Chapter 014

Before Chu Xia could come to her senses, Lin Xiaohan had already turned around and continued walking forward.

When she came to her senses and looked away, she found that Lin Xiaohan had already walked some distance away, so she hurriedly quickened her pace to catch up.

When she got to Lin Xiaohan's side, she asked him, "What idea do you have?"

Lin Xiaohan turned his head and looked at her, "I thought you were going to ask me why I rejected that girl."

Chu Xia really didn’t know what Lin Xiaohan was thinking, but she didn’t intend to ask more.

No matter what Lin Xiaohan thinks in his heart, the reality is here.

She looked at Lin Xiaohan and said, "If we agree to let her go to school like this, it will be basically impossible to recruit children who are willing to pay tuition to attend school, and the school will not be able to operate."

Lin Xiaohan looked at Chu Xia again and didn't say anything further.

He threw the question Chu Xia asked back to her, "Tell me, what idea have you come up with?"

Chu Xia thought for a moment and said, "I just thought of this after hearing what those kids said just now. Although most of them don't want to go to school and be disciplined, few of them don't like to listen to stories. There is a lack of entertainment in the countryside. Whether it's watching a movie or a show, it's a long time before they can watch it, and there's nothing new about it. If we tell them new stories from books, they will definitely love to listen. We can guide them while telling stories, so that they can become interested in reading and literacy, and arouse their desire to go to school. How about that?"

Lin Xiaohan nodded, "It's pretty much what I thought."

Chu Xia looked at him and smiled, "Then let's start in the afternoon? We can use real stories and knowledge to arouse these children's desire to read and learn, and create an atmosphere where everyone wants to go to school. At the same time, we can persuade their parents, which should be more effective."

Lin Xiaohan thought for a moment and continued, "We can also promise these children something sweet. I have a box of candies. You can bring it over when you tell stories. Take it out and show it to these children. Tell them that as long as they sign up to come to school, we will give each of them a candy."

"Okay." Chu Xia agreed immediately after hearing this.

In this era, everything was scarce. Ordinary people could only eat sugar a few times a year. They were extremely happy to have fruit candy, and milk candy was even rarer.

No child can resist the temptation of candy.

The two walked back while talking about this.

Chu Xia added: "Don't worry, no matter how many candies you give out, I will give you half of the money and share the cost of the candies with you."

Lin Xiaohan said bluntly: "Even if you don't tell me, I will ask you for it."

Chu Xia: “…”

Return to the educated youth point.

The first thing I do when I enter the kitchen in early summer is to check the straw I have tied to the cabinet door.

Seeing that the straw button was exactly the same as it was in the morning, she breathed a sigh of relief.

It was time to make lunch. She raised her hand, broke the straw and opened the cupboard door. She turned around and said to Lin Xiaohan, "I'm kneading the dough and steaming new buns now. I'll give you the buns you ate this morning when they're done."

Lin Xiaohan responded and went back to the dormitory.

Since Chuxia will heat up the steamed buns for him later, he naturally won't bother to heat up the buns himself.

Back in the dormitory, he took out his army green travel bag.

He unzipped the bag and flipped through it for a while, then pulled out a few books with yellowed pages.

These books were the spiritual food he brought to the countryside.

Of course, these are all books that are currently allowed to be published and circulated.

Since the civil war in 1966, many domestically published books have been banned for being "feudal, capitalist, and revisionist." The only books that remain and can be circulated openly are mostly revolutionary books.

Later, the domestic book shortage became too serious. □□ repeatedly criticized the lack of literary works and encouraged literary creation. As a result, the publication of literary books has recovered slightly in recent years.

The Romance of the Three Kingdoms that Lin Xiaohan is flipping through right now was published again in the past two years.

He thought that everyone had heard too many stories about revolution over the years and could recite many of them by heart, so telling the children about the Romance of the Three Kingdoms would be very fresh.

