Chapter 4: The First Mission 4

Lin Yuan parked the car in front of a courtyard. Liu Wen looked at the lonely house, wondering what was going on.

Is this the village office? The village office shouldn't be in such a remote place, right? Liu Wen looked at Lin Yuan suspiciously.

This man looked decent enough, but could he have ulterior motives? Uh, she suddenly remembered a very important question: she hadn't confirmed his situation at all.

Seeing Liu Wen’s expression shifting, Lin Yuan was genuinely amused. It was just too interesting. "This is where the educated youth live."

"Inside, the left side is the boys' dormitory, and the right side is the girls' dormitory. The main room in the middle is empty."

"If there’s nothing urgent, don't go into the middle room," Lin Yuan reminded her.

"If you need anything, ask the educated youth inside. I have to head out again." Lin Yuan checked the time; it wasn't early, so he drove the ox cart away.

Ah, he just gave such a simple introduction and then left? She didn't know anything, and it was almost lunchtime. What was she supposed to do about food?

Her last bit of food had been eaten in the morning. Was she supposed to go hungry at noon?

Forget it, if she had to be hungry, so be it. What else could she do? She couldn't exactly ask them to give her their share.

Liu Wen took a deep breath, picked up her luggage, and gently pushed open the gate to enter the courtyard. She was stunned by the scene inside.

She had expected the environment here to be poor—if not a dilapidated building, then perhaps a mud house. She hadn't expected it to be a house made of clear-water bricks.

"Isn't this a bit too high-end?" When she passed through the village earlier, Liu Wen had seen the village houses; there weren't many made of clear-water bricks. Some were clearly built with rubble and yellow mud.

Why would the village give such a nice house to the educated youth? Liu Wen was very confused. What exactly was going on?

Liu Wen remembered that the right side was for female educated youth, so she headed that way. Looking at the three doors, she wondered which room was hers. She couldn't just open them one by one.

Should she keep waiting? Thinking of this, Liu Wen plopped down on her luggage. She had waited at the farm, and now she was waiting at the youth courtyard. When would this ever end?

Even if she was unwilling, she had no choice but to wait. What else could she do? Liu Wen could only hope someone would come out soon.

However, it was almost lunchtime, so someone should be coming back soon. Thinking of this, Liu Wen felt victory was in sight.

Before long, she heard chattering at the gate. She guessed the educated youth living here were returning.

Liu Wen stood up quickly. The group of people who pushed the door open were startled to see her, surprised by the sudden appearance of a stranger.

Seeing Liu Wen, Wang Juan remembered that Lin Yuan had rushed off with the cart earlier, saying a new educated youth had arrived.

"Hello, are you the new educated youth?" Wang Juan greeted Liu Wen warmly. "Yes, I just arrived today. My name is Liu Wen."

Wang Juan greeted her warmly and introduced everyone one by one. Besides Wang Juan, there were four other female educated youth, though she only saw three including Wang Juan: Li Yanan and Zhang Li.

As for the male educated youth, they had been working on the reservoir in the mountains for days and wouldn't be back for a while.

Liu Wen greeted them one by one.

Wang Juan enthusiastically led Liu Wen to her room. "I have an empty spot over there."

Liu Wen followed Wang Juan into her room quietly. As a newcomer, it was safer to follow honestly.

Entering the room, Liu Wen saw two beds, a cabinet, a table, and two benches.

If nothing went wrong, that cabinet would be hers. It seemed she would need to find someone to build one; she wondered how much it would cost.

"By the way, there are small cabinets in the main room. After we eat, I'll help you carry one over." Wang Juan slept on the bed facing the door, and the empty bed was where Liu Wen would sleep.

Carry a cabinet from the main room? Liu Wen’s first reaction was, how could she?

"Take it. They’re good furniture. If you don't take it, it’s just sitting there."

"It’s just... a bit unlucky," Wang Juan added.

Unlucky? What did that mean? Liu Wen didn't understand why Wang Juan would say that.

"This house used to belong to a concubine of a Nationalist army commander or colonel. Before liberation, he died on the battlefield. Not long after, bandits came to the village. I don't know exactly what happened in this house; the villagers say all sorts of things."

"Later, this house was left vacant. Even if the villagers had nowhere else to live, they wouldn't come here."

"As for the furniture, some people took it back to use, but I heard that before long, those people either got sick or had all sorts of bad luck at home. It only got better after they brought the furniture back."

Ah, Liu Wen hadn't expected this. She thought of what Lin Yuan had said earlier and wanted to point to the main room, but she didn't dare. "It wouldn't be that... that concubine died in the main room, would it?"

Otherwise, he wouldn't have told her not to go in there. She had thought it was because someone important lived there, but she hadn't expected this. It was truly too terrifying.

"I think so." Wang Juan didn't know much more. "Anyway, even at high noon in June, you feel a chill when you enter that main room."

Ah, ah, so that was it. Liu Wen was stunned. She finally understood why Wang Juan was so happy to see her—maybe it was because she wanted company.

But she couldn't ask that directly. "By the way, Sister Wang, how do we eat?"

"Oh, during the busy farming season, we eat together. During the off-season, we eat separately because some people eat well and others don't," Wang Juan explained briefly.

"By the way, since you're a new educated youth, the village will provide you with an advance of grain."

"But the village head and the others went to the reservoir today."

"You can eat my grain for now." Wang Juan thought about it and decided that was the only way.

"Thank you, Sister Wang." Liu Wen was stunned to hear the village head was at the reservoir. She wondered what she would do about food if no one was in the village. She couldn't just keep waiting for the village head to return.

She had a meal with Wang Juan at noon, and with her help, moved a cabinet from the main room. Since it hadn't been used for a long time, Liu Wen scrubbed it for a long time. Fortunately, there was a well in the courtyard.

After washing it, she left it to dry in the sun, then took out the bed boards, scrubbed them thoroughly with a loofah sponge, and left them in the courtyard to dry as well.

After finishing these tasks, she went into the room to unpack her luggage and put out the things that needed drying.

Wang Juan woke up and found Liu Wen still busy, stunned. "Aren't you tired?"

Liu Wen wiped the sweat from her forehead. "I am, but there's no choice. If I don't get it clean, I can't rest."

"By the way, Sister Wang, I saw vegetables planted in the courtyard. What are those?" Liu Wen saw that the large courtyard, except for the path in the middle and the walkways on the sides, was filled with vegetables.

She had also heard chickens earlier; someone must be raising them in the courtyard. She just wondered if she would be allowed to raise chickens too.