Chapter 10 - 10

Chapter 10 Residence"Okay! Thank you. You shared these candies with your friends. By the way, what's your name?"Yun Ting took out a handful of fruit hard candies and handed them to the little boy."Sister, my name is Xiaozhuzi." He answered politely, and only took six candies from her hand. He gave two candies to his two other friends, and two candies to himself. He didn't want any more."These are all from your sister, take them all!"Xiao Zhu shook his head: "Sister, this is enough. Grandma said that one should not be too greedy."Who wouldn't love a sensible child? Yun Tingwas charmed by Xiao Zhuzi's cuteness, and his grandma is such a reasonable person.Yang Qingqing also took out a few White Rabbit Milk Candies and handed them to him, "Little Zhu, these are from your older sister! You can't just accept Sister Yun's and not mine, or I'll be sad."Xiao Zhuzi looked at her with a troubled expression, his forehead sweating with anxiety."Pfft... Little Pillar, take this, consider it your reward for taking the sisters to the brigade office.""Alright then!" Xiao Zhuzi accepted the candy, shared it with his two friends, and carefully put his own in his pocket."Sister, let's go!""Little Pillar, why don't you eat candy?""I want to save it to eat with my grandparents and parents when I get home."Wow! Little Pillar is awesome.Xiao Zhuzi was praised and became a little shy, his face turning red. Yun Ting found it extremely amusing.Through their conversation, they learned that Xiao Zhu was the grandson of the Brigade Leader.When they arrived, the Brigade Leaderhappened to be in the brigade office and was not surprised to see them."They're here..."" Brigade Leader, we've come to collect our food supplies. We also wanted to ask if there are any other empty houses in our village that we can stay in?""The house! There's one in the village. You should have seen it when you came over. It's a brick house not far from Educated Youth Point. It used to be the old landlord's house. It has many rooms, but someone died there, so no one wants to live there and has to pay rent to the village."" Brigade Leader, is there no other choice?" Lin Xue was a little scared after hearing that people had died there.Yun Ting and Yang Qingqing weren't afraid. They had both lived in the modern world and the post-apocalyptic world, so they weren't afraid of ghosts or gods at all. People say that ghosts aren't scary, it's people who are scary."Besides that place, we can discuss with the villagers about renting their houses, but I don't recommend that. Let me be honest with you! Living in the villagers' homes will bring endless trouble, especially for you educated youth. If you encounter some people with bad intentions, you know the consequences. That's all I have to say. Think it over carefully. Oh, by the way, you can also pay for your own construction, but if you leave in the future, the house will belong to the village."Judging from the Brigade Leader's actions and words these past two days, he seems like a good person." Brigade Leader, how much is the rent for that house?""It's not cheap, it's 50 cents a month, and if you want to rent it, you have to pay for six months at once, which is 3 yuan."Yun Ting and Yang Qingqing thought to themselves, "This is way too cheap."" Brigade Leader, may we go take a look first?""Okay, let's go! Do you want the food now or come back later?""Take it later!"Brigade Leader led the three to the Old Landlord's house. The main gate was made of two heavy solid wood doors, the vermilion paint of which had peeled off and faded, revealing the wood grain underneath.Withered vines climbed all over the blue brick wall, and the mottled plaster peeled off in rustling motions, revealing the dark red bricks underneath, like scabbed wounds."No one has come here for a long time, so it's quite dilapidated. If you want to stay here, I'll arrange for someone to come and fix it up for you."- Upon entering the gate, you are greeted by a spacious courtyard with a ground paved with blue bricks. Although some cracks have appeared, it still looks ancient and orderly.Passing through the narrow courtyard, most of the eaves tiles were missing, and sunlight streamed in through the gaps, casting patches of light and shadow on the broken tiles and moldy straw scattered on the ground. The wooden door to the inner room was dilapidated and crooked, leaning precariously against the frame.There are several side rooms. If they move in, each of them can have their own room and their own private space.Yun Ting pondered to herself that this place was actually quite nice. With a simple cleaning and repair, it would be better than many houses in the village. However, if they didn't want to come and stay, it wouldn't work for her alone. It wasn't that she was afraid, but rather that if a little girllike her stayed here, she would inevitably attract unwanted attention."Well? You can think about it. I have to go now. You can come find me when you've made up your mind."" Brigade Leader, let's discuss this. We'll come find you in a bit.""Alright…" The Brigade Leader left first.Yun Ting looked at Yang Qingqing and Lin Xue, "What do you guys think? I think this place is pretty good, much more comfortable thanEducated Youth Point. I'm thinking of renting here.""Me too, why don't we go together, so we can keep each other company."Yun Ting breathed a sigh of relief. With Yang Qingqing by her side, she no longer had to worry."But... don't you think it's creepy here?" Lin Xuewas a little scared."You're just scaring yourself. When a person dies, it's like a lamp going out; there are no ghosts.""I reckon Lu Jiayan and Zhou Yang will move here too."Lin Xue's heart stirred. Although she could tell that Lu Jiayan seemed to have feelings for Yang Qingqing, she didn't want to give up!"Then I'll go with you guys! Otherwise, I'll be the only one left among the new Educated Youthwho will be bullied to death."The three of them made up their minds and went to find the Brigade Leader together." Brigade Leader, we've agreed to rent both. When can you arrange for someone to help us repair the houses?""It can be done today. I'll find a few people to go after work in a bit.""Okay, thank you Brigade Leader. Here's the rent; I'll pay for a year." Yun Ting handed over 6 dollars.Seeing this, Yang Qingqing also counted out 6 yuan and handed it over.Lin Xue hesitated for a moment, then counted out 3 yuan. Her family wasn't well-off, and she only had 50 yuan on her. They had just arrived, and their grain was borrowed from the village. They had a long life ahead of them, so she had to be careful with her money." Brigade Leader, I'll pay for six months first.""Okay, I'll write an agreement for each of you, in black and white, so there won't be any trouble later."Both parties signed the agreement, one copy for each."Since you've just arrived, this grain is a loan from the village, 30 jin each. Eat it sparingly, and it should last until the autumn harvest. Otherwise, you'll have to find your own way. You can also exchange it with other villagers.""We understand."The three of them carried their own food back home, mostly coarse grains like corn grits and cornmeal."Let's go clean up first!" Yun Ting suggested.On the way back, I ran into Lu Jiayan. Zhou Yang,Yin Jiao who was constantly chattering next toLu Jiayan, and Li Zhaodi following behind."Did you go to collect the food?" Lu Jiayan asked, his eyes fixed on Yang Qingqing."Yes, that's right! We didn't see you when we came out."" Zhou Yang and I went for a walk in the back mountain.""The three of you are so disunited. You're alleducated youth who came together, why are you acting independently?" Yin Jiao muttered in dissatisfaction.Yun Ting didn't say anything, Yang Qingqingwas also indifferent and aloof, Lin Xue rolled her eyes at her, and the three of them left.