New Neighbor, New Friend

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

Wang Xiaomei was capable and hardworking. She was one of the few educated youths who could earn money from the production team. Frugal by nature and unwilling to spend money when she could get something for free, she had saved up quite a bit of spare cash.

So she really did have money on hand.

She was unlike Zhao Xianglan, who mailed every bit of money she had back home. She had earned that money through blood and sweat—why should she send it back to family members living comfortably in the city?

She was already very sensible without needing them.

Though it pained her a little to spend the money, the moment she saw Zhang Yanqiu bedridden on the kang once again, Wang Xiaomei's hesitation quickly vanished.

She deeply doubted whether Zhang Yanqiu would ever be able to get out of bed again.

Then, thinking of the new batch of educated youths who would soon arrive, Wang Xiaomei suddenly understood.

Educated youths would only keep coming; they would not leave one by one. She had no plans to marry a rural man. If she wanted a peaceful life, the best option was to completely separate herself. Even if they cooked separately, living under the same roof still meant having to help others out.

The more she thought about it, the less worthwhile it seemed. She had to build a house, and she had to do it quickly. What if the southern educated youths also wanted to build houses?

Then she thought of He Yuanfang, who was getting older and still had not married. Wang Xiaomei shuddered. She could not stay in the front courtyard any longer.

Wang Xiaomei felt that in her twenty years of life, she had never been as clearheaded as she was today.

When the village chief heard that Wang Xiaomei also wanted to build a house, he regretted it somewhat.

He regretted not dragging things out from the start. Maybe Educated Youth Lin and Educated Youth Li would not have been able to hold out, and the three girls would have built one house together.

Thinking that the money the three of them would spend on their houses could have built a proper house, his heart ached for the money.

So the village chief came up with an idea. He would not agree to let Wang Xiaomei build a house alone. If she wanted one, she had to find several others to partner with. But he did not stop to think about how many people were even left in the Educated Youth Dormitory.

The village chief had planned well enough, but he had not considered who Wang Xiaomei was. She was a little firecracker who could turn into a bomb and blow up his household at any moment.

Wang Xiaomei neither gave gifts nor flattered him, yet she still forced the village chief to agree to let her build a house.

Lin Yuzhu had not expected to repay the favor so quickly. This time, the green bricks had all been hauled back from the commune by Wang Xiaomei with her help.

Fortunately, Wang Xiaomei was formidable enough to make a scene until the village chief lent them the Ox Cart. Otherwise, the two of them would have been worked to death.

This also made Wang Xiaomei fully realize just how unpopular she was.

When she was building a house, no one in the Educated Youth Dormitory came to help. Wang Xiaomei was sad for only a moment before rolling up her sleeves and going to settle accounts with the people in the front courtyard.

Since they were heartless, they could not blame her for being ruthless.

She wanted her share of the kitchen pots, bowls, and utensils, especially that large iron wok.

Zhao Xianglan had not had any money to contribute when they bought it. He Yuanfang had paid less than one-third, Wang Yang had contributed a little, and Wang Xiaomei had covered all the rest with the money she earned on duty. How could she possibly let others benefit from it?

Another round of chaos erupted.

Under the village chief's witness, Wang Xiaomei traded the large iron wok to the production team for two small iron woks, and only then did things settle down a little.

Then came the iron buckets, kitchen knives, and all sorts of other things.

During that period, the village chief practically took root in the front courtyard.

Lin Yuzhu greatly admired Wang Xiaomei. Even the village aunties were no match for her.

Amid all that bickering and fighting, the house was finally built, and Lin Yuzhu gained a new neighbor.

Lin Yuzhu clicked her tongue and shook her head for the male lead. See? Someone else moved faster, took your territory, and now you could go get revenge.

Wang Xiaomei's smug appearance over those two days deeply provoked Zhao Xianglan.

Zhang Yanqiu, meanwhile, heaved a deep sigh of relief. In her eyes, the trouble had finally left.

Postal workers of that era were worthy of respect. Riding bicycles through wind and rain, they traveled through every village. Some mountain paths were impossible to ride on, so they had to carry their bicycles up them just to deliver letters to every household.

Those who had not experienced such hardships naturally could not understand them.

The postal worker who delivered mail to their village was an old man, probably close to retirement. He was even missing one of his front teeth.

The old postal worker came several times to deliver letters, but none were for Lin Yuzhu, making her wonder whether Mother Lin had forgotten about her.

On a bright, cloudless day, Lin Yuzhu finally heard her own name from the old postal worker.

The letter was from Eldest Sister Lin. Perhaps Lin Yuzhu was not important enough to deserve a letter written personally by Mother Lin. The letter said they had learned her address and asked her to write back once she received it. If they could exchange letters, they would not have to worry about packages getting lost in the mail later.

It also scatteredly mentioned the family situation. Overall, it brought good news rather than bad. Everyone seemed to be doing well, and there was no need for her to worry.

Mother Lin had already begun making her cotton-padded jacket and trousers. Eldest Sister Lin had also found some defective yarn to knit her sweaters and wool trousers. They told her not to waste money buying such things herself, as the family would provide them. They also said that if they could get more cotton, they would make her a thicker quilt.

Mother Lin had often talked about how cold winters in the Northeast were. Reading this, a warm current surged through Lin Yuzhu's heart.

The letter also said that Mother Lin had included some ration coupons for her and told her to check carefully and not throw away the envelope.

