Chapter 84 Chapter 84 Whose face does she look like?
It’s no wonder that Lin Xinghuo almost didn’t recognize Xiao Lanqin. This girl is so different from before.
Her voice, while unchanged, was considerably softer than in Lin Xinghuo's previous interactions with her. However, this softness wasn't a natural or innate quality, but rather a result of deliberately lowering her tone and slowing her speech. To Lin Xinghuo's sensitive ears, it sounded a bit artificial.
Today, Xiao Lanqin wore a light blue jacket, a thick black skirt, and low-heeled black leather shoes. Since the dormitory was warm, she had left her ankle-length tweed coat open.
It was a nice outfit, and anyone with eyes could tell it wasn't cheap, but it felt awkward and out of place. While things had been sorted out, people hadn't completely left their old habits. Women wearing skirts were rare on the street, and the colors were mostly the same old black, gray, and green. Xiao Lanqin's style and combination were indeed novel.
Another female classmate, who looked to be in her mid-twenties, had a rather warm greeting, but she was actually quite far from Xiao Lanqin. There were four beds in the dormitory, and Xiao Lanqin was standing in front of the already piled-up bed on the southeast side by the window. But this other student, apparently later, chose the bed farthest from her, on the northwest side, next to the washbasin stand.
Now is the time when people are rediscovering their personal aesthetics. Lin Xinghuo didn't think Xiao Lanqin was out of line, but she always felt that Xiao Lanqin's face in that outfit looked a little familiar, but she couldn't remember why it looked familiar.
How bizarre! With Lin Xinghuo's current level of cultivation, if she had truly seen someone who resembled Xiao Lanqin, even if it was just a passing glance, she