Away from the big book, the educated youth became the village favorite by running errands

Even when the whistle blew, the meal was still not cooked. The reason was… I couldn’t light the fire.

Song Shuangshuang was puzzled. She had clearly seen how Wan Xue lit the firewood this morning. How come it was the same thing and the same steps, but it didn't work when she was the one operating it? She wasted more than a dozen matches but still couldn't light the fire.

Tan Anjing, who was watching from the side, was eager to try. He took a match from Song Shuangshuang and lit it. He followed Song Shuangshuang's steps to light the kindling stick and stuffed it into the stove pit. Smoke came out after a while.

Song Shuangshuang??? Does this mean he has something against her?

Tan Anjing!! This is quite simple, why can’t Song Zhiqing light it?

Originally they thought they could cook once the fire was lit, but for some reason the smoke grew thicker and thicker, choking Song Shuangshuang and Tan Anjing so much that their noses and tears were streaming. They covered their noses and ran out. Soon the room was filled with thick smoke and they couldn't see anything clearly.

The educated youth who were walking back from work saw smoke coming out of the Youth League Compound and thought there was a fire, so they ran back quickly.

As soon as I entered the yard, I saw Song Shuangshuang and Tan Anjing coughing in the yard. The thick smoke was coming from the cooking room. I didn't have time to think about it and quickly ran to the well to fetch water to put out the fire.

The smoke didn't decrease even after pots of water were poured in. Wan Xue realized something was wrong and asked the two what they were doing. Song Shuangshuang said that they wanted to cook, but they couldn't light the fire. Later, Tan Anjing lit the fire and threw the fire stick in, and it started to smoke.

Wan Xue saw that the firewood she had placed at the entrance to the main hall was gone, and she roughly understood what was going on. "No need to put out the fire, it should not be on fire. Song Zhiqing, did you use the firewood I placed at the entrance?"

Song Shuangshuang nodded. She saw some firewood at the door and thought it was leftover from lunch that had not been put in the firewood room, so she used it directly.

"At noon, the bucket fell over and soaked all the firewood next to the stove. I put it at the door and planned to dry it before using it. The wet firewood could not be lit and only smoked."

It was a false alarm. Everyone put down their fire-fighting tools, went into the main room and opened all the windows to let the smoke dissipate quickly.

Song Shuangshuang apologized to everyone, feeling that she had become conspicuous on the second day after arriving at the educated youth site. How would the old educated youth look at her in the future? They would think she was a fool who couldn't tell the difference between dry wood and wet wood.

No one took it seriously and comforted Song Shuangshuang, saying that they had all made some jokes when they first arrived at the Youth League Institute, and that this was nothing.

Today's dinner was finally prepared by the old educated youth. Song Shuangshuang and Tan Anjing studied on the side, fearing that they would make a fool of themselves again.

In the evening, Song Shuangshuang and Wan Xue discussed whether the girls could regroup. Everyone had seen how Bai Lingling framed them today, and they didn't want to cook with Bai Lingling, fearing that they would have conflicts in the future. They hoped that an old educated youth could be in the same group with them, so they could learn how to cook from him.

The three old educated youths thought about it and agreed that it was not a good idea to let the three newcomers form a group, but who would form a group with Bai Lingling was also a problem. They also saw Bai Lingling's character today, and it would be quite stressful to form a group with her.

Finally, it was Wan Xue who suggested that they be divided into three groups. She and Bai Lingling were in one group, while Fan Lanfang and Lu Xiaotao each led one child. This way, they could learn faster and the division of labor would be clearer. One group would cook, one group would take care of the vegetable garden, and another group could choose to help or go up the mountain to dig wild vegetables.

After dinner, Song Shuangshuang asked about the location of the millstone in the village and decided to take 10 kilograms of corn kernels to grind some cornmeal.

The stone mill is next to the threshing ground. People who don't have a stone mill usually grind grain here, or chat here when they have nothing to do after dinner.

When Tan Anjing followed Song Shuangshuang to the threshing ground, someone was grinding corn, and some village aunties were sitting together chatting with their own stools. Seeing new faces coming to the threshing ground, the aunties stopped eating melon seeds and whispered to each other about who the two girls were.

Song Shuangshuang looked around but didn't see any aunts she knew. She was thinking that if she met someone she knew, she could chat with them for a while and get closer to other aunts. But it didn't matter, who was she? This was the Northeast, and she could be friends with anyone.

The aunts thought that the two girls would be like the educated youth before, embarrassed by their stares, or glare at them impatiently. Unexpectedly, a girl would greet them with a smile.

"Hello, ladies, are you chatting?"

An auntie generously answered, "Are you new educated youth?"

Since the millstone was being used by someone else, Song Shuangshuang didn't want to just stand there and do nothing. She might as well come over and meet some 'new friends'. More friends means more options. "Yes, he just came to our village yesterday."

"He just came out for a walk after dinner." Seeing that Song Shuangshuang was so friendly, the aunts were willing to say a few more words.

"We have to go to the fields tomorrow, come and grind some cornmeal."

"How long will it take for your skinny arms and legs to be worn out? Why don't you ask a male educated youth to help you?"

Song Shuangshuang was chatting with the aunts here, while Tan Anjing was still standing there with corn kernels in her arms. She was worried that if the two of them were not in line, it would not be their turn, so she did not follow them.

Although Song Shuangshuang said this to the aunts, she also looked at the situation here and wanted to finish grinding quickly and go back to rest. Fortunately, the man finished grinding and left soon.

"Aunties, please chat first. I'm going to go and grind something."