Lin Yuzhu picked up the envelope and looked inside again. Sure enough, several coupons fell out: a few industrial coupons and two toilet paper coupons.

Lin Yuzhu sighed. If the original owner had survived that severe fever, she would probably be wiping away tears of gratitude right now.

The past was gone, and Lin Yuzhu did not dwell on it too much. After the autumn harvest, she could openly send some things to the Lin Family as repayment for their kindness.

Ever since Wang Xiaomei had that heart-to-heart talk with Lin Yuzhu, she had considered Lin Yuzhu a friend. She did not care what Lin Yuzhu thought; Wang Xiaomei had decided it unilaterally.

Fine, humans had to admit that they were social creatures. Lin Yuzhu still needed a companion. Whether they would truly open their hearts to each other was another matter. She simply wanted someone around because she was bored. With someone like that, things would not feel so dull, right?

And in her current environment, she was not suited to being a lone wolf. It was not safe.

Wang Xiaomei also received good news in a letter. After reading it in her room, she came to see Lin Yuzhu.

Lin Yuzhu was preparing to make lunch. Seeing Wang Xiaomei come over, she found her rather in the way. She wanted to steam rice.

How was she supposed to cook with Wang Xiaomei standing there?

"Hm, you're not cooking?"

Wang Xiaomei mistakenly thought Lin Yuzhu believed she had come to mooch a meal, so she hurriedly explained.

"Uh, don't worry. I never take advantage of people when it comes to food. I'm not stupid. I have the most food in the Educated Youth Dormitory. I don't take advantage of others, and they shouldn't try to take advantage of me over food either."

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes irritably. "I only came to say a few words. My family sent a letter asking for money again. What do you think they're thinking?"

"I earn money working in the fields. Where would I get money?"

Lin Yuzhu silently said nothing. I have money. She probably has more money than I do. Even after building the house and buying all those things, Wang Xiaomei surely still had quite a bit left.

Her room looked completely bare. Wang Xiaomei's fighting ability was far greater than hers.

"What kind of expression is that? I really don't have money."

"Oh, right, Li Xia, did your family send you any money or coupons this time?"

"Why don't we go stroll around town together when we have time and see what else we can buy?"

Lin Yuzhu was speechless. Thinking of how empty her pockets were, she felt it was necessary to make a trip to town and get a feel for the place, so she agreed to go with Wang Xiaomei.

The two agreed to go to town the day after tomorrow. Since they heard that Li Xiangwan and several other educated youths were also going to town, they decided not to go together with them.

If all the educated youths went to town and skipped work, who knew what the villagers would say? Better to avoid trouble. Everyone basically went to town separately.

After settling it, Wang Xiaomei went back to her room to cook.

Lin Yuzhu stroked her chin. She would have to find a way to send Wang Xiaomei away when they went to town.

Speaking of the system, Lin Yuzhu had to say that its developers were truly sly.

Though one plot of land produced a bountiful harvest and selling it brought in considerable income, upgrading and reclaiming farmland also cost a lot of Contribution Points. Not to mention that the Pasture needed income from crops to support it, and expanding the Pasture also required Contribution Points. Many aspects of the system needed Contribution Points, while its goods tempted users to spend them. Saving up Contribution Points truly required willpower.

Lin Yuzhu was determined not to impulsively buy things. Only then could she make use of the space.

In short, the space was also in a stage where everything needed to be rebuilt. She could not make a fortune from the system for now, but she could still make a small fortune, so she began considering how to earn money.

The space mainly grew rice, wheat, corn, vegetables, and similar crops. She planted whatever she felt like planting. If she went to sell at the Black Market, she did not plan to sell vegetables. They were bulky and cheap, not worth the risk.

As for selling rice and flour, she needed to control the quantities reasonably. Dumping a huge amount of white rice and white flour into the market at once would be asking for death, so she had to carefully consider how many jin to sell.

Cornmeal was cheap, but selling more of it carried little risk. It also counted as refined grain, and market demand for it was considerable.

Lin Yuzhu had the system open the light screen and browsed through the shop. Her gaze inevitably settled on cooking oil.

This would definitely sell well. She just needed to buy some oil containers for appearances' sake.

She then went to the Household Goods Shop and searched for oil jugs. She actually found plastic containers similar to those from this era, so she placed an order for several ten-jin containers to keep as backups.

Looking at it this way, there were still many things she could sell: oil, rice, flour, eggs, and old hens. None of them would be hard to sell.

The hens in the space could no longer lay eggs, so she planned to sell them all this time.

No matter how she looked at it, it was unsafe for a girl to sell things alone. She was not the female lead with plot armor protecting her, so she had better be cautious.

Although she had been in the countryside for a month and had gotten a little tanned, she still looked like a rather delicate young girl. After thinking it over, she decided to spend Contribution Points.

She bought some foundation, cosmetics, and other items from the shop. Taking out the foundation, she deliberately smelled it. Mm, not bad. It had almost no scent.

After that, she spent a large sum on a men's wig.

At this time, if an unmarried girl had a large chest and stood up too straight, people would easily call her improper. Yes, that was how backward things were.

Even city girls mostly bound their chests with cloth bands. As for whether it was healthy, that depended on their physical constitution.

Lin Yuzhu also had a cloth band specifically for binding her chest. She had once lowered her head to examine it carefully. Her chest was not large; a casual binding made it flat. She had to be young and not fully developed yet.

Lin Yuzhu firmly believed that.