What a Huge Kang

Although Bai Yao had wanted to clean the entire courtyard in one go, they had only just arrived and had no tools. If he cleaned everything up, people might get suspicious, so he had only cleaned the house.

As for the things outside that needed tools, he could only leave them for now.

Even so, he had also taken the opportunity to look over the little courtyard, inside and out.

He had to admit, renting this little courtyard for four yuan was a real bargain.

There weren't many rooms in the courtyard: a bedroom on either side and a main room in the middle. The stove and earthen kang were already there, so once they bought furniture and tableware, they could move right in.

While checking the place, he had also looked at the flue. It was the most important thing for heating here in the Northeast. There was nothing seriously wrong with it, just a little dirt inside, so he had cleaned it out as well, making sure it would heat up quickly when winter came.

Although the courtyard outside wasn't very big, it had everything it needed: a little coop for poultry, a shed for firewood, a cellar for grain, a toilet in the corner, and a well that had been well protected.

Yes, there was a well. That was quite a pleasant surprise. From now on, they wouldn't have to go far to fetch water.

Besides that, west of the courtyard was a small vegetable garden surrounded by a wooden fence, which was also part of their property. This was fairly common in the village; the vegetable garden at the educated youths' compound was the same.

Some families had their vegetable gardens inside their own courtyards, though there weren't many like that.

Bai Yao didn't pay it much mind. He would only grow a few vegetables casually anyway; for most things, he figured he would have to pay for them.

Thinking of that, Bai Yao considered what he could take out of his two sacks of luggage.

Nobody else knew what was inside them anyway, as long as the things he took out weren't too outrageous.

A big iron pot was out of the question, but a cleaver would be fine, along with bowls, chopsticks, seasonings, and the like.

While Bai Yao was thinking about this, he heard a noise outside. Looking through the window, he saw Kong Wu carrying things into the house.

Bai Yao hurried out and saw a huge pile of furniture at the gate.

"A kang table, a kang cabinet, wooden chests, a washbasin stand, a water vat, pickle jars..."

As he listed them off, Bai Yao suddenly felt that Kong Wu had probably cleaned out more than half the village households that had things to trade.

Returning them was out of the question. After all, everything they had bought would come in handy. Kong Wu was quite thoughtful.

With that in mind, Bai Yao started helping too. Of course, he carried the smaller items; he would only get in the way with the big ones.

As they carried things in, he asked, "Why did they only deliver these things to the gate?"

Home delivery couldn't really mean just dropping things off at the front gate. They ought to at least carry them into the house.

"We didn't need help here. Hu Yang went shopping too, and had them go over there to help carry his things," Kong Wu replied as he carried things in without even getting out of breath.

Seeing that, Bai Yao could only say he was getting tired of saying how envious he was.

In the end, Kong Wu took the few small things left and carried those in too.

Bai Yao checked the time and said, "Once you're done, go fetch some water. There's a well in our courtyard, so you don't have to go anywhere else. I'll cook and treat you to something delicious."

With that, Bai Yao went to rummage through his luggage sacks.

As long as he didn't let anyone look inside, he could pull anything out of them.

For example: a small cast-iron pot, two dried sausages, two tins of meat, a bag of rice, various seasonings, and so on.

Since Kong Wu was there the whole time, Bai Yao didn't use the system to cook this time and planned to do it himself.

Although his cooking wasn't at a chef's level, he had plenty of seasonings, and he could still make a delicious pot of sausage rice.

Add in the steamed buns left over from lunch, and this meal would definitely beat what ninety percent of the village households ate.

Kong Wu had no objections to Bai Yao's arrangement. He picked up a bucket and went to fetch water.

By the time the water vat was full, Bai Yao was still cooking the rice.

"Kong Wu, how much did you spend on all those things? I'll give you my share."

"Not much. Just count it as my share of the food expenses from now on," Kong Wu replied.

Bai Yao: ...

Had he said anything about the two of them sharing meals and living expenses?

He hadn't, had he?

Seeing Bai Yao's reaction, Kong Wu hurriedly moved closer and said, "I think this arrangement works pretty well for us. You just need to cook. I'll take care of the physical work, like fetching water and chopping firewood."

Bai Yao: ...

He hadn't meant to object.

Cooking wasn't any trouble for him, and if nobody else was home, he could just have the system take care of it.

"All right. But you still have to tell me how much you spent, so I can count it toward the living expenses," Bai Yao said. He had no intention of taking advantage of Kong Wu.

"Ten... five yuan. I spent five yuan," Kong Wu replied.

Bai Yao: ...

"Come on, look me in the eyes and say that again."

He wasn't stupid. Ten yuan wouldn't be enough for that pile of furniture; even fifteen might not cover it.

What Bai Yao hadn't expected was that Kong Wu would actually do as he said when he had only said it offhand. Kong Wu raised his head and looked Bai Yao in the eyes.

Their eyes met, and Bai Yao froze for a moment. Then he saw Kong Wu's gaze.

Those eyes were clearly so calm, yet Bai Yao felt as though he were staring straight into the mouth of a volcano, as if Kong Wu's gaze might change violently in the next second.

The feeling made Bai Yao want to look away from Kong Wu.

As for Kong Wu, although he continued to stare straight at Bai Yao, if Bai Yao had looked closely, he would have noticed that Kong Wu's ears were a little red and hot.

"Ahem, keep an eye on the fire. I'm going to the toilet." With that, Bai Yao hurried away.

At that moment, he even felt as though he were beating a hasty retreat.

He couldn't help it. Kong Wu was so good-looking that he could barely withstand it.

A straight man! He's a straight man! Bai Yao, remember, he's a straight man!

After warning himself over and over, Bai Yao calmed down.

Once he had calmed down, Bai Yao went back.

Going to the toilet?

That was just an excuse.

When he returned, Bai Yao said directly to Kong Wu, "Since you won't tell me how much those things cost, I'll count it as thirty yuan. Whether that's too much or too little, that's how it'll be."

To be honest, at that moment he felt it would be pretty good to live alone. That way, he could also avoid getting more and more entangled with Kong Wu. After all, Kong Wu was a straight man.

And straight men were deadly killers for people like him.

But since they were already living together, he would just have to be more careful to keep his distance.

With that in mind, Bai Yao asked Kong Wu to watch the fire for him while he went to tidy up the room.

The east room was his, and the west room was Kong Wu's.

Bai Yao: That's right! I'm the head of the household!

First, he laid down a straw mat, then spread a quilt over it to use as a mattress. Finally, he laid a piece of cloth over it as a bedsheet. Once the kang, which occupied half the room, was made up like this, the whole room instantly came to life.

Looking at the heated kang before him, Bai Yao couldn't help sighing inwardly.

What a huge kang. It's a shame I'm sleeping on it alone.

With that thought, Bai Yao put his other things in order and finally locked his chest. Then he was done.

When he went out, he saw Kong Wu was still watching the fire in the same position he had been in when Bai Yao left, and felt like laughing.

He had such a handsome face, yet he had to sit there as stiff as a block of wood.

"I'm done tidying up. You should go take care of yours too. By the time you're finished, the food should be ready."

"Okay."