Chapter 066

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei came to the train station to pick up Chuxia, riding a three-wheeled tricycle.

Taking Chuxia to the cart, Tang Haikuan put the travel bag in his hand on the cart.

Chuxia also took off her schoolbag and put it next to the travel bag.

Tang Haikuan was riding his bike in front.

Chu Xia and Wu Xuemei sat in the back, one on each side.

The three of them hurried home, enjoying the autumn evening breeze and chatting.

The content of the conversation was mainly Chuxia telling Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei about her experiences in the countryside.

Although Chuxia exchanged letters with her family every month when she was in the countryside, there was a limit to what she could say in the letters, and even more limited things that could be made clear. She only talked about the key points and only reported good news, not bad news. So there was still a lot to talk about when they met.

I listened to Chuxia talking halfway while riding my bike.

Tang Haikuan was puzzled and turned to ask Chuxia: "Didn't Han Ting come back with you this time?"

Of course, what puzzled him was not that Han Ting did not return to the city with Chu Xia. After all, the opportunity to return to the city was very rare and not everyone could get it.

What puzzled him was that Chu Xia had talked for so long without mentioning Han Ting at all.

She had never mentioned Han Ting in the letters she wrote back before.

Although she insisted on going to the countryside at first, and said that she wanted to build the countryside and train herself in the countryside, he and Wu Xuemei knew in their hearts that she did it for Han Ting.

As a result, after she went to the countryside, she never mentioned Han Ting again except for the first time she wrote home to report her safety after arriving in the countryside.

Now that you come back and don’t mention it, there is obviously something wrong.

Chu Xia naturally deliberately avoided the topic of Han Ting.

But she also knew that she and Han Ting were as close as siblings, and it was impossible for them to completely avoid each other, so when she heard Tang Haikuan ask this, she answered as usual: "No, our team only has two quotas to return to the city this time, and he didn't get one, so he can't come back for the time being."

If he did not take the college entrance examination like in the novel, or failed to get into university after taking the college entrance examination, he would have to stay in the countryside for another year and could only come back at the end of next year when the educated youth returned to the city.

In the novel, she returned to the city with him when the educated youth returned to the city in large numbers.

Wu Xuemei was naturally confused.

She didn't beat around the bush, she turned to look at Chu Xia and asked directly, "Are you and Han Ting having a falling out? You've been in the countryside for so long, and you didn't mention him in your letters, and he didn't mention you in his letters either."

Chu Xia did not mention Han Ting in the letter simply because she did not want Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei to worry about her.

Now she didn't have any concerns about this, so she said directly: "It's not a quarrel, it's a breakup."

Hearing this, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei were both stunned.

Then Wu Xuemei continued to ask with a worried look on her face: "You have loved following him since you were little, and you have such a good relationship. How come you broke up in the countryside? What happened? Didn't he take care of you?"

Chu Xia snorted, "Take care of me? I'm glad he didn't kill me."

Wu Xuemei frowned and asked again: "What do you mean?"

Chu Xia explained: "Not long after he arrived in the countryside, he fell in love with one of our female educated youth. The brigade gave me the opportunity to be a teacher in the school, but he used his status as an older brother to pressure me to give the opportunity to the female classmate he was dating..."

Chuxia recounted what happened in the countryside.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei both felt angry after hearing this.

Tang Haikuan said angrily, "This bastard, he promised me personally that he would take good care of you when we got to the countryside, but not only did he not take care of you, he even wanted to bring others to bully you!"

Chu Xia went on to say, "He's using this to pressure me, saying that you handed me over to him, so I have to listen to him. If I listen to him, I'll have to work like a slave for everyone at the educated youth center. Those people can't do this or that, and they're so lazy that they always back off from everything."

Wu Xuemei said angrily, "Thank goodness our family has taken good care of him since he was a child."

Living in the same courtyard, neighbors interact normally with each other and will help and take care of each other when needed, but their family has always taken better care of Han Ting.

The reason is simple, Chuxia is willing to be nice to him.

It turns out they took care of him so much.

