Chapter 009

Lin Xiaohan didn't continue talking to Chu Xia.

He withdrew his gaze, finished his breakfast in three or five bites, washed the dishes, took his bag and left.

Chuxia didn't delay for long. She ate faster and put on her schoolbag and went out after finishing her meal.

He walked out of the yard and followed Lin Xiaohan, heading towards the school with him.

After arriving at the school, opening the door and entering the yard, Lin Xiaohan went straight into the office and sat down.

After he sat down, he took out a pen and paper from his schoolbag and started writing seriously.

Chuxia sat down at the desk next to her.

Relying on her excellent eyesight, she turned her head to look at Lin Xiaohan and saw that he had written four words in the middle of the forehead of the notebook - [Enrollment Announcement].

Chuxia knew that he was preparing to draft an announcement and read it out to the whole village using the loudspeaker in the brigade's broadcasting room, telling everyone that Tanxi Primary School would be reopened and asking everyone to come to the school to register.

This is how enrollment should be done, but...

Chu Xia thought for a moment and said, "It's useless for you to do this."

When Lin Xiaohan heard this, he stopped what he was doing and turned to look at Chu Xia with an unfriendly look.

Chu Xia met his gaze and made it clearer: "You won't be able to recruit students this way."

Lin Xiaohan obviously didn't take her words seriously.

He looked away and continued to write his own work. Because it was short, he finished it quickly.

After finishing writing, he took the notebook and stood up and left the office.

Chuxia did not follow him out. After he left, she took out a pen and paper from her schoolbag and bent over the desk to write a letter home.

Dear Mom and Dad,

I have been away from home for almost a month. How have you been during this time?

During this time in the countryside, I miss you every day and want to go home to see you.

I feel deeply guilty and regretful for ignoring your opposition and insisting on going to the countryside to join the production team. The reason I say this now is not because of how much injustice I suffered in the countryside, but because I suddenly realized how much my actions hurt you.

Don't worry, I won't stay in the countryside all my life. It is only a matter of time before I return to you. I will try my best to return to you as soon as possible and be filial to you.

You don't have to worry about me. I'm living well in the countryside. I will use this time to train myself...

I was halfway through writing the letter when I heard two voices coming from the loudspeaker of the brigade: "Hello? Hello?"

Chuxia stopped writing and heard Liang Youtian say on the loudspeaker: "Attention, members, please put down your work for a while and listen to me. Our team has decided to reopen the primary school from this year. The school's enrollment work officially starts today. There is no age limit for enrollment. Parents, please bring your children to the school office to find the teacher to register. Parents, please bring your children to the school office to find the teacher to register..."

Chuxia didn't pay much attention to what he heard and continued writing her letter.

Before I finished writing the letter, Lin Xiaohan came back from the brigade headquarters.

Hearing the footsteps, Chuxia looked up at him, then lowered her head and continued writing the letter.

She had a lot to say to her parents, so she wrote two full pages.

After writing the final date, she read the letter again from the beginning.

There was nothing more to add, so she tore off two pages of paper, folded them in half, and put them back into her schoolbag along with the letter pad. Then she sat at the table, propped up her face with her hands, and did nothing.

She knew that no one would come to the school to register, but she didn't tell Lin Xiaohan.

Anyway, he won't believe it no matter how many times you tell him, so just let the facts speak for themselves.

She should just relax now, stay with him as much as possible, and absorb the magnetic field energy from him.

She would speak again when his enrollment method was proven invalid by facts.

So Lin Xiaohan spent the whole morning in the office waiting for people to come and sign up.

Chuxia just stayed beside him and didn't go anywhere.

Seeing that the sun outside was about to rise to halfway in the sky, but still no one had come. Lin Xiaohan's breathing was obviously not as smooth as in the morning, and it became deeper and heavier from time to time.

Chu Xia felt that it was about time, so she looked at him and said, "I said it's useless."

Lin Xiaohan turned around and looked back at Chu Xia, who was still looking arrogant. He said with a nonchalant expression and tone, "What do you know? Everyone is at work and has no time to come and sign up."

Chu Xia nodded with an "okay" expression, "Then wait until after lunch?"

Lin Xiaohan ignored her, packed his schoolbag and left.

Chuxia naturally slung her schoolbag over her shoulder and followed him out, but after leaving school she didn't follow him very closely, trying her best to pretend that she was not following him on purpose.

When I returned to the educated youth site, the others had not yet returned from work.

Lin Xiaohan lit the fire and cooked, Chuxia also lit the fire and cooked, Lin Xiaohan ate, Chuxia also sat down to eat, then Lin Xiaohan pressed water in the yard to wash clothes, Chuxia also went to the yard to wash clothes.

Lin Xiaohan rubbed his clothes twice and looked at Chuxia.

Chu Xia felt his gaze, stopped rubbing the clothes and looked up at him, with a puzzled look in her eyes, and asked knowingly: "Why are you looking at me like that?"

Lin Xiaohan asked her back: "What do you want to do?"

Chu Xia pretended not to understand, and said with an innocent and puzzled look: "I didn't mean to do anything."

Lin Xiaohan stared at Chu Xia solemnly.

She had been avoiding him yesterday, wishing she could stay on the same planet with him, but today she had been within his sight, which was obviously abnormal.

But looking into her eyes, he wondered if he was overthinking.

Among the dozen or so people at the educated youth point, Tang Chuxia is the most brainless. From childhood to adulthood, there is nothing but Han Ting in her mind.