Especially the classic clips such as "Borrowing Arrows from a Thatched Boat" and "The Burning of Red Cliff".

I was so busy in the countryside for so long that I didn't have time to read.

Lin Xiaohan was flipping through the books and started reading them himself first.

Among these books, his favorite is "Romance of the Three Kingdoms", and he especially likes the various strategies contained therein.

Han Ting and his friends came back from work and entered the dormitory, and Lin Xiaohan was not affected.

He sat leisurely on the bed, flipping through the pages of a book without even lifting his eyelids.

***

In the kitchen.

In early summer, I knead dough and steam buns.

She still kneads a little bit of each kind of dough and steams a little bit of each kind of bun.

After making the sorghum flour buns, she started to mix the corn flour.

When I was scooping water and pouring it into the basin, the door curtain was lifted up by someone from outside.

Chu Xia looked up and took a quick glance, and saw that the people who came in were Li Qiao, Gu Yuzhu, Su Yun and Chen Sisi. She pretended not to see them, lowered her eyes and continued to do her own thing.

After the commotion in the morning, Chu Xia and their relationship was completely broken off.

Li Qiao and the others naturally pretended not to see Chu Xia. The atmosphere among the four of them was harmonious. They chatted and laughed as they began to wash sorghum rice and dried sweet potatoes, and lit a fire to cook.

Because the flour they ground yesterday was mixed with sand and gravel and was inedible, and they hadn't gone to the mill to grind new flour today, so they could only make do with coarse grain porridge for this meal.

As long as it has nothing to do with her, Chuxia doesn't care what they say or do.

She rolled the cornmeal buns, then mixed the dried sweet potato flour and rolled a few sweet potato buns, which she placed neatly on the steamer.

After making the steamed buns and washing her hands, she poured water into the pot and went to the stove to light a fire.

Boil the water in the pot, place the steamer on the boiling water, and then cover the pot to steam the buns.

By the time her pot of steamed buns was cooked, Li Qiao and the others' porridge was also ready.

Chuxia and Li Qiao were busy standing in front of the stove, neither of them paying attention to each other. Chuxia picked out the steamed buns one by one, while Li Qiao took a bowl to scoop up the coarse grain porridge in the pot.

Chen Sisi and Gu Yuzhu carried the bowls and put them on the table, while Su Yun went out to call Han Ting and the others.

Chuxia put two bowls of steamed buns on the table, turned and left the kitchen, just in time to meet Han Ting and the others coming in.

Chuxia had a falling out with them and now they were like enemies.

Naturally, they didn't say hello to each other, just avoided each other, those who should go in went in, and those who should go out went out.

Chuxia went to the dormitory to get a can of beef, and then went to the boys' dormitory opposite to call Lin Xiaohan.

Hearing the sound, Lin Xiaohan put down the book and came out, going to the kitchen to eat with Chuxia.

When I entered the kitchen, everyone was talking and laughing, and the atmosphere was very lively.

In this atmosphere, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan seemed like two isolated, unsocial freaks, but they didn't care.

Chuxia took chopsticks and sat down at the table, then pulled the pull ring on the can and opened it.

Lin Xiaohan went to the cupboard to get his own pickled vegetables, then went to the stove to get a pair of chopsticks, then came over to the table and sat down directly opposite Chu Xia.

The other two tables were full, so he had no choice but to sit here.

Chu Xia and he didn't speak after they entered the kitchen.

Chuxia opened the can, and when Lin Xiaohan picked up the steamed buns in the bowl, she picked up a piece of fragrant beef with chopsticks, put it directly into his bowl and said, "Here you go."

This piece of beef was more than enough for him to have with the soybean sauce and dried radish he had in the morning.

Lin Xiaohan didn't hesitate to pick up the beef and took a bite.

Because this thing was really precious, he didn't swallow it in one gulp.

After he took the first bite, the lively atmosphere in the room suddenly cooled down.

