Chapter 11: Tidying Up the Small House

After waiting another ten minutes or so, Uncle Niu looked at the sun, then beckoned everyone to get on the cart to return to the village.

After returning to the village, An Yinan tucked two eggs into her pocket, took a few pieces of White Rabbit creamy candy, and headed to the Captain's house to pick up An Xiangbei.

"The fairy sister is here!" Huzi saw An Yinan from afar and shouted loudly.

An Xiangbei, who had been standing with his back turned, immediately turned around and saw his sister walking over quickly.

"Sister."

An Yinan rubbed An Xiangbei's hair, and seeing her younger brother's small face exposed, clearly in a good mood, she finally felt relieved.

More than a year of hardship had made the child sensitive and somewhat withdrawn.

"One candy each, you two go play for a bit, I'm going to have a word with Aunt Li." An Yinan took out two candies and gave one to each of them.

"An Educated Youth is here, I heard my little monkey shouting from way over there."

Aunt Li sat on a stone by the edge of the courtyard with a chuckle, holding a small sewing basket in her arms, clearly busy with needlework.

"Sorry to trouble you today, Auntie."

An Yinan handed the two eggs to Aunt Li and hurried away.

"Sigh, An Educated Youth, this..."

The back-and-forth pushing and pulling made An Yinan a bit tired.

She simply handed over the eggs and left.

It left Aunt Li with a bitter smile; why was she so insistent on giving them?

However, she knew in her heart that this An Educated Youth was a capable person; she would help her out more in the future when she could, as a lone girl raising a young brother was likely a pitiful situation.

The siblings returned to the Educated Youth Station, and Uncle Xie Er walked out of the room.

"An Educated Youth, take a look at the room, is this arrangement alright?"

An Yinan had already discussed it with Xie Yuanyuan and Zhang Qian; she would have Uncle Xie Er fix up her room first, as it wasn't convenient for the siblings to live in the Educated Youth Dormitory, and once it was finished, they would have a place to stay.

An Yinan walked into the small room; the outermost part was the kitchen for the fire, and under the newly built wall and window, a platform for cooking had been built, with two hollowed-out layers underneath to store bowls, chopsticks, and kitchenware, and a cloth curtain could be pulled to block the dust, saving the cost of a cupboard.

On the far right was a small corridor, and passing through it was a small room with a kang built inside; there was a meter and a half of floor space below the kang, and the whole small house was quite spacious.

Following the small corridor further in was another room, though this one was slightly larger; the kang was not connected, and there was a meter of space left in the back where a shelf could be placed.

Both rooms had fire walls, so burning firewood in the winter meant there was no fear of the cold.

The roof had been re-laid with straw mats and mud, and it was estimated that there would be no need to worry about the roof for three years.

"Uncle Xie Er, your craftsmanship is too good; with the room arranged like this, it finally feels like a home."

An Yinan said happily and handed the money to Uncle Xie Er; she had already paid half the labor cost at the beginning before Uncle Xie Er and his son started mixing the mud, and now that the work was finished, she naturally gave the other half.

"I can only do this kind of work; if anything needs repairing in the future, just come directly to your Uncle Er, I won't charge you."

Uncle Xie Er also laughed happily; having his work recognized was naturally a happy thing.

"Burn the kang with a small fire today and sprinkle a little water on it to keep it moist, don't let the kang crack; it should be dry by tomorrow, and once it's dry, you can move in."

Uncle Xie Er added one more thing, then began preparing to build the kang for Xie Yuanyuan.

Xie Yuanyuan's room was convenient; she just needed a kang and a stove built, no need to partition the room.

An Yinan took out the old newspapers, and with the help of Zhang Qian and Xie Yuanyuan, the three of them worked for two hours and finished pasting all the newspapers.

"We can cook tomorrow; if you find it troublesome to cook separately, you can come eat at my place for a few days."

Xie Yuanyuan nodded immediately, "I'll bring my grain over tomorrow morning."

Zhang Qian thought about it and refused, "I'll just eat at the front; the Second Courtyard is where the female Educated Youths live, it's more troublesome for me to come over to eat."

As a man, he wasn't afraid of anything, but he was afraid of causing a bad influence on the two girls.

Taking advantage of the fact that it wasn't dark yet, An Yinan went to the Back Mountain to pick up some firewood, burned the kang with a slow, small fire, and incidentally heated up the braised pork, steamed buns, and meat buns.

Xie Yuanyuan had come over early, and smelling the scent of braised pork in the air, she swallowed her saliva involuntarily.

"If I had known, I would have bought more meat buns; this isn't enough for me to eat."

In one night, she had polished off two...

There were three buns left, which wouldn't last until tomorrow.

An Yinan thought about it; she had indeed bought too few. Although she had hot meat buns in her space, every bit she ate was one less, and the taste was different from the State-run Restaurant, even if it was also delicious.

"We'll buy more when we go to the County next time; although it's cold morning and night now, it's still quite hot at noon, and they spoil easily if left too long."

An Yinan poured hot water for everyone.

These bowls were either chipped here or had the glaze knocked off there; they all had some damage, but it didn't affect their use.

These were things she had asked for as a freebie at the waste station.

"The road ahead is pitch black." Xie Yuanyuan sighed, then remembered something.

"Nan Nan, wait a moment." She ran out in a hurry.

Before long, she ran back with a pair of gloves in her hand, "I know you bought some yourself, I saw it, but I wanted to buy them for you when I was buying mine; anyway, I wouldn't give them to anyone else, so you have to accept them whether you want to or not."

The little girl's round face carried a hint of shyness as she handed over the gloves.

An Yinan smiled and thanked her; she was very happy in her heart that the little girl had this kind of thoughtfulness.

After all, not everyone was an ingrate.

"Since I've accepted your gloves, don't refuse this scarf either." An Yinan took out the earth-colored scarf.

To avoid being conspicuous, she had specifically chosen an earth color, just to avoid being targeted.

Bringing her younger brother to the countryside had long since given some people the impression that her family had either met with disaster or had no one to rely on.

Although she wasn't afraid of others looking for trouble, being constantly targeted wasn't a good thing.

Xie Yuanyuan hurriedly waved her hands, "No, no, this is too valuable."

An Yinan had expected the refusal.

"What, are you afraid you won't be able to give me something better in the future?"

"Besides, going down to the fields later, those corn stalks will scratch your face, and it stings like fire." Don't ask her how she knows; that was such a painful realization.

Her former Dean mother was an agricultural expert, and she even led everyone at the orphanage to clear a plot of land.

Which of the children at the orphanage wasn't panting with their tongues out from exhaustion?

It was precisely because of the Dean mother that, in that era of tightening belts and meager food, not a single child in their orphanage starved to death.

She felt very grateful in her heart; having suffered when she was young, they were able to study even harder after the Dean mother sent them to school.

That orphanage is no longer there, but she provides financial aid to orphans every year.

This kind heart was left behind by the Dean mother, a torch passed down through the generations.

Once Xie Yuanyuan heard this, she thought, that's right, I can just give good things to Nan Nan in the future.

Besides, the idea of getting her face scratched and such was indeed a bit scary.

"Then I will accept it." After Xie Yuanyuan thought it through, she nodded.