Gift Giving

This program was produced by Tomato Listening. Episode 16: Gift Giving. There was no other way, so they had set up an Educated Youth Dormitory. Fortunately, some of the educated youths had gradually settled down and married locals; otherwise, the dormitory simply could not accommodate the newcomers now.

Once a new batch of educated youths moved in, where was there any room left for them to live?

The village chief told the commune leaders that their village truly had nowhere for them to stay. But since they had rescued him, the leaders simply told them to figure out a way to solve the problem themselves.

Of course, the commune could provide some subsidies, but everyone knew how much that would be. It certainly would not be enough to build an entire house.

Building another house for the educated youths would inevitably mean the village had to pay for it, and the village chief nearly exploded on the spot.

Kindwater Village's residents were more or less made up of three major family clans. From village chief Zhao Fugui, Production Team Leader Wang Tianxiang, and accountant Li Wangsheng, the village's three major surnames were obvious. It was also clear that those three clans did not get along.

Village chief Zhao Fugui was suffering in silence. In other villages, there was either only a village chief or only a Production Team Leader, and that person was practically the sole authority in the entire village, highly respected.

But him? He had to discuss everything with the other two, restrained at every turn. It went without saying that using the production team's money to build a house for the educated youths was no easy job.

What the village chief feared most was the Production Team Leader saying that he had accepted benefits from the educated youths, which was why he was pushing to build them a house.

The villagers did not care about policies or anything else. They only knew that the production team's money could not be spent on outsiders. If this went badly, he would end up offending everyone.

The more he thought about it, the more upset the village chief became. For several days in a row, he stayed home sighing.

The village chief's wife finally could not stand it anymore. She said that if more educated youths came, he should have Wang Tianxiang pick them up. Whoever picked them up should be the one to arrange them. They could not expect the village chief to handle everything, could they? What was a Production Team Leader even for?

The village chief snorted irritably.

"Hmph, do you think he's stupid? Every year when the commune holds meetings, he goes there to take the pressure. Isn't he the one negotiating how much public grain our village turns in every year? If I push the educated youths onto him, he'll just push this job back onto me."

"He's the Production Team Leader. This is what he should be handling in the first place."

The village chief's wife said indignantly.

"Every year after the autumn harvest, the commune holds a meeting to discuss how much public grain each village can hand in the following year. Some villages aren't very smart. The moment they get provoked, they immediately make a military pledge, leaving their villagers to tighten their belts all year long and curse them bloody."

"Look at Upper River Village last year. Their Production Team Leader got carried away for a moment, and the whole village had to tighten their belts. Every year there are meetings, and every year some village falls for it. I don't want to handle that kind of business. One wrong move and I'll become the sinner of the whole village."

He did not want to offend the villagers, but if things went wrong, he might offend the leaders too. No matter how he looked at it, it was not a desirable job.

"What do you know? By your reasoning, I'm still the village chief. Shouldn't the educated youths fall under my jurisdiction even more?"

The village chief's wife choked on her words. She rolled her eyes at her old man and said no more, though she muttered inwardly that these educated youths had come here to earn rations, hadn't they?

How was it not the Production Team Leader's responsibility? She just did not say it aloud.

The couple was feeling rather unhappy with each other when a crisp voice came from the doorway. "Is the village chief home?"

The old couple looked toward the sound and saw Educated Youth Lin standing at the entrance, peering into the courtyard.

They exchanged glances, both wondering what Lin Yuzhu had come for.

Seeing that Lin Yuzhu was carrying something, the village chief's wife hurriedly welcomed her warmly into the courtyard.

Although Kindwater Village had many people, it also had plenty of land. Nearly every household had a large courtyard, and the homes were spread far apart. It was not like the county town, where houses stood in rows with no privacy at all. If someone said something in one courtyard, the neighbors could hear it clearly.

So Lin Yuzhu was not worried about other villagers seeing her carrying things into the courtyard.

It was already getting dark. With only a little daylight remaining, they did not invite Lin Yuzhu inside.

Going indoors meant lighting an oil lamp, and the village chief's family naturally could not bear to waste the oil.

At this hour, even if the things were placed on the table, no one could see what they were. Who would come into the courtyard to inspect them closely? If they could not see clearly even in the courtyard, who could baselessly claim that the village chief had accepted a gift?

Before Lin Yuzhu went to the countryside, the Lin Family siblings had each made some gesture.

Eldest Brother Lin bought her a pound of White Rabbit Milk Candy, while Second Sister Lin had unexpectedly known to give something as well and bought her a packet of brown sugar.

The youngest Lin brother had no money, so he had nothing to offer.

Between the White Rabbit Milk Candy and the brown sugar, Lin Yuzhu ultimately decided to take out half a packet of brown sugar.

White Rabbit Milk Candy was expensive, and aside from giving it to children, it was not particularly useful to villagers. It could not compare to brown sugar, and bringing it out would not make her lose face.

After bringing Lin Yuzhu into the courtyard and having her sit down, the village chief pretended to be angry. "You came, so you came. Why bring anything?"

"You're a young girl who came to the countryside all alone. It hasn't been easy for you. Hurry and take this back to use yourself."

If Lin Yuzhu had actually taken those words seriously, she would have been a fool. Smiling, she said, "Heh, this isn't for nothing. I have something I need your help with."

The village chief was silent for a moment before speaking with a solemn expression.

"What is it?"

"I'm only the village chief. I can't help with anything too major."