Although he seems to have become a little smarter these past two days, it is unlikely that he will become smart.

Her eyes were as clear and transparent as glass, and there was no sign of calculation in them.

So Lin Xiaohan didn't say anything else, just lowered his gaze and continued washing clothes.

Chuxia secretly suppressed the corners of her mouth that were about to turn up, lowered her eyes and continued washing clothes.

When I finished washing the clothes and went out, the others just came back from work.

Lin Xiaohan didn't say hello to them, but walked out of the yard with an arrogant look on his face.

Chaozi and Guogai want to say hello to Chuxia.

But before they could say anything, Chu Xia deliberately avoided their gaze, and like Lin Xiaohan, treated them as air and walked around them and out of the yard.

Chaozi and Guogai were stunned for a moment and then looked back.

The pot lid clicked his tongue and said, "What's going on? Chu Xia doesn't recognize us? Or has she become too proud of being a teacher and is pretending not to see us when she sees us."

Han Ting held his breath and said, "Don't worry about her."

After he said that, naturally no one else said anything. They went to the well in a group to fetch water, washed their hands, shook off the water, and went into the kitchen together.

It was the boys who cooked today, and they cooked whole grain porridge.

The coarse grains and water were put into the pot. Chaozi and the pot cover squeezed behind the stove to light the fire, while the others sat around the table, chatting and resting while waiting for the meal to be cooked.

I'm really tired after working in the fields for a whole morning.

Gu Yuzhu looked listless and said in a sad voice, "I cooked coarse grain porridge again. It's no different from pig food. I'm really about to vomit."

I only ate four or five meals before I couldn't take it anymore.

Before they started their own business, they complained about not having enough food to eat at their fellow villagers' homes and hoped to live a better life after starting their own business. Unexpectedly, their lives became even worse after they started their own business.

I used to eat at my fellow villagers’ houses. Although I wasn’t full and the food was coarse grains, at least I had steamed buns and pickled vegetables, and occasionally stir-fried dishes. Unlike now, every meal is just coarse grain porridge that is difficult to swallow.

Chaozi rolled up a handful of straw and added it to the stove. He watched the fire grow bigger and said, "This is all I have. I have to eat it. I still have to go to work."

When they went to the countryside, due to their limited family conditions, they did not bring many things or money. People like Han Ting, Chaozi and Guo Gai were so casual that they only brought a few pieces of clothes.

By now, they had already finished the snacks they brought.

No one could come up with pickles or canned food to improve the food.

Everyone looked at each other and sighed helplessly.

Li Qiao thought about it and suggested, "How about we steam some buns? I saw Lin Xiaohan and Chu Xia both steamed buns. These grains taste better when made into buns than porridge."

Gu Yuzhu looked at her and asked, "Can you steam it?"

Li Qiao shook her head and said, "I can't cook. I've never cooked at home. I can only add water to make porridge. I can't even make rice. It's always undercooked."

Gu Yuzhu looked at everyone else again, and everyone was shaking their heads.

Gu Yuzhu sighed again, "If you don't know anything, what else can you say?"

The male educated youth Hu Yang then said, "Why don't you learn it? There is no woman who doesn't know how to cook."

Gu Yuzhu turned around and said to him: "Why should we learn? Can't you learn?"

Hu Yang: "You are such a person. You can't even cook. How are you going to get married in the future?"

Gu Yuzhu: "I won't marry you anyway, so you don't have to worry about it!"

The two were about to quarrel again, and Han Ting spoke up to stop them.

They all gave Han Ting face, so they naturally shut up and didn't say anything further.

Han Ting thought for a moment and said, "How about this, after dinner, let's go ask the villagers where to grind flour and how to steam buns. Then the boys can carry the grain to grind flour, and when the flour comes back, the girls can steam buns. Is that okay?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Chaozi spoke decisively behind the stove: "Brother Ting, whatever you say is fine. We will all listen to you."

The others also listened to Han Ting and nodded.

But for now, the only meal is coarse grain porridge.

An idea popped up in Li Qiao's mind, and he suggested, "Chu Xia has steamed so many buns and left them uneaten. How about we eat hers first and then steam them and give them back to her?"

Everyone thought it was feasible, so they all looked at Han Ting and waited for him to speak.

Han Ting disagreed, and after a moment of silence, he said, "Just bear with it. She is in her most irritable mood right now, and not as generous and righteous as before. It will be troublesome to make a fuss about it."

Chen Sisi was the most obviously deflated when she heard Han Ting's words.

Her spine bent and her back arched into a shrimp shape.

Pot Cover spoke out everyone's thoughts: "Chu Xia is really weird. None of us have offended her, and we were all fine before. But at this critical moment of starting our own business, she suddenly changed her attitude towards us. If we were in a normal partnership, there wouldn't be so many troubles."

Chen Sisi bent her waist and said in a soft voice, "You all said that she was just throwing a tantrum and would regret it in a few days, but why do I feel that she is determined to draw a line between us? I don't know if she can bear it, but I feel like I can't bear it anymore. Life is really hard."

Li Qiao reached out and patted her, whispering, "Why are you boosting others' morale and destroying your own prestige? Every family has its own problems. We have our own problems, and she must have her own problems. When she encounters troubles, she doesn't even have anyone to discuss with and rely on. How long can she be stubborn? We have strength in numbers, so what problems can't be solved? Why can't you bear it?"

Chen Sisi quickly pursed her lips and stopped saying discouraging words.