Chapter 016

Lin Xiaohan screwed the bottle cap on and put the books and water bottle into his schoolbag.

Chuxia continued to put away her comic books, smoothing out the curled pages and putting them together.

When I was putting away the last book, I suddenly heard a voice timidly ask, "Can I go to school?"

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan looked up at the same time, and saw a young man in a gray shirt and gray pants standing in front of them. He looked dusty and dirty.

The boy looked to be about fifteen or sixteen years old. His eyes were evasive and his face looked very uneasy.

Lin Xiaohan did not hesitate and decisively rejected him: "Not paying the tuition is not possible."

Chuxia also thought that he was in the same situation as the girl in the morning. He wanted to go to school and study but had no money to pay tuition, so he wanted to come to the school to take free classes.

But the boy said in a low voice: "Pay tuition."

Lin Xiaohan was a little puzzled, "Then just ask your parents to take you directly to the school to register."

The boy hesitated for a moment and then said, "My grandfather is Li Fugui."

His grandfather is Li Fugui?

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan understood after thinking about it for a while.

They had just learned about the situations of many families in the village in the morning, and Chuxia even took a lot of notes.

This Li Fugui was a landlord in the old society.

So the young man in front of him, who used to be the young master of a landlord's family, is now a member of the "five black categories" who is restricted in everything he does and is looked down upon wherever he goes.

Fearing that Lin Xiaohan would decisively refuse again, Chu Xia took the initiative this time and said, "Then we will help you to fight for it with the team, and let you know when there is a result, okay?"

Hearing this, the boy's eyes lit up.

He finally looked at Chu Xia and said gratefully, "Thank you."

After saying this, he immediately walked away, somewhat bewilderedly, as if he was afraid of being an eyesore if he stood there for too long.

Chu Xia reacted immediately and asked him loudly, "What's your name?"

The boy stopped and answered, "My name is Li Xisheng."

After saying this, he left in a hurry.

Chuxia agreed to this, and Lin Xiaohan didn't show any objection. He picked up his schoolbag and left.

Chu Xia put the comic book into her schoolbag, put on her backpack and followed him, saying, "If you don't want to get involved in this, I can go talk to Captain Liang myself."

Lin Xiaohan glanced at her and asked, "I said I don't want to get involved anymore?"

Chu Xia looked at him and smiled, "Then are you willing to help him get a chance to go to school?"

Lin Xiaohan retracted his gaze and said, "Our most important thing now is to recruit students and run the school smoothly. As for what kind of students we recruit, I don't care."

Chu Xia breathed a sigh of relief in her heart, "Then let's go together."

She would love to do everything with him.

***

Because they had promised Liang Youtian that he and the brigade secretary would come directly to attend the school's opening ceremony seven days later, Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan didn't have much free time these days.

After returning to the educated youth center and having dinner, they only rested for a while and then went to their fellow villagers' homes on time to continue persuading them to send their children of school age to school.

Chuxia’s current condition at the educated youth point is almost the same as Lin Xiaohan’s.

The relationship between him and Han Ting is as cold as ice, and they ignore each other.

She was excluded from the lively, harmonious and united atmosphere.

In this state, Chuxia did not feel uncomfortable, depressed or uneasy because of being isolated, but felt unprecedented ease, comfort and freedom.

It would be best if we always kept our distance from each other.

Before leaving for her fellow villager's house this time, Chuxia took a can of food from her travel bag.

Since she started cooking on her own, she has been eating from cans these days, and now there are only two cans left in her bag. If you continue to eat canned food, you won’t be able to last long even if you eat sparingly.

So she thought about it and decided to take out a can and go to her fellow villager's house to exchange it for pickles.

Almost every family in the village has pickled vegetables, but most of them can hardly eat meat. If you exchange meat for pickles, there will definitely be people who will be happy to do so.

Of course, she couldn't exchange a can of canned food for just a can of pickles.

Her canned food was meat, so she had to exchange it for at least several cans of pickles.

If one family couldn't give her that much, she would just break the cans apart and give them to more families.

After packing the cans, Chuxia put on her schoolbag and went out with Lin Xiaohan.

She knew that Han Ting and the others would definitely gossip about her and Lin Xiaohan behind their backs when they saw them go out, but she didn't care and didn't pay attention to their opinions or thoughts.

When she arrived at her fellow villager's home, she still cooperated with Lin Xiaohan, using various tactics to persuade her fellow villager to send his children to school. The most important thing is to make them believe that reading is useful.

Although persuading these fellow villagers today was not much smoother than yesterday, it was better than yesterday. When some parents were shaken, their children would rush over and shout, "Dad, I want to go to school!"

Those parents were only a little shaken at first, but after their children came up to them and hugged their thighs and arms and shook them a few times, the look of hesitation on their faces became more obvious.