Lin Yuzhu glanced at the sky and did not intend to beat around the bush with him. If she delayed any longer, it would be completely dark. Walking home alone at night would not be safe, and she still had to pass through a cornfield.

"I want to build a kitchen at the Educated Youth Dormitory."

Lin Yuzhu stated her request directly.

"What, the older educated youths aren't eating with you anymore? Did they bully you?"

The village chief had never expected Lin Yuzhu to come to him about building a kitchen. Was her money burning a hole in her pocket? Why build a separate kitchen?

Lin Yuzhu's goal was naturally not as simple as building a separate kitchen. She wanted to take things one step at a time; only with a reason could she continue discussing the matter.

So she briefly explained what had happened while cooking today. Eating separately was inevitable.

After thinking it over carefully, she tested the waters. "Village Chief, how about I build a house in the backyard by myself? It doesn't need to be big. Just one room, enough for cooking and sleeping."

If she remembered correctly, in the original plot, the female lead Li Xiangwan had discussed it with the village chief and built a simple little house.

The house truly did not need to be large. One room was enough.

Lin Yuzhu planned to add an enclosed entryway. It did not need to be much bigger, just wide enough to fit a stove. Then the stove could connect to a heated wall and a heated brick bed. That would keep it warm, and cooking would not leave the room blackened by smoke.

It would be roughly like this: upon opening the door, there would be a small entry room wide enough for a stove. If one insisted, it could also be called a kitchen.

Further inside would be the main bedroom. The two rooms would share a wall, made into a heated wall. When she cooked and lit the fire, that wall would become warm—a lifesaver for winter heating.

She could build a heated brick bed beside the heated wall and leave space for a table and chairs.

Altogether, it probably would not even take twenty square meters.

It would be a little cramped, but at least she would have a private space of her own, and it would not cost much.

If it were any bigger, Lin Yuzhu feared the village chief would arrange for newly arrived educated youths to move in.

That would not do. Not to mention that she had secrets, the National College Entrance Examination would return in a few years. She was not a genius. She had been away from books for nearly ten years and naturally needed to pick them up again. Only a separate room would be suitable for studying. There was no National College Entrance Examination right now, so who would revisit their middle and high school textbooks after graduating?

If others asked, she would have to find a way to cover it up. It was too troublesome. More importantly, there was the female lead right beside her. How could she not be wary?

Having a house of her own was best. Besides, there was a patch of wasteland behind the Educated Youth Dormitory's vegetable garden. If they expanded the yard a little, there would be room to build. That way, she would still count as living with the other educated youths, making her less likely to be targeted and relatively safe.

The moment Lin Yuzhu mentioned building a house, the village chief's heart skipped a beat. It hit exactly where he wanted. This was great. Educated Youth Lin would spend her own money to build a house, and it would free up space for one more person in the Educated Youth Dormitory. If several more educated youths built their own houses, that would be even better.

Hearing that Lin Yuzhu only intended to build something small, just enough for herself, the village chief pondered for a moment before tentatively asking, "How about building it a little bigger?"

"It's too small to live comfortably in. If you make it larger, newly arrived female educated youths can be arranged to stay there too."

Lin Yuzhu looked at the village chief with a smile and slowly said, "I don't have that much money!"

"Oh, right. For the kind of small house I'm talking about, how much would it cost to build?"

"If it costs too much, I won't be able to afford it."

The village chief's face reddened. He knew this little girl had probably seen through his intentions. Afraid that she would decide not to build the house after all, he quickly said, "A mud-brick house won't cost much. A house as large as your Educated Youth Dormitory only costs around a hundred yuan. For one as small as yours, forty or fifty yuan should be enough."

"Mud bricks are easy to get. Nearly every family in the village has some. Buying a little from each household will be enough. Or you can make them yourself. If you wait until after the autumn harvest to build, you can save even more money."

"As for lumber, the production team has some. We can allocate some to you. For the heated wall and heated brick bed, it would be best to buy some blue bricks for the bed and a chimney cap, so it will be easier to deal with if it gets blocked later."

"If you decide to use blue bricks, you'll need to go to the commune. I can approve a note for you. For tables, chairs, and other furniture, you can ask Zhao Tiezhu in the village to make them. That won't cost much either. You won't need to pay the villagers for helping out. Just provide them with a meal."

"Fifty yuan will be the absolute most, all told."

The village chief had already calculated it. As long as he said it was for building a house for the educated youths, getting blue bricks from the commune would definitely be easy to approve.

Hearing this, Lin Yuzhu realized that after building the house, she would have almost no money left. At that moment, she was incredibly grateful to have a system. Otherwise, she truly would not have had the confidence to build a house.

A small mud-brick house would practically empty out her savings. She now spent money everywhere on food and daily necessities. If Lin Yuzhu had to ram the earth herself, who knew how long it would take before she could build a house.

Rather than spend that time, she might as well think of ways to make money.

Lin Yuzhu had no intention of ramming earth herself. She discussed the details with the village chief, and in the end, they decided she would buy mud bricks from the villagers. Since it was not coming out of the village chief's own pocket, he naturally agreed to help make the arrangements.

As for the foundation, the village chief did not mention it. The house would be built within the Educated Youth Dormitory grounds and would not take up much space.

To put it bluntly, although Educated Youth Lin was paying for it herself, in terms of ownership, it would belong to the Educated Youth Dormitory.

If Lin Yuzhu married someone from the village, the house would count as belonging to the production team. If she wanted the house, she could pay for the foundation then.

And if she returned to the city, it was not as though she could take the house away with her. No matter what, the village would not lose out.