Xia Ning came over the next day. The two of them hadn't seen each other for a while. Xu Shen was basically in charge of the oil factory, and Xu Lai didn't know what Xia Ning had been busy with lately.
After her explanation, Xu Lai asked in surprise, "You went to teach at the town's primary school?"
Xia Ning nodded: "Of course, they are short of teachers. I saw a job posting on the street last time, so I tried to contact them."
Xu Lai nodded. She knew that Xia Ning had a teaching qualification. The two of them had taken the exam together in college. She also had one, but she didn't plan to teach after graduation, so she put it aside.
Xu Lai had an idea in mind, and she suggested, "Why don't you try filming a story about someone who quits their job and returns to their village to become a primary school teacher?"
Xia Ning's eyes lit up. "That sounds good. I can give it a try."
Xu Lai thought it over and over and it seemed feasible. "You can film for a few days and see how it goes. I can interact with you in the comments section and even appear in your videos to bring you some initial traffic."
Xia Ning hugged her, "Thank you, Xiao Lai. If it weren't for you, I feel like I would have been ruined the moment I broke up with Nie Yuxuan."
Xu Lai disagreed, saying, "You got through this on your own. Seeing how easily you can mention him now, I know you've let go. Congratulations, Ningning, embrace a brand new life."
Women are capable of making a name for themselves and realizing their own value in life. It would be a big mistake to treat them as appendages of men and expect them to fight and be jealous over a man.
...
The sweet potato chips had been drying for three days and were almost dry. Grandma took a lot of dry straw, stacked the sweet potato chips into piles, tied them up when they reached a certain height, and put them in bags for storage.
Seeing that the bamboo poles were hollow, Xu Lai wiped them clean with a rag, took out the winter cotton-padded clothes, and aired them all out. They had been stored in the closet all summer and autumn and had a damp smell.
She took out her grandparents' clothes, her parents' clothes, and Xu Yan's clothes.
Xu Lai even found her mother's high heels, which she had found before and secretly wore to play with.
She has bought several pairs herself, but she hasn't worn them much since returning home, mainly because she hasn't had many opportunities to wear them. She can't very well wear high heels to pick vegetables, can she?
Putting aside the inconvenience of movement, her shoes are quite expensive, and it would be a pity to get them dirty. Moreover, if the villagers saw her working in high heels, they would only think she was mentally unstable.
She took out her shoes to air them out, and then tried on each of her high heels one by one. And you know what? As soon as she put them on, that feeling of working came back to her.
She walked a few steps in it and was still quite steady, showing no signs of rustiness despite not wearing it for a long time.
After playing for a while, she continued to carry the quilts down to air them out. The yard was full of clothes, colorful and vibrant, making it look very lively.
In the afternoon, she put the blankets away and put the clothes in the closet. To be honest, she actually quite liked the smell of the dead mites.
When I was little, I didn't understand and thought it smelled like the sun, so I would cover my head with the blanket when I slept.
After a few days of sunshine, the sun turned cloudy again. She noticed that the kumquats in the garden were turning yellow, so she picked some to make kumquat paste.
In autumn and winter, there isn't much fruit. The garden only has citrus fruits, such as tangerines, emperor tangerines, navel oranges, and pomelos. My grandfather also grows red pomelos and Shatin pomelos.
We should be able to pick them and taste them now, but they won't taste as good; they'll definitely be a little sour.
She picked a basket of Emperor Tangerines, which are especially delicious, with very thin skin and a bright red peel that looks like a small lantern.
On a whim, she carefully kept the skin and used tweezers to pick out the meat, planning to eat it all at once later.
There were still some small fairy lights at home, leftovers from her handicrafts. She put a light bulb inside each orange, unplugged it, and it lit up.
Xu Lai made about ten in total, which could be distributed to the children in the village. There are quite a few children in their village, mostly between four and five years old.
Xu Lai would stand by the roadside and wait. When children passed by after school, their eyes would be fixed on the orange lamp in her hand.
She smiled and handed it over, saying, "Would you like one? Auntie will give you one."
The child's grandmother shook her grandson's hand and said, "Do you want it? If you do, thank you, Auntie."
The little girl said in her sweet, childish voice, "I want it, thank you, Auntie."
Xu Lai handed him one, and also gave him a whole Emperor Tangerine, "Take this and eat it too, it's homegrown, the lamps are made from this."
She saw off a few more people after that. When Zhao Qingyun came back from get off work, there were only two left. He came over and asked, "What are you doing here?"
Xu Lai held up the orange lantern, "I'm giving orange lanterns to the children in the village."
Zhao Qingyun took a look at it and found it to be very exquisite. He reluctantly put it back. Although he really wanted one, it was made for a child, and he felt embarrassed to openly take it.
Xu Lai understood his meaning and smiled, "Oh dear, why aren't any more children coming over? They've probably all been picked up. Here, these two are for you."
Zhao Qingyun was secretly delighted, but remained reserved on the surface: "How about we wait a little longer? Maybe there are still some children who haven't received theirs yet."
Xu Lai directly exposed him, "You should keep it, little Zhao Qingyun. You're the only one who's missing it. Your eyes are practically glued to my lamp. If you want it, take it. I can keep making more."
He nodded, took it with a happy expression, and went home. Grandma Jiang immediately noticed the bright little thing and asked, "Where did you get such a pretty little lamp?"
Zhao Qingyun pointed to the next room and said, "Xu Lai made these herself. She gave them to the children in the village. These two are the leftovers, and I reluctantly accepted them."
Grandma Jiang had a knowing look on her face. Ever since he was a child, her grandson had loved shiny things. When she took him to the park as a child, if he saw a toy that lit up, he would stand there and not move, without asking for it. He would just stand there and stare at it.
She would buy it, and he would be happy, but he wouldn't show it on his face.
Xu Lai didn't know that he had liked it since he was a child. She just noticed that he wanted it and gave it to him directly. Besides, she had made a few extra and was thinking of keeping one for him.
After dinner, Xia Ning came to her and said, "I don't care, I want an orange lamp too. You have to make me a plus version."
Xu Lai was roasting and eating oranges when she was stunned by what she saw. "How did you know that lamp was made by me?"
Xia Ning sighed, "I don't know anything about this. I have people in the village's intelligence network; they're very well-informed."
Xu Lai was amused by her. According to her, she could be considered to have someone in the village's intelligence network, including her grandmother, who would chat with the village's aunts and grandmothers whenever she had time.
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