Chapter 061

Flames flickered inside the glass lampshade.

In early summer, I sat at the head of the bed, covered with a quilt, reading seriously by the light of the lamp.

Suddenly she heard the sound of a door opening next door. She raised her eyes and looked at her door, then quickly retracted her gaze and returned to the page of her book to continue reading.

Lin Xiaohan left the dormitory next door and went straight to the kitchen.

His temperature rose again when he got out of school in the evening, so he went back to the dormitory after school, took antipyretics and went to bed.

I slept until my fever subsided, and I got up and went to the kitchen to prepare something to eat.

He went into the kitchen and took a match to light the oil lamp. As soon as he lit the oil lamp and put it on the stove, he saw a note on the pot lid that was tightly covering the pot.

He reached over and picked up the note.

It just said: [I'll cook for you for another ten months and then we'll be even. 】

Lin Xiaohan stared at the note in silence for a long while.

Then he took a deep breath and put the note in his pocket.

He reached out and took off the lid of the pot, and inside the pot was the hot meal that Chuxia had left for him.

He looked at the food in the pot for a while.

After a moment, he turned around and took the bowl to serve the rice.

***

Chuxia didn't bother too much about Lin Xiaohan asking her to keep a distance from him.

There are differences between men and women, and especially in this conservative era, it is reasonable to keep a distance.

Moreover, she pushed the door open without knocking and walked into Lin Xiaohan's room, causing an embarrassing scene that might have an impact on both of their reputations. It was indeed her fault.

So next, Chu Xia readjusted the distance and way of getting along between her and Lin Xiaohan, and maintained the relationship as the most ordinary colleagues.

Because she had eaten a lot of snacks from Lin Xiaohan before and had promised to cook for him, Chuxia still cooked the meal. She thought that if she worked for him for another ten months, they would be even.

This incident doesn't affect life much.

After a quick adjustment, you can still do what you should do in early summer.

From Monday to Saturday, I go to school on time every day.

On Sundays, he went to the market with Lin Xiaohan as usual to sell noodles.

If they have other things to do on Sunday, let Wang Xiaoyan and Li Xisheng go.

Because the two of them have to work together, set up stalls together, and even eat and live together, even if they deliberately keep a distance, they still have a lot of communication and interaction.

It’s just that when they are together, there is less intimacy and casualness, and more deliberate politeness.

Of course, all these are also reflected in Chu Xia, because Lin Xiaohan has always been cold.

Although Chuxia knew that Han Ting, Chaozi and Guogai had returned from the labor camp, she had never returned to the educated youth site to look for them, let alone care about them.

Once again, she used her actions to draw a chasm between herself and Han Ting.

She was not afraid of Han Ting and others saying that she was cold-blooded, cruel, and heartless.

She was only afraid of getting involved with Han Ting again and being dragged back to the plot of the original novel, and all her efforts for so long would be in vain.

Han Ting and the others were probably extremely disappointed in her, and they never came to see her after they came back.

The only time they met was that morning when Chu Xia went to the health center to buy antipyretic medicine for Lin Xiaohan. In a hurry, she made eye contact with Han Ting without even saying hello.

In this way, they don't see each other and don't interfere with each other, so life will naturally go smoothly.

Chu Xia kept working towards her goal, and while keeping a distance from Lin Xiaohan, she also used every opportunity she could to take advantage of his energy.

Han Ting and his friends didn't cause any more trouble and lived their lives without any quarrels.

In addition to no longer being lazy at work, they also cultivated their private plots quite well. In the spring, the ten people were divided into groups to raise piglets and chicks.

Seeing that the ten educated youths at the educated youth site were finally living a normal life and being able to support themselves, the brigade cadres were relieved and put their worries to rest.

New Year.

The ten young people seemed to have found their place on this land.

Having lost his sharpness and youthful spirit, he slowly began to blend into this land.

However, only they themselves know that they do not like such a life, nor are they willing to live such a life, but they are forced to do so and are only enduring it temporarily.

Being forced into a helpless situation, I felt more pain and torment in my heart.

No one wants to stay on this land. They want to go home even more eagerly than last year. They can't wait to board the train back to the city and leave here forever.

□□ ended, and it also gave them more hope of returning to the city.

So they lived their lives in a numb state, cherishing the desire to return to the city, and put all their energy into hoping to return to their hometown one day.

At the end of spring and the beginning of summer, I heard that two educated youth from Shazhuang Brigade received quotas to return to the city.

In late summer and early autumn, I heard that two educated youth from Tangxi Brigade also returned to the city.

…

This year, the number of educated youth returning to the city was significantly higher than before.

Therefore, everyone's expectation to return to the city became stronger day by day.

Of course, Chuxia was also looking forward to returning to the city, after all, there was no place better than home.