[Ding~ Mission updated]

Song Shuangshuang didn't expect the tasks to be updated so frequently. Isn't this giving away points for free? As a result, when she opened the task panel, she was stunned. [Host, please grind 20 kilograms of corn kernels by yourself, and the task will reward 10 points. ]

Song Shuangshuang??? 20 jin??? One person???

She only brought 10 kilograms in total. Are you trying to tire her to death by asking her to grind 20 kilograms?

"System, if you want to change the host, just tell me. I have to grind 20 kilograms of corn by myself. How can I go to work in the fields tomorrow?"

[The host can choose not to do the task and wait for the next task to refresh. ]

Song Shuangshuang closed the system page without hesitation. Are you kidding me? Let her grind 20 kilograms by herself? Don't even think about it.

Tan Anjing had just noticed how the man used the millstone, and suggested to Song Shuangshuang that they push the mill together, which would be faster and less tiring.

So the two men began to grind cornmeal. They were exhausted and sweating. Finally, they finished grinding before dark and quickly put the ground cornmeal into flour bags.

"Let's go back quickly, I'm a little scared." There were no street lights in the village, and the two didn't know it would take so long, so they didn't bring flashlights. There was basically no one on the road at this time. Tan Anjing was timid and seldom went out after dark when she was at home. Even if she went out, she would always go with her family.

Now she was holding the flour bag in one hand and tightly grasping the hem of Song Shuangshuang's clothes with the other hand. In fact, she wanted to hold Song Shuangshuang's hand, but she remembered that Song Shuangshuang didn't like too close contact, so she changed to holding the hem of her clothes.

No matter how brave Song Shuangshuang was, she would not dare to walk at night in such an unfamiliar place. But the auntie she had just chatted with had gone home, and now she didn't know anyone in the threshing ground, and she didn't dare to rashly go over to ask for help, for fear of encountering bad people. She could only muster up her courage and lead Tan Anjing back.

"Don't be afraid, let's go back quickly."

"Brother! Brother! Wait for me!" Jiang Xuyang followed a man carrying a bag of food. The man was tall, over 185cm tall, and walked fast without holding anything in his hands. Jiang Xuyang followed him with great effort.

Song Shuangshuang couldn't see the road clearly because it was dark, and suddenly heard a man's voice, she panicked, fearing that she would run into someone with bad intentions, and wondered whether she should find a stone or a stick to protect herself. Before Song Shuangshuang could find a tool, the footsteps of the two men were getting closer and closer.

Jiang Jingcheng, who was walking in front, noticed Song Shuangshuang and the other man standing on the road and moved aside. Jiang Xuyang, who was walking behind carrying a sack, only looked down at the road and didn't notice his brother moving aside or telling him, so he bumped into Song Shuangshuang carrying the sack.

"Oh my god!" Song Shuangshuang saw the person behind her carrying a sack coming towards her. She couldn't dodge in time and was almost knocked to the ground. Fortunately, she was supported by Tan Anjing.

Jiang Xuyang felt the voice sounded familiar, so he put down the sack and squinted his eyes to take a closer look. It turned out to be the young intellectual who asked him for directions yesterday. She bared her teeth and said to her brother, "Brother, this is the friend I told you about last night!"

Song Shuangshuang got angry after hearing this, "Don't talk nonsense! I didn't agree to be friends with you!" You can't just say the word "making friends" casually, especially when there's Tan Anjing next to you.

Jiang Jingcheng knew that his brother was always unruly, so he raised his hand and slapped Jiang Xuyang on the head, "Apologize!"

Jiang Xuyang covered his head with his hands, unconvinced, and muttered softly that Song Shuangshuang agreed to be friends with him, but he still honestly apologized to Song Shuangshuang and said that he was talking complete nonsense and that he should just treat what he said as fart.

Song Shuangshuang didn't want to pay attention to this unreasonable person, she just wanted to go back to the educated youth camp as soon as possible, but seeing Jiang Xuyang and a big sack blocking the way, Song Shuangshuang said unhappily, "You and the sack, move aside, I want to go back to the educated youth camp."

Jiang Xuyang's eyes lit up. He put the sack aside and took two steps forward, saying excitedly, "It's dark here. I'll take you back to the educated youth site." Then he walked in front of Song Shuangshuang to lead the way for the two of them back.

Song Shuangshuang was about to raise her foot to kick Jiang Xuyang, but Jiang Jingcheng was one step ahead of her and kicked Jiang Xuyang first, but Jiang Xuyang dodged it nimbly. Song Shuangshuang was sure that Jiang Xuyang's agility was developed under his brother's feet.

"Brother, why did you kick me? I was just giving her a ride..." Jiang Xuyang didn't dare to say anything more. His intuition told him that his brother was angry. Then he said with a playful smile, "I was just giving her a ride, telling her to be careful not to fall into the ditch on the way. Let's go, let's go grind cornmeal and go home early." He picked up the sack and ran away quickly.

The road was cleared by the dog-skin plaster, and Song Shuangshuang quickly pulled Tan Anjing back. "You said I fell into the ditch, but you fell into the ditch! Dog-skin plaster!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he heard a sound of "Ah!" from behind. Song Shuangshuang froze and looked back. Only his brother Goupi Plaster was left on the road. Goupi Plaster was nowhere to be seen...

Song Shuangshuang: "...I forgot I had this passive skill."

Jiang Jingcheng looked back at Song Shuangshuang's back. He seemed to have heard what this educated youth said just now, and then his brother fell into the ditch.

Jiang Xuyang climbed out of the ditch with his sack and body. In the moonlight, he saw his brother standing there staring at him expressionlessly. His hair stood on end. He only heard his brother say, "I'll watch you grind that bag of grain by yourself later."

Jiang Xuyang had a sad face. His brother was still so cold and ruthless. He resigned himself to his fate and carried the sack on his shoulder and walked towards the millstone...