Changing Rooms

Produced by Tomato Listening.

Lin Yuzhu let out a sigh of relief. She had offended the village chief a little today, but she figured he would not take it too seriously. The villagers loved going to him to settle every trivial dispute, and as an old man with a bit of male chauvinism, he had been snapped at by the women in the village plenty of times. After being snapped at enough, he had probably gotten used to it.

The village chief's current situation was rather pitiful, really. He was not even as respectable as the Production Team Leader and the accountant. In the village now, those two held more prestige. As for whether he might make things difficult for them later—dream on. There was nothing a gift could not settle. If one packet of brown sugar was not enough, then two packets would do.

There was absolutely no way she could give up the house.

In fact, the village chief later came around on his own. These girls were from the city after all and had seen the world. They were not like the villagers, whom he could intimidate with a few words. Did he expect those little girls to surrender the house without paying them?

How could he possibly pay? Who could come up with seventy or eighty yuan?

When the village chief's wife learned about what had happened that day, she stared at him as though she had witnessed something unbelievable and asked in shock, "What were you thinking? Have you gone senile?"

Even now, the village chief's eyelids kept twitching.

The newly arrived male Educated Youths truly could not come up with any money. They would be lucky if the money on them was enough to buy grain and keep themselves fed.

So, at noon, another argument broke out over switching rooms.

Coincidentally, the two new female Educated Youths were also from Beijing.

As for why so many Educated Youths from Beijing had come to such a tiny village, the male lead deserved the credit.

Over the past two months, the turmoil seemed to have calmed considerably. Although the Li Family had been affected, its foundation had not been damaged.

As a result, Li Xiangbei, with both good looks and a good family background, had once again become a hot commodity.

The two young ladies from Beijing, whose families had a little money, had come specifically for him.

The sisters refused to stay in the southern Educated Youths' room after hearing that an elderly person had died there.

Zhao Xianglan stood to one side with an expression as though the sky had fallen, like a flower wilted after being ravaged.

Zhang Yanqiu, on the other hand, cleverly suggested, "Otherwise, why not build another kang?"

Wang Yang could not help rolling his eyes. "In our room, we can barely move around after putting in a table. Where are we supposed to build another kang?"

This meant they had no choice but to switch rooms.

The two new female Educated Youths were biological sisters. The older sister was Dong Tiantian, and the younger was Dong Mimi. They looked somewhat alike, and just like their names, they looked sweet.

Seeing that the room change was unavoidable, Dong Mimi made one last desperate attempt. She walked up to Li Xiangbei, lowered her head, and said softly, "Brother Xiangbei, I'm scared."

Li Xiangbei froze for a moment, then asked coldly, "You are?"

"We don't seem to know each other."

Dong Mimi immediately flushed red. "Brother Xiangbei, my family lives behind your courtyard. Didn't you and my sister—"

Hey!

Her words were so ambiguous that everyone present thought Dong Tiantian and Li Xiangbei had some unspeakable relationship.

Well, it was something that could only be understood, not put into words.

Li Xiangbei turned to Dong Tiantian, utterly bewildered, and said seriously, "Explain yourself. I do not know her. I can be certain of that."

After saying that, he glanced at Li Xiangwan somewhat guiltily.

Li Xiangwan did not look pleased, while Lin Yuzhu and Wang Xiaomei wore expressions of eager spectators.

The way Zhang Yanqiu looked at the sisters gradually turned hostile, even venomous. It made Lin Yuzhu shudder. That gaze was like a poisonous snake steeped in venom. She definitely needed to stay far, far away from the male lead in the future.

"Comrade Li, it was my younger sister who did not explain clearly. We were in the same class in high school."

"Mm, don't you remember?"

"You dropped a notebook once, and I was the one who picked it up for you. Maybe my sister saw your notebook at home and misunderstood."

"You silly girl, why did you jump to conclusions without asking me first?"

Though she was scolding her, her tone was full of indulgence, as if her own child had made a joke of herself.

The Dong Sisters were clearly working together to build a connection.

In this era, passing a small note between a man and a woman could be described as dating.

It was perfectly normal for Li Xiangbei not to know one or two girls from his class.

"Sorry, I truly do not remember you."

After saying that, Li Xiangbei made it clear he would not say another word. The sisters' expressions stiffened. How were they supposed to get closer to him like this?

The two of them became embarrassed. They had come specifically for him, yet they had never imagined their meeting would turn out like this.

Back in the alley, if the sisters merely smiled at someone, that person would practically rush over to them.

Li Xiangbei's reaction had taken them by surprise. Zhang Yanqiu laughed outright, the heavy mockery in her laughter nearly overflowing.

The Dong Sisters gradually reddened, standing there with aggrieved, pitiful expressions.

Lin Yuzhu figured the room-switching would probably continue for a while. There would likely be no time for introductions. The village chief had not married her off, and she still had to go back and cook before returning to work in the afternoon. She could not afford to delay.

Li Xiangwan was a little annoyed, and Li Xiangbei also went back to cook.

Li Xiangbei had wanted to follow her, but he was one of the people who needed to change rooms and could not get away. He could only watch helplessly as Li Xiangwan left in a huff.

His heart was in turmoil.

Seeing both of them slip away, Wang Xiaomei stopped watching the show and followed them back.

Hearing arguments still occasionally coming from the front rooms, Lin Yuzhu paused and turned to grab Wang Xiaomei.