He was like this when their daughter went to the countryside and needed his care.

This kid probably thinks that his whole family has been taken advantage of and feels that they owe him what he owes.

He took all the care given to him for granted and felt that he deserved it.

Chu Xia reached out to hold Wu Xuemei's hand and said, "It's also my own fault. My mind was muddled before, and I was thinking about him no matter what I did. But after going to the countryside this time, I have completely seen and figured it out. So I work hard every day just to get a place in the first batch."

Wu Xuemei patted her hands and said, "It's good that you're back. Don't do anything stupid again. Back then, your father and I didn't stop you. We were really afraid that you would stay in the countryside for the rest of your life and never come back."

Chu Xia promised: "I definitely won't do that again!"

Seeing that Chuxia had really changed her mind, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei felt relieved.

Tang Haikuan also said about Han Ting: "They have been restless since they were young. They hang out with Chaozi and Guogai all over the city. They should stay in the countryside for more time to practice and correct their bad habits."

Wu Xuemei didn't want to talk about Han Ting anymore, so she just said, "He treated Xia Xia like this after going to the countryside, which shows that he doesn't treat us as his own people. Why should we worry about him?"

After saying that, she turned the topic back to Chu Xia and no longer cared about Han Ting.

They didn't say anything more that made them upset, and the three of them spent the rest of the journey chatting and laughing.

I didn't feel anything when I was walking on the road, but when the three-wheeled cart entered Tianxian'an Hutong, a sense of familiarity hit me, and I suddenly felt like I was home in early summer.

During the day, you can still see familiar faces coming and going in this alley.

It was already very late. There was no one in the alley and no sound could be heard. Almost every household had turned off the lights and gone to sleep.

The alley was quiet, and Chuxia, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei stopped talking and laughing loudly.

Tang Haikuan rode his bike to the gate of his house and stopped. When he saw the familiar vermilion gate and the two stone lions beside the gate, he felt a sense of security and fulfillment.

Even after being away for a long time, I never feel strange when I return home.

Chuxia and Wu Xuemei got out of the car together and pushed open the door.

Tang Haikuan pushed the three-wheeled cart into the gate, walked around the screen wall and parked the cart in the front yard, then picked up his travel bag and went through the second gate with Chuxia and Wu Xuemei.

In early summer, their yard had two entrances.

There is a back house in the front yard. When the restaurant was opened, there was also a door on the side facing the alley. A plaque and sign of the restaurant was hung on the lintel. It has never been opened since it closed.

The backyard behind the second gate is also the main courtyard, which is the main place for daily life.

Chu Xia's family lives in the main house facing north and south, which has the largest space in the house. Han Ting and his family live in the east wing facing east and west, and the Jiang family lives in the west wing opposite.

The three families have lived in the courtyard for more than 20 years and have long been old neighbors.

Now there were no lights or sounds in the east and west wing rooms; both families were asleep.

Chuxia followed Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei across the yard into the main house. Wu Xuemei took the travel bag from Tang Haikuan and took Chuxia into her room.

Knowing that Chuxia would be back today, Wu Xuemei made a whole set of new bedding for her bed. Even the floral curtain on the door was new, with very fresh flowers and colors.

Every corner of the room was clean and tidy, and there was a faint fragrance.

As soon as Chu Xia walked in, she couldn't help but sigh: "Oh... it's better to go home..."

Wu Xuemei put down her travel bag and said, "Of course."

A person leaves his hometown, leaves his parents and relatives, and goes to the countryside. The living quarters are not good and the food is not good. How can it be compared with life at home?

Chuxia took two deep breaths and felt more at ease and relaxed.

Wu Xuemei came over and took the schoolbag from her hand. As soon as she picked it up, she found it was heavy, so she asked curiously, "It's so heavy, what's in the schoolbag?"

Speaking of this, Chuxia said "oh" and took her schoolbag and put it on the desk.

She opened the lid of her schoolbag and showed it to Wu Xuemei: "When we came back in the morning, many fellow villagers came to the village to see us off and stuffed our schoolbags with eggs. We brought back any eggs we couldn't finish on the way."

