Ruan Xi treated the borrowed books as treasures and carefully placed them in a camphorwood box.
Although in recent years, these books are seen by most people as garbage waste paper that is too hard to use even when going to the toilet. But after the college entrance examination was resumed, these were things that many people could not get even if they fought hard at the recycling station.
After putting away the books and covering the camphorwood box, Ruan Xi sat down and said to Ruan Jie, "I have found a teacher, who will only teach you and me. Let's agree on a time to study together every day, and don't tell anyone else."
Ruan Jie was curious, "Who is it?"
Ruan Xi whispered: "Ling Yao."
Ruan Jie blurted out: "The idiot in the stilt house?"
Ruan Xi raised her hand and patted her, "How can you talk like that?"
Ruan Jie subconsciously shrugged her shoulders and said a little embarrassedly, "I didn't mean it. People in the village said so. Gao Haiyang and his friends always bullied him, but no matter whether they scolded him or beat him, he never said a word, nor did he know how to run. He just stood there and let Gao Haiyang and his friends beat him. Everyone thought he had a problem with his brain and was a fool."
Ruan Xi took a deep breath and said, "He just looks cute and tender. He doesn't like to stir up trouble. He doesn't say anything when he is bullied because he is afraid of getting into trouble. But he is not a fool. He is very smart and a little genius."
Ruan Jie blinked, "Really?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "Yes."
Ruan Jie didn't understand, "Why can't you tell others?"
Ruan Xi looked at her, "Because his mother doesn't allow him to have much contact with people in our village, let alone to meddle in other people's affairs, for fear of causing trouble. His mother might be unhappy if she knew about it, so it's enough for us to know about this matter."
Ruan Jie could understand what he said, and she nodded to Ruan Xi again, "Okay, I'll remember that."
After traveling through time for such a long time, many things, big and small, have happened, and Ruan Xi has completely adapted to his current life. Freed from the high-pressure and fast-paced modern life, I got used to the slow-paced life in the countryside.
There are no entertainment facilities here, and communications and transportation are underdeveloped. I am trapped in this small world every day and only have to think about food and clothing. So time feels like it passes very slowly, watching the sun slowly rise and then slowly set.
Go to bed early at night and get up when you hear the rooster crowing in the morning, breathing the freshest mountain air.
She would appear on the mountain path at about the same time every day, walking briskly to learn the craft from the old tailor, and it is still the same today. Go to the old tailor's house, sit down and operate the sewing machine, and make straight lines, wavy lines, and circular lines.
When I go home in the afternoon when the sun is setting in the middle of the sky, I will happen to run into Ling Yao again.
Seeing Ling Yao on the hillside today, Ruan Xi waved at him from a distance and shouted, "Baby!"
Ling Yao heard the voice and looked at her, then stood up and walked towards her with a smile on his face.
He seemed to be very happy whenever he saw her, because it was rare to have such a heart-filled joy in his poor and bitter life, so he didn't even try to hide it, and it all showed on the corners of his mouth and eyes.
When he came to Ruan Xi, he asked, "Did you find the book?"
Ruan Xi nodded, "I found it. The Chinese and math textbooks for grades one to five, the junior and senior high school textbooks are not available for the time being, but we won't need them for the time being, so let's just learn elementary school knowledge first and lay a good foundation."
Ling Yao responded, "Starting tomorrow?"
Ruan Xi relaxed his muscles and took a deep breath, then sat down on a rock. "It won't be possible tomorrow. Tomorrow I have to go to someone's house with my master to help make clothes for them. I might be gone for two days."
Ling Yao sat down next to her, "Then let's talk about it when you come back."
Ruan Xi relaxed his body and leaned back, lying directly on the stone, squinting at the setting sun in the sky, and suddenly said, "I wonder when I can go outside the mountain to take a look."
The life scenes in the original body's memory were very limited. Apart from Fengyan Village in Fengming Mountain, the farthest he had been was to the town. Because her third aunt was married in town, she had visited her home for a few days before.
And Ruan Xi's words evoked even more emotions in Ling Yao's heart.
He lowered his head and used a knife to carve the slightly round wood in the palm of his hand without saying anything.
Ruan Xi turned his head to look at him, and after a while, he sat up from the stone. She now treated Ling Yao as her own close friend, so she didn't hesitate to ask him directly, "Do you miss home?"
If this happened in front of other people, Ling Yao would not say a word. He did not dare to say that he missed his previous home, did not dare to say that his life here was very tiring and hard, and he did not dare to say that he wanted to fly out of the mountains and leave here every day, so he carved the little plane.
But at this moment, he held the knife and carved the wood for a while, then responded in a muffled voice: "Hmm."
The tension in Ying Wan's heart that had been tense for several years seemed to loosen unconsciously, and he even had some unrealistic fantasies in his mind. He stopped what he was doing, turned his head and looked at Ruan Xi and said, "If there is a chance in the future..."
But he stopped here, because he knew more clearly in his heart that there would be no future and no chance.
Ruan Xi seemed to know what he was going to say, but she didn't show any sadness in her eyes. Instead, she relaxed her tone, as if she was talking about something very light-hearted, and finished his words, "If I have the chance in the future, I'll go to your house to see you."
Perhaps influenced by Ruan Xi, Ling Yao suddenly felt that there was nothing to be sad about.
The corners of his mouth curled up and he nodded at Ruan Xi, "Yeah."