Every time after persuading a family, Chuxia would take the opportunity to take out her own canned food and ask them if they would like to exchange the pickles at home for two pieces of meat.

There are too many people who want to eat meat.

So the work was not finished and all the early summer meat had been replaced.

What she got in her schoolbag were five full jars of pickles, including dried radish, pickled garlic, mustard greens, pickled cucumbers and pickled soybeans.

After exchanging the last piece of meat, I came out of my fellow villager’s house with my schoolbag filled to the brim.

Lin Xiaohan asked casually: "With so much change, can you finish it?"

Chu Xia looked at him and said, "If you can't finish it, I'll share it with you."

Hearing this, Lin Xiaohan turned to look at Chu Xia, "Can you be so kind to me?"

Chu Xia said sincerely: "Yes, I really want to be friends with you."

Lin Xiaohan decisively withdrew his gaze and said, "No need, I don't want to be friends with you."

Chu Xia: “…”

How cold and heartless...

In early summer, my steps unconsciously slowed down.

Realizing that she was lagging behind Lin Xiaohan, she hurried to catch up.

***

After Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan went to another house, they happened to pass by Liang Youtian's house.

The two knocked on the door of Liang Youtian's house, and then heard Liang Youtian's wife Chen Jinfeng ask in the house: "Who is it?"

Lin Xiaohan raised her voice and responded, "Aunt, I'm Lin Xiaohan."

Chu Xia followed behind Lin Xiao Han and said, "Aunt, I'm Chu Xia, we're here to discuss something with Captain Liang. Are you guys asleep now?"

Not long after Chuxia finished speaking, Chen Jinfeng came and opened the gate.

She led Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan into the yard and said, "You haven't slept yet. What do you want to see Lao Liang about?"

Lin Xiaohan smiled and said, "It's about the children's schooling."

As for what exactly happened, he walked into the room, greeted Liang Youtian, and sat down to talk in detail.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan worked together to explain the matter of Li Fugui's grandson.

After listening to this, Liang Youtian let out a long sigh and said, "I know, you are talking about Xisheng. This child must be fifteen or sixteen years old this year. Age is not a problem, but his family background..."

Lin Xiaohan continued, "It's because of his class background that we came to discuss this with you. Although his grandfather was once a landlord, he is a child who can be educated well. Since we run a school to educate people, wouldn't it be better for him to come to school to receive an education? What do you think?"

Liang Youtian listened to Lin Xiaohan's words and nodded twice slowly.

Then he added, "Their family has indeed performed well over the years, especially Xisheng, who has never had any ideological problems. The members should have no objection to letting him go to school. But I still have to discuss this with the secretary. I'll tell you once it's confirmed, okay?"

With his words, it's done.

Lin Xiaohan and Chu Xia said together: "Okay, thank you for your help."

Liang Youtian smiled and said, "I'm not going to cause any trouble. It's just a matter of a few words. You must have worked hard these past two days. How many people have you recruited now?"

Chu Xia smiled and said, "Captain Liang, not yet, but it should be available in the next two days."

Liang Youtian looked at Chuxia and said, "It's a good thing to have confidence. It means we didn't misjudge you two. Try your best to recruit more students. We will leave the task of educating the children in our village to literacy to you."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan nodded to Liang Youtian together.

After finishing the serious business, they exchanged a few casual pleasantries and then left Liang Youtian's house.

While some families were still awake, they went to visit a few more families.

After finishing the grinding, the two walked back to the educated youth point side by side in the night and moonlight.

Chu Xia took a deep breath and said, "I hope someone will come to us to sign up tomorrow."

Lin Xiaohan replied with a slightly more confident tone: "There should be."

Chuxia cheered herself up, "Well, there should be."

They told stories for half a day today and the effect was quite good.

Many children have begun to look forward to going to school. They have changed from rejecting going to school to wanting to go to school very much, and they also express their strong desire to go to school in front of their parents.

Even if no one comes to sign up tomorrow, if the atmosphere of everyone wanting to go to school continues for a few days, there will definitely be parents who bring their children to sign up.

It was already very late when the two returned to the educated youth point. Just like last night, everyone else had gone to bed.

Chu Xia thought this was a good idea as it saved her from having to spend time with Han Ting, Su Yun and the others. She didn’t have to see them or hear their lively conversations.

Although I didn't do much work that day and was just talking, I was still very tired after being busy.

Chuxia washed up quietly and went to bed. She fell asleep soon after lying on the bed.

Before falling asleep, one thought remained in my mind - I hope someone will come to the school to register tomorrow.

Although they went to bed later than others, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan still woke up earlier than others the next morning.

