069 Passionate yet reserved

"Wasting food is an unforgivable sin!"

The waiters at the state-run restaurant pointed seriously to the slogans on the wall to remind them.

The other sign next to this one reads: "No hitting or verbally abusing customers."

Lin Yiku assured him, "We can finish it!"

"We'll pack up the leftovers," Guan Yuehe added from the side.

Before entering the state-run restaurant, Lin Yiku was worried that she might feel embarrassed to order too much food and wouldn't have enough, so he specially showed her the money and coupons he had brought.

Who knew that Guan Yuehe had also brought quite a lot? She felt that since it was a first date, they should eat their fill so as not to spoil the fun.

The two of them had quite a lot of money, and they didn't keep a single penny when ordering food.

The waiter thought to himself that he had already reminded them and that they had said the rest would be packed up, so he then told the head chef in the kitchen the names of the dishes.

Upon hearing this, the chef exclaimed, "Oh my!" and asked, "Which big factory leader has brought his entourage to dine here again? Are they paying or on credit?"

"The two young people looked like they had just met through a blind date, and they didn't run any debts."

"No wonder!"

Guan Yuehe takes everything seriously, and right now she's staring intently at Lin Yiku.

As she looked at him, she seemed to discover something unusual. She pointed to the left side of his nose, where there was a mole that she hadn't noticed before!

"Would you like to ask me anything else? Like my salary?"

Guan Yuehe waved her hand, "No need, Sitian let it slip once, I know."

She was shocked at the time, and even couldn't help but feel envious: How come Lin Yiku's salary and subsidies are so much? Can he spend it all?

Lin Yiku was helpless and forgot about his sister.

Before today, she already knew everything she wanted to know, so why would she need to ask him?

But soon she realized that she had missed something.

She asked him if he could rest on Sundays from now on, and if he had any free time at school.

Lin Yi shook his head, saying he wasn't sure, but even if he could rest, he probably wouldn't leave the school.

“That’s true. Going to school is quite mentally taxing. If you can’t keep up in class, you have to catch up during breaks.” Guan Yuehe understood perfectly. After all, that’s how she did it when she was in worker-peasant-soldier university. Being able to go home once a semester was already a good thing.

"It's okay if you don't leave the school. Going for further studies is still the most important thing."

“We can’t come back, but we can keep in touch by writing letters.” Lin Yiku said, “I’ll send you some cured meat from Hunan Province. I have an old partner whose family is from Hunan Province. He often receives cured meat from his family. You should like it.”

Everyone likes to eat meat. But, "Your old partner was transferred back to his hometown too?"

Lin Yiku then realized that perhaps what they were saying was somewhat different.

After considering for a moment, Lin Yiku finally said, "The school I'm studying at is in Hunan Province."

Guan Yuehe: !!!

"Isn't it in Beijing?!"

"No." Lin Yiku's feelings were somewhat complicated as she explained, "It used to be in Harbin, but it moved to Hunan Province a few years ago... Yuehe, you can't go back on your word, can you?"

"...Is it too late to back out now?"

"It's too late," Lin Yiku reminded her. "Everyone in your factory knows."

What else could Guan Yuehe say? That she'd gained some new insights? How come this military academy for advanced studies is in Hunan Province?!

Why didn't she think to ask for clarification before tacitly acknowledging that Lin Yiku was studying at a school in Beijing?

She frowned for a while, then she came to her senses.

"Forget it, it doesn't matter whether you study in Beijing or not. You won't have time to go home anyway, you'll just be writing letters."

"I have a roommate who's also from Hunan province. Once, her family sent her some chili sauce, and she would put a huge spoonful of it on every steamed bun she ate! Another roommate who doesn't eat spicy food copied her and put a spoonful of chili sauce on her bun too, and ended up spending two days in the infirmary, haha..."

Lin Yi breathed a sigh of relief and then laughed, "Then I'm in a bit of trouble. It might take a while before I can eat a bun with a spoonful of chili sauce."

"Actually, it's quite delicious."

When the topic turned to food, Guan Yuehe became more talkative. "If we can buy pig's trotters another day, we'll ask Grandpa Ming for help. He makes especially delicious braised pig's trotters."

It's a pity that the original head chef of the state-run restaurant in Changhu Street was gone; the meat buns made by others weren't as fragrant.

Just as I was thinking about meat buns, the waiter called them to bring out the dishes, including a large plate of white steamed buns.

As soon as the food was served, the two of them tacitly stopped talking and began to focus on eating.

A waitress nearby kept glancing at them. She was keeping an eye on them; if these two dared to waste food, she would report them!

"waiter!"

The waiter had been busy with other things for a while when he remembered the two of them. When he looked back, half of the food on the table was gone.

The two people, however, continued eating with their heads down.

