To please others? It's better to please yourself.

As soon as we arrived at the village entrance, we saw Accountant Wang waiting there.

The group quickly got out of the car to greet them. Shen He offered him a cigarette, asking, "Uncle Wang, have all the educated youth arrived?"

Accountant Wang took the cigarette but didn't smoke it, hanging it behind his ear. "They haven't arrived yet. They have a lot of people, so they'll be a bit slower. They should be here soon, around the same time as you guys."

Shen He pulled Xu Jianshe over and patted him on the shoulder: "This is my brother-in-law, Xu Jianshe. Jianshe, this is Uncle Wang, the village accountant."

Xu Jianshe immediately replied sensibly, "Hello, Uncle Wang, I'll be grateful if you can take care of me in the future."

Shen He: "Uncle Wang, we'll talk later. We need to get things settled quickly, it'll be even more inconvenient if there are more people later."

"Go quickly, come find me again if you need anything or anything missing."

It was rush hour, so the three of them quickly delivered the goods to their newly rented house while there were fewer people around. They gave the old man who drove the cart three mao each and thanked him profusely.

I walked around the yard. There was a 2-meter-high wall, and the main house was divided into two rooms, an inner and an outer room, a kitchen, a woodshed, a toilet, and a newly built 2*2 meter kang (heated brick bed).

Xu Jing'an took out a large stack of newspapers and a bottle of paste from her backpack, and directed the two people to use the newspapers to cover the entire wall next to the kang (a heated brick bed). Then, they spread another layer of newspapers on the kang, laid the newly bought straw mat on top, then the quilts, and placed two large wooden boxes at the end of the kang. After that, the kang immediately shrank by more than half.

The grain jar was placed in the inner room against the wall, the table and chairs in the outer room, and the thermos and teacup on the table. The water jar, bucket, and pickled vegetable container were in the kitchen. Shen He asked someone to gather firewood, and Xu Jianshe went to fetch water.

Xu Jing'an took a small piece of pork skin out of her bag and helped boil the pot. She then boiled a kettle of water and filled the thermos.

Then place the bowls, chopsticks, knife, and cutting board next to the stove. Place several baskets and wooden basins of various sizes in the corner of the kitchen.

When Xu Jianshe returned from fetching water, he gave Xu Jing'an the money he had spent on shopping, the money for repairing the house, the food expenses, and the round-trip fare. His brother-in-law had run around doing all this, and it must have cost him a lot in terms of favors, so he gave him an extra 50 yuan.

Sure enough, his third sister took the money, counted it, and her gaze towards him warmed.

It took five trips to fill the water tank. It wasn't that the tank was particularly large, but rather that Xu Jianshe had never carried water before.

After fetching water, quite a bit was spilled along the way, and when he returned, the bucket was only half full! This was only because he was walking very carefully.

Just carrying water back and forth nearly killed Xu Jianshe.

Even after fetching water, he didn't dare rest, as there were still many things he hadn't put away.

After the water boiled, Xu Jing'an first poured some water for herself and Shen He from her teacup. Then she moved a small stool over and drank the water while enjoying the breeze.

Xu Jianshe was extremely busy at the moment. He didn't dare to even glance at his third sister.

What, you want his third sister to lend a hand?

What a joke! Those words should never come out of Xu Jianshe's mouth, even if it means death!

Xu Jianshe then busied himself unpacking the packages, carefully placing the clothes for all four seasons, quilts, flashlights, malted milk powder, candy, and other miscellaneous items inside. He then put the money and tickets in, thought for a moment, grabbed a few pieces of candy and put them in his pocket, and finally locked the two large boxes.

Several pounds of wheat flour, cornmeal, and noodles were put into the grain jar and the lid was closed. Then he went to the kitchen and put away the seasonings, pots, pans, and other utensils.

Xu Jing'an took some time to go out and exchange the vegetables for a large basket and twenty eggs. She put the eggs in a small basket filled with wheat straw. The fourth child was sensible and was willing to lend a hand with small things.

Shen He and his men filled the firewood shed to the brim. Only after seeing the villagers off could the three of them sit down and rest.

"Can you start a fire and cook?" Xu Jing'an asked Xu Jianshe.

Xu Jianshe replied, "Yes, my mother taught me at home."

Xu Jing'an looked gently at her younger brother across from her, feeling no emotion whatsoever. "Your brother-in-law and I can only help you this much. If you need anything later, you can get it yourself. You'll meet with the brigade leader and say hello before leaving. After we leave, sign the rental agreement and remember to have them stamp it with the official seal."

"The relationship is there, and once they find out, no one should bully you. If your brother-in-law keeps watching, it will be seen as him using his power to intimidate you. This is Cao Family Village after all, and we can only try to maintain good relations with them as a last resort, do you understand?" Xu Jing'an explained the reason.

Xu Jianshe is 20 years old this year, only one year younger than Xu Jing'an. He understood everything. He quickly said, "I know everything, Third Sister."

As they were talking, a commotion arose outside. Xu Jing'an guessed they had finished work. "Shall we go out and see if the other educated youth have arrived yet?"

Shen He put down his teacup: "Alright, hurry up and meet with the village chief. Jianshe, you sign the rental agreement, and then see how to receive the village's grain and subsidies. Also, meet with the other educated youth; don't be too distant. Even if you don't live together, just treat each other as ordinary neighbors."

Xu Jianshe nodded obediently: "Sister, brother-in-law, I understand." Not too close, not too far.

The group went out the door and headed straight for the brigade office; the current village head was called the brigade leader.

Cao Zhenlin had just sat down to drink some water after a busy morning when he heard a knock on the door. He guessed it was another educated youth coming to see him. Why an educated youth? Because, do you ever see anyone in the village knocking before entering?

"Come in"

As soon as Shen He pushed open the door and entered, Captain Cao stood up with a smile: "Officer Shen is here. This must be Xu, the educated youth?"

Shen He stepped forward and shook the other man's hand: "Captain Cao, thank you for your help. This is the child I told you about. We live far away, so I'm sorry to trouble you so much."

"Don't worry, I understand!" Captain Cao looked kindly at the new young man.

"I still have work to do here and can't stay long. I have to leave soon. Contact me if you need anything."

"Don't worry. It's not convenient to get around by car here, I'll have Old Liu drive you in an oxcart."

Xu Jing'an and Shen He thanked the brigade leader repeatedly and left in an oxcart.

After seeing his sister and brother-in-law off, Xu Jianshe quickly signed a rental agreement with the village branch. The agreement stipulated that the house would only be rented to him for two years.

He paid 10 yuan in rent, took the agreement stamped with the official seal, and received the food subsidy—30 jin of sweet potatoes and 20 jin of cornmeal—before going home.

After Xu Jianshe finished tidying up, ate something, and took a nap, he went out to the educated youth settlement.

The group of educated youth arrived around 4 p.m. that day. When Xu Jianshe went to meet them, there was a chorus of complaints. Within ten minutes, a verbal battle broke out among the female educated youth, which quickly escalated into a physical fight.

This unique "meeting ceremony" between the old and new educated youth was quite an eye-opener for Xu Jianshe. His third sister was so thoughtful; it was wonderful that he moved out.

He can't stand the crowds these days!

Seeing things were going badly, Xu Jianshe slipped away. Let's keep our distance from him!