Only half a day later, the entire village of Luxian knew that Luo Chen's return to his hometown had been approved.
For the villagers, the return of educated youth was just something to talk about after dinner, but for the educated youth themselves, being able to return home was a tremendous good thing.
After all, no one wants to stay in the countryside forever farming and working.
Although Xu Yan's application was not approved, she was still genuinely happy for Luo Chen. Now that he was away from this rural place and didn't have to work hard every day to earn work points, he would have more time to study.
On the deserted mountain path, Luo Chen's face showed no joy, but rather some unspeakable distress. He took Xu Yan's hand and said, "How about I stay here with you instead of leaving?"
Xu Yan gently struggled and said coquettishly, "Don't talk nonsense. It's a good thing that you can go back. Don't delay me. I believe I can get into university. As long as I get in, I can leave here too."
As the college entrance examination approached, Xu Yan stayed up late every day to study, and a faint dark circle appeared under her eyes. Fortunately, her skin was smooth and supple, and she was still beautiful and lovely.
Seeing that Luo Chen was too upset to speak, Xu Yan smiled and comforted him for a few more minutes before the two went their separate ways back to their residences.
These past few days, Xu Nuo and Xu Yan have been busy with their final review and sprint, so the black market business has been temporarily put on hold. Fortunately, the self-produced land in Gaoshan Village has already started planting, and Xu Nuo only needs to give Li Xian a small cup of herbal water every day.
Through this period of experimentation, Xu Nuo discovered that the amount of herbal water was indeed slowly increasing. Just like in training, the more frequently she released the herbal water, the shorter the time it took for the herbal water to recover.
Moreover, she discovered that sleep was the best way to recover. When the herbal water completely dried up, she would become weak, pale, and even experience severe dizziness. Therefore, Li Xian was always very cautious when using herbal water.
After using it many times, Xu Nuo would stop when she felt sleepy. At this time, she only needed to fall asleep as she felt sleepy, and when she woke up again, the herbal water was like a fully charged battery.
This discovery delighted her, and she released the herbal water almost at the exact time.
In just four days, the newly sown land in Gaosan Village was ready for harvest.
For four whole days, the plants grew taller and taller as if by magic, and finally bore abundant fruit. Duan San was utterly astonished by what he saw, but then became overjoyed.
Holding the full load of rice, Duan San's eyes were about to burst with tears: "Heavens, what incredible luck I, Duan Baiyun, have had to encounter such a wonderful thing!"
Luo Chen patted him on the shoulder: "Alright, get to work. The production team will be busy with summer work in a few days, so it won't be good to skip it again."
He turned to look at the man beside him, his eyes filled with admiration: "Brother Li, can the four of us finish collecting them by the day after tomorrow?"
Li Xian's gaze fell on the abundant bean sprouts, and a rare smile appeared on his face. He nodded: "I'll try my best."
This piece of land is located deep in the mountains of Gaoshan Village. The terrain is very suitable for planting. Li Xian used some tricks and had Xiao Gao act as a ghost outside the mountains for several days. Since no one dared to set foot in the deep mountains, even fewer people dared to come.
Four able-bodied young men worked with all their might, from dawn until the moon was high in the sky, and they had only harvested a quarter of the large field of grain. But at this rate, they should be able to finish harvesting in four days.
Li Xian wiped away his sweat and looked at the round moon overhead.
I wonder what that little darling is up to now?
Xu Nuo naturally studied at home. With the college entrance examination approaching, Xu Guihua's family moved away again, and Xue Ping and Xu Jin'an focused all their energy on Xu Nuo. When it was hot, someone would fan her, and when it was cold, someone would add clothes for her.
As soon as someone mentioned being thirsty, Xue Ping and Xu Jin'an immediately brought them tea and cut fruit.
Xu Nuo had just taken a hot shower and was sitting on the bed flipping through Su Zhao's review manual. She had already finished reviewing all the exam subjects, and the next step was to gradually reduce the amount of review. The feeling of the accumulated knowledge points being solved little by little was like walking a road with a fixed length.
Each period felt like solving a difficult problem.
Prioritizing the most important tasks before easing them off is Xu Nuo's way of relieving stress during her studies.
After flipping through the book for a while, she felt a little sleepy, so she turned off the light and went to bed.
The next day, Li Xian took some time to go into the city. He went to the black market to find Wang Qing. Wang Qing was shirtless, wearing a black plastic apron, with a machete by his side. As soon as he saw Li Xian, he smiled and said, "Brother Li, I've saved everything for you. It's guaranteed to be fresh."
Li Xian handed him the money: "Thank you."
