New Neighbor, Little Companion

This program was produced by Tomato Listening.

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

So, he really did have money on hand.

He was not like Zhao Xianglan, who mailed whatever little money she had back home. Why should he send his hard-earned money back to family members living comfortably in the city?

He did not need them and had already learned to be sensible at a young age.

Though it pained him to spend the money, seeing Zhang Yanqiu sick in bed once again quickly swept away Wang Xiaomei's hesitation.

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

Then, remembering that another batch of Educated Youth would soon arrive, Wang Xiaomei suddenly understood.

Educated Youth would only keep coming; they would not leave one by one. He had no intention of marrying a rural person. If he wanted a peaceful life, it would be best to separate completely. Even if they cooked separately, living under the same roof still meant having to help others.

The more he thought about it, the less worthwhile it seemed. He had to build a house, and he had to do it quickly. What if the southern Educated Youth also wanted to build houses?

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

Wang Xiaomei felt that in all his twenty years, he had never been as clearheaded as he was today.

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

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

Thinking that the money the three of them spent on building houses could have raised 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 he wanted to build one, he had to find a few more people to partner with. But he did not stop to consider how many people were even left at the Educated Youth Dormitory.

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

Without giving gifts or currying favor, Wang Xiaomei forced the village chief to agree to let him build a house.

Lin Yuzhu had not expected to repay the favor so soon. This time, all the blue bricks had been hauled back from the commune by him and Wang Xiaomei with that person's help.

Fortunately, Wang Xiaomei was formidable. He made such a fuss that the village chief lent them the Ox Cart. Otherwise, the two of them would have been exhausted to death.

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

Not a single person from the Educated Youth Dormitory helped him build his house. Wang Xiaomei was sad for only a moment before rolling up his sleeves and going to settle accounts with the people in the front courtyard.

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

He wanted his share of the kitchen pots, bowls, and utensils, especially that large iron pot.

Zhao Xianglan had not had any money to join in when they bought it. He Yuanfang had contributed less than one-third, Wang Yang had put in a little, and Wang Xiaomei had covered the rest while on duty. How could he let others benefit from it?

Another uproar followed.

Under the village chief's witness, Wang Xiaomei traded the large iron pot in the production team for two small iron pots before things finally calmed down a little.

Then came the iron buckets, kitchen knives, and everything else.

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

Lin Yuzhu greatly admired Wang Xiaomei. Even the village women were no match for him.

Amid all the bickering and squabbling, 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. He had not moved fast enough, had he? His territory had been taken, had it not? Go get revenge, then.

For those two days, Wang Xiaomei's smug appearance deeply irritated Zhao Xianglan.

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

Postal workers in this era were worthy of respect. They rode their bicycles through wind and rain to travel across every village. Some mountain paths could not be traversed by bicycle, so they had to carry their bikes over them, all to deliver letters to every household.

Those who had never experienced it naturally could not understand the hardship involved.

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

The old postal worker had come several times to deliver letters, but none had been for Lin Yuzhu, making her suspect that Lin Mother had forgotten her.

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

The letter was written by Lin Eldest Sister. Perhaps she was not important enough to deserve a letter personally written by Lin Mother. It said that they now knew her address and asked her to write back after receiving the letter. If they could exchange letters, they would not have to worry about packages getting lost in the mail.

It also briefly mentioned the situation at home. Overall, it brought good news but not bad, making it seem as though everyone was doing well and there was nothing for her to worry about.

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

Lin Mother 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 Lin Mother had tucked some more ration coupons inside and told her to be careful not to 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 high fever, she would probably have been wiping away tears of emotion by 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 back to the Lin Family as repayment.

Ever since Wang Xiaomei had that heart-to-heart talk with Lin Yuzhu, he had regarded her as a friend. He did not care what Lin Yuzhu thought; he had decided it unilaterally.

Well, humans had to admit that they were social animals. Lin Yuzhu still needed a companion. Whether they truly opened their hearts to each other was another matter. She simply wanted someone around out of boredom. With someone like that, life would not be quite so dull, right?

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

Wang Xiaomei had also received a good letter. After returning to his room and reading it, he came straight to Lin Yuzhu's place.

Lin Yuzhu was tending the stove and preparing to make lunch. She found him in the way, since she wanted to steam rice.

How was she supposed to cook with him standing there?

Hmm, you are not cooking?

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

Uh, do not worry. I never take advantage of anyone when it comes to food. He was not stupid. He had the most food in the Educated Youth Dormitory. He did not take advantage of others, and others had better not take advantage of him when it came to food.

Lin Yuzhu rolled her eyes irritably. I only came to say a few things. My family wrote again asking for money. What do you think they are thinking?

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

Lin Yuzhu silently said nothing. I have money, but I do not even have as much as this guy. Despite building a house and buying all those things, he surely still had quite a bit of money left.

Her room was obviously bare as a bone, and Wang Xiaomei was far stronger than she was.

What kind of expression is that? I really do not have money.

By the way, Li Xia, did you get any money or coupons from your family this time?

When we have time, shall we go to town together and see if there is anything else to buy?

Lin Yuzhu was speechless. Thinking about how her pockets were emptier than her face, she felt it was necessary to make a trip to town and get a sense of the place, so she agreed to go with Wang Xiaomei.

The two agreed to go to town the day after tomorrow. They had heard that Li Xiangwan and several other Educated Youth were also going to town, so it would not be good for them to go together.

If all the Educated Youth went to town and skipped work, who knew what the villagers would say? Better to avoid trouble, so everyone generally went to town separately.

After they settled on it, Wang Xiaomei went back to his room to cook.

Lin Yuzhu stroked her chin. She needed to find a way to send Wang Xiaomei away when they got to town.

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

Do not be fooled by how abundant a plot's harvest was or how considerable the sales income could be. Upgrading and reclaiming farmland also cost plenty of Contribution Points. Not to mention that the Pasture needed crop income for support, expanding the Pasture also required Contribution Points, and many aspects of the system required Contribution Points. It even used goods to tempt you into spending Contribution Points. Saving them required real willpower.

Lin Yuzhu was determined not to splurge, which was why she still had room to make use of the space.

In short, the space was still in a stage where everything needed building. She could not make a fortune through the system yet, 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 caught her fancy. If she was going to sell things at the Black Market, she did not intend to sell vegetables. The quantities would be large, the profits small, and it was not worth the risk.

As for selling rice and flour, she would have to keep the amounts reasonable. Dumping a large quantity of white rice and white flour into the market all at once would be suicidal, so she had to carefully consider how many jin to sell.

Cornmeal was cheap, but selling more of it did not pose much risk. It also counted as fine grain, and market demand was considerable.

Lin Yuzhu had the system open the interface and browsed the shop. Her gaze inevitably fell on the cooking oil.

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

She then browsed to the daily necessities shop and searched for oil jugs. She really found several plastic containers similar to those from this era, so she ordered a few ten-jin containers as backup.

Looking at it this way, there were still plenty of things she could sell: oil, rice, flour, eggs, and old hens. None of them would be difficult 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 thought about it, it was unsafe for a girl to sell things. She was not the female lead, protected by plot armor, so it was better to be cautious.

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

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

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

At this time, if an unmarried girl had a larger chest and stood too straight, people would easily call her improper. Yes, society was just that old-fashioned.

Even city girls mostly used cloth bands to flatten their chests. As for whether that was healthy, it depended on one's physical constitution.

Lin Yuzhu also had a cloth binding specially for flattening her chest. She had once lowered her head to study it carefully. Her chest was not big, and a casual binding made it flat. It had to be because she was still young and had not fully developed.

Lin Yuzhu firmly believed that.