Everyone at the Educated Youth Point

After Bai Yao and the others came in, Dong Aiguo introduced them to everyone.

"These five are the newly arrived educated youths. They've rented a house from the village chief, and they've come over to meet everyone."

As he spoke, Dong Aiguo glanced at a few people.

Before Bai Yao and the others arrived, he had told everyone about the new educated youths. Before he could even finish, they had started saying, one after another, that there was no room left at the educated youth point.

Now that the newcomers were here, he made a point of mentioning it to tell them not to make fools of themselves. The newcomers had no interest in fighting them for beds; they had rented a house of their own.

But what happened next surprised him and made him frown.

"Oh, why rent a house? The men's room in the educated youth courtyard still has space for several more. Wouldn't it be nice if everyone lived together? It'd be lively, and we could help each other out."

"That's right. We could look after each other if we lived together. You've just arrived, so you're bound to have trouble adjusting to village life. If we lived together, we could take care of you if anything came up."

The two women's voices drew everyone's attention.

That was what they said, but everyone could hear what they really meant. No one present was a fool, and they could all guess something of the pair's thoughts from their expressions.

The first woman's eyes brimmed with affection; she was after a man. The second kept eyeing the newcomers up and down; she was after money.

At first glance, it seemed there were only two of them, but a closer look revealed others who had kept quiet.

It wasn't that such behavior was all that brainless. Bai Yao and the others had simply arrived at too convenient a time.

Just moments ago, the group had been talking about the new educated youths. These veterans wanted to see the newcomers suffer just as they did, yet they also didn't want them competing for the benefits they already had.

And so, the moment Bai Yao and the others came in, their neat clothes and good looks made the veterans realize how ridiculous their hopes had been. At the same time, they couldn't help harboring other little thoughts.

The only difference was that some spoke up, while others kept their thoughts to themselves.

Of course, the ones who stirred the most thoughts were Gu Yang, Jiang Rou, and Hu Yang. After all, one was the only woman, and the other two looked easier to bully.

As for Bai Yao and Kong Wu, they automatically became faceless passersby.

It couldn't be helped. Kong Wu's keep-strangers-away aura was so frightening that they didn't even look at Bai Yao beside him.

Bai Yao, for his part, was content to sit quietly and watch the show.

Just as he was waiting for the next bit of excitement, Dong Aiguo stepped forward and interrupted. "It's their freedom to choose where they live. Spend less time worrying about other people and think about yourselves. If you still don't work hard to earn work points, no one will lend you food when you run out."

After that speech, Bai Yao noticed that all those restless "little thoughts" immediately settled down.

Only then did Bai Yao understand that the educated youth point had remained largely free of major trouble not because all its educated youths were good people, but because Dong Aiguo deserved enormous credit.

He had suppressed all those little thoughts single-handedly.

Dong Aiguo then turned to Bai Yao and the other four, his expression no longer quite so frightening. "Let me introduce everyone."

Dong Aiguo then pointed to each person in turn and introduced them all.

There were six male educated youths: the twins Xiang Qian and Xiang Hou, the tall, thin Zhou Song, the relatively dark-skinned Li Bai, the baby-faced strongman Zhang Dashu, and Dong Aiguo, who was in charge of the educated youth point.

There were seven female educated youths: the introverted and shy Wang Xiuxiu, the prettily dressed Xia Mingzhu, Fang Fang, who had taken a fancy to Gu Yang, Feng Ling, who had set her sights on their wallets, the round-faced Tang Yuanyuan, Zhang Xiaocao, who was lovelier than a flower, and Sun Chunmei, who was in charge.

The ones Bai Yao found most interesting were the twins, Xiang Qian and Xiang Hou. They really did look exactly alike: their height, build, features, and even the beauty marks at the corners of their eyes were identical.

It was hard for him not to recall the discussions about twins from before he transmigrated: were they really identical everywhere?

Then there were Zhang Dashu and Zhang Xiaocao. The two were biological siblings, and their facial features made that easy to tell.

But the difference in build between the brother and sister was far too great. Standing together, they looked like Beauty and the Beast.

For a moment, Bai Yao even thought that if he lived here, there would surely be plenty of amusement to watch every day.

Of course, the thought lasted only a moment before he crushed it.

Move back in?

Absolutely impossible! He wasn't about to seek out hardship for no reason.

Soon, Dong Aiguo finished introducing Bai Yao and the others as well. Gu Yang and Hu Yang received a warm welcome from the female educated youths, while Jiang Rou received one from the men.

Bai Yao and Kong Wu received perfectly ordinary welcomes.

Neither of them cared in the least, and they continued watching the excitement on their own.

"Educated Youth Hu, you've been busy tidying the house this afternoon, so you probably haven't had time to make dinner. Why don't you stay and eat with us?" Feng Ling said, her eyes on Hu Yang's watch, leather shoes, and white shirt.

"Yes, Educated Youth Gu should stay and eat too. You must be tired after traveling all day, so don't bother cooking for yourselves. Have a meal here first. I'll provide your grain, and you can pay me back once you receive your ration," Fang Fang said, her face shy even as she put on a generous air.

Things were even more excessive on Jiang Rou's side. Several men crowded around her, but after Jiang Rou cheerfully demonstrated how she could smash an earthen brick with her bare hands, the space around her immediately fell quiet.

Seeing that, Hu Yang wanted to learn from her, but he didn't have the combat power.

Still, that was all right. He had friends with high combat power.

With a quick sidestep, Hu Yang hid beside Bai Yao, and his sense of security instantly shot to the max.

Feng Ling still wanted to come over, but under Kong Wu's expressionless gaze, she seemed to freeze up for a moment.

She wanted to go, but didn't dare.

On the other side, Jiang Rou finally couldn't stand watching anymore and rescued Gu Yang. While earning his grateful gaze, she also received a jealous, hateful look from Fang Fang.

Seeing this, Bai Yao knew that a conflict had arisen between the female lead and the vicious female supporting character. Next, one would probably make a move, and the other would counter it.

Of course, he wasn't worried about Jiang Rou. The girl's combat power was far higher than his.

"Educated Youth Dong, it's getting late, so we won't disturb you any longer. We'll head back now," Bai Yao said.

The excitement was over, and it was time to leave. They couldn't really stay for dinner, could they?

Dong Aiguo acknowledged him and said, "All right. You can rest for another day tomorrow. If you're missing anything, you can buy it at the commune. Just remember not to be late the day after tomorrow."

With that, Dong Aiguo saw them out.

When he returned to the courtyard and closed the gate, everyone was still chatting and laughing, yet it always felt as though daggers were hidden behind those smiles.

He didn't interfere, though. As long as they kept those daggers hidden and didn't let them out to hurt anyone, all was well. Otherwise, they couldn't blame him for showing no mercy.

"Sigh... a university place..."