Chapter 6: Settling In

"Comrade, if you don't want your ass anymore, how about I cut it off, stew it, and feed it to the dogs?" Wen Xi turned her head, gazing coldly at Mo Qiaolin, who was making a scene nearby.

How utterly nonsensical!

If she wanted to seduce a man and he didn't take the bait, why was she taking her frustration out on her?

Mo Qiaolin was about to retort when she felt a gaze like a cold arrow. Looking up, she saw Jin Changfeng watching her with an expression as cold as frost. Terrified, she shrank her neck back and didn't dare say another word or make any more little moves.

Bouncing along on the ox cart, Wen Xi soon became drowsy from the jolting. Just as she was about to fall asleep, the ox cart finally arrived at the Fengshou Brigade's village headquarters.

Mo Qiaolin stepped off the ox cart, gave the three of them a cold snort, and walked away quickly. Wen Xi rubbed her nose, thinking this woman truly had something wrong with her brain.

None of the three of them even knew her, okay?

"This is the Fengshou Brigade's village headquarters. If you have business in the future, you can come here to find the village cadres. Of course, you can also go directly to the cadres' homes," Captain Qian said. He brought the ox cart to the headquarters and had Song Lan and Zhou Bai unload the luggage. Afterward, he whispered to Jin Changfeng, "Changfeng, please take the two male educated youths to the youth hostel!"

"Let Jianguo do it, I still have things to do," Jin Changfeng refused. He couldn't be bothered to go to the youth hostel; it was right for Wen Xi and the other two not to stay there.

"Jianguo, you take these two male educated youths to the youth hostel," Captain Qian instructed. "Educated Youth Song, Educated Youth Zhou, go settle in at the youth hostel first, and come to the village headquarters this afternoon to collect your grain rations."

After Zhao Jianguo left with Song Lan and Zhou Bai, Captain Qian drove the ox cart to take Wen Xi, Shen Jiaojiao, and Jiang Yue directly to the village. He showed the three of them the two vacant houses belonging to childless households in the village.

After looking at the houses, Wen Xi chose the vacant courtyard at the foot of the mountain in the last row.

It was convenient for going up the mountain, and there was a well in the courtyard. Most importantly, the courtyard walls were built of stacked stones, making them sturdier than the wattle fences used by others. Another point was that the neighbors on both sides were good people; if the scent of meat wafted from the house in the future, no one would say anything.

Although she had only stayed in the village for two years in her past life, she still understood the character of a small portion of the villagers.

After spending one hundred yuan to buy the house and completing the paperwork, this house belonged to the three girls.

Afterward, Captain Qian called a few people from the village to come and clean the house. Since they would receive work points, everyone was very proactive. In less than half an hour, the inside and outside of the house were cleaned, and even the weeds in the open space of the courtyard were cleared.

Wen Xi gave everyone two milk candies. "Uncles, thank you for your hard work. Thank you all, otherwise we certainly wouldn't have a place to rest tonight. Here are two candies to sweeten your mouths; please don't think they are too few!"

Although the cleaning team would receive some work points for helping, they still wanted to show their gratitude.

Everyone took the candies and stuffed them into their pockets, intending to take them home for their children to taste.

"Educated Youth Wen, Educated Youth Shen, Educated Youth Jiang, settle in first. I'll bring your rations directly over in a bit," Captain Qian said before driving the ox cart away.

Captain Qian had originally intended for them to go to the village headquarters to collect them this afternoon, but thinking that they had many things to do and likely wouldn't be able to leave, he decided to deliver them instead.

Driving the ox cart wasn't much trouble, and since Educated Youth Wen had given him so many steamed buns and White Rabbit milk candies, he felt he should help.

Jin Changfeng carried Wen Xi's luggage inside, placed it on the floor of the main hall, and then left. Wen Xi didn't even have time to say thank you. She didn't know if she would run into him again, and if she didn't thank him, she would truly feel bad; after all, he had helped her quite a bit today.

Wen Xi also found it very strange. During her two years of being sent down to the countryside here in her past life, she had never heard of Jin Changfeng or Zhao Jianguo; she had no idea where these two had come from.

However, since they were soldiers, they were naturally not bad people.

Just as Wen Xi was about to unpack her luggage, there was a knock at the door. Wen Xi hurried out and saw their neighbor, Zhao Zhiping, returning with a large pile of furniture on a wooden cart. "Educated Youth Wen, I only helped you buy part of the furniture. The carpenter said he will deliver the rest once they are finished."

When Captain Qian had asked everyone to come clean the house, he had sent Zhao Zhiping to the carpenter's house to help them buy furniture. After all, there was no furniture in this house; without it, they wouldn't even have a place to sleep tonight.

"Thank you, Uncle Zhao." Wen Xi hurried over to help. Once Zhao Zhiping had parked the wooden cart steadily, she quickly stepped forward to unload the furniture.

The current furniture included three beds, three mattresses, three washbasins, three bath basins, three wooden buckets, as well as two cabinets, one washstand, one square dining table with four stools, and three side tables. Although many things were still missing, Wen Xi was satisfied just to have beds so they could sleep at night.

After all the furniture was moved into the house, Wen Xi counted the money according to the prices, handed it to Zhao Zhiping, and gave him a handful of White Rabbit milk candies, asking him to deliver the money to the carpenter.

Everyone quickly carried the beds into the rooms to assemble and arrange them, then began making their own beds. Remembering that she hadn't signed in today, Wen Xi hid behind the door and performed her sign-in.

To her surprise, she signed in and received a six-jin cotton quilt, and it was a pre-sewn one that could be used immediately. The quilt cover had a strong vintage style, requiring no extra effort from Wen Xi.

Wen Xi was overjoyed. She quickly made the bed, first laying the mattress on the bed frame, then spreading the two old cotton quilts she had brought, followed by the bedsheets. Then, she took out the signed-in quilt and spread it on top to use as a duvet.

Once the bed was made, Wen Xi flopped onto it, burying her face in the soft, comfortable quilt. In her heart, she continuously expressed gratitude to Captain Qian and the people who helped clean the room and purchase the furniture.

Otherwise, with just the three of them, there would be no telling when they would have finished cleaning.

Having sat on the train for so long, she was truly exhausted. Tonight, she could finally get some proper rest.

Fearing she might fall asleep, Wen Xi lay on the bed for a while before quickly getting up to tidy her things. The sooner she finished, the sooner she could rest; she intended to sleep soundly tonight.

Shen Jiaojiao and Jiang Yue were also tidying up in their respective rooms.

Shen Jiaojiao brought the pots and pans she had taken from home into the kitchen. Wen Xi placed these items in a wooden basin, carried it to the well, and used a wooden bucket to fetch water for washing, so they could be used tonight.

The main reason for choosing this place was the presence of a well, which made using water convenient. She wouldn't have to fetch water herself, and if she made something delicious in the house in the future, she wouldn't have to worry about others seeing her while cleaning up.

(End of Chapter)