They don't look like they've been starving for days, nor do they look like they haven't eaten anything good... So there's only one possibility: they're just big eaters.

When they left the state-run restaurant, they only packed the remaining two steamed buns. After watching them walk away, the waiter sighed and muttered: "Two big eaters living together, even the richest family can't support this kind of eating."

The two, who had a good appetite, pushed the cart slowly forward, and it took them more than ten minutes to reach the movie theater at the car factory.

Guan Yuehe specifically asked Xu Sansao to help her exchange for movie tickets, as she felt embarrassed to accept the ones given out by the social event, thinking that it was no different for the two of them as if they hadn't participated at all.

"Want some soda?" the two asked each other at the same time, exchanged a glance, and walked forward in tacit understanding, ordering two bottles of soda.

Guan Yuehe whispered to him, "I think the soda produced by our car factory doesn't taste good. Only Arctic Ocean soda tastes good."

"Next time, let's go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy Arctic Ocean soda first, and then come to see the movie."

Guan Yuehe didn't grasp the other meaning behind his words, unaware that he was already planning their next date. She directly rejected his suggestion, "It's one thing for others to bring in other sodas, but we're factory workers' children, it would be so embarrassing if the car factory workers saw us! We can't do that!"

Today, other workers were in charge of selling tickets and showing films at the cinema. I didn't run into Xu Laosan and his wife, otherwise they would definitely have been pulled aside and questioned.

I was lucky this time; I didn't encounter any loud adults or children, nor was my chair kicked.

The seats in the movie theater were all very close together, and since neither of them were petite, their arms touched as soon as they sat down.

Taking advantage of the darkness below, with only the light from the curtain, Guan Yuehe suppressed her laughter and quietly reached out her hand. She first touched the back of his hand with the back of her hand, and when he didn't react, she grabbed his four fingers little by little.

The next second, the hand she had grabbed tightened around it, and the calloused palm pressed firmly against the back of her hand.

Under the cover of darkness, Guan Yuehe smiled with her eyes crinkling.

The sounds of the film filled their ears, along with the noise of people around them cracking sunflower seeds, drinking soda, and whispering. The two of them stared intently at the screen from beginning to end, their eyes shining even in the darkness. They seemed to be the most focused viewers in the entire theater.

In the instant the film ended and the lights came on, their clasped hands silently separated, their eyes, brimming with autumn water, conveying a passionate yet reserved emotion.

—

When they got home, Guan Yuehe didn't argue with him about who would ride the bike. She grabbed his shirt, which was billowing in the wind, and looked up to see the sunset glow filling the sky. A faint, sweet fragrance wafted to her nose.

As the car sped up going downhill, she wasn't paying attention and her face ended up pressed against his back.

Although they separated quickly, Guan Yuehe still noticed something funny.

"Lin Yiku, your ears are red!"

Lin Yiku didn't intend to stick to her guns and frankly admitted that not only her ears were red, but her face was probably a little red as well.

The people in the back seat immediately burst into laughter.

Guan Yuehe was also secretly touching her burning cheeks and fanning herself with her hand, trying to cool down the heat.

"It's so hot today!"

As they passed a guesthouse, they unexpectedly bumped into people coming out of it. Both sides were a little embarrassed, but luckily the bicycle sped past them, saving them the trouble of deciding whether to say hello.

"The two of them, have they always been like this?" Lin Yiku asked in disbelief.

“That’s right! I’ve run into them several times already!” Guan Yuehe sighed. “I’ve always avoided them when I saw them from afar, just in case this happens. It’s so embarrassing.”

The two people who were caught by them were even more embarrassed, and they almost went in the wrong direction.

—

"Oh! You two came back together? Perfect, you both went to the social gathering, any good news?"

The elderly folks at the alley entrance were waiting for the two of them. A couple of days ago, everyone knew that Guan Yuehe was going to attend a social event at the clothing factory, but this morning they found out that Lin Yiku was also going.

They even wondered if these young people had made a pact to date and meet each other's parents this summer.

At this moment, Zhang Chaonan also returned and was asked by the elderly people, "Chaonan, did you go to the movies with your partner again?"

Zhang Chaonan: "......"

Zhang Chaonan blushed, too embarrassed to look at Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku, and quickly pushed his cart home.

The older folks weren't surprised at all, and they even muttered to themselves, "They've been married for quite a while now, why are they still so embarrassed to go out on a date and see a movie?"

Turning around, I wanted to ask Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku, only to find that the two of them had already slipped home.

Guan Yuehe pushed her cart back to Courtyard No. 3. She was all smiles as she stepped into her home, waiting for the secret to be revealed, which would shock the whole family.

Unexpectedly, everyone was busy with their own things. My parents were preparing dinner in the house, and my older brother asked, "Are you back?" before going out to find Weiwei and Jingjing.

