Chapter 39 – Buying Boxes
Seeing everyone in such a state, Sun Shengnan consoled them, saying, “Actually, the village doesn’t have work all year round. During winter, there’s not much to do, and we practically rest for the whole winter. The winters are long in the northeast, lasting about four months. Others might think it’s too leisurely, but not working means no work points earned. Of course, if you want to do easier tasks, there are options like cutting pig grass, herding cows, or cleaning the pigsty in the village. These jobs aren’t tiring, but they offer more work points and are usually assigned to families in more difficult circumstances.”
Upon hearing this, Lu Xia and the others nodded, contemplating what to do next.
Soon, everyone returned to the educated youth spot.
Chen Xue and Zhou Lai’er had already prepared lunch, which consisted of coarse grain porridge, stir-fried cabbage, and cucumber salad. The taste was average, but everyone was quite hungry and ate it all up.
After the meal, no one spoke much. Perhaps they were too tired and just wanted to rest for a while. Lu Xia glanced at Jiang Junmo and saw his legs wobbling again. She wondered if he could persevere.
Sure enough, when she went to work in the afternoon, she heard Gu Xiangnan talk to the village chief to ask for leave, Jiang Junmo couldn’t get to work anymore.
The village chief furrowed his brows upon hearing this but didn’t say anything. He probably considered Jiang Junmo’s frail physique. Nevertheless, the villagers began discussing the fragility of the new educated youth in their presence.
The educated youths heard the discussions, but the old educated youths seemed accustomed to it and paid no attention. Lu Xia and the others, who were new, also seemed indifferent, pretending not to have heard.
Lu Xia had prepared in advance when she arrived in the afternoon. She had a wet towel on her head, which made her feel much better. However, when it was time to finish work, she was so tired that she almost couldn’t get up.
On that day, she earned four work points, while Sun Shengnan and the others earned six. Considering it was their first day of work, it was quite a decent result, and the village chief seemed satisfied with their performance.
They limped back to the educated youth spot.
Dinner was not yet ready, so Lu Xia first fetched some water to freshen up. Feeling refreshed, she regained some energy and then asked Sun Shengnan about getting boxes made.
After hearing Lu Xia’s question, Sun Shengnan promptly said, “There’s an elderly carpenter in the village named Old Yu. If you need anything made, you can go to him. You should go and take a look.”
Lu Xia asked about the distance and found out it wasn’t far. She decided to go and see Old Yu right away. Upon hearing this, Su Man also wanted to join her and see for herself.
So the two of them went out together.
Lu Xia and Su Man were not familiar with each other, and Su Man probably didn’t care much about Lu Xia either. They didn’t talk much during the walk.
When they arrived at the place Sun Shengnan mentioned, they knocked on the door from outside. After waiting for a while without a response, Lu Xia glanced around and realized that the sound of knocking probably couldn’t be heard in the countryside. So she directly shouted, “Is anyone there?”
Then an old lady walked out and, upon seeing the two of them, asked, “Little girls, who are you looking for?”
Su Man pointed to her and said, “Are you Grandma Li? We are new educated youths and wanted to ask if Grandpa Li can make some boxes for us.”
Upon hearing this, Grandma Li understood the situation. It was just her and Grandpa Li at home, and they had no younger relatives. They couldn’t work either, but the village chief took care of them and allowed them to do some carpentry work to make a living. However, they could only do it within the village since they weren’t allowed to engage in private buying and selling outside. Nevertheless, it had significantly improved their lives.
Upon hearing that they wanted to buy boxes, Grandma Li led them to the backyard, where Grandpa Li was planing a piece of wood. When he saw them, he looked up and greeted them.
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Chapter 40: Locking Up
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Grandpa Li asked them about the type of boxes they wanted to buy and then took them to the nearby storeroom.
Inside, there were several wooden boxes already made. They weren’t sure what type of wood was used, but they had a simple layer of paint on them. They were well-dried and well-made. Although they looked ordinary, Lu Xia and Su Man didn’t have high requirements. They just wanted something practical.
In addition to the boxes, there were also other finished products in the storeroom, such as shelves, wooden basins, and cabinets.
Lu Xia even spotted a large bathtub and was tempted to buy it. However, she realized it wouldn’t be convenient to have it at the youth village, so she dismissed the idea.
Ah, it was so inconvenient to bathe at the educated youth spot. Every day, they would carry water into their rooms and carefully clean themselves, but they couldn’t take a proper shower. It always felt like they weren’t clean enough, but there was nothing they could do. After all, everyone was in the same situation.
In the end, the two of them directly chose from the finished products. Su Man bought one large and one small box, as well as a wooden basin for foot washing. She also purchased a few small accessories.
Lu Xia directly bought two large boxes and didn’t buy anything else.
Su Man seemed curious about why Lu Xia bought two boxes, considering that the large box was already quite spacious and could hold a lot of things.
Lu Xia explained somewhat sheepishly, “I brought thick winter coats and two sets of bedding. I have quite a lot of stuff, including some miscellaneous items, so I thought of buying two boxes to put everything in.”
Su Man nodded, thinking about the two large canvas bags she had brought herself. She didn’t ask any further and just assumed that Lu Xia must have been favored at home. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have been given so many things to bring to the countryside.
She also thought about the troubles at her own home and sighed. She didn’t feel envious, though, as she wasn’t lacking money and had prepared a lot of things. It was enough for her to live comfortably in the countryside.
Lu Xia didn’t expect her casual remark to be misunderstood by the female lead.
Now she was contemplating how to bring the boxes back.
Finally, Grandma Li spoke up, saying, “Don’t worry, I’ll have my nephew deliver them to you later.”
Lu Xia and Su Man breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing that. They paid for the boxes and left.
Three yuan for a large box, it wasn’t expensive at all. However, in the countryside, it was considered a high price. The two of them ended up spending nearly 15 yuan in one go. Grandma Li couldn’t stop smiling and even mentioned that they could make other things too. If they needed anything, they could come anytime.
Both of them nodded and smiled, agreeing to Grandma Li’s offer.
After returning to the educated youth spot, dinner was already prepared. When Gu Xiangnan heard that they went to buy boxes, he proactively asked if they needed help with moving them. He felt relieved when he heard that someone would deliver the boxes.
They had potato and eggplant stew for dinner, which was quite tasty, even though it seemed they didn’t use many seasonings besides salt. They couldn’t eat to their heart’s content.
Even Lu Xia, as a girl, didn’t feel full, let alone the others.
She planned to secretly eat a bun later; otherwise, she would probably wake up hungry at night.
After dinner, the boxes and other items were delivered. The others didn’t expect them to buy so many, but they didn’t say anything, except for Zhuang Hongmei, whose face looked unpleasant for some reason.
Lu Xia directly put the two large canvas bags into the wooden boxes. They fit perfectly, and she closed the boxes and locked them with the locks she bought earlier.
She felt relieved, knowing that everything was now secure and no one could see what was inside.
Su Man also rearranged her belongings and put them into the wooden boxes.
She had brought quite a few good things, such as pastries, malted milk, toffee, and brown sugar. She casually took them out and rearranged them in the box, making Zhuang Hongmei next to her a bit envious.
Lu Xia shook her head inwardly. This female lead was too casual. She openly displayed her good things, not even afraid of theft.
Thanks for the chapter (-ㅂ-)/ ♥ ♥ ♥