Chapter 10 His Blind Date

Chapter Ten: His Blind Date

As he withdrew his hand, Lin Su tried to convince herself that he had only casually pulled her along and meant nothing more than that. But amidst the surrounding noise, the warmth and strength of his hand seemed to linger on her wrist, never fading away.

The two walked one after the other until they reached a less crowded area on the outskirts. Zhou Yunqi stopped and turned to her, saying, "There's something I need to tell you."

Lin Su looked at him: "What is it?"

Zhou Yunqi remained calm: "Go to the Central Primary School for an interview the day after tomorrow."

Lin Su thought she had misheard, and it took her a while to react: "What?"

Zhou Yunqi explained in a calm tone: "I visited the principal of the central primary school this afternoon and briefly told Principal Meng about your situation. I also brought your sketch to see him. Principal Meng asked you to go for an interview the day after tomorrow morning. If you pass, you can become a substitute teacher at the primary school."

Lin Su suddenly realized, so he had Xu Yaodong come to see her first in the afternoon, while he went to help her find a job.

Seeing her bewildered expression, Zhou Yunqi chuckled: "Prepare your lesson plan tomorrow. You'll have to give a 20-minute trial lesson. You can choose either Chinese or math for lower elementary grades. Principal Meng said that if you pass, you can also teach art and teach students to draw."

Lin Su stared blankly at the man in front of her, her throat felt blocked, and she couldn't speak for a moment.

"What, you don't want to go?" he asked.

Lin Su squeezed out a sound from her throat: "No."

"Then why isn't there any response?"

"This is so sudden." Lin Su lowered her eyes. "I didn't expect you to help me find a job."

Zhou Yunqi's tone became much more casual: "What else can I do but find you a job that doesn't require you to be in the sun or do farm work? You can get exhausted just going to the market. I've been feeding and taking care of you for nothing these past few days."

Lin Su whispered, "I didn't faint."

After a soft laugh, he looked at her gently and said, "Don't be smug. You haven't been officially hired yet. You should get ready first."

"Yes." Lin Su nodded solemnly to him.

"Don't embarrass me."

"Won't."

He didn't say anything more, glanced at the movie screen, and asked her, "Want to see a movie?"

Lin Su said, "It's optional."

"It looks like they're showing a new movie."

Just then, Xu Yaodong ran over: "Boss, what are you guys doing here? I've been looking for you everywhere."

Zhou Yunqi glanced at him: "Something wrong?"

"It's okay. They were worried that Xiaolin would get lost, so they insisted that I come and look for her. I told them that Xiaolin would definitely be with you and wouldn't get lost."

Zhou Yunqi glanced at the campfire and said, "Go tell them that if they get separated, they should wait across from the police station. My car is parked there."

"Okay." Xu Yaodong was about to leave when he stopped. "So you guys aren't going to watch the movie?"

"Let's go to the campfire."

...

Night had fallen, and the bonfire party officially began.

A huge bonfire was lit on the large playground, sparks flying and crackling as it burned. Many people dressed in their respective ethnic costumes gathered around the fire. Middle-aged and elderly people played their ethnic musical instruments, while young people danced the Zuojiao dance around the fire to the music.

The commune organized the bonfire party. The ethnic minority people are very enthusiastic and outgoing, so the atmosphere quickly became lively, and more and more people joined in. Even those who couldn't dance started moving around.

Lin Su initially stood to the side, carefully observing their steps, and said, "The steps of the left-foot dance are very simple."

Sun Xiaoqing asked from the side, "Can you dance?"

"I'll give it a try."

She has some background in ethnic dance, having seen some clips online, and she has a strong learning ability; she quickly mastered the steps by following their movements.

Several female educated youths gathered around, some looking shyly, others saying generously, "Lin Su, teach us."

Zhou Yunqi stood to the side, watching the girls from a distance. Xu Yaodong chuckled and said, "There are more people than last year. Xiao Lin looks like a dance teacher."

The left-foot dance didn't require much movement, and several girls were pulled together by Lin Su's instruction. Everyone danced happily and enthusiastically, and female educated youth from other production teams also eagerly joined in. A middle-aged woman of unknown ethnicity next to them praised their dancing in slightly accented Mandarin.

Later, a different tune was played, and the crowd began to move around the campfire, dancing to the music.

Lin Su didn't know how to dance these steps, so she had to stop.

The more Lin Su listened to the tune, the more familiar it seemed. She said, "This is a dance."

A local girl said, "Yes, you know about this?"

"I know, but the steps are a bit complicated."

The girl then called over her friends, enthusiastically taught them the dance steps, and then took their hands to join the dance group.

The melodious sounds of the sanxian, yueqin, and lusheng mingled together, and amidst laughter and chatter, Lin Su got carried away, jumping around the campfire a few times. The firelight reflected on her smiling face, and although her back was covered in sweat, she didn't care.

Xu Yaodong had already gone crazy with them, while Zhou Yunqi stood aside and lit a cigarette.

A woman in a dress suddenly walked up to him and said, "Hello, are you Director Zhou?"

Zhou Yunqi: "..."

Lin Su danced through the crowd, feeling something was off. The eye-catching figure who had been standing somewhere earlier was gone. She slowed her dance steps and searched, finally spotting Zhou Yunqi in the crowd. He stood sideways, chatting with a woman in front of him. Upon closer inspection, the woman, while not exceptionally beautiful, was still quite attractive and was smiling at him.

Lin Su suddenly remembered that they had mentioned that a girl had struck up a conversation with him at last year's bonfire party.

This man is indeed popular... Lin Su thought to herself.