He thought it was just empty talk, but Ruan Xi knew that sooner or later he would return to where he belonged. He doesn't belong to this mountain, and he won't stay here in the future. He has his own world.
Let's not talk about this anymore. Ruan Xi looked at the round wood in Ling Yao's hand and changed the subject and asked him, "What is this?"
Ling Yao raised the wood in his hand and let her see, "It's a pig."
Ruan Xi chuckled - it was just a pig, she called him a carved pig.
Ling Yao said: "After I finish carving it, I will go to the mountain to find some materials to make paint and dye it pink."
Ruan Xi pointed at the pig's nose, which had not yet taken shape, and said, "So it's called Pink Pig."
Because she was going out to make clothes for someone, she would most likely have to stay overnight at that person's house, so before leaving, Ruan Xi packed a change of clothes and toiletries at home, and said hello to Liu Xinghua.
Liu Xinghua saw her out and told her, "Take good care of yourself."
Ruan Xi smiled, "Not only can I take good care of myself, I can also take good care of my master, the old man."
Liu Xinghua raised her hand and patted her, "You are my master, but you still call me old man."
Ruan Xi didn't bother to tease her. She just kissed her on the forehead and left with her schoolbag.
Liu Xinghua's old friend, Grandma Zhao, came to visit her and happened to witness this scene. She smiled and joked with her face wrinkled: "I think Xiaoxi must be the reincarnation of saccharin. Look how sweet it makes you. Your old face is about to bloom with smiles."
Liu Xinghua glared at Grandma Zhao with a smile on her face, "You are the one who is blooming!"
Grandma Zhao didn't argue with her and asked her again, "Xiaoxi, are you going to the old tailor's house to learn the craft again?"
Liu Xinghua said: "This time we are not only going to the old tailor's house, but we are also going to follow the old tailor to make clothes for other people's homes."
Grandma Zhao's eyes lit up when she heard this. "Oh, the old tailor has never taken anyone out to make clothes before, right? He has really set his sights on Xiaoxi. Maybe Xiaoxi can bring you some wages this time."
Liu Xinghua felt proud and couldn't help feeling happy. She said with a smile, "Before our Xiaoxi, he really had never taken anyone out to make clothes. Don't you think that he never seriously acknowledged who was his apprentice before."
Grandma Zhao exclaimed in admiration, "Xiaoxi is like her father, she is promising. Your eldest son is really promising. He is the only one who can be a cadre in Fengming Mountain."
Liu Xinghua felt more and more proud, with a smile on her face, but she said: "Alas, being successful is not necessarily a good thing. I am far away from home and have not seen you for many years."
This is something that everyone, young and old, understands. Grandma Zhao said, "There's nothing we can do about it. The army is just busy..."
…
Ruan Xi went to the old tailor's house carrying his schoolbag. Just as he poured a bowl of water and took two sips, four strong men knocked on the door and came in.
Because the old tailor is now old and has difficulty moving, whenever a family wants him to make clothes, they have to ask four strong men to come. Two of the men carried the machine and the iron, and the remaining two carried the old tailor.
Ruan Xi put down the bowl of water and saw two of the men carrying a sedan chair and placing it in front of the old tailor.
The old tailor went to sit on the sedan chair, holding a wooden pipe in his hand.
Judging from its shape, this sedan chair is an old item. It is a round chair with sedan poles installed on the side. Ruan Xi felt that he had seen this thing before. After thinking about it, he remembered that he had seen it in a palace fighting drama, and the emperor had sat on a similar thing.
Sitting in a sedan chair, gazing at the mountain scenery and smoking a pipe, this is really like the life of an emperor.
Ruan Xi carried two yellow backpacks, one for his own things and the other for some miscellaneous tools he would need. She followed the old tailor and asked him curiously, "Master, where did you get this chair?"
The old tailor took a puff of his pipe and said leisurely, "Originally these things belonged to the landlords and rich people, but later they were all taken over by the brigade during the revolution. My legs and feet have been weak for the past two years, so the brigade sent them to me to use."
Ruan Xi nodded to show that he understood.
Because she didn't have a watch, Ruan Xi didn't know how long it took her to walk from the old tailor's house. Anyway, when we arrived at the house of the woman in the plaid shirt, it was not yet noon and the sun was hanging in the east sky.
In this era, on Fengming Mountain, hiring a tailor is considered a big deal for anyone.
As soon as the old tailor's sedan chair arrived in the village, it attracted a group of children to come and see. The children also knew the old tailor, and they came over to greet him without any respect: "Old tailor, whose family are you going to make clothes for this time?"
The old tailor didn't care to talk to me. He just sat on the sedan chair and said, "Get away from me!"
So the child came over and asked Ruan Xi: "Who are you? What are you and the old tailor doing here?"
Ruan Xi was very tired after walking on the mountain road for so long. He took a breath and said, "Didn't your family teach you how to talk to your elders? Can you call them old tailor?"
The kid immediately rolled his eyes at Ruan Xi and asked, "What does it have to do with you?"
Ruan Xi immediately used his ultimate move, "Do you know Ruan Changsheng? He is my fifth uncle."
The expression on the child's face gradually faded, then he turned around and ran away, coming and going in a swarm.
After a while, the leading child suddenly ran over again, followed Ruan Xi and said, "I see, you are the apprentice of the old tailor, you are the little tailor."
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