Wu Xuemei looked at so many eggs and asked in surprise, "Why are the villagers so kind to you?"

Chu Xia smiled and said, "Yes, so I have lived quite well in the past two years in the countryside. I haven't felt it was particularly hard. The villagers have taken good care of me."

As she said this, she reached into her schoolbag, reached to the bottom, and pulled out her purse.

Her purse was also bulging with money. She opened it again to show Wu Xuemei, and said with a little pride on her face, "I have saved a lot of money. Here are more than two hundred yuan."

More than two hundred? ?

Wu Xuemei's eyes widened.

She asked Chu Xia in disbelief: "How did you save all that?"

Chu Xia continued with a little pride: "As a teacher, I get ten work points a day, and a five-yuan subsidy a month. The hens I raise lay eggs every day, and if I can't eat them all, I can take them to the supply and marketing cooperative to exchange for money. I also get money that you insist on sending even if I'm not allowed to. And most importantly, I set up a state-owned noodle stall..."

Chuxia was afraid that Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei would worry that she had no money to spend in the countryside, and that they would be concerned about her hard work, so she did not mention the matter of setting up a noodle stall at the market on Sunday in her letter.

Now we naturally have to explain where the money comes from.

So Chuxia told Wu Xuemei in detail how to set up the state-owned noodle stall.

After explaining the process, she added: "In the beginning, the cadres of the brigade didn't think that the noodle stall could make money, so they didn't set a fixed salary for us. They were afraid that we would lose money, and they even gave us money for free. Unexpectedly, our noodle stall made a lot of money, and we also got a lot of money."

Wu Xuemei listened in a daze, and when she looked at Chuxia, she had only one thought in her mind - her daughter had grown up and could actually do such a big thing on her own.

I feel sad when I think about it. If she hadn't been forced by life, how could she have grown up so fast?

I remember that she was silly before going to the countryside and just followed Han Ting.

Wu Xuemei held Chu Xia's hand and said, "Our Xia Xia has been wronged."

Chu Xia smiled and said, "I haven't felt wronged. Although it is a bit hard, I am still very happy when I make money. The cadres of the brigade also respect us very much. I feel a sense of accomplishment."

Wu Xuemei felt very relieved after hearing this.

Before she could say anything else, Tang Haikuan suddenly came over, poked his head into the room and said, "What are you talking about? The dumplings are ready, come over and eat."

Hearing Tang Haikuan's voice, Wu Xuemei suddenly laughed and said, "You wouldn't know if we didn't talk about it, our daughter has a bright future. Other children go to the countryside with their families paying for it, but our Xia Xia is different. Not only did she bring back a schoolbag of boiled eggs, she also brought back more than 200 yuan!"

Tang Haikuan was also very surprised when he heard this: "Is it true?"

Wu Xuemei directly asked him to come over and look at the schoolbag and purse, "Look for yourself."

Tang Haikuan was even more surprised when he saw it, and asked, "How did you put this together?"

Wu Xuemei didn't let Chuxia explain again. She took Chuxia out to eat. While Chuxia was eating dumplings, she repeated what Chuxia had said to Tang Haikuan.

Tang Haikuan was also stunned when he heard this.

After listening to it, he said in an exaggerated tone: "Our Xia Xia has grown up!"

After eating the dumplings, Chuxia put down her chopsticks and said without any modesty: "Going to the countryside to join the production team is a great training. I am no longer the silly little girl before I went to the countryside!"

Hearing this, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei laughed together.

Of course, because it was getting late and Chuxia had been traveling all day, they didn't bother to talk to her any more and asked her to quickly take a shower and go to bed.

The early summer was indeed very tiring.

She didn't rush to pack her luggage. She just brushed her teeth, washed her face, took a shower, and went to bed.

Lying on the fragrant bed, covered with a fragrant quilt, early summer felt like lying on soft and sweet clouds. It was so comfortable that I fell asleep with my eyes closed before I had time to think about anything.