"What's wrong?"

Wang Xiaomei looked at Lin Yuzhu, confused.

"I'm too lazy to cook. How about I come over and make do with a meal at your place?"

Lin Yuzhu realized that her skin had been getting thicker lately, though she did not know why. Wang Xiaomei blinked and deliberately said, "Then bring your grain over. But don't skimp on the vegetables or chili peppers. Chili peppers are my life. We have to add them."

"Heh, I'm craving something spicy today. Add more, add more."

Lin Yuzhu said with a smile.

Wang Xiaomei always felt there was some kind of scheme afoot.

"Fine. Bring your grain over, and later you can go pick vegetables from the garden. I'll cover the firewood costs."

After all, Wang Xiaomei still had to cook. She would not trust Lin Yuzhu with it.

And so, when Wang Xiaomei watched Lin Yuzhu pick half a basin of small chili peppers and a small handful of celery, she sucked in a breath and asked in surprise, "That's all? You picked all of it? Can you even eat that much?"

"I want spicy food!"

While Wang Xiaomei cooked, Lin Yuzhu sat in the yard sneezing nonstop. It was fucking choking.

The meal in the back courtyard was already finished, while the people in the front courtyard had only just begun reluctantly switching rooms. Even then, they were still arguing, especially over the beds by the windows and doors in the female Educated Youths' room. No one wanted to sleep there.

Zhang Yanqiu was no longer the rookie she had once been. These past few days, the autumn wind had blown so fiercely that she was questioning her life.

Though the dispute was intense, the smell of food drifting over from the back courtyard made everyone hungry without exception.

Their side had cold pots and cold stoves, with no one organizing a meal. They had also fallen out with one another, making the atmosphere extremely strange.

Zhao Xianglan's eyes rolled as an idea came to her. She left the room and headed for the back courtyard. She went to find Li Xiangwan and hesitantly explained that the front courtyard probably would not be able to cook today.

The new Educated Youths did not seem very sensible, and the village had not issued them any grain. Zhao Xianglan did not dare lend out grain without permission, afraid that once she started, she would not be able to stop. She was also worried that the two sisters would not pay back the grain.

In short, she looked down on the two new female Educated Youths immensely and did not particularly want to help them. Li Xiangwan seemed to feel the same way, so she kept Zhao Xianglan there to wait for Li Xiangbei and Wang Yang to come eat together.

Zhang Yanqiu had more or less guessed what Zhao Xianglan had gone to do. She was only two steps behind and happened to see Zhao Xianglan remain in Li Xiangwan's room. Her eyes flickered, and she also began chatting with Li Xiangwan.

Unfortunately, there was not enough food at Li Xiangwan's place, so Zhang Yanqiu had no choice but to turn and look for Lin Yuzhu.

Coincidentally, Lin Yuzhu was eating with Wang Xiaomei today.

Not to mention the mess between her and Wang Xiaomei, Zhang Yanqiu could not stand the chili peppers in the dishes either. She could only return to the front courtyard looking crestfallen.

The Dong Sisters had not brought any rations when they came to see the Educated Youth Dormitory, and they were not cooking either. They could only pin their hopes on Li Xiangbei and Wang Yang, who were also from Beijing. Before they could say anything, however, Li Xiangbei and Wang Yang left the room. The sisters were baffled, wondering why everyone was heading out at this hour.

The two followed them together.

Li Xiangbei wore a cold expression, while Wang Yang, following behind him, was sweating profusely. He was afraid that if he tagged along, he might not get any food and would be thrown out.

When they saw Li Xiangbei and Wang Yang enter Li Xiangwan's room, the Dong Sisters were confused. Curious about why they were going into someone else's room, they followed them inside.

The moment they entered, they saw four people seated around the table, ready to eat. They had not expected Li Xiangbei to share meals privately with female Educated Youths, and their vigilance immediately rose.

Zhao Xianglan's looks were nothing to worry about, but Li Xiangwan was truly beautiful. She had a palm-sized oval face, skin so fair it seemed to glow, and such tender skin it looked as though water could be squeezed from it. Her clear, dazzling peach-blossom eyes were especially eye-catching, while her delicate nose and cherry lips made her look like a seductive peach blossom that no one could look away from.

The more Dong Tiantian looked, the colder her heart became.

Dong Mimi blinked her moist almond eyes and cautiously said to Li Xiangbei, "Brother Xiangbei, we rode in the car all the way here, and now we're tired and hungry. Could we..." She did not state it outright, but her eyes were full of implication, and she kept glancing at Li Xiangwan.

There was only so much food. Having enough for Zhao Xianglan was already quite good.

Li Xiangwan lowered her eyes and focused on eating without saying anything.

After all, they were not asking her.

Li Xiangbei broke out in a cold sweat and looked at Li Xiangwan guiltily. He thought the Dong Sisters had no sense of manners. Li Xiangwan had already been so cold toward them; did they still not understand that she was deliberately keeping her distance?

"There isn't enough food," Li Xiangbei said coldly.

The Dong Sisters left Li Xiangwan's place looking aggrieved, then turned toward Lin Yuzhu's side.

Getting a free meal was a small matter. Their main purpose was to gather information and get to know everyone.

Looking at the two sisters at her door, Lin Yuzhu thought they truly were spoiled young ladies who did not know the hardships of the world. They had come empty-handed expecting a free meal. Did they not stop to think why anyone would feed them?