After a while, there was not even a sound of a single person.

Everyone else was looking at Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan. Not only were they envious of the steamed buns, beef, and pickled vegetables on their table, unable to help swallowing their saliva, they also found it difficult to understand Chu Xia's behavior.

If they saw correctly, Chuxia steamed the buns and then called Lin Xiaohan to eat.

Not only did she let Lin Xiaohan eat her steamed buns, she also shared her beef with him!

This kind of treatment originally belonged to Han Ting.

So they stared at him for a while, suppressed their greed and looked away, then looked at Han Ting again.

No matter how much Han Ting pretended not to care, his eyes and face were still filled with dark clouds.

The breath that was blocked in his heart kept expanding, and it seemed like it was going to burst his chest.

He racked his brains but couldn't figure out what was wrong with Chu Xia.

It would have been fine if he broke up with him just because of a few useless people, but he actually treated Lin Xiaohan like this.

Doesn’t she know what kind of person Lin Xiaohan is?

She must be crazy or possessed!

That’s the selfish and cold-hearted Lin Xiaohan!

Can't she see that he is plotting against her and taking advantage of her? !

Han Ting almost couldn't hold back several times and wanted to get up and pick up Chu Xia to wake her up.

But thinking of what Chuxia said to him when she got angry in the morning, he held back.

As he ate whole-grain porridge while smelling the aroma of beef, not only did his lungs feel like they were about to explode, but he also felt like he was eating pig food.

He took another big mouthful of porridge with great difficulty. He really couldn't eat any more, so he slammed the bowl on the table, got up with a dark face and went out.

The atmosphere was weird and depressing. Everyone knew what happened to Han Ting, but no one said it.

Then they all ate the porridge in their bowls, suffering as if they were drinking poison.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan didn't even look at them from beginning to end, just ate their food slowly.

Their slow and leisurely way of eating was undoubtedly tormenting everyone.

Today it's the boys' turn to wash the pots and dishes.

After finishing their meal, Li Qiao and the others put down their bowls and went straight back to the dormitory.

As soon as he sat down in the dormitory, Li Qiao frowned and said, "What's wrong with her? Did Lin Xiaohan eat her brain? She had a big fight with us because of a few whole grain steamed buns in the morning, and said so many hurtful and unpleasant things to Han Ting. But at noon, she steamed buns and asked Lin Xiaohan to eat them, and even gave him beef? Could she be possessed by a ghost?"

Chen Sisi replied weakly, "How can there be ghosts in this world? This is feudal superstition."

Li Qiao really couldn't understand, "It's so weird, what do you think happened to her?"

Chen Sisi: "Lin Xiaohan must have drugged her."

Gu Yuzhu sat at the table and took up her palm-sized mirror to look at herself. "I've said it before, Lin Xiaohan is a person who will not do anything without profit. She must have planned to profit from her. This is just the beginning. You wait and see. There will be many big losses waiting for her. When the day comes when she is no longer useful, Lin Xiaohan will kick her away without mercy."

Li Qiao: "This Lin Xiaohan is really abominable."

Gu Yuzhu: "That's because some people are stupid enough to be cheated."

Su Yun sat beside him, took a deep breath, lowered her head and said nothing.

Now that Chuxia has become what she is now, it is impossible for her to have the opportunity to become a teacher.

Her face and eyes were filled with sorrow and melancholy. She felt like she was walking in a cold and dreary night, with no end in sight and no light at all.

***

After washing the pots and dishes, the boy returned to the dormitory.

Han Ting lay on the bed with his arms as his head resting on his body. His face looked calm, but deep in his eyes there was a storm brewing.

No one can understand or accept this kind of thing.

The neighbor's sister who grew up following him around, admired him and regarded him as an idol since she was a child. She listened to him in everything and was well-behaved, quiet, generous and kind. But now her temperament has suddenly changed. Not only has she become selfish and stingy, but she also wants to break off her friendship with him without any shame. That’s not all, he also got so close to Lin Xiaohan, the person he hated the most, and was generous to Lin Xiaohan.