My mind is not empty after I fall asleep.

After entering deep sleep, Chuxia began to dream.

She dreamed that she became a puppet. She had her own thoughts but could not act on her own. All her actions were controlled by the strings holding her.

She wanted to walk independently and do what she wanted to do, so she tried her best to break the strings that controlled her.

She struggled hard, her skin was torn and her body was covered with blood.

Her clothes were soaked with blood, and the ropes binding her body broke one by one.

When there was only one thread left, she gritted her teeth and struggled to break free.

Then there was a "bang" sound, and the moment the last line broke, she felt a sense of relief and freedom she had never felt before.

Originally her world was gray.

But after all the threads on her body were disconnected, the sky above her head turned blue, the clouds turned white, she smelled the fragrance of flowers and heard the birds singing.

A smile appeared on her face, and a pair of large white wings instantly spread out behind her.

Then the large wings behind her flapped gently a few times, and she easily flew into the sky.

She flapped her wings and flew higher and higher, feeling freer and happier.

She looked down from the sky and saw the magnificent mountains and rivers, the beautiful flowers and trees, and many vast worlds and scenery that she had never seen before.

When I woke up from my dream in early summer, I still felt like I was floating in the air, floating on the clouds.

She closed her eyes and moved her arms on the bed, pretending that she was still flying.

After enjoying the flight, she opened her eyes and got up decisively.

Although she didn't need to go to work at the factory today, she still had a lot of things to do. She had to take the documents to apply for a household registration, have her household registration returned home, and then go to the Grain Management Office to handle the grain supply procedures.

After getting up, she quickly tidied her bedding and tied her hair. Chuxia took the toothbrush and squeezed toothpaste on it. Then she put the towel and the enamel toothbrush cup into the washbasin and went to the yard to wash.

The city has running water, but it doesn't reach every house.

No matter how many families live in the yard, the water pipes only extend to the yard. There are several faucets in the yard, and several stone troughs are built next to the faucets. Every family washes their faces, washes vegetables, washes clothes, etc. here.

When Chuxia came out with her toiletries, there was no one else in the yard.

She went to the stone trough, put down the washbasin, turned on the faucet to get water, and rinsed her mouth and brushed her teeth first.

When she finished brushing her teeth and was getting water to wash her face, she suddenly heard someone on the other side call her hesitantly, "Tang Chuxia?"

Chuxia raised her head and saw Jiang Shan, the daughter of the Jiang family who lived in the west wing.

Jiang Shan is four years younger than her, but she always calls her by her full name. When she first went to the countryside, Jiang Shan still looked like a child, but now she has grown into a grown-up girl, and Chu Xia would hesitate for a moment if she wanted to call her.

Chu Xia looked at her and smiled and said, "Long time no see."

Jiang Shan stared at Chu Xia for a long time before she said, "It's been a long time. You've changed a bit."

Chuxia didn't know what she had become in her eyes.

She has been in the countryside for almost two years, so it is impossible for her not to have changed at all. Jiang Shan has been studying in school for the past two years, and has changed a lot.

Because of the big age gap, Chu Xia and Jiang Shan don’t have much time to play together, so they don’t have any special feelings for each other. They are just ordinary neighbors.

Chuxia exchanged a few words with her and then lowered her head to wash her face.

After washing my face, I went back to the room and applied vanishing cream.

When she came out after cleaning, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei just brought the prepared meal into the main room and called her, "It's time to eat."

They made some extra dumplings last night so they could still have dumplings for this meal.

Life at home is indeed better.

Chuxia sighed in her heart and hurried to the kitchen to pour vinegar and get chopsticks.

When the family eats together, they don't care about separate plates; just one bowl of vinegar is enough.

"Vinegar is coming."

Chuxia followed Wu Xuemei's tone and shouted, putting the vinegar bowl in the middle of the table. After everyone sat down, she smiled and passed the chopsticks in her hand to Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei also sat down.

When they reached out to take the chopsticks, they all looked at Chu Xia in surprise.

