Face Trouble Head-on, Smash Through It

The old firewood had burned out, and no fresh wood had been added. At last, the flames dwindled to scattered sparks.

Accompanied by faint crackles that sounded now and then from the ashes, the aroma from the small iron pot grew ever more enticing.

"Kong Wu, dinner's ready," Bai Yao called.

He had thought Kong Wu would be quick about tidying his room, but the rice in the pot was already cooked, and the man still hadn't come out.

Of course, Bai Yao didn't think he was doing it on purpose. He figured Kong Wu might be tired, since he had put in a lot of effort along the way.

But dinner was ready, and they still had to go to the educated-youth compound later to meet the veteran educated youths, so Bai Yao had to call him.

If Kong Wu wanted to rest, it would have to wait until they were done.

Thinking this, Bai Yao saw that Kong Wu still hadn't come out and walked over, puzzled.

The door to the west room was open, so he could see Kong Wu struggling with something.

Just as he wondered what could possibly give Kong Wu trouble, his gaze landed on a tangled mass of bedding on the kang.

Yes, a tangled mass.

If he wasn't mistaken, it was the result of a quilt and its cover wrestling to the death, neither willing to let go.

Honestly, in all his life, this was the first time he had seen anyone put a quilt cover on and end up with a mess like this.

Kong Wu noticed Bai Yao's expression at that moment, and his face couldn't help turning red.

He didn't know how it had happened either. It was obviously such a simple little task, so how had it become harder in his hands than taking on a wild boar one-on-one?

Seeing Kong Wu's face turn red, Bai Yao smiled and said, "Hey, brother, need a hand?"

"Yeah, I do," Kong Wu said without standing on ceremony.

Although he was very territorial, he didn't mind Bai Yao entering his territory.

Bai Yao knew nothing about this. After coming in, he didn't even look at Kong Wu, heading straight for the "mass" of bedding on the kang.

Clearly, the "mass" of bedding was more intriguing to him right now.

After all, how could an ordinary person have tangled a quilt and its cover up so tightly?

After tugging at it a few times, Bai Yao understood what Kong Wu had done.

He had stuffed the quilt into the cover, then stuffed it into the cover again, and then again.

All Bai Yao wanted to ask was where Kong Wu had bought the cover. It had somehow held up to all that abuse.

Bit by bit, Bai Yao untangled the quilt and its cover. He glanced at Kong Wu and said, "This is how you put on a quilt cover."

Forget any shortcuts. To keep the cover from being destroyed next time, it was better to stick to the most basic method. At least that wouldn't cause any trouble.

"Put the quilt inside and get all four corners in place. Make sure the quilt is lying flat inside. Finally, pinch the two corners on one side of the quilt, then give it a shake..."

Bai Yao demonstrated as he spoke. With the final shake, the quilt and its cover fit together perfectly.

As for the opening in the cover, it had a zipper.

That was also why Bai Yao wanted to ask Kong Wu where he had bought it. Quilt covers made at home from store-bought fabric rarely had zippers sewn in; they were usually stitched shut with a needle and thread at the end.

"How about it? Got it?" As Bai Yao spoke, his hands folded the quilt up out of habit.

When he realized what he had done afterward, he wasn't particularly embarrassed and simply acted as though nothing had happened.

"All right, let's go eat first. Dinner's ready."

Bai Yao changed the subject and hurried out.

Kong Wu glanced at the quilt and followed him out, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly.

Rice steamed with cured sausage, steamed buns, canned meat, and finally a bowl of freshly prepared malted milk for each of them—that was the pair's dinner.

There was a lot of staple food, but there was no need to worry about waste. After all, Bai Yao had brought out a small iron pot, and with Kong Wu's large appetite, they finished everything they had made.

Once they had eaten and drunk their fill, Kong Wu saw Bai Yao frowning at the bowls and chopsticks and immediately took over washing the pot and dishes as well.

Bai Yao was deeply touched.

All right, at that moment, he once again felt that having Kong Wu as a housemate wasn't so bad.

Of course, he didn't let it go unacknowledged. He immediately returned to his room, took out a small box of dried fruit, and handed it to Kong Wu.

From their conversation over dinner, he had also noticed that Kong Wu was interested in quite a few foods. He looked as though he had only just learned that food could be prepared in so many different ways, which didn't fit his identity as a rich man at all.

But Bai Yao didn't look into it further. As for Kong Wu, he happily ate the dried fruit Bai Yao had given him and didn't forget to share it with Bai Yao.

After a while, Bai Yao checked the time and called Kong Wu to go to the educated-youth compound.

They were going over to meet the veteran educated youths. At this hour, the veterans were probably about to have dinner too, so they could leave after showing their faces. They wouldn't be eating together anyway, which would spare everyone the awkwardness.

With that in mind, Bai Yao and Kong Wu headed straight for the "rear wing" where Hu Yang and the others lived.

They were all newly arrived educated youths, so naturally it was better for them to stick together.

All right, that might fool other people, but Bai Yao didn't care whether he was isolated. If they didn't get along, he could even isolate everyone else all by himself.

The main reason he went to get Hu Yang and the others to come along was to see whether anything lively would happen with them and their protagonist halos there.

Now that they had all been assigned to the same village, trouble was naturally unavoidable. So Bai Yao had also changed his original plan.

He would face trouble head-on and smash through it.

As long as he was fierce enough, trouble wouldn't want to come looking for him either.

Thinking this, Bai Yao and Kong Wu soon arrived at Hu Yang and the others' place.

They knocked, went inside, and saw three brand-new mud dolls.

"You... did you tear the place apart?" Bai Yao was shocked.

With their faces covered in dust, the three of them no longer had the slightest air of protagonists.

He could only say that, these days, even being a protagonist depended on having the looks.

"Ahem, have you finished cleaning?" Jiang Rou asked.

"Uh, we've already finished dinner. We came to ask you to go out front with us. We'll show our faces and leave," Bai Yao replied.

Hearing this, Hu Yang and the other two were somewhat surprised.

"Your courtyard is so big. You cleaned it that quickly? The three of us have only just about finished cleaning this place."

"I can only say that your little house wasn't looked after very well. Our little courtyard only needed a quick cleaning," Bai Yao replied. Then he faintly heard some movement from the front and hurriedly said:

"You three hurry and get cleaned up. We'll go to the front courtyard and meet them in a bit. We won't be eating together anyway, so we'll be back after saying hello."

"All right."

The three agreed and went to get cleaned up.

Bai Yao had thought the three handsome men and beautiful women would need at least ten-odd minutes to get ready, but only three minutes passed before they came out.

The key point!

Only three minutes had passed, yet all three had been completely transformed, even changing into fresh sets of clothes.

Bai Yao: ...

In a movie, that would have been a scene transition. He hadn't expected it to be so fast in real life too. As expected of protagonists.

As he marveled inwardly, the five of them set off for the front courtyard.

They knocked, the door opened, and the five saw Dong Aiguo again, along with the other educated youths in the courtyard.

There are so many people. Good thing we rented a place.

That was Bai Yao and the others' first thought upon seeing the veteran educated youths.

The new educated youths are so good-looking.

That was the veteran educated youths' first impression of the five.