"Don't mention it. But your meals are getting better and better. You've bought pork belly, pork ribs, and pork hocks."
He took the bag from Wang Qing and went to the old man selling herbs to buy a bundle of spices for stewing meat.
The pork hock has a strong flavor; it needs to be stewed with seasonings to become fragrant.
Not long after Xu Nuo woke up, Li Xian arrived. Xu Nuo opened the door for him, and he carried all his things in as if he knew the way.
Seeing that he was carrying several bags, Xu Nuo asked him curiously, "What did you bring?"
Li Xian wiped his forehead: "You're going to take the college entrance exam soon, so you need to make sure you get enough nutrition."
Xu Nuo smiled with her eyes crinkling. Li Xian was like a parent worrying about their child, making sure she got enough nutrition and was in a good mood. She squatted down to look and found that Li Xian had brought her a whole basket of free-range eggs this time.
She looked up and said, "Did you bring all of the old lady's eggs?"
Li Xian glanced at her, helped her carry the eggs inside, and said with a smile, "They're from my own farm."
"ah?"
Li Xian fenced off a piece of land in Gaoshan Village to raise chickens. Ten hens could lay more than thirty eggs a night, all thanks to the flowers, herbs, and water.
Because the eggs were laid by feeding the animals with herbal water, Xu Nuo felt that each egg was round and plump, and looked much better.
What are these?
Xu Nuo squatted down, preparing to lift it up, but Li Xian stopped her: "It's meat."
Xu Nuo withdrew her hand as expected; she didn't want to get her hands all greasy. Li Xian squatted down and lifted the lid, revealing a piece of pork belly, small pieces of ribs, and even a broken pork hock.
Great! We can have braised pig's trotters today.
Li Xian packed everything up and even washed the dishes Xu Nuo had used for breakfast before leaving. Xu Nuo gave him the water for the flowers and plants that she had prepared the night before, but he shook his head and said, "We're harvesting these days, so there's no need to water them. Keep it for yourself."
Xu Nuo had already set aside enough for brewing herbal tea and making body oil. With her cheeks puffed out, she said softly, "But I won't need it. You can't go to the city for the next few years. What if I need it someday?"
As Xu Nuo spoke, she placed the small bottle in his arms and then rushed in, giving him a warm hug. Li Xian held the delicate person in his arms, reluctant to let go.
"You need to rest these next few days, and don't use too much herbal water, or you might feel dizzy."
Xu Nuo nodded and squinted, "I understand."
...
Because some educated youth had successfully applied to return to their hometowns, the villagers would talk about it whenever they had free time.
"Does that mean that once Luo, the educated youth, leaves, he'll never come back?"
Aunt Wang said, "Of course they won't come back. They're city people. Why would they want to come back? What would they do back then? Work for us?"
The people next to him were displeased: "What's wrong with city people? Chairman Mao said that labor is the most glorious thing."
"Pah, you good-for-nothing Wang Erlizi, I just saw you hiding on the edge of the field slacking off."
While the surrounding area was noisy and bustling, the small group of educated youth was unusually quiet.
As one of the earliest villages to accept educated youth, Luxian Village has seen many batches of educated youth arrive here, totaling nearly eighty people. The earliest batch has been here for almost twenty years. Most of the women have married farmers in the village, while the men have married girls from the village. For this group of people, whether to return to their hometown or not is no longer of much significance.
But Xu Yan's group was the last to arrive, most of them were around twenty years old, and the oldest were no more than thirty. For them, returning home had a different meaning.
"Do you think we can go back?"
The first to speak was Wang Ting, who was usually quiet and reserved. She had greasy black hair, and her bangs had grown long and were combed back, revealing a pale and thin face. When she talked about returning to her hometown, her eyes showed some hesitation.
Chen Mingxue was a rich young lady with a powerful family background. Her parents sent her to the countryside in response to the call to action. However, Wang Ting was different from Chen Mingxue. She went to the countryside because her family was poor and they were starving. She came to the countryside to seek a way to survive.
Li Hong interrupted her thoughts, her voice tinged with worry: "Who knows? So many of us applied, and only Luo Chen got approved. I heard that only one person from Gaoshan Village got approved too. I don't know when it will be our turn."
Wang Ting frowned and whispered, "But Xueyun said she'll be back soon."
Upon hearing this, everyone looked at Wang Ting.
Lu Xueyun and Xu Yan were helping out at the commune canteen and weren't there at the moment, so everyone had to ask Wang Ting, "Really? Comrade Lu Xueyun really said that the educated youth will be able to return to their hometowns soon?"