Seeing them in a daze, Chu Xia smiled and said, "Take it."

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei came to their senses and quickly took the chopsticks and held them in their hands.

After picking up chopsticks and starting to eat dumplings, Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei looked at Chu Xia at the same time.

After watching for a while, Tang Haikuan smiled and said, "Xia Xia, you seem to be living a good life in the countryside. The soil and water in Tanxi Brigade are good too. Not only have you not become ugly after being in the countryside for so long, you have become more beautiful."

Wu Xuemei nodded and said, "She is not just a little prettier, she is a lot prettier."

It can even be said that she is stunningly beautiful. When she and Tang Haikuan saw Chu Xia's face just now, they were stunned and couldn't react for a moment.

Because they came home late last night and the lights were dim, they couldn't see clearly in the dim light, so they didn't notice much of the changes in early summer.

But now that there is enough light, my eyes are drawn to it even if I don't want to pay attention to it.

Chu Xia was also stunned when she heard what Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei said.

She stared and blinked, and suddenly remembered that Jiang Shan was also stunned for a while when she looked at her just now, and she also said that she looked a little different. Could it be that the change that Jiang Shan mentioned also meant that she became more beautiful?

After a moment's pause, she suddenly remembered the dream she had last night.

Could it be that...

Chuxia didn't think any further, immediately put down the chopsticks in her hand, got up and went back to her room.

After entering the room, go directly to the dressing table and bend down.

Her face appeared in the mirror, and it looked no different than it had before.

She put her face in front of the mirror and looked at it carefully for a while longer.

After looking for half a minute, she discovered that there was a small teardrop mole under the corner of her originally clean right eye!

Chuxia raised her hand and rubbed the teardrop mole.

Without rubbing it off, her heartbeat started to speed up.

So the only thing missing from her face was a teardrop mole. Now that the teardrop mole is there, her appearance has changed in the eyes of others, and she has finally gotten rid of the constraints of the novel setting!

No wonder the dream of breaking free from the ropes last night was so real. No wonder I felt so relaxed when I woke up in the morning, as if the ropes were removed and I could fly by just flapping my arms twice.

It turns out that she is really free!

When she was about to laugh out loud, Chu Xia suddenly covered her mouth.

Just then, Wu Xuemei's voice came from outside, asking her: "Xia Xia, what's wrong with you?"

Chu Xia quickly let go of her hand and said, "Nothing, I'm here."

After she responded, she took a deep breath to suppress her excitement so as not to look weird. She came out and sat down at the table, continuing to have breakfast with Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei as usual.

She ate two dumplings and said calmly, "The soil and water in Tanxi Brigade are very good, which is very nourishing. The folk customs are also good, the villagers are all simple and warm, and the brigade cadres are also very fair and upright people."

Wu Xuemei smiled and said to her: "I don't think you will want to come back after staying for another year or so."

Chu Xia hurriedly added: "Of course not, no one is better than mom and dad, and there is no place better than home!"

These words naturally made Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei happy.

They also felt that not only did Chuxia's face become prettier, but her personality also became more cheerful and lively.

The main thing is that people have grown up and become sensible, and know how to make their parents happy.

Before she went to the countryside, Han Ting was the only thing in her silly eyes.

Tang Haikuan and Wu Xuemei were happy, and Chuxia was naturally even happier.

But when she happily finished half a plate of dumplings, she suddenly remembered that she had now completely freed herself from the constraints of the novel's setting, so she would no longer have to look for Lin Xiaohan.

Chu Xia breathed a sigh of relief subconsciously when she thought that she no longer had to shamelessly pester him.

He doesn't like people pestering him or getting too close to him. He doesn't need love or friends, let alone female friends. How could she be willing to embarrass herself in front of him again and again?

But after she felt relieved, she couldn't help but think of Lin Xiaohan's face that had been in front of her for almost two years, and Chu Xia couldn't help feeling a little melancholy.

I didn't expect that their separation at the train station last night would be the last time they saw each other.

If she had known this would happen, she would have said goodbye to him solemnly when leaving the station.