When they sat down to eat breakfast, Han Ting and his friends' alarm clocks rang.

So they ate breakfast in the kitchen and heard the wailing and complaining of ten people outside because they had to get up early, as well as the clanging and splashing sounds of water being pressed for washing.

The wailing gradually subsided, and Han Ting and the others came into the house one after another and started to boil water and cook.

The four boys, Hu Yang and Wang Xiangqian, were the ones who took action. The four girls, Han Ting, Chaozi, Guo Gai and Su Yun, sat down at the table and waited. As soon as they sat down, they started yawning.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan just pretended not to see them.

After she and Lin Xiaohan finished their meal and washed the dishes, they went back to the dormitory to get their schoolbags and went out.

Of course, before going out, Chuxia still tied her cabinet door with straw.

When she was tying straw to the cabinet door, Han Ting and others glanced at her actions.

When Chuxia finished tying him up and went out, Guogai muttered, "Is it that serious? Who do you think we are?"

They saw it yesterday. The cabinet door in early summer was tied with straw and knotted.

Chaozi looked at the pot lid and replied, "Thief."

Li Qiao spoke again: "Why are you saying it so harshly? We didn't steal, did we? At most, it was a loan, but we just didn't tell her in time. Didn't we give her back the excess food?"

Chaozi explained: "I mean, this is how she thinks of us."

Gu Yuzhu went on to say: "In our hearts, we still think that she is a stingy and crazy woman. She went so crazy yesterday morning because of a few steamed buns. Which girl can be so fierce and ferocious..."

"Stop talking." Han Ting suddenly interrupted Gu Yuzhu.

No matter what, Chuxia is still the neighbor's sister who grew up with him. It's okay for them to talk about Chuxia's problems, but he can't stand it if they just say bad things about her and scold her.

Everyone also heard Han Ting's attitude, so no one said anything further.

We talked about other topics, heated up the steamed buns, and sat down to eat. After the meal, we went to work together as usual and worked in the fields with the villagers.

When at work, Su Yun was still the one who worked the least and was the laziest among the ten people.

She is like a pampered young lady, always having problems, always feeling pain here and there.

Li Qiao had always had opinions about this matter before.

But because Chu Xia had a falling out with them, they have been criticizing Chu Xia for being selfish, stingy and petty recently. Now she has no opinion on this matter anymore.

The ten of them are now at their most united.

It is natural that we should help each other and understand each other.

Of course, they must unite now.

If Chuxia hasn't regretted being tricked by Lin Xiaohan yet, and they start a conflict over trivial matters, wouldn't that be slapping themselves in the face and making a fool of themselves for Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan?

They must not become the selfish, stingy and petty people they say they are.

It is inevitable that people will suffer some losses when getting along with others. We should be more generous, like Han Ting, who is broad-minded and does not care about trivial matters. Only in this way can we get along well with others.

People who only care about their own interests and not friendship will not go far in life.

***

On this day, Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan were naturally still busy with recruiting students.

They still put "Romance of the Three Kingdoms" and comic books in their schoolbags, put candies in their pockets, sat down under the big tree beside the small pond in Team 8, and told stories to the children.

After half a day yesterday, some children became more familiar with Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan. Today, when they listened to stories, they began to agree loudly. The atmosphere by the pond was much more lively than yesterday.

The lively storytelling continued until almost noon, and the morning story time came to an end.

Some children were so excited that they didn't want to leave, so Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan coaxed them for a long time before getting them to go home.

When the children who had listened to the story had almost gotten up and left, Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan suddenly saw Liang Youtian, who was wearing a dark blue thick coat and a liberation cap of the same color.

Not knowing when he came over, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan hurriedly stood up to greet him.

After saying hello, Liang Youtian smiled and said, "You guys are really good at thinking of ideas. That story was really well told. I was moved by it and want to go to school too."

Lin Xiaohan smiled and said, "There is nothing we can do. None of the children want to go to school. We can only use this method to motivate them to want to go to school first."

Liang Youtian affirmed, "This is a good idea. Children in our countryside have very little access to information. The commune only shows movies a few times a year, and the same goes for the propaganda team's performances. We have heard the stories we hear many times, so we have never heard the stories you tell."

Chu Xia followed up by saying, “Once the children learn to read, they will be able to read on their own.”

Liang Youtian nodded and said, "Now that they can read and have culture, they can better respond to the call of the Party and the country and lead their fellow villagers to live a better life in the future."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan nodded together.

Liang Youtian said a few words, then remembered what he wanted to say, and said to Chuxia and Lin Xiaohan: "By the way, I came to you to tell you that we have discussed it in the team and asked many members for their opinions and views. Everyone agrees to let Xisheng go to school."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan were both happy to hear this and said with a smile, "Thank you, Captain Liang."