But she knew the approximate time when the return to city indicator would come out, and because the performance of the other ten people was so poor that they could not be compared with her and Lin Xiaohan at all, she was not worried about not getting the indicator, and she did not feel anxious or nervous.

Even in the novel, the rest of them didn't cause such a big trouble, and Su Yun was still a glamorous and respectable elementary school teacher, and it was she and Lin Xiaohan who obtained the indicators to return to the city.

As time goes by, Chu Xia is not worried about whether she can return to the city and go home smoothly, but that she seems to have not completely freed herself from the constraints of the original novel.

***

Under the light of the oil lamp.

Chuxia lay on the table, puffed up her cheeks and looked at herself in the mirror.

The face in the mirror was exceptionally delicate and beautiful, exactly the same as the face she had dreamed of before.

But on the pretty face and in the pretty eyes in the mirror, there wasn't a trace of happiness or joy. On the contrary, the whole face seemed to have two big words written on it - depressed.

Besides feeling depressed, there were only four words running through Chu Xia’s mind – why?

Over the past six months, her relationship with Lin Xiaohan has certainly been effective.

Although her face changed slowly in the mirror, it became visibly clearer every month, from the bridge of her nose to the tip of her nose, and from the tip of her nose to the lip line.

Her face had become completely clear two nights ago.

When she saw in the mirror that her last remaining lips had become clear and complete, Chu Xia was so happy that she almost jumped up. She sat on the stool and stomped her feet for a long time.

She was so excited that she didn't fall asleep until midnight that night, and she kept imagining what other people's reactions would be when they saw her.

As a result, when she woke up the next morning and walked out of the dormitory, she saw Lin Xiaohan. When Lin Xiaohan saw her, he did not show any different reaction from the past.

He thought that Lin Xiaohan was a cold person who didn't show his emotions, and he himself was indifferent to such things, so he didn't react.

When she got to school, the students in the classroom saw her and behaved the same as usual, showing no surprise or surprise.

After school this evening, Wang Xiaoyan came to the school to return the book to her.

Chuxia couldn't help but ask Wang Xiaoyan if she looked any different from before. Wang Xiaoyan looked at her seriously and carefully for a while, then shook her head honestly and told her no.

So now, she sees her own face in the mirror, but in the eyes of others, she is still no different than before.

That is to say, she has not yet completely freed herself from the constraints of the setting.

Why is this?

She turned her head to the side to look at her face in the mirror and continued to think about the problem.

Could it be that the energy she got was not enough?

So how much is enough, and to what extent is enough?

There were only a few days left before they could return to the city.

If she still hasn't completed her goal when she returns to the city, it will be a big problem.

After all, after returning to the city, she and Lin Xiaohan would part ways completely, go back to their own homes and live their own lives. They would no longer live together or work together.

If it wasn't artificially created, there would be no chance of meeting at all.

And she didn't want to shamelessly look for him after returning to the city.

Over the past six months, when she was with him every day, she was not only careful to maintain a proper distance, but was also basically shameless.

By now, her thick skin was almost exhausted.

I lay down and thought for a while.

Chuxia suddenly sat up straight, pursed her lips and took a deep breath.

After letting out a sigh of relief, she cheered herself up and thought - so she couldn't be discouraged at this time, she had to cheer up and make good use of the time to come!

After encouraging herself in this way, Chuxia didn’t think about it anymore.

It was getting late, so she picked up the mirror and looked at her face for a while. Then she blew out the lamp on the table, went to bed, covered herself with the quilt, cleared her mind, and went to sleep.

Get enough sleep and wake up at a regular time.

After getting dressed, tying up my hair and making up my bedding, I just heard the sound of a door opening next door - Lin Xiaohan had also gotten up.

Chuxia walked to the crack in the door and looked out.

Seeing Lin Xiaohan go into the kitchen to scoop some water and go outside to brush his teeth, she also squeezed some toothpaste, took the toothbrush and enamel cup, opened the door and left the dormitory, went to the kitchen to scoop a glass of water, and went out to stand next to him to brush her teeth.

Seeing Chuxia standing next to him and brushing her teeth with him, Lin Xiaohan turned to look at her, with a hint of confusion in his eyes.

Of course he didn't say anything too much, nor did he speak first. After brushing his teeth, he poured water and went to wash his face.

He washed up and fed the chickens.

Chuxia also finished washing up and fed the chickens with him.

Still standing next to him at a relatively close distance, but not talking to him.

Lin Xiaohan turned his head to look at Chuxia again, but Chuxia pretended not to see him.

After standing there watching the chickens eat for a while, when Chu Xia felt that Lin Xiaohan might speak, she hurriedly turned around and went into the kitchen to cook breakfast.

Lin Xiaohan: “…”

Chuxia turned and left, and he naturally said nothing.

Watching Chuxia enter the kitchen, he withdrew his gaze and looked at the chickens in the chicken coop again.

