communication

The house was full of joy. The men had all gone to the fields as it was almost time for work, leaving the women busy at home. Xu Nian wanted to help but was pushed out, so she was left to have fun.

Xu Nian thought that it was just right that someone didn't know the news yet. She would write a letter now and mail it tomorrow. By the time he arrived at school, her letter would probably arrive two or three days later than his.

Writing a letter to her boyfriend for the first time was a new thing for Xu Nian. She clasped her hands for a while and thought for a long time before she started writing.

Dear Boyfriend:

Did you have a good day today?

Haha, even if you were unhappy just now, you must be happy now after receiving my letter!

First of all, I want to express how much I miss you. As soon as you left my sight, I felt empty in my heart, but you were gone. I had no choice but to go to your bed and sleep for a while. You don’t know how magical this short sleep is. Let me share my joy with you.

My boyfriend, I received the admission letter. At this moment, I had imagined in my mind what I would be like. I would probably be very calm. Hey, after all, your girlfriend is someone who has taken the college entrance examination for the fourth time. When I write here, you must be wondering why it was the fourth time. Hehe, I always forgot to tell you that I also experienced the college entrance examination in my dream life. Although the final results and schools were average, I still got in.

Now coming back to the moment when I received the notice, I found myself not calm at all, and my hands were shaking slightly (because of this, when my neighbor said something sarcastic, I actually forgot to reply, fortunately Ms. Lu Mei argued for me), but I was so happy, I felt that I was awesome, and at this time I thought of you again, are you thinking now that I am going to thank you and praise you next, haha, you guessed wrong.

My real thought was, "Oh my, Xu Nian, how come you have such good taste? Not only do you have good taste, you're also so hardworking. God! Only Xu Hongqi is worthy of you."

How about it? Is it beyond your expectation? I think you must be laughing now. After all, I am so cute and funny.

Now it's time for me to go to bed after dinner. It's so lively today. My mother didn't even celebrate the holidays or the New Year, but she killed two chickens to celebrate my admission to university. You don't know how sad my aunt's eyes were. She couldn't even enjoy her meal.

But they didn’t know that I wasn’t actually enjoying the meal as much as usual.

I rarely admit to my shortcomings, but recently I've had to admit one: I'm too dependent on others. I thought I could overcome our separation, but it turns out I can't stop thinking about you. When I'm eating, I wonder, "What are you eating right now?" When I'm having fun, I wonder, "Are you reading again?" And when we're having a lively time at home, I wonder, "Are you feeling a little lonely today?"

Oh my, what should I do?

At this time, I had another crazy thought: how nice it would be if you were there? But when I looked at the moon and thought deeply, I felt that it was impossible...

You are so smart, hardworking, independent, strong, and brave. You are doing things that many people cannot achieve in their lifetime. Not only do you work hard for yourself and make it shine, you also work hard for our country and provide strength for its prosperity.

As excellent as you and me, we should do meaningful things, soaring like an eagle in the sky.

My dear boyfriend, I’m going to stop writing here today. I’m a little sleepy and I’m going to find you in my dreams.

Girlfriend Xu Nian

1979.08.03”

Xu Nian mailed the letter the next day. She planned to spend the rest of her time with her family. Xu Hongqi's departure not only made Xu Nian miss her more, but also gave her a lot to think about. When she was about to go to college, she realized that the days she would be able to spend with her parents would become less and less. They began to become left-behind people, watching their children soar.

Xu Nian thought so, and so did Xu's father and mother. They lay on the bed and talked in the moonlight.

"My daughter had to be away from home for four years just to go to college. At the time, I was just happy that she got into school. Now I think it would be difficult for her to come back if she missed home."

Father Xu continued, "I also feel a little regretful. We don't have anyone here in the capital. If I get sick or hurt a little, I won't even be able to find anyone to take care of me."

"I don't think you regret that Nian Nian has no one to take care of her in the capital, but you regret being too cruel to Hongqi." Mother Xu knew very well that she had slept with the man for her whole life.

Father Xu sat up and patted Lu Mei. "Do you think that kid is blaming me? I took him to the station and gave him money, but he didn't even look at it. Then he said the bus was almost arriving and ran away in a hurry."

"He doesn't want money. It's because the child is capable. You should be happy. Nian Nian will never have to worry about food and drink if she follows him. Hongqi can handle things and even the family. I think you're just overthinking it. He will definitely understand us."

Father Xu still shook his head. "I don't know how to tell you, it's just that feeling."

“Hey!”

Xu's mother yawned. "Don't think about it. With how capable our Nian'er is, I don't think you need to worry. If Hongqi really becomes our son-in-law, he will respect you so much that he won't have time to bother you. Go to sleep quickly."

Xu's mother was content with having a daughter. Seeing her sleeping soundly, Xu's father finally lay down as well...

Xu Nian's notice stated that she should report to school on September 6th. Xu Fengcheng took her to the station to check the train schedule and time, and found that the latest she had to leave was on September 1st.