Because you can't stop moving in the circle, otherwise you'll block the people behind you, and because Lin Su was getting a little tired from dancing, she simply left the dance circle.

Sun Xiaoqing and the others also noticed the girl, so they stopped together and asked Xu Yaodong, "Who is that girl? She's chatting so happily with the manager."

Xu Yaodong glanced at him and said, "I don't know. Maybe it's someone who wants to get to know him."

A little while later, a woman who looked to be in her thirties or forties walked over and started talking to Zhou Yunqi. Sun Xiaoqing said, "Isn't that the commune's women's director?"

After the women's director joined, the three of them chatted like acquaintances.

Perhaps because Lin Su and the others were all looking at Zhou Yunqi, the strange gazes made the perceptive man look up. Lin Su's eyes met his, and she quickly looked away, smiling awkwardly as she said to Sun Xiaoqing and the others, "Do you want to continue dancing, or go listen to the antiphonal songs?"

Besides showing movies, there's also a place for singing around the bonfire.

The folk songs were all sung in their respective languages, which Lin Su couldn't understand, but she felt that the songs were authentic and full of charm.

Just as he was about to join in the fun, Zhou Yunqi walked over.

He asked, "Why did you stop jumping?"

Someone said, "Let's go take a look at the folk song contest over there."

No sooner had he finished speaking than the woman from before came over and asked, "Director Zhou, is this someone from your farm?"

Lin Su and the others looked at her, and she introduced herself: "Hello, my name is Tang Shimin."

Zhou Yunqi added: "This is Officer Tang, who works in the commune's propaganda department. He's the one who organized this conference."

"So it was your organization that organized this," someone said.

Tang Shimin smiled and nodded: "It was too rushed. There weren't many activities, and there was no host. It was just a matter of organizing things so that everyone could have fun together. I hope you all had a good time."

"Of course we're happy! Everyone was dancing so enthusiastically, right, Xiao Lin?" Xu Yaodong said.

Lin Su was taken aback when she was suddenly called upon: "Yes, it's quite lively, exceeding my expectations."

Tang Shimin looked Lin Su up and down and said, "I think I saw you dancing just now, and you danced really well."

Lin Su smiled and said, "Just jumping around randomly, just joining in the fun."

The women's director, who had been there earlier, also brought two middle-aged women up to them and warmly introduced them, saying, "Director Zhou, come, come, let's get acquainted."

Seeing that they had important business to attend to, Lin Su and the others wisely left first.

Someone whispered, "That Tang clerk seems to be the one we were going to introduce to the farm manager. Her father is the director of the county's Industry and Commerce Bureau. She's working in the propaganda department of our commune, and I guess she'll be transferred back to the county soon."

She asked again, "Is that right, Xu Yaodong?"

Xu Yaodong dodged the question: "Maybe, I don't know."

"You don't know? This isn't the first time the manager has encountered blind dates coming to him, but Officer Tang is quite enthusiastic."

Xu Yaodong: "Our farm manager has his own ideas, and no amount of enthusiasm will work."

Lin Su remained silent.

I'm just physically exhausted, so there's not much else to say. This big shot is not only resourceful, but also has incredibly high standards. No matter how enthusiastic and generous Director Tang is, he'll remain unmoved; that's in line with his persona.

After listening to the folk song for a while, she seemed a little disheartened and said, "I'm thinking of going back; my body can't take it anymore."

The other girls were either very tired and wanted to go back to sleep, or they were full of energy and didn't want to go back.

Xu Yaodong said, "Then I'll send those who want to go back first, and the rest can wait for the second trip."

After confirming everything, he went to Zhou Yunqi to get the key.

Zhou Yunqi was chatting with several cadres from the commune when Xu Yaodong said politely, "Director, I'll send some people back to the farm first, and then come back later."

Zhou Yunqi handed over the car keys and asked again, "Is she going back too?"

Xu Yaodong said, "Yes, it was Xiaolin who first said he wanted to go back."

"She's unhappy?"

Xu Yaodong thought for a moment: "It seems a bit like that."

Zhou Yunqi frowned: "You take them back first, I have some things to do here."

On the bus, everyone slumped over, and Lin Su kept yawning. After returning to the farm, she washed up and went straight to sleep without even washing her clothes.

Lin Su rested for half a day the next day and didn't get up until very late.

Just as he was lathering the clothes with soap, Xu Yaodong came over and called out, "Xiao Lin, the boss wants to see you. Go to his office."

Lin Su: "Huh?"

More than ten minutes later, Lin Su finally appeared at the office door. Zhou Yunqi looked at this slow-moving person and asked, "Why are you so slow?"

"I'm doing laundry."

"Finished washing?"

"Yes. Manager, are you talking about the interview?" Lin Su looked at him with delight. "I'll borrow Sister Qing's daughter's textbooks to make lesson plans. I want to teach math."

"Mathematics?" he asked, puzzled. "I thought you would teach Chinese."

Lin Su shook her head: "Teaching Chinese also involves teaching initials and finals. It's easier to say that one plus one equals two."

Zhou Yunqi said, "Teach me whatever you want."

After chatting for a few minutes, Lin Su asked him, "Is there anything else?"

Zhou Yunqi looked at her and asked, "Did you have fun last night?"

"I'm so happy! It's my first time participating in the Torch Festival, and we all had a lot of fun dancing together."

He scoffed, "I can tell. Why are you back so early?"

"I was mainly tired from jumping, and my body couldn't take it."

He knew it; that brat Xu Yaodong was up to no good.

His face fell: "It's alright."

When Lin Su came out, she sensed that the farm manager didn't seem very happy.

...

A note from the author:

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