She was referring to herself, not the educated youth.
"Sigh, who knows? I heard her family is quite influential in Shanghai." One of the educated youths made a gesture, implying that Lu Xueyun's family had some standing in Shanghai.
Someone who disapproved of Lu Xueyun's behavior scoffed, "Then why didn't her application pass? This time, only Comrade Luo Chen passed."
Upon hearing the name Luo Chen, Wang Ting's gaze became somewhat strange.
Yesterday morning, she helped Lu Xueyun carry her things. On her way back to the educated youth dormitory, she saw him and Xu Yan on the road. The two were behaving intimately, and...
Recalling the scene of the two holding hands, Wang Ting dug her fingertips into her palm.
She murmured, "I wonder if Comrade Xu Yan will leave Luxian Village."
Xu Yan was also thinking about this at that moment.
It would be a lie to say I don't want to leave.
She was forced to go to the countryside back then, but now, thanks to Xu Nuo, she has a good relationship with her family. The last time she went home to deliver something, Xue Ping and Xu Jin'an's attitude towards her changed. Xu Jin'an even took the initiative to suggest that she apply to return to her hometown.
Lu Xueyun rarely caught Xu Yan being distracted, so she stood next to her and snorted coldly.
Xu Yan snapped out of her daze, vigorously kneading the coarse grain dough in her hands, while mentally reviewing the material she had memorized yesterday.
With Su Zhao and Xu Nuo's summaries, the review process became much more efficient. However, Xu Yan still felt somewhat insecure and had a bad feeling that made it difficult for her to concentrate.
"Did you know that Luo Chen can return to his hometown?"
Lu Xueyun stared at Xu Yan's expression and saw her nod calmly: "Yes, I've heard about it."
This doesn't seem like what Wang Ting said about the two having an affair.
Lu Xueyun asked again, "Won't you be sad if Comrade Luo Chen leaves?"
Xu Yan didn't understand why Lu Xueyun asked that. She frowned slightly and lowered her head: "What's there to be sad about? Returning home is a good thing."
Lu Xueyun turned her head away dismissively, feeling somewhat resentful. Returning to their hometown was naturally a great thing for them.
My eldest sister had said in a letter a few months ago that she would definitely let me go back, but a couple of days ago she suddenly said that my father was getting a promotion and asked me to hold on for a while longer.
Lu Xueyun cried all night after receiving the letter; heaven knows how much she wanted to leave this awful place.
The place was dilapidated and poor, and the food they ate every day was like pig swill. It was a world of difference from life in Shanghai. Fortunately, her older sister wrote to tell her to hold on for a while longer and that she would be allowed to go back as a worker-peasant-soldier college student. Her mood finally brightened.
Not only can she go back, but she can also get a university student status for free, so she can go to university with her older sister.
Thinking of her outstanding older sister, Lu Xueyun jabbed the wild vegetable ball in her hand hard.
When she returns to Shanghai, she will definitely buy a lot of the moisturizing oil that Xu Nuo uses. She believes that with the moisturizing oil, her skin will definitely become like Xu Nuo's.
She glanced at Xu Yan and deliberately asked, "Does your sister's aunt from Shanghai only dote on her and not on you?"
Xu Yan was taken aback, not remembering who this Shanghai aunt was. To Lu Xueyun, this scene looked like Xu Yan was feeling sad, and she smiled and said, "Look, your sister has so many things, like body oil and shower gel, but she won't give you anything."
Girls are born to love beauty. Lu Xueyun still remembers clearly what Xu Nuo said. Xu Yan shook his head with amusement, unmoved by Lu Xueyun's sudden provocation.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Lu Xueyun continued, "Actually, you're quite pitiful. Your sister has everything, but you had to come to this wretched place. All the good things in your house belong to your sister..."
Xu Yan looked up in surprise, not because of Lu Xueyun's words, but because she was startled by the sob in her voice. Seeing that her eyes were red for some reason, she asked curiously, "Comrade Xueyun, what's wrong with you?"
Lu Xueyun wiped her eyes, unwilling to show weakness in front of Xu Yan. She raised her chin and said arrogantly, "I'm fine. I just pity you. Don't think I don't know that your sister doesn't like you at all. I saw it when she first came. She called you a jinx and hoped you would stay in this godforsaken place forever and never go back."
Touched by the past, Xu Yan's face paled, and she bit her lip in embarrassment.
That happened a long time ago, ever since Nuonuo fell and got injured in Luxian Village. She became a completely different person. Not only did she stop disliking her, she also treated her very well.
Xu Yan was more confused than anything else.
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