This time was a bit tight for Xu's mother. After two days of rain, she took all the strong men in the family to the back mountain to dig bamboo shoots and mushrooms when the rain subsided. In short, they dug up anything edible they saw in the mountains.

It took him almost a whole day to get home. The next day, he took the clever women in the house to wash, rinse, cut and dry the clothes, for he was worried that Xu Nian would not eat well or sleep well at school.

On August 27th, Xu Nian's elder sister Xu Le returned with her family.

Xu's mother was happily busy in the kitchen, while Xu Le was eating the ripe persimmons that Xu's father had picked by climbing the ladder.

"Sister, you haven't changed at all."

Xu Le reached into his pocket and took out twenty yuan.

"Next, this is given by your brother-in-law and me. Congratulations on getting into university."

Xu Nian didn't hesitate and continued, "Hey, thank you, sister. I'll see if there's anything suitable for you in the capital and mail it to you. Remember to visit the post office more often."

"Okay." Xu Le was even more blunt.

Seeing the two sisters getting along well and working harder, Xu's mother took advantage of a break from cooking to whisper, "Are you really not planning on having another child? Your mother-in-law will probably be unhappy."

Xu Le had only a handful of persimmons left. She threw the food into the stove and said calmly, "What can she do if she's unhappy? My father is a veteran farmer, my mother is famous for her dexterity, my younger brother is a worker, and my younger sister is a university student. Even my most insignificant brothers are strong. How can she be unhappy in front of me?"

Mother Xu was speechless for a moment, but soon she started to laugh. "Okay, both of our daughters are capable. I was mistaken before, thinking that you had no confidence because you didn't give birth to a boy for their family. Now I think that even if you leave his family, you won't have to worry about not getting into trouble."

"Mom, I don't want to leave the Second Defense yet." Xu Le said to her mother and then said to Xu Nian, "Sister, study hard."

That look made Xu Nian's mouth twitch. What was going on? He felt that the twenty yuan in his hand was particularly hot.

After lunch, Xu Le took her husband and daughter home with a basket of persimmons.

In the evening, Xu Fengcheng came back on his bike, and his mother hurriedly kneaded the dough and made noodle soup for her son.

Xu Nian was almost asleep at this time, but his nephews and nieces heard that their third uncle had returned home and made a lot of noise in bed and wanted to go out to find him.

Xu Fengcheng was very clear about his charm. He gave some of the snacks in his bag to the little ones and instantly received countless flatteries. He ate them contentedly with the noodle soup.

After Xu Fengcheng finished eating, he specifically asked Xu Nian to wash the dishes for him. Xu Nian was so smart that he even washed the dishes for him, which was clearly a silent rejection.

Xu's mother was tired after a day of work and couldn't stay up late, so she went to bed after cooking.

Xu Fengcheng chuckled, "Really not going?"

Xu Nian rolled his eyes at him.

"Okay, I'll take this letter from someone for free. I'll return it to the post office tomorrow."

Xu Nian immediately stood up, picked up the bowl and walked to the well to pump water, then washed the bowl and the pot.

Xu Fengcheng "tsk tsk" twice, and before his sister could hit him, he gave the envelope and ran back to his room.

Xu Nian touched the thickness of the envelope and felt that it was different from usual, but it didn't feel like a piece of letter paper either. He ran back to the house, lay on the table, and carefully opened it.

What fell out was a piece of cardboard with her information written on it. She had never seen this thing before, but it felt like a remittance slip.

Xu Nian took out a piece of letter paper from the envelope. As usual, Xu Hongqi explained what he had done every day recently. It was a lot of random things, and he just wrote "I miss you" at the end. Xu Nian curled his lips and turned to the last page of the letter paper, which explained the thing that looked like cardboard just now.

"Niannian, school should be starting soon. I should have sent you off, but I couldn't leave during the critical verification period. Fortunately, I started receiving allowances, which is a reward for our team.

After you go to college, don't work too hard. I have set up a wire transfer for you. It's more convenient. I will send you money every month. Remember to collect it.

I wrote about how to use this here, please take a look.

The bank sends the remittance information to the bank in the recipient's location via the telegraph system. After receiving the telegram, the receiving bank will notify the recipient to come and collect the money.

I miss you, don’t miss you! "

Xu Nian couldn't believe that she had guessed it right. This boyfriend was really good. Compared to herself who mostly just talked, Xu Hongqi was really sincere.

This also shows that the choice of the two is correct. Without the distraction of her, Xu Hongqi can devote himself to work better. As for herself, without Xu Hongqi, in addition to freedom, she also has money to earn. She is really very happy.

Following the saying that one should be grateful for what one has received, she immediately stopped feeling sleepy and quickly wrote five or six pages of sweet words to express her overwhelming love.

The next afternoon, Xu Fengcheng had to go back to the county to work. Xu Nian took advantage of his relationship with the sister of the state-owned restaurant and made him willingly take her letter and mail it away.