Chapter 8: Fairy Sister

"I need to go to the Captain's house. The kang needs to be rebuilt, and the roof needs repairs; otherwise, if left for too long, I'm afraid it won't survive the winter."

In the past, news reports had shown that when heavy snow fell in the Northeast, houses would collapse, crushing many people to death.

Zhang Qian nodded, "We'll also need to build a few simple pieces of furniture."

An Yinan thought for a moment; there were quite a few things to prepare. She would be staying here for at least three or four years, and she didn't want to just make do.

She took a piece of paper and a pencil out of her large bag, thought about the items she needed, and wrote them down one by one.

After going over it in her head one last time and feeling like she hadn't missed anything, she handed the paper to Xie Yuanyuan.

Xie Yuanyuan was surprised by An Yinan's beautiful handwriting and also marveled at her thoughtfulness; everything she had thought of, and even things she hadn't, were written on the paper.

Xie Yuanyuan passed the paper to Zhang Qian, who took a look at it, "It's very complete. I'll prepare my things according to this list as well."

"Then I'll go to the Captain's house and ask." An Yinan nodded. She didn't just need to prepare supplies; she also needed to renovate the layout of the house.

Although Beibei was still young, they couldn't sleep on the same kang. The single room she had chosen was very dilapidated, but it was also the largest; it could easily be partitioned into three rooms. Although each room wouldn't be big, they would each fit a small double bed.

One room for herself, one for Beibei, and one for a kitchen. That way, cooking would be safe, and it would be easy to take out supplies from her space.

"I'll stay here and watch the things. Count me in on the items being sent over." Zhang Qian watched as An Yinan took a bag of brown sugar out of her large bag, estimated to be about a jin, and spoke quickly.

Xie Yuanyuan nodded as well. She hadn't thought of these things before, but she wasn't very clever, so she would just follow the smart ones.

An Yinan walked out of the Educated Youth Station and headed in the direction of the village.

The Educated Youth Station was nestled against two mountains; perhaps the former landlord had wanted to live in peace and quiet, so they had built it far away from the village.

"Little friend, can you tell me how to get to the Captain's house?" An Yinan saw a child and gave him a fruit candy; the child's eyes lit up.

"You're going to my house? I'll take you." It turned out this child was the Captain's grandson.

An Yinan thought to herself that it was quite a coincidence; the first person she met upon entering the village was the Captain's grandson.

On the way, she learned the child was called Huzi and was eight years old this year.

"Grandma! A fairy sister is looking for Grandpa!" As soon as Huzi entered the courtyard, he shouted loudly, then ran to the large water vat to scoop up cold water to drink.

A woman came out from inside the house. Her black hair was streaked with silver, but she was dressed very neatly. She first scolded the little monkey for a few moments before looking toward the courtyard.

"Oh my, she really is a girl as beautiful as a fairy." The Captain's wife slapped her thigh and hurried forward to pull An Yinan into the house.

An Yinan felt a bit embarrassed, but she wasn't the least bit coy.

"Auntie, I am An Yinan, an Educated Youth who just arrived today. I've just come to our Quanshui Village, and I'm not familiar with the place. I'll have to trouble you with many things."

An Yinan took the brown sugar directly out of her cloth bag and placed it on the table.

The Captain's wife looked at the brown sugar, and the smile on her face grew even wider.

This brown sugar was a good thing; whether for social favors or for nourishing the body after childbirth, it was an excellent tonic.

"What are you saying, Educated Youth An? Since you've come to our Quanshui Village, just ask your Auntie if you need anything."

An Yinan took the list she had written and read out the items she needed.

"I need three of every item. Auntie, is that too difficult?"

The Captain's wife waved her hand, "Not difficult at all. Besides farming, what other ways do people in our village have? If they can trade their craftsmanship for things, their lives will be a bit more comfortable."

In this era, private trading wasn't allowed, so they called it "exchanging."

As long as everyone knew what was going on, that was enough.

"You want four water vats? How big should they be?"

An Yinan gestured to show the approximate height and width. She needed two for herself, and since Beibei was at home, the water supply had to be sufficient.

"Done. Auntie will have someone send them to you tonight."

"For the rest, come with me, and I'll get you settled." The Captain's wife stood up, looked at the brown sugar on the table, and pushed it back toward An Yinan.

"Take this brown sugar back. You were able to come to your Auntie for help, and your Auntie is already very happy; how could I take your things?"

An Yinan pressed the Captain's wife's hand down; she knew full well this was just the polite way of the villagers.

"Auntie, I don't know anyone in this village. I'll definitely be troubling you in the future. If I take these things back, I won't have the face to visit your door again."

The Captain's wife finally let out a breath and smiled, "Then Auntie will be thick-skinned and accept it. Let's go, I'll take you to get your things settled."

In the courtyard, An Yinan took out two more White Rabbit candies and stuffed them into Huzi's hands.

The boy smiled and said, "Thank you, fairy sister."

The Captain's wife laughed, "This little monkey sure has a sweet tongue."

The two of them made a round through the village and got all the necessary items arranged.

The ones rebuilding the kang were a father and son; the villagers all called him Xie Er, as he was the second-born in the Xie Family.

The Xie father and son also took on the job of repairing the roof. According to the Captain's wife, whenever anyone's roof leaked in the village, they would look for them.

When An Yinan returned to the Educated Youth Station, she saw that the Xie father and son had already arrived.

"Uncle Xie Er, I'll have to trouble you with these three rooms."

An Yinan grabbed three handfuls of rice from her space and put them into a small cloth bag.

"I should have prepared a meal today, but we just arrived in the village, and the house is in such a state that I can't even light a fire. Please take this bit of rice back to make some rice porridge."

Xie Er quickly pushed it back, "Educated Youth An, Sister-in-law Li has already explained the situation. I can't take this rice."

Sister-in-law Li was the Captain's wife; the Captain's surname was Li.

"Uncle Xie Er, please just accept it. Although Auntie Li explained the situation, you didn't overcharge me. If you don't accept this rice, I won't feel at ease."

Rebuilding a kang and a roof were major tasks. If even a little bit was missed, the kang wouldn't heat up even if you burned it until it was on fire, and furthermore, smoke blowing back was a common occurrence.

The roof went without saying; it was a direct threat to life and safety.

She would rather spend a little more and be a little more attentive to avoid future worries.

Perhaps the Xie father and son weren't that kind of people, but she couldn't be the one to take advantage of others.

They were doing this for Auntie Li's sake, but what about later? People always have to deal with each other. In the future, no one's face would be enough to rely on; she would have to get along with them herself.

"Fine, then Uncle will be thick-skinned and accept it." Uncle Xie Er gave an honest smile, a rare shyness for a man from the Northeast.

An Yinan had finished purchasing everything that needed to be settled, and was just waiting for the room to be tidied up so the items could be delivered one after another.

She found an empty room with a kang, tidied it up a little, and spread her luggage out in the empty room; she would have to make do for a couple of days regardless.

"Nan Nan," Xie Yuanyuan knocked on the door.

An Yinan said, "Are you finished settling in?"

Xie Yuanyuan couldn't be bothered to tidy up, so she moved into the Educated Youth Dormitory first, and would tidy up her own small dormitory once the kang was dry.

Even Zhang Qian had the same idea.