Siheyuan: Struggle in the Red Era

Lin Baoyan quietly followed Wu Zhi for a long circle, was examined, and then was sent home.

Not long after I returned home, there was a knock on the yard door.

"Is anyone here?"

"Here I am."

Lin Baoyan walked quickly to the gate of the yard and opened it.

A woman in her twenties was standing outside the courtyard gate, holding a small basket in her hands. She said with a smile on her face, "Hello, I'm Qian Fang, who just moved in next door. I came to say hello to everyone. This is the steamed cake I made myself. You can try it and see if it tastes good."

While handing her two steamed cakes, he whispered, "Comrade Li Xiang, I was arranged by the senior leader. Let's keep in touch in the future."

Lin Baoyan nodded, thinking that the person in charge handled the matter quite quickly this time.

So, I just didn’t care about it before.

She took the steamed cake and thanked him, saying, "This steamed cake looks delicious. You are so polite."

After saying that, he hurried home, poured out half a plate of peanuts, handed it to Qian Fang and said, "These are the peanuts I fried, you can try some too."

Qian Fang refused a few times, then naturally accepted the peanuts and went to knock on the door of her east neighbor.

Lin Baoyan closed the gate and returned to her room.

She knew that after Wu Zhi sent her back, he must have gone there to fight for better treatment for himself.

Originally, she had no other use except for a space that could provide some use for the research of the Agricultural University. But she enjoyed such good treatment in Section 9. It would be strange if she did not arouse envy.

So, when something unexpected happened during the Chinese New Year and she was arranged here, she was not surprised at all. Even the contact and protection she should have had were like dead. Although she felt aggrieved, she did not care too much.

If Wu Zhi hadn't come over today, after being lazy for two months, she would have almost thought that she was just an ordinary person. Even the change in space had not even occurred to her to report to a new superior.

Now Wu Zhi wants to run around for her, and she can't stop him. This is his intention, and she hopes he can take it easy.

The next morning, Lin Baoyan took her things and went to meet her distant relatives. After being invited to her relative's house for lunch, she left politely.

Since I was arranged to be someone's distant relative, and studying and living nearby under his name, I should perform the whole play.

Otherwise, she is now a junior high school student who is about to graduate. Her studies are so intense and she doesn't have so much time to waste.

The simple life of these two months made Lin Baoyan realize a truth: do things according to your time period, and there is no need to take on everything yourself.

Anyway, apart from farming, she doesn't have any other abilities, so she just studies hard, takes the entrance exam to the Agricultural University, and makes the most of the space. The rest has nothing to do with her.

When I returned to the dormitory, Fang Nan was the only one left.

"Hey, Li Xiang, why are you back now? Why didn't you stay at your relative's house for a while? It won't be too late to come back after you finish dinner."

Lin Baoyan put down the quilt and re-made the quilt while answering: "I still have to study in the evening. It will be too late to come back after dinner. By the way, what is served in the cafeteria tonight?"

Fang Nan immediately lamented, "It's still the same few dishes. There's not a drop of oil in them. Why didn't you have dinner before coming back? Your relative is a professor. The food at a professor's house must be delicious and greasy."

Lin Baoyan secretly regretted why she had started a conversation with this gossipy person. Look, he's here to snoop around again.

"Everyone has a ration. No one has any extra food. If I stay to eat, someone in my cousin's family will go hungry. Okay, I'm done cleaning up. I'm going to get food. Do you want to come?"

Fang Nan immediately shouted, "Go, why not? No matter how poor the food is, we still have to eat dinner. Otherwise, we will be hungry and will not be able to sleep at night."

She picked up her lunch box, counted the meal tickets, picked up Lin Baoyan's thermos and said, "Li Xiang, can I borrow your thermos? When you're done, I'll put it back for you, okay?"

Lin Baoyan was speechless. You have already picked up the thermos and won't put it down. Is it any use asking for my opinion? Everyone knows that the water room is only open for two hours after dinner. After that time, no hot water will be provided.

"Okay, but you have to use it within an hour. I also need to get some hot water."

Fang Nan replied unhappily, "Okay."

The two went to the cafeteria to get food.

The canteen’s supplies remain the same.

Lin Baoyan didn't choose, she made a steamed bread and a stewed cabbage, and prepared to go back with the lunch box. Before leaving, she reminded Fang Nan: "Remember to return my thermos quickly, I also need to get hot water tonight."

Fang Nan nodded randomly and said, "Don't worry, I'll remember it."

I met other roommates on the way and greeted each other: "You're back, is it time for dinner?"

"Yeah, you guys went straight to the cafeteria from the classroom."

"What? We all went to work."

"Digging the ground is so tiring."

"I dig the ground at home, and I have to dig the ground again when I come to school."

"Well, labor is the most glorious."

"Yes, yes, labor is the most glorious."

Lin Baoyan thought for a moment, why didn’t Fang Nan go to work?

He asked, "Those who stayed in school, did you all go to work? When did you come back?"

"Yes, they all went. They have been working till now and are starving. So they all went to the canteen."

"What about Fang Nan? Did she go home yesterday?" When Lin Baoyan left yesterday, she didn't hear Fang Nan say she was going home, and now she's not sure whether she has gone home.

"She didn't go home, but she went out early in the morning. We didn't see her when we left. She was really lucky. As soon as she left, she received a notice to go to work."

Lin Baoyan remained silent.

The study in the third year of junior high school was very intense. Most of her classmates were admitted from nearby villages and towns, and it was difficult for their families to support their schooling. Basically, everyone was studying very hard.

"I want to take the entrance exam for a technical secondary school. When I pass, the subsidy alone will be enough for me to live on. I don't have to spend money from my family, and my parents and brothers can also be more relaxed. Moreover, when I graduate, I will be assigned a job. With a job, I can transfer my household registration and become a city dweller."

A classmate in the same dormitory said with longing eyes.

Most others agreed with her opinion.

Fang Nan suddenly said, "You want to go to college, right? Isn't your relative a professor at the Agricultural University? What does he teach? I always heard that you have a relative who is a professor, but I don't know what subject he teaches. If you are interested in the future, can't you apply for the major that your relative teaches? Anyway, you are familiar with it."

Lin Baoyan frowned when she heard this.

Here I come again, asking again, and what's with the sarcastic tone in these words?

She said bluntly: "What does it have to do with you to care what my relatives teach? Besides, what do you mean by familiarity? Do you mean I can get a backdoor in the college entrance examination in the future?"

Fang Nan denied it repeatedly: "I didn't, I wasn't, don't talk nonsense."

Lin Baoyan rolled her eyes: "Everyone has ears, don't treat others as fools."

She was too lazy to continue arguing with Fang Nan. They had been roommates for more than two months. She knew what kind of person she was. Anyway, she didn't say it directly, so she just let it go vaguely.