Chapter 57
This New Year, both the Chu and Han families were doing well, but the captain's family was extremely violent.
He went to pay New Year's greetings on the first day of the Lunar New Year, and accompanied his wife back to her parents' home on the second day. On the third day of the Lunar New Year, the team leader could finally lie on the kang and rest for a day. He was about to take out the Bamboo Leaf Green tea that he had hidden for a year and enjoy it alone when Chen Jiefang rushed into his house in a hurry.
"Captain!! This is bad—"
The captain's hand trembled, and he immediately spilled a tael of Bamboo Leaf Green.
He looked at the spilled table with a distressed look and couldn't help but angrily said, "What are you yelling about? You don't act like a deputy captain at all. What's going on? Is someone's house on fire?"
During the Chinese New Year, everyone sets off firecrackers. Some children are careless and often accidentally set fire to someone's firewood pile. After setting it on fire, they dare not tell the adults and secretly put out the fire themselves. They don't start crying until the whole pile of firewood is burned.
This happens every year, but it didn't happen this year. The team leader was just wondering, he put down his bottle and was about to rush out as usual, but Chen Jiefang quickly stopped him, "No, no, it was Old Qian from the commune who just came. He told me that the new educated youth have already left and will be in our village in two or three days. He asked us to pack up quickly and give them a good reception!"
The captain almost popped his eyes out. "What?! Why is it so sudden? Didn't we give a month's notice before? This time it's too fast!"
Chen Jiefang also felt it was sudden: "Exactly! It's only the first few days of the year. We haven't even finished the first lunar month, and we haven't even celebrated the Lantern Festival yet. So, Captain, what should we do? It's too late to build houses for the educated youth now."
"Do you know who the educated youth here is, male or female?" asked the team leader.
Chen Jiefang shook his head. "I don't know. They said that the town will make all the distributions once all the educated youth have arrived."
Captain: “…”
His bad temper.
This captain is really not a human being. He never has a peaceful day. He should resign next year!
Every year, the captain would roar like this, but every year, he would continue to do his job.
There's no way. None of the young men nowadays are reliable. The only one who is still reliable is Zhao Qianjin. His surname is not Chen. The villagers have no objection to him being a militia company commander, but if they let him be a team leader, everyone will be unhappy.
With no more drinking to do, the team leader rushed out with Chen Jiefang and Zhang Qingfa. They toured the entire village but couldn't find a place for the educated youth to stay. After much discussion, the three of them finally decided to add two more beds to the original educated youth camp, or to have them squeeze in. They quickly applied to the commune to build new housing for the educated youth before summer arrived.
Not knowing whether it was a boy or a girl, the team leader could only pray to God. It would be best if there were two girls. Li Yan had moved out, and there was already an empty bed in the female dormitory. Besides, women took up less space, so two people could barely sleep in one bed. This way, they could save some money.
——
On the seventh day of the first lunar month, Chu Jiujiu squatted in the yard and touched Dahuang's feathers one by one.
Dahuang is already a mature adult hen with all its feathers grown. After seeing her, Grandma Han said that it won't be long before Dahuang starts laying eggs. So these days, Chu Jiujiu looks at Dahuang with eager eyes every day, hoping that her belly will be better and she can lay two eggs a day.
rhubarb:"……"
People say no.
Chu Shao was drawing water on the side. He was getting stronger and stronger. He used to feel tired when drawing water, but now he could lift the bucket easily. The water tank at home was almost empty. Chu Shao drew bucket after bucket. When he drew the third bucket, the team headquarters suddenly became lively.
Someone shouted, "Here they come, here come the new educated youth!"
Chu Jiujiu heard yesterday that new educated youth were coming to the village, but she didn't know who they were, nor did she know that people could watch the welcoming of the educated youth. Seeing the neighbors around her coming out one after another, she couldn't help but turn around and look at Chu Shao longingly.
Without even looking up, Chu Shao said indifferently, "Go if you want."
After receiving this permission, Chu Jiujiu immediately jumped up and said, "I'll be back after I finish watching. Goodbye, Grandpa~"
After she finished speaking, she pushed open the gate and ran out.