He had thought that all the people around him, including Chaozi and Guogai, might have a quarrel with him and betray him one day, but he never thought that Chuxia would have such a quarrel with him now.

Early summer, early summer.

Little Chuxia, who has always followed him and called him "Brother Han Ting" since childhood.

Why did it suddenly become like this?

Han Ting alone filled the entire room with a low atmosphere.

After the others entered the dormitory, they remained silent, staring at each other for a while. Chaozi suddenly said, "Chuxia is a simple person. She must have been fooled by Lin Xiaohan."

Han Ting heard what Chaozi said, but didn't react.

Guo Gai looked at Han Ting and said, "Brother Ting, how about we find a chance to beat up Lin Xiaohan?"

Han Ting spoke up at this moment, moving his lips and saying, "No need."

Chaozi was very worried and said, "Are we just going to watch Chuxia get cheated by him? Today it's steamed buns and canned beef, but tomorrow it will be who knows what it will be. Sooner or later, you will suffer a great loss."

Han Ting said calmly, "Only when you suffer a great loss can you learn a lesson."

Chaozi and Guogai looked at each other and stopped talking.

Think about what I did in the past two days in early summer, especially the crazy outburst in the morning.

She is so stubborn now, she really needs to learn a lesson.

***

After Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan finished their meal, they cleared the dishes and went back to their respective dormitories.

After entering the dormitory, the two of them didn't say hello to anyone, just acted as if there was no one else there and did what they were supposed to do.

Chuxia took out the travel bag she used to pack her luggage.

He unzipped it and flipped through it, pulling out a stack of comic books.

Because she had lived for Han Ting for the past ten years, most of her things were related to Han Ting. They were either what Han Ting liked or what Han Ting needed.

Therefore, she brought these comic books to the countryside not because she liked to read them, but because Han Ting liked to read them. Han Ting doesn't like reading books that are full of words. He has loved comic books since he was a child.

Chuxia brought these comic books to help Han Ting pass the time.

It’s just because there were so many things to do during the period when I first went to the countryside, so I haven’t brought it out yet.

Now that she has broken up with Han Ting, she naturally won't show it to him again.

She wanted to take these comic strips to show the children in the village. Those kids had never seen these picture books before and they would definitely find them new and interesting and would like them.

Thinking of this, Chuxia sat on the edge of the bed, lowered her head and flipped through a few comic books.

Li Qiao and the others were talking about some insignificant gossip, and she didn't pay any attention to it. Then she suddenly heard a voice from outside the window: "Let's go to the mill together?"

Chuxia looked up and saw Pot Lid standing outside the window.

So she pretended not to see it and lowered her head to continue flipping through her comic books.

Li Qiao decisively stood up and answered the pot cover: "Let's go, there is strength in numbers."

Su Yun, Gu Yuzhu and Chen Sisi all stood up, and the four of them went out together.

Go outside with the boys and take the washed grain to the mill.

On the way to the mill, everyone else was walking in front, talking, laughing and joking, but Su Yun and Han Ting were still walking at the back, with a distance between them and the people in front.

Han Ting was naturally free and easy in front of Su Yun.

He stared at Su Yun for a while and asked, "What's wrong? Are you in a bad mood?"

Su Yun smiled and didn't talk about her own worries. Instead, she said to Han Ting with concern: "I am feeling bad for you. You must be very sad now, being betrayed by the person closest to you."

Han Ting didn't seem to care about it at all, and said with a smile: "Aren't you the person closest to me?"

Su Yun rolled her eyes at him and said, "Don't be so funny. I know Chu Xia is very important to you. You didn't do this even after breaking up with Tong Rui..."

Han Ting took a deep breath and laughed at himself.

Yes, when has Han Ting ever felt so frustrated and upset because of anyone?