However, he hasn't been in the village lately. I heard he went to the city to do temporary work. I don't know where he got so many temporary jobs in this era where it's so hard to find work.

He seems to be a very well-connected person, often helping out at various factories with temporary odd jobs, paid by the hour.

I must say, this is a real talent!

So, including Bai Nuo and the other two, there were a total of 21 people in this educated youth compound. Originally, there should have been more, but over the years, the educated youth either used connections to return to the city or got married in the countryside and moved out of the educated youth compound.

Bai Nuo felt that the days to come would be very lively.

Some of them are not exactly peaceful people.

During the meal, Bai Nuo felt as if she had watched several grand dramas, but the dramas hadn't really unfolded, leaving her feeling unsatisfied and like she was constantly jumping around by the melon patch.

I have a bit of indigestion!

After finishing their meal and helping to clean up, Bai Nuo and Sun Yuxi quickly took Chao Xianhua back to the small house in the side courtyard.

"My God, I felt like I almost choked." Sun Yuxi was once again thankful that she could live alone.

Chao Xianhua wiped her forehead and sighed speechlessly, "The art of speaking is really too difficult to learn."

"Anyway, we live here on our own, and we've even opened a gate to the yard. It won't cause any problems if we don't have to walk through the front yard as much." Bai Nuo shrugged, her attitude completely indifferent.

She came to the countryside not only to enjoy life, but also to fish, watch a show, and eat melons occasionally. She quite likes it, but don't mess with her, she can hit you hard.

"By the way, where are you two planning to sleep tonight? Do you have enough blankets?"

Sun Yuxi stood at the door of the three people's house, looking at her two younger sisters with some concern. One was 16 and the other was 17. Sun Yuxi felt that she had a responsibility to take care of them.

"The floor in our room is all paved with cement. I heard it was leftover from when the brigade headquarters built a warehouse. They didn't return it, and it ended up benefiting us. I swept it several times with water this afternoon, and it's clean now. I also brought back a lot of dry straw this afternoon. I'll make the quilts thicker so we won't get cold. It'll only last for a few days. Once the kang (heated brick bed) is dry, we can sleep on it."

Upon hearing Bai Nuo's words, Chao Xianhua looked at her with admiration: "Nuonuo, you're so smart! You even knew to go and fetch straw. I never expected that."

"Me too!" Sun Yuxi smiled helplessly. After resting in the afternoon, she had been helping the uncle who came to build the wall and install the kang (a heated brick bed) by handing him things and so on. She hadn't been idle and hadn't thought about this matter at all.

"I knew you two hadn't remembered. I brought back quite a few, enough for the three of us. Wait for me to get them for you." After saying that, Bai Nuo held up a flashlight in one hand and used the key in the other to unlock the front door and ran inside.

It took two trips to get all the remaining straw and divide it between the two of them.

“Giving us so much, is it enough for you? You’re still young and growing, you can’t let it get cold, or you’ll suffer later.” Sun Yuxi frowned, looking at the large bundle of straw that had been stuffed into her arms with some unease, and wanted to return half of it.

She felt that she had lived many more years in her previous life, and was much older than her two younger sisters, especially Xiao Bainuo, who was only 16 years old. In her eyes, Xiao Bainuo was still a child, and she always wanted to take extra care of her.

Bai Nuo saw through Sun Yuxi's true feelings, and her smile was bright and charming, even more dazzling than the moon overhead.

"Don't worry, Sister Yuxi. I asked the uncle who came to help me set up the kang this afternoon, and he said that the straw is not valuable and every household has it. He even told me to go to his door to get it. I brought back a lot, enough for three of us to sleep on the floor. The uncle also said that these were all given to us. Once the kang and stove are ready to use, we can just use them to start a fire and we don't need to send them back to him."

Chao Xianhua even went to Bai Nuo's house, stood at the door and shone a flashlight on her. Seeing that the floor was indeed thick enough, she nodded to Sun Yuxi: "Sister Yuxi, don't worry, I saw it. Nuo Nuo laid it thick enough. This is indeed a portion that this girl specially brought for us."

Sun Yuxi smiled with relief: "Alright, let's all go back to our rooms, wash up and go to bed early. Tomorrow morning we'll take an oxcart to the county town to buy things."

"Good!" (Regarding the current situation of the host of the educated youth compound)