Chu Jiujiu's height has been growing slowly. Now she is about 1.38 or 1.39 meters tall. Her legs are thin and long, like a flamingo. When Chu Jiujiu ran over, a large group of people had gathered on the road in front of the team's entrance. Everyone was tucked into their sleeves, looking forward to the end of the road.
If someone was arguing, Chu Jiujiu wouldn't join in. But if someone was getting married, she loved joining in the fun, especially seeing the shy bride. Welcoming the educated youth wasn't as festive as a wedding, but it was also a good thing. Chu Jiujiu stood in the crowd, looking out the direction of the village with everyone else.
Finally, the roar of the engine came from afar. A large truck carrying a dozen young people slowly drove to the front of the team headquarters. The driver got out and lowered the door panel of the rear dump truck. The two young people in the front were a man and a woman. The male educated youth had a baby face and he jumped directly from the car. The female educated youth had a student-like face. She looked around at everyone nervously. She was standing about one meter above the ground and she didn't dare to jump directly. In the end, the director of the women's department came over and took her down from the car.
The big truck drove directly from the town, and its first stop was Qingzhu Village. The driver had to take the remaining educated youth to other villages.
All the educated youth were wearing green or blue work clothes, which was popular at that time. Each of them had a very bright red flower on their chest. Chu Jiujiu watched the team leader give an awkward but polite smile and shake hands with the new educated youth one by one. She felt that there seemed to be nothing interesting, so she prepared to leave.
In February, the weather was still very cold. Chu Jiujiu rubbed her face and just turned around when suddenly, her ears moved.
Amidst the clamor, she heard a familiar name.
"Wen Xiuwei, please stop blocking me, okay? I'm suffocating behind you and I can hardly breathe!"
Wen Xiuwei?
...Wen Xiuwei? !
Chu Jiujiu suddenly turned around. There was a group of young men and women standing on the big truck. Some of them had sad faces, while others were excited, as if they regarded going to the countryside as an outing. But there were also some who kept their heads down, not wanting to attract any attention. Wen Xiuwei was one of them.
The person who had just spoken was Sun Yuqin. Like Wen Xiuwei, she was headed to the same village. But ever since arriving in this town, Wen Xiuwei had always been the center of attention, no matter where she went. She was simply too beautiful. Her small, palm-sized face, with its slender, willow-leaf-like eyebrows, concealed a pair of bright, watery eyes, a small, high nose, and lips like early cherry blossoms—all combined, without makeup, she was a truly stunning sight.
No matter how beautiful a woman is, she will look mediocre standing next to her. Every part of her body seems to have been carefully carved. Her skin is whiter than others, her touch is more tender than others, her figure is better than others, and her hair is softer than others. Not to mention Sun Yuqin, even the mother-in-law and aunt under the truck couldn't help but feel jealous after seeing this face.
Oh my god, why is this girl so pretty? She doesn’t have any flaws at all. This is so unfair!
But even if she was jealous, it only lasted for a moment, and that jealousy was based on the injustice to the Creator, not jealousy that she had stolen her limelight.
So soon, everyone shifted their attention away from Wen Xiuwei's face. Some people looked away, while others continued to stare at her.
It's strange, why does this girl look so familiar?
It seems like I've seen it somewhere before.
Where have I seen it before?
At this time, someone clapped his hands and said to his companions: "Hey! Look, that educated youth looks like Chu Shao's sister!"
Another person couldn't help but ask, "Chu Shao's sister? The girl named Jiujiu?"
Chu Jiujiu didn't hear the discussions of the people around her. She looked at Wen Xiuwei in great shock.
Wen Xiuwei always knew that she was eye-catching, so she lowered her head early on, just because she didn't want everyone to notice her. But no matter how low she lowered her head, her face was still exposed to everyone's sight. Wen Xiuwei clenched her hands nervously. Besides being nervous, she also felt that the villagers of Qingzhu Village looked at her differently from before, as if they were comparing her with others.
Wen Xiuwei frowned. She didn't notice that not far away, a little girl was stretching out her hand, covering half of her face.
Chu Jiujiu used her palm to block the left half of Wen Xiuwei's face in her sight. Then, she closed her left eye and only opened her right eye. She compared the picture in front of her with the wedding photo of her grandparents in her memory.