Liang Youtian added: "Then I'll leave this matter to you. Go and talk to Xisheng and tell him to fill out the application form and go to school with peace of mind. Our team won't have any problems."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan still said politely: "Okay, thank you, Captain Liang."

Liang Youtian stopped standing after he finished talking about business. When he turned around and left, he said to Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, "It's getting late. Let's go back to the educated youth center to eat. We can get busy after dinner."

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan responded.

After Liang Youtian left, they quickly packed up and left.

But they did not go back to the educated youth site to cook and eat immediately as Liang Youtian said.

They discussed it and before returning to the educated youth site, they went to Li Xisheng's home first.

Li Xisheng's grandfather used to be a landlord, and his family originally lived in a big house.

But after the land reform, his mansion and all the land naturally no longer belonged to him.

His family now lives in the worst thatched house in the village.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan found his home and shouted into the yard, "Li Xisheng? Are you home?"

Li Xisheng happened to be at home.

He responded, "Who is it?" and came out of the kitchen.

After coming out, he saw Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, and timidly greeted them, "Comrade educated youth."

Chu Xia smiled and said to him, "We have fought for you. The team has agreed to let you go to school. If you decide to go to school, go to the school after dinner to register, pay the tuition and fill out the admission application."

Li Xisheng's eyes lit up when he heard this, but his expression and voice were still timid, "Really?"

Lin Xiaohan continued, "Of course it's true, but do your family agree with you going to school?"

His family's conditions seem to be much worse than those of other families.

Moreover, at his age now, he is a good labor force and can do a lot of things for the family. If he goes to school, he will not be able to earn work points for the family.

Li Xisheng nodded quickly and said, "I agree."

But think about it, their family used to be landlord class, a wealthy family, and their concepts and ideas are different from those of people who have been poor for several lifetimes. They know the benefits and importance of reading and getting an education. Li Xisheng has not been able to go to school for these years because of his background.

In that case, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan didn't say anything else.

They conveyed the message and did not bother Li Xisheng any further. They said "let's go" and went back to the educated youth point.

On the way back, Chu Xia said in a relieved tone: "The first student has been recruited."

Lin Xiaohan glanced at Chu Xia and said, "This shouldn't be considered as you recruiting him. He wanted to come here on his own."

“……”Chu Xia looked at Lin Xiaohan.

What a killjoy!

***

Because they went to Li Xisheng's house for a walk, when Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan returned to the educated youth point, Han Ting and the others had just returned from work and were washing their hands with pressurized water in the yard.

After washing their hands, they went into the kitchen to cook.

Chuxia went back to the dormitory to put her schoolbag away. She was a little slow. When she arrived at the kitchen, both pots had been used - Han Ting and his friends used one, and Lin Xiaohan used one.

Since there was no pot available, Chuxia decided not to stay in the kitchen and turned around and left.

But just as she raised the door curtain and hadn't left yet, she heard Lin Xiaohan call her, "Tang Chuxia."

Chu Xia turned around and asked him, "What's wrong?"

Lin Xiaohan said indifferently: "Put the steamed buns in the pot and heat them together."

Chu Xia was suddenly stunned, and everyone else in the kitchen was also stunned.

Especially Chaozi and Guogai, who were sitting next to Lin Xiaohan, turned their heads and looked at him.

If they heard correctly, Lin Xiaohan was asking Chuxia to put her steamed buns in his pot to heat them up. Was he taking the initiative to help Chuxia heat up the buns?

This is... the sun rising from the west? ?

Seeing Chu Xia standing there motionless, Lin Xiaohan said, "What are you standing there for? Use your mustard greens to block it."

Chu Xia finally reacted, and hurriedly put down the curtain in her hand and went to the cupboard to get the steamed buns, "Oh, okay."

He actually didn't want her to waste time. They had to go to school immediately after dinner and wait for people to register.

When the others heard Lin Xiaohan's words, they were no longer surprised.

After all, he was still after Chuxia's things. He was already heating up the steamed buns, so it was no big deal to help Chuxia heat them up a little, but he could get some mustard greens to go with the rice.

How can a hypocritical and calculating person change his nature?

The expressions on the faces of the others changed obviously, but Han Ting did not.

Han Ting's face was extremely gloomy, and his eyes were fixed on Lin Xiaohan like a fist.

He was very upset.

He was unhappy when Lin Xiaohan was nice to Chu Xia, and he was also unhappy when Lin Xiaohan was scheming and treated Chu Xia badly.

Anyway, he felt unhappy when he saw Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan together.

That was the sister who followed him and called him "brother".

Early summer feels like being drugged.

He can't control it now, so he can only keep it in his heart.

Whenever Chu Xia wakes up, he must let Lin Xiaohan know how powerful he is.