Jiang Guiying brought out the dishes expressionlessly. "What are you standing there for? Get your bowls and chopsticks and eat."

Huh? Is this your attitude?

Aren't you curious about how her social event went? Didn't I just want to ask her this morning who she liked?

She peeked out to look at the neighbor's house, but it was quiet there too.

A moment later, a neighbor in the yard came straight to the house next door with a gossipy look on his face. "Yiku, have you taken a liking to any of the women?"

Guan Yuehe listened for a while, when suddenly there was a gasp from the other end, as if they had heard something terrible.

She guessed what was going on, scratched her face, and turned around to see her parents staring at her.

Jiang Guiying was the first to lose her act. She came over, laughing and angry at the same time, and grabbed her clothes, telling her to sit down and confess honestly.

"Tell me, when did you and Lin Yiku start dating?"

Oh?! So you already guessed it!

"It only started today."

Guan Canghai clicked his tongue several times in a row, "You two are good candidates for underground intelligence work. You hit it off without anyone noticing!"

"It's alright," Guan Yuehe said modestly. She felt she was a bit more capable than Lin Yiku; even Sitian wouldn't have guessed it if she hadn't said anything! But she did guess that Lin Yiku had feelings for her, hehe!

"Is your dad praising you? Stop changing the subject, tell me honestly, when did you two start having these thoughts?"

Guan Yuehe twisted her fingers into a pretzel, refusing to answer the question, and instead asked, "Dad, how did you woo Mom back then?"

"Why bother talking about these upsetting things?" Jiang Guiying couldn't help but poke her arm. "Now, let's talk about your own problems."

Guan Canghai disagreed, "How is it a troublesome thing?"

"This is none of your business, so don't say a word!"

Before Jiang Guiying could ask any more questions, the neighbors who had gone to the next house swarmed over again. "Guiying, did you and Fang Qin already agree to let Yuehe and Yiku be a couple? I was wondering why these two young people wouldn't agree to be set up by others. So you've already set your sights on them, haven't you?"

"Guiying, congratulations! Your two families will be neighbors and in-laws from now on, and your children can live with you."

"When are you going to have a banquet? Oh my, it's rare to find two young people in our No. 3 courtyard who are mutually attracted. It's really not easy."

Jiang Guiying and Guan Canghai were busy dealing with their neighbors. Although they hadn't informed each other beforehand, their replies were almost identical to those of Grandpa Lin and Grandma Fang:

"We didn't expect the two kids to fall for each other; we just found out."

"Marriage? It's too early. Yi Ku still needs to continue her studies, and we also want to stay in Yuehe for another two years. We'll talk about it in two years. It mainly depends on what the children think."

The neighbors want to attend the wedding banquet, but they'll have to wait a while.

Before the day ended, Ginkgo Hutong was filled with lively discussions. Especially when watching TV at Zhou Hongqi's house in the evening, the discussions drowned out the TV sound.

They guessed that Guan Yuehe and Lin Yiku must have been dating for a long time and were only now using the excuse of attending a social gathering to make it public.

As for why they didn't get married before Lin Yiku went to study, it must be because Guan Yuehe was going to be promoted, so they postponed the wedding date!

Zhang Desheng's analysis was very logical: "Our car factory has said that those who get married after the age of 25 will be given priority for promotion under the same conditions. I think the clothing factory will implement the same policy. With Yuehe's qualifications, if she doesn't get married now, promotion is just a matter of time! In the case of the clothing factory, being a military dependent is still a plus!"

Many people felt that what he said made the most sense.

Xie Zhenhua, standing at the back of the crowd, gave a faint sneer. He turned his head and saw Yuanbao staring at him. Yuanbao then mimicked his cold laugh, the flesh on his chubby cheeks jiggling.

His own daughter, Tingting, was rather dim-witted, correcting Yuanbao's expression, "You're not doing it right! My dad is like that, pfft~"

Neither the Lin nor the Guan family went to the front yard to join the fun and watch TV.

Although Jiang Guiying was annoyed that her youngest daughter had kept it a secret, she was genuinely pleased with Lin Yiku. She took a bowl, set aside a portion of scrambled eggs, and instructed Guan Yuehe, "Add a dish to Aunt Fang's house."

Upon hearing this, Weiwei immediately raised his hand, "Grandma, I'll go!"

He wanted to find Uncle Yiku and ask him to tell him about his experiences in the army.

These two kids can't sit still at home all day long, and they still don't know that Uncle Yiku and their little aunt are dating.

"You're so enthusiastic!" Guan Jianguo patted his son's head. "Eat your food."

Guan Yuehe had just stepped out with a bowl of scrambled eggs when she ran into Lin Yiku, who was also carrying a bowl of food and walking toward her house.