When she saw the whole face, Chu Jiujiu couldn't tell whether this person was her grandmother, but when she saw half of the face, Chu Jiujiu recognized her immediately.
That’s right, it’s her grandmother!
Oh my god! How did grandma suddenly appear here? And, is she so beautiful?
…
Chu Jiujiu wasn't a conceited person. She rarely looked in the mirror and had never had a clear idea of her appearance. Sometimes, when she looked in the mirror, she even felt like the person in the mirror wasn't herself. When she saw Wen Xiuwei, she didn't think she looked that much like her; she was just shocked.
Because in my grandparents' wedding photo, the left half of my grandmother's face was burned, which was very scary. My grandmother was very self-conscious about this and never took photos. She had to be afraid of wedding photos, so she acted very stiff and turned away to hide the left half of her face. As a result, her photo was really not very good, and she looked a little distorted.
Chu Jiujiu was stunned for a second and didn't care about other problems. She quickly squeezed through the crowd to find Wen Xiuwei in the car.
At that time, the driver had returned to the cab and started the truck. Chu Jiujiu shouted twice from below, but no one in the car heard her. On impulse, she used both her hands and feet to climb onto the truck.
The educated youth standing at the front saw a little girl trying to climb up and was startled. He didn't know what to do for a moment. He didn't dare touch Chu Jiujiu, for fear that the car would suddenly drive away and he would throw her. Over there, the team leader was greeting the educated youth politely when he heard someone scream. He turned his head and shouted.
“Come down quickly!”
The newly arrived female educated youth saw the team leader's face change instantly and looked terrified.
The team leader didn't notice. He quickly carried Chu Jiujiu down and apologized to the educated youth in the car: "I'm sorry, I scared you. The children in our village are too naughty."
As he said this, the driver had already stepped on the accelerator. Chu Jiujiu watched the truck drive away. She opened her mouth anxiously and was about to call Wen Xiuwei's name when the captain put her on the ground.
"How can you celebrate the New Year? You haven't grown a year older, but you've actually gone back a year! Can you actually climb on a car? What if you fall?"
Chu Jiujiu stared at the captain blankly. After a second of reaction, she turned around and ran away.
Captain: “…”
Hey! You did something wrong and you still say it’s a big deal!
Chu Jiujiu's shoes were sparking from running so hard that she pushed open the gate of her yard and saw Chu Shao still watering the vegetable patch slowly. Chu Jiujiu quickly grabbed his arm and pulled him out.
"Hurry up, hurry up! Come with me and chase after him!"
Chu Shao was completely bewildered. He tried to pull his arm free, but couldn't. Unaware of what Chu Jiujiu had seen, he dropped the water scoop and scrambled backwards, "Wait, what are you chasing after? Why are you running so fast?"
Chu Jiujiu turned her head and pointed in the direction the truck was going. "I saw Grandma! Let's go after her, or she'll be gone!"
grandmother?
Chu Shao frowned. What grandma? Aren’t trucks only used to transport educated youth? Why are they carrying grandma as well?
After a second, Chu Shao finally understood that this grandma was not that grandma, but Chu Jiujiu's grandma, which means that she was his future daughter-in-law.
Then, Chu Shao's head began to rust.
His eyes were even wider than Chu Jiujiu's. When both of them were in the midst of adrenaline rush, Chu Shao was naturally better. He pulled his arm out of Chu Jiujiu's hand in a flash.
"Are you kidding me?"
Chu Jiujiu: "I'm not kidding! I saw it, it was definitely her, and someone called out her name, Wen Xiuwei, Wen Xiuwei!!!"
Chu Shao's face began to turn red again. He stuttered as he spoke. He looked at Chu Jiujiu with an indescribable expression. He asked intermittently, "But, but didn't you say that we would meet her only when we went to the south?"
Chu Jiujiu was also puzzled by this question. "That's what my father told me! But now it's ahead of schedule. You can't just not go to see her because the time is not right!"
Chu Shao: “…”
No, no, he's only thirteen years old, he's not ready!
Shaking his head like a rattle, Chu Shao turned around and ran back, "I'm not going!"
Chu Jiujiu never thought that Chu Shao would have such a day. She was about to chase him when Han Shengyi walked in puzzled. "What are you guys arguing about?"
