Sister Wu spoke while laughing.
This wasn't mockery, but rather admiration and envy. He Tiantian, a young girl, was doing better than these older educated youths, which truly surprised them!
Compared to Lin Xiaoru, Huang Jingli, and He Tiantian, they are much better at handling interpersonal relationships.
"You're laughing at me!" He Tiantian said reproachfully. "Alright, let's not talk about this anymore. When are you leaving? Have you bought your train tickets?"
Sister Wu said with a bitter face, "The certificate has been issued. Wang Lei and Zhang Qingshan will go to buy tickets first thing tomorrow morning, but I don't know if they will be able to get them."
He Tiantian thought for a moment and said, "How about this, if possible, you can try going to the post office and see if you can meet Niu Dajun. If you run into him, he might be able to help you buy tickets."
Wang Lei, who was listening outside, said, "Yes, we had dinner together last time, and we even exchanged a few words."
Wang Lei is a lively person, but he is steady in his words and deeds. He and Niu Dajun hit it off immediately. Asking Niu Dajun to help buy tickets should be fine.
“Alright, we’ll go see if we can buy it tomorrow. If not, we’ll ask someone for help. After all, Niu Dajun has a job, so we shouldn’t bother him if we can avoid it,” Zhang Qingshan said. After all, it’s the New Year, and there are a lot of letters coming in. They would feel bad if they delayed Niu Dajun’s work.
"Whatever you want, I wish you a long and happy marriage." He Tiantian sincerely wished them well, noting that it was not easy to find like-minded and caring people during difficult times.
Even with material poverty, a rich inner life can still bring happiness.
The four people chatted with He Tiantian for a while before saying goodbye and leaving, not wanting to disturb her rest.
He Tiantian asked Grandma Qi to pack some pine nuts for them to eat on the train as a return gift.
After they left, He Tiantian had lunch with Grandma Qi, and was then locked in the room by Grandma Qi and forced to lie down, not allowed to go anywhere!
In the afternoon, Niu Dajun came to deliver the letter.
Qi Shuli wanted to keep the letter, but Niu Dajun had already told Qi Xiaoyan to have He Tiantian pick it up.
Knowing that He Tiantian was resting on the field, Qi Xiaoyan came over and said, "Second Uncle Qi, Sister Tiantian hasn't been feeling well these past two days and can't come over, so she asked me to come and get the letter for her. You can just give me the letter."
Qi Shuli forced a smile, but he was very unhappy inside. He felt guilty for not being able to help his nephew before.
"Hehe, in principle, I could give it to you. However, there's a rule that this letter must be delivered to the person in question. Since Comrade He Tiantian isn't feeling well, let's wait until she's better before having her come and pick it up," Secretary Qi said with a smile, acting as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and considering Qi Xiaoyan's behavior impolite.
Upon hearing this, Qi Xiaoyan knew that Qi Shuli was up to no good. With a displeased expression, she said, "Sister Tiantian will definitely want to see the letter as soon as she hears it. Sister Tiantian is not in good health, so how about we deliver the letter to her together?"
The little brat is still giving him attitude.
If he can't handle your father, and if he can't handle you, this little brat, then he's wasted all these decades of his life.
"Xiao Yan, it's not that your second uncle is unwilling to deliver it!" Qi Shuli sighed with a bitter face. "Look, I have so many account books on this table, how can I have time to deliver them personally? Besides, it's almost the end of the year, and everyone's grain, ration coupons, and so on need to be distributed. Furthermore, look at this letter, you can tell it's from the army, so I have to come and pick it up in person."
Qi Xiaoyan felt increasingly frustrated as she listened. Qi Shuli was indeed just as her parents had said—full of bad intentions!
Qi Shuli was right, and it made perfect sense. Although Niu Dajun knew in his heart that Qi Shuli had done it on purpose, he couldn't speak up for Qi Xiaoyan.
"Alright, Brother Dajun, wait here for a moment. I'll go get Sister Tiantian's letter. Otherwise, Uncle Qi might be so busy that he forgets someone else's letter again," Qi Xiaoyan said angrily, turning to leave.
Qi Shuli was offended by Qi Xiaoyan's words, but since Qi Xiaoyan was Secretary Qi's daughter and his junior, he couldn't afford to stoop to the level of a child like Qi Xiaoyan.
"Hey, this girl's still angry." In front of Niu Dajun, Qi Shuli suppressed his frustration and smiled, "I'm in a difficult position too. Doing things strictly by the book means offending people. Dajun, you see, I'm really busy. It's not that I don't want to deliver it!"
Qijia Village is such a small place; you can easily deliver a letter while you're at home having a meal.
That's clearly an excuse.
"Hehe, yes, everyone's busy at the end of the year," Niu Dajun said with a smile, as if he hadn't seen through Qi Shuli's despicable intentions at all.
Qi Shuli saw that Niu Dajun wouldn't give him the letter, so he couldn't very well ask for it back.
When Qi Xiaoyan came to find He Tiantian in a huff, He Tiantian had just woken up.
"Sister Tian, hurry up and get dressed. There's a letter for you, sent from the army," Qi Xiaoyan said. "I already told Qi Shuli that you're not feeling well, and I'd pick it up for you, but he just wouldn't give it to me. I told him to bring it over, but he said he's busy looking at the accounts and told me to pick it up when I'm feeling better. I was worried he'd lose it, so I had Brother Dajun wait there while I came to get you."
Upon hearing that a letter had arrived from the army, He Tiantian knew it must be from Huo Yingjie, so she quickly got up and dressed.
Actually, He Tiantian has recovered today, but Grandma Qi is worried about her and is preventing her from getting up.
When Grandma Qi saw that He Tiantian was about to get the letter, she didn't stop her and told her to hurry back.
In front of Qi Shuli, He Tiantian took the letter back from Niu Dajun and swaggered away.
The sun is almost setting now. Niu Dajun will continue to stay at Qi Xiaoyan's house tonight and will go back early tomorrow morning.
He Tiantian originally wanted to ask about train tickets, but then she thought it best to let Wu Lei and Zhang Qingshan handle it, since buying train tickets also required a letter of introduction from the village.
He Tiantian went to the educated youth settlement and told them that Niu Dajun had come and was at Secretary Qi's house. She said they could go and ask him if they needed anything.
Upon hearing this, Wu Lei and Zhang Qingshan hurried to Secretary Qi's house.
He Tiantian, Sister Wu, and Ye Xiaofan talked for a while before returning to their own rooms.
He Tiantian was supposed to cook for herself, but Grandma Qi kicked her out, refusing to let her do any chores. Grandma Qi insisted that her fainting and weakness yesterday was probably related to the recent overwork.
He Tiantian read the letter inside the house and received a lot of food coupons. How worried Huo Yingjie must be that she wouldn't have enough to eat!
In his previous life, Huo Yingjie must have also sent grain coupons or remittances, but they were probably all claimed by Qi Jianguo and Qi Shuli, and he didn't receive any of them.
Thinking that there were many pine nuts at home, He Tiantian wrote back to Huo Yingjie. She explained that there weren't many pine nuts left, but after she caught a wild rabbit and made dried rabbit meat, she would mail some to her parents and Huo Yingjie. (To be continued.)
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com