The two looked at each other for a few seconds, then couldn't help but laugh. They exchanged the dishes in their hands and went home separately.

Because of the two of them, both families added new dishes to their dinner tables.

"Hey! Yiku, you're really going to deliver this short distance?"

Lin Yiku replied, "There are already twenty steps."

A group of people laughed at them. If they hadn't run away quickly, they would have been teased endlessly.

Aunt Zhao caught a glimpse of the two of them entering the backyard and smiled knowingly: she had already guessed it!

After a while, Aunt Zhao came out to check and saw that Lin Yiku had left. Then she went to Guan Yuehe's house to chat, "Yiku left so quickly? You two didn't even chat for a little longer."

Aunt Zhao thought to herself: She was young once too. When young people first start dating, who doesn't have endless things to talk about?

In reality, Lin Yiku accompanied Guan Yuehe back, but didn't even step into her house. He stood outside the door, said a few words to her, and then went back inside.

Lin Yiku said that although he is now dating someone, they are not married yet, and it is not appropriate for him, a gay man, to be alone with her in a room.

Guan Yuehe then remembered that when Lin Yiku came back from his last visit to his family, he always stood outside the door to talk to her.

We had just seen off Aunt Zhao when Lin Sitian arrived.

Lin Sitian chuckled as soon as she entered the room, asking her to talk about her experience of dating Lin Yiku.

"Ugh! I didn't even bother to ask you about your date with Zhou Jinghang!" Guan Yuehe made a gesture of pinching her mouth shut: I won't tell!

"Oh, right, Zilan gave birth today, and it's actually related to you."

"Me?" Guan Yuehe pointed to herself. What could this have to do with her?

"Haha! Zilan was originally going to the hospital to give birth, but when she heard that you and my brother were dating, she got so excited that her water broke!"

Guan Yuehe really didn't expect that her relationship with Lin Yiku would cause such a big reaction.

"Wait, how did my family guess it was Lin Yiku?" She couldn't figure it out, and she hadn't guessed it was Lin Sitian either. She told her not to say anything, and Lin Sitian kept her mouth shut.

"It's my brother. He told Teacher Zhang he was going to a social gathering when he left. You two are going to the same social gathering. It would be strange if Uncle Guan and Aunt Jiang didn't guess it."

So that's how it is.

She even wanted to come back and plant a "bomb," but it turned out to be a dud.

Guan Yuehe felt a little regretful. She really wanted to see the shocked expressions on her parents' faces when they heard it was Lin Yiku. She should have asked Lin Sitian to tell Lin Yiku in advance that it was a secret!

"Did you know that your brother went to a military academy in Hunan Province for further studies?"

"I know!" Lin Sitian's eyes widened. "You didn't know? Didn't I tell you?"

"...I don't think he said that."

Lin Sitian hissed, patted her head, and then asked cautiously, "Do you still want my brother?"

"Sure! Wouldn't it be a loss if we didn't?" Guan Yuehe reviewed the date that had happened during the day and felt rather embarrassed. She didn't want to go through it all again.

"That's good!" Lin Sitian had been really worried about her brother.

"Yuehe, I'm going to sleep with you tonight. Wait for me, I'll be there after I take a shower."

Without even asking Guan Yuehe's consent, she ran home. After taking a shower, she saw her brother and said smugly, "Yuehe asked me to come and sleep with her."

"You... never mind." Lin Yiku hesitated, not wanting to speak. He hadn't forgotten that before he joined the army, Yuehe would occasionally come to his house to sleep with him. Once, she was kicked and screamed in pain.

She got dumped, but she'll still invite Yuehe over next time. She's someone who doesn't learn her lesson.

"Why are you looking at me? Do you want me to deliver it too?" Lin Yi flicked her forehead. "Stop talking bad about me. I'll buy you new clothes another day."

Lin Sitian was so angry that she kept snorting. She was determined to say a hundred bad things about Lin Yiku tonight!

"Say bad things about Lin Yiku?" Guan Yuehe lay down, turned off the flashlight, and occupied one end of the kang (a heated brick bed). They couldn't kick each other, but they had to speak loudly.

"If you can say a hundred sentences, I can say two hundred."

"..." Lin Sitian thought about it and realized that when they were young, not only was she tricked by her brother, but Yuehe and Xu Chengcai were also tricked quite a few times. Only the overly honest Ding Xuewen was rarely tricked.

The two chatted and laughed as they recounted Lin Yiku's unpleasant past experiences, laughing for a long time after each story.

Thank goodness Lin Yiku wasn't here, otherwise she would have been driven crazy by the two of them.

Laughing, Lin Sitian rolled over a few times, over the thick quilt that served as the dividing line, and snuggled up to Guan Yuehe's shoulder, saying happily, "Yuehe, I feel especially happy."

Guan Yuehe was also very happy.