In an instant, both Chu Jiujiu and Chu Shao shut up. They tried to appear calm and said in unison, "You heard wrong. We weren't arguing."
Han Shengyi: “…”
Because of Han Shengyi's sudden interruption, the matter was forced to be put on hold. After a while, Chu Jiujiu calmed down. The car was used to transport educated youth. She could clearly see that Wen Xiuwei also had a big red flower on her chest, which meant that she was going to be an educated youth here.
No matter which village it is, she won't leave for a while, so they don't need to worry, they will see her sooner or later.
Having said that, Chu Jiujiu still wanted to find Wen Xiuwei very urgently.
Sitting in the bedroom, she faced Chu Shao.
Chu Shao also calmed down. In the past, because he was shy, he was always unwilling to listen to Chu Jiujiu talk about Wen Xiuwei, but now that Wen Xiuwei herself was here, he had to listen.
"My dad told me that you and grandma met in the south, and knew each other for several years before finally getting married. My dad also said that you got married so late because grandma always had a knot in her heart. She felt that she was too ugly and no one liked her. Later, she finally believed you, but she was still very concerned about her face. In the 1990s, plastic surgery had just been introduced to our country, and grandma wanted to try it. She didn't tell anyone because she knew no one would agree and the risks were too great. She went secretly, but the hospital someone recommended her to was a black hospital. The operation failed, and grandma eventually died on the operating table."
Chu Shao was a little confused when he heard this, "What is plastic surgery?"
Chu Jiujiu: "It means surgery on her face. Grandma's face is covered in burns, so she should get new skin transplanted. That means she'll have to cut off her face and replace it with a new one."
Chu Shao: “…”
Chu Jiujiu was also a half-baked person. She just heard things from others and what she said was like something out of a horror movie. In fact, Wen Xiuwei died from unskilled anesthesia. On the bright side, at least she did not suffer.
Chu Shao's brows knitted tightly together as he listened. After a long while, he said, "Then the woman you saw just now didn't have any burns on her face?"
"No! It's so beautiful! You are so lucky, Grandpa."
When she said the last sentence, Chu Jiujiu's tone was a little jealous.
Chu Shao: “…”
You're just a girl, what do you have to be jealous of?
Before hearing Chu Jiujiu's words, Chu Shao was terrified of seeing Wen Xiuwei. This was a normal reaction for adolescent boys: liking and fear always came together. After Chu Jiujiu showed up, he had gradually accepted the fact that Wen Xiuwei would be his future wife. Even before they met, he already had a crush on her, but he didn't understand what liking meant, so he automatically processed this slightly excited feeling as his brain warning him.
But after listening to Chu Jiujiu's words, especially after hearing that Wen Xiuwei lost her life just to make her face less ugly, he felt heavy in his heart.
Wen Xiuwei, Xiuwei. Hearing the name, he always thought that this was a well-educated and gentle girl living in a well-off family, but he didn't expect that her life would be so bumpy.
Now, the more Chu Jiujiu praised her as beautiful, the more desperate she became after being hurt.
"Do you know how her face was injured?" Chu Shao asked.
Chu Jiujiu was stunned and scratched her head. She replied, "Well, my father never told me about this. He probably doesn't know either."
What Chu Jiujiu didn't know was that not only her father didn't know, but even her grandfather, Chu Shao, didn't know either. This incident was a lifelong pain in Wen Xiuwei's heart. She hadn't told anyone about it. If anyone asked about it, she would say it was an accident. If they asked what the accident was, she would turn against them.
As an adult, Wen Xiuwei was far less docile than she is now. She was withdrawn and couldn't crack a joke. The only time she was willing to smile was when she was with Chu Shao. She didn't socialize with anyone and hated people staring at her face. Whenever she went out, she wore a hat and scarf, so no one could tell that she was once such a beautiful girl, even some celebrities couldn't compare to her.
Chu Shao stopped talking. Chu Jiujiu couldn't tell what he was thinking. After a moment of silence, Chu Jiujiu couldn't help but suggest, "Grandpa, why don't we bring grandma over?"
Chu Shao raised his head and stared at her without saying a word.
Chu Jiujiu continued, "Let's take Grandma over. You and I will come and protect her anytime, anywhere. She won't get hurt again. Besides, we are a family and should live together."
