Chapter 245: Chapter 245: Selected, Packing Up the Dormitory

“Qinghuan, I got selected! I got in!” Lin Xiaomeng excitedly grabbed Gu Qinghuan’s arm.

Gu Qinghuan glanced at her own wrinkled floral jacket and helplessly let her drag her along.

Yes, both of them had made the list—they were chosen.

Besides the two of them, there was also an unfamiliar male comrade who was selected.

After seeing the results, Jiang Xue quietly congratulated them and left—she hadn’t made it.

She’d changed a lot these days. She used to be so proud, but now she was much more reserved and didn’t put on airs anymore. Maybe something drastic had happened in her life.

Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng followed the school staff to complete their onboarding procedures.

It wasn’t much—just filling out some basic personal information, and then the three of them were given a brief introduction to their work.

The school had already made arrangements: Lin Xiaomeng would mainly be responsible for lower-grade classes, most likely first or second grade, since her teaching style was lively and she was better suited for younger children.

Teachers these days had to be jacks-of-all-trades; you had to know a bit of everything. After teaching Chinese, you’d teach math, then PE, then music.

Basically, one teacher could handle an entire class of students.

Of course, that was only possible because students these days were afraid of their teachers, so discipline wasn’t an issue.

As for Gu Qinghuan, her assignment was still pending. The principal thought she was capable enough to teach middle schoolers, but there were other considerations, so for now, she’d be placed wherever she was needed most.

The other male comrade, Hao Zhigao, was a member from another brigade.

He was assigned to teach math for grades four, five, and six. Once they officially started, adjustments could be made as needed.

For now, the three of them would work in a temporary large office, with more specific arrangements to come later.

As for accommodation, teachers could either go home every day or stay in the school dormitory. Each person could apply for a small single room, but they had to submit an application.

The first task after joining was to help the other teachers prepare for the new semester.

Tomorrow was registration day for the new school year, and there were a ton of chores at school that needed their help.

Of course, Gu Qinghuan and the others didn’t refuse.

Coincidentally, Dabao, Beibei, and Lin Xiaomeng’s son Dacheng were all starting school this year.

After getting their instructions, they were allowed to leave early to go home and pack up for their new jobs.

“Qinghuan, are you going to live at the school?” Lin Xiaomeng asked as they walked, clearly hesitant.

“Sister-in-law, I’m planning to apply for a room first. If I want to go home, I’ll go home. If the weather’s bad or I don’t feel like it, I can just stay here with the kids for a bit.”

She wasn’t going to choose—she wanted both options! After all, it didn’t cost anything; this was a well-deserved benefit.

Lin Xiaomeng slapped her thigh. “You’re right! I was overthinking it. Let’s apply first, and whether we stay or not is up to us.”

So the two of them went straight to apply for accommodation, and Hao Zhigao came along as well.

The teacher in charge of logistics kindly took them to choose their rooms.

There weren’t too many teachers at the school, but not too few either. There were three rows of single-story houses, all staff dorms, including for retired teachers, so there were actually quite a few people.

Some families even squeezed into a single small room—who knows how they managed.

The row they were shown already had seven or eight rooms occupied, with four or five empty ones left to choose from.

These were old, low houses that hadn’t been lived in for a while and needed cleaning before they could be used.

Gu Qinghuan didn’t mind and picked a room at the end—she didn’t want to be sandwiched in the middle, too close to others.

Most importantly, the kang (heated brick bed) in that room looked pretty good.

Each room had a small “kitchen” out back—a simple little shed where you could cook and heat the kang. There was only a single stove hole, but it was better than nothing.

As for the bathroom, you either had to prepare a chamber pot in your room or use the school’s public toilets.

Lin Xiaomeng chose the room next to Gu Qinghuan’s. Since they were from the same place and unfamiliar with the area, it was better to stick together.

Hao Zhigao picked a room at random.

The dorms weren’t separated by gender; men and women lived side by side.

Given the limited conditions, having your own room was already a luxury—no one was picky.

Once they’d chosen their rooms, Gu Qinghuan and Lin Xiaomeng got to work.

Tomorrow was their official first day, so they had to get the dorms ready today or there’d be no time later.

They went home to grab brooms, rags, and other cleaning supplies, plus some basic living necessities like bedding, basins, lunch boxes, bowls and chopsticks, and enamel mugs for drinking water.

Gu Qinghuan’s family had plenty of bedding. Since Xu Huaian had left, there was a spare set at home. Dabao had been sleeping with her and Beibei lately, so she could bring the extra bedding over.

Lin Xiaomeng also had some old bedding at home—good enough for occasional use.

Both women were quick and efficient. First, they gave the rooms a thorough cleaning, sweeping out all the accumulated dust and cobwebs, then wiped everything down with rags until the rooms were basically spotless.

The kang was damp, though, so they couldn’t put bedding on it yet—it needed to be heated up first.

They didn’t have time to gather firewood.

Lin Xiaomeng, being good with words, took a few White Rabbit candies and shamelessly traded them for a small bundle of firewood from a teacher next door who was cooking. She split the firewood with Gu Qinghuan, and they both heated up their kangs.

Once the kangs were dry, Gu Qinghuan felt them—they were nice and warm, so they wouldn’t be cold at night.

They laid out the bedding and put away their other things, and the rooms were ready to live in.

Of course, this was just a basic setup—they’d need to decorate and organize more later.

For example, they’d need to hang a curtain to separate the kang from the door; otherwise, anyone opening the door would see straight in, with no privacy at all. With a curtain, they could at least change clothes behind it.

Outside the curtain, they could put a small table and a few stools under the window.

That way, they could eat, work, or have the kids do homework there.

They’d also need to buy some window paper to cover the windows. Glass would be best, but in the countryside, nobody used glass—if you were lucky, you had window paper; otherwise, you just pasted up some newspaper.

They still needed a kang cabinet for clothes, and as for a kang table, they could bring over the spare one from Xu Huaian’s room at home.

They’d also need a small cabinet for odds and ends—grain, oil, condiments, the kids’ snacks, and so on.

Once all that was in place, the little single room would be packed full."

"Chapter 246: Country-Bought Junk