Just as I was staring at the chicken in a daze, I suddenly heard a scream from the kitchen.

Almost subconsciously, Lin Xiaohan turned into the kitchen as soon as he heard the sound and asked, "What's wrong?"

Chuxia was standing by the stove.

Hearing Lin Xiaohan's voice, she turned around, looked at him with her left index finger raised, and said, "I cut my hand while cutting sweet potatoes..."

Lin Xiaohan naturally also saw the blood flowing from her fingers.

He didn't say anything, just scooped half a bucket of water, pulled her out, and poured water for her to rinse her fingers.

After washing and drying her fingers, he went into the room and took out a piece of white cloth that looked like it was cut from a handkerchief, wrapped it around her fingers, and tied it tightly with wool.

Chu Xia was completely stunned when she saw Lin Xiaohan bandaging her fingers.

Although he didn't say anything and didn't have any special expression, he looked like he cared about her a lot.

Of course she didn't cut her finger on purpose.

When she was cutting sweet potatoes, she was distracted by thinking about how to ask him to come into the kitchen and accidentally cut her index finger.

In fact, the wound was not deep, but she deliberately squeezed out more blood and screamed out.

She had deliberately tried to get his attention by calling him into the kitchen, but she hadn't expected him to actually care about her.

So seeing him like this, she suddenly felt a little confused.

Lin Xiaohan finished bandaging Chu Xia's wound, and as soon as he raised his eyes, he met Chu Xia's gaze.

He realized something and said calmly, "This is an extraordinary period. Please speak well of me in front of the brigade cadres."

“…”

Chu Xia came back to her senses and said, "Oh..."

After Lin Xiaohan finished speaking, he stopped standing there and went back into the kitchen to continue cutting sweet potatoes.

Chu Xia didn't think any more about it, and followed him into the kitchen. She stood next to Lin Xiaohan and said, "It's only a cut finger, it's okay, let me do it."

Lin Xiaohan ignored her and just asked, "What are you going to do with the sweet potatoes?"

Chu Xia said again, "I plan to cook sweet potato and corn porridge."

Lin Xiaohan understood and didn't say anything else to her. He continued to cut sweet potatoes and cook porridge.

Seeing him like this, Chu Xia no longer competed with him for cooking. She couldn't persuade him anyway, and this was a good opportunity, so she just stayed beside him and helped him when he needed help.

The decision has already been made in early summer, so I’ll use these last few days to make another effort.

So after finishing her meal and arriving at school, when Lin Xiaohan was teaching, she shamelessly went into the classroom under the pretext of being an auditor, and sat in the front corner, close to the podium.

She had made up her mind last night that no matter how Lin Xiaohan looked at her or what tone he used to say to her, she would have to shamelessly persevere through these last few days.

So throughout the day, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan spent more time together at close range than in the previous one or two months combined.

After school in the evening, after staying in the office to correct homework, Chuxia did not leave first.

She put away her students' homework and took out her own book to read. Then, when Lin Xiaohan finished grading the homework and cleaned up his desk, she also pretended to have just finished cleaning up the desk.

While she was packing, she tried to find a topic to talk to Lin Xiaohan, and asked him in a serious tone: "I heard that our team also got two return to the city quotas, have you heard the news?"

The matter of returning to the city has been something that all twelve educated youth have been paying attention to recently.

Lin Xiaohan didn't look at Chu Xia, he cleaned up the table and said, "Yeah, I heard some."

There are few books to collect in early summer, so they have already been packed up.

She looked at Lin Xiaohan and continued, "If nothing unexpected happens, I think the two return-to-city quotas should go to the two of us. The ten of them caused such a big trouble before, and gave the brigade cadres a headache for so long, so they definitely won't get the return-to-city quotas."

Lin Xiaohan naturally agreed, so he was confident about this matter.

Those ten people at the educated youth point had been making big and small mistakes since they went to the countryside, and it took them half a year to calm down. Especially Han Ting, Chaozi and Guogai, sending them to labor camps was tantamount to directly stamping out their quality issues.

With their performance, it would be a miracle if they could get the return to city quota.

But Lin Xiaohan did not continue the conversation. Instead, he turned his head and looked at Chu Xia.

He thought silently in his heart - so the reason why she suddenly started to stick to him without restraint today was because of this incident?

And if it was because of this incident, then why did she suddenly treat him like this? Was it because she thought that they would both have to go back to the city soon and would not be able to be together after returning, so when it came time to part, she suddenly felt reluctant to leave?

Thinking of this, Lin Xiaohan felt his heartbeat unconsciously heavier.

So he stopped thinking about it and continued to put away his homework, saying, "Wait for the notice."

And he just finished.

As expected, Chu Xia sighed again and said with emotion: "I have been here for such a long time. If I really have to leave, I will be reluctant to leave."