Chu Shao: "Take her over. How are you going to introduce yourself? Hello, grandma. I am your granddaughter from decades in the future. I am not crazy, I am a normal person. Is this how I introduce myself?"
Chu Jiujiu: “…”
"I called you grandpa back then, so you believed me," Chu Jiujiu retorted softly, "Then there's a chance that grandma will believe me too."
Chu Shao: "Okay, even if she might believe you, there's still a problem. She's an educated youth. She has to stay in the village where the organization assigns her. If she leaves without permission, she'll be sent to a labor camp. Even so, you still want her to live in our house?"
Chu Jiujiu opened her mouth in shock: "It's so serious!"
Chu Shao: "What do you think?"
Chu Jiujiu: "I...I thought I could leave at will. Didn't Li Yan leave?"
Chu Shao: "Li Yan went to work in the town. If there is a job, she can be transferred. If you can find a job for Wen Xiuwei, she can leave too. But no matter where she goes, she will definitely not be able to come to Qingzhu Village."
Chu Jiujiu was silent for a moment. Chu Shao thought she was convinced by him, but the next second, she pounded the bed firmly and said, "Well, there's only one way left. Let's move to the village where grandma lives!"
Chu Shao: “…”
You are such a clever little fellow.
Chu Shaofeng laughed coldly, "You said to move, so move. You're from Qingzhu Village, why should you live in another village?"
Chu Jiujiu: "I..."
Chu Shao: "You don't earn work points, you don't do farm work, and you don't have an adult to guide you. Why should they take you in?"
Chu Jiujiu: "I..."
Chu Shao: "After you go to another village, where will you live? There are no rental houses in the countryside, and you need a local household registration to buy a house. Or are you planning to live in the mountains and be the White Haired Girl again?"
Chu Jiujiu: "...Then what do you say we should do? We can't move over there, and grandma can't move over here. Are we going to live apart like this?"
Chu Shao ignored her choice of words. He was eloquent just now, but when it came to the solution, he was silent for a while, just like Chu Jiujiu, and then said, "Let me think about it."
Chu Shao thought about it for two consecutive days but couldn't come up with any good solution. However, Wen Xiuwei's name spread quickly to several nearby villages like a spark that can start a prairie fire.
Chu Jiujiu learned from the villagers that Wen Xiuwei was an educated youth from Xujiawan. There were originally three educated youths in Xujiawan, two women and one man. Now two more women have come, and one of them is so beautiful. Everyone can't help but sigh, what luck Xujiawan has.
The person chatting was unhappy. "Luo Zhiqing was already pretty enough, and she was okay. Now here comes someone even prettier, and they've all given them to Xujiawan. I'm starting to suspect Xujiawan is up to something, so the higher-ups gave all the pretty female educated youth to them."
Another person advised him: "Who said that? Isn't our Li Zhiqing pretty good-looking too?"
The man curled his lips and said, "She's pretty, but Li Zhiqing is too hard to please. Luo Zhiqing is better. I heard that Luo Zhiqing is now a primary school teacher in Xujiawan. She helped pay for the tuition for her children who couldn't afford to go to school."
Chu Jiujiu seemed to be pulling weeds for fun, but she was actually eavesdropping. She didn't know who Luo Zhiqing was, she only noticed that Wen Xiuwei was now in Xujiawan.
Chu Shao at home refused to tell her a solution. Chu Jiujiu suspected that he was delaying, but she couldn't wait any longer. She wished she could see Wen Xiuwei right now and talk to her.
Han Shengyi stayed with her. During these two days, he also heard Wen Xiuwei's name. However, he remembered this name because the women in the village all said that Wen Xiuwei looked very similar to Chu Jiujiu. The men were not careful enough to notice this. When they looked at Wen Xiuwei, they only looked at how beautiful she was, and would not pay attention to whether she looked like a child.
Han Shengyi took this sentence to heart, and when he thought about the quarrel between Chu Shao and Chu Jiujiu that he heard two days ago, and Chu Jiujiu's uneasy look in the past two days, he couldn't help but become curious.
Who is this Wen Xiuwei?
Walking away from the two men, Chu Jiujiu walked along the path, plucking the leaves in her hand.
After a while, she suddenly stopped, turned around and said to Han Shengyi: "Brother Shengyi, I want to go to Xujiawan."
Han Shengyi looked at her knowingly, "Do you want to go see Wen Zhiqing?"
Finding out that Han Shengyi already knew, Chu Jiujiu couldn't help but laugh dryly, "Well, everyone in the village said I look like her, so I wanted to go and see."
Xujiawan is not far from Qingzhu Village. It takes about 40 minutes to walk there. It is still early. Han Shengyi smiled and said, "Okay, I'll go with you."
If Chu Jiujiu were alone, she wouldn't have dared to travel such a long distance. After the human trafficker incident, she was always worried that she would be sold along the way. Now, Chu Shao wouldn't go with her, and Han Shengyi was willing to accompany her.
Han Shengyi was about to leave when Chu Jiujiu stopped him. "Wait a minute, Brother Shengyi, I need to go home and get some things first. We can't go empty-handed!"
Han Shengyi: “…”
It's just a look, why do you need to give gifts?
Chu Jiujiu returned home and rummaged around while Chu Shao was away. Without Chu Shao's consent, she took out twenty yuan from the closet and put on a pair of knitted gloves that Chu Shao had bought for her, which he had never used. She then found a bag of unopened snacks from the cupboard. Chu Jiujiu stood in the main room and thought for a while, then took out her small purse, hesitated for a long time, and finally took out the five-yuan note with the largest denomination.
Han Shengyi raised his eyebrows as he watched from the side. He had an idea of how important Wen Xiuwei was in Chu Jiujiu's heart.
The village of Xujiawan is located on the riverbank at the bend of Qingshi River. After the dam project began, all the houses close to Qingshi River were requisitioned by the town. In order to compensate the affected villagers, the town asked for help and built a row of brick and tile houses on the outskirts of Xujiawan.
The town's action was to compensate the villagers, but the villagers did not enjoy this benefit. Instead, the brigade headquarters in Xujiawan happily moved into the new house, and the old houses made of piles of dirt and rubble were distributed to the unlucky villagers.
Before the dam project started, among several nearby villages, Xujiawan had the second lowest productivity but the second largest population. No one in the village had enough to eat, so when people talked about Xujiawan, their first impression was that they had a relative from Xujiawan who always came to borrow food and ask for money.
The saying that poor mountains and bad waters produce unruly people is biased and does not apply to many situations. Xujiawan is an example. There are not many unruly people here, but there is a team leader who is like a local tyrant. He is the head of the Xu family. He manages the village not by relying on the people's support, but by relying on suppression and threats. The villagers dare not speak out against him and can only watch him collect all the benefits into his own pocket.
The new house was used as the brigade headquarters, and there were one or two rooms left. In order to save face, the Xujiawan brigade leader gave them to the educated youth in the village.
There are two rooms, one big and one small. The big room has two bunk beds, which is the dormitory for female educated youth. The small room is filled with miscellaneous items from the team headquarters on one side, and there is also a bunk bed on the other side. This is the dormitory for male educated youth. However, since there is only one male educated youth in Xujiawan, he is currently using both beds.
There are several roads from Qingzhu Village to Xujiawan. Chu Jiujiu and Han Shengyi took the most convenient road. It was neither raining nor snowing in February, and the road was dry. The bamboos on both sides swayed in the wind, making rustling sounds. When Chu Jiujiu thought that she would soon see Wen Xiuwei, she was so happy that she wanted to hum a song on the spot.
Han Shengyi looked at her happy expression and was silent for a while. Finally, he couldn't help but ask, "You don't really want to give money to Wen Zhiqing, do you?"
Chu Jiujiu stopped bouncing, turned around, and asked, not understanding the reason: "Is it not possible?"
Han Shengyi: “…”
He said in a more tactful tone: "You've never met her, and she's never met you. We're not related, and you suddenly run up to her and want to give her money. Doesn't that sound... a bit unreasonable?"
Chu Jiujiu clutched her small purse in her hand and opened her mouth. She also realized the inappropriateness of doing this. Standing there, Chu Jiujiu lowered her head. After a long while, she looked at Han Shengyi again with a look of distress: "But, she just arrived in this place and is unfamiliar with the place. I don't know if she has any money. If she doesn't have any, and I don't give her any, how will she live in the future?"
After a moment of silence, Han Shengyi asked her, "Have you known Wen Zhiqing for a long time?"
When Chu Jiujiu heard this, she immediately lowered her arm alertly, "No, what's wrong? Why are you asking me that?"
Han Shengyi: “…”
Your attitude is why I asked you.
In front of Han Shengyi, Chu Jiujiu always forgot to be on guard against him, and her true emotions were revealed. Han Shengyi was a very perceptive person, so he would naturally notice the abnormality in her behavior. Chu Jiujiu didn't want to lie to Han Shengyi, so she clenched the purse in her hand and said vaguely, "I just really like Wen Zhiqing. The first time I saw her, I felt that she was like a family member I had lost contact with for many years. Like... like a grandmother I never met, do you understand?"
Han Shengyi didn't understand, "You have seen your grandmother, your grandmother is Mrs. Zhang."
Chu Jiujiu: "...That's grandma. Anyway, she gives me the feeling of being an elder, very kind."
Even though Han Shengyi had never seen what Wen Xiuwei looked like, the current policy, no matter how cruel it was, could not send an old lady in her sixties or seventies as an educated youth. He listened to Chu Jiujiu's words with a complicated expression, and then found it even more strange that she didn't seem to be joking.
Her expression was full of longing. Han Shengyi looked at her. He had not seen Wen Xiuwei yet, but the impression of Wen Xiuwei had already been discounted in his mind.
Anyone who makes Chu Jiujiu act weird must be weird himself.
…
After walking through a large bamboo forest, they finally arrived at the territory of Xujiawan. At the entrance of the village, there was a wooden archway that had been exposed to wind and sun for who knows how many years. Chu Jiujiu looked up at the blurred words on it, and then walked inside with Han Shengyi.
Admittedly, Wen Xiuwei was beautiful, but no matter how beautiful someone is, the craze she creates only lasts for a short time. Right now, everyone is still fresh in their minds, so several nearby villages know Wen Xiuwei's name, but after a few days or half a month, no one will mention her anymore. This is also why Chu Shao, who hadn't met Chu Jiujiu yet, hadn't heard of Wen Xiuwei's name at this time.
At that time, he had problems getting enough food and clothing. Every day he went to work or went up the mountain. How could he have the energy to pay attention to the new educated youth from other villages?
Later, they met in another city. The fact that they had lived in the same place and had experienced similar hardships gave them their first topic to talk about, and the two traumatized hearts gradually came together.
The last time they met and stayed together, it was a natural process. This time, with someone's strong intervention, things might not be so smooth.
After all, relationships with a "third party" are more complicated.
…
When Wen Xiuwei arrived at Xujiawan, she had only a small bag containing a change of clothes. Others brought quilts, enamel basins, bowls, and even washboards, but she traveled light, broke, and with only the ten yuan her uncle had given her, she had nothing else.
When she was leaving, her uncle told her that after becoming an educated youth, she would receive subsidies from the state, and if she spent frugally, it would be enough for her to live on.
What he meant was that he would not give Wen Xiuwei more money, and she would have to take care of her own food, clothing, housing and transportation from now on.
The educated youth in Xujiawan all ate together in a big pot. The person who cooked was the praised educated youth Luo. After just two days of living there, the dormitory of the four female educated youth had already split into two groups. One group was talking and laughing, and the other group was Wen Xiuwei herself.
She wasn't good at pleasing people, and she didn't know how to integrate into the circle of female educated youth. She could sense that Sun Yuqin disliked her and was leading the other two educated youth to exclude her. For example, right now, the three of them were busy cooking, not only leaving her behind, but also throwing all their dirty clothes in front of her and smilingly asking her to wash them.
When she was at home, Wen Xiuwei was used to being bossed around by others. She thought things would be different here, but who knew, it would be the same old situation.
She looked at the clothes on the ground quietly. After a while, she stood up, carried the basin and walked out of the dormitory. She raised her eyes slightly and saw a boy and a little girl walking towards the opposite side of the dormitory.
When the little girl saw her, her expression was excited for a moment, then she pursed her lips tightly, hesitated for a while, and suddenly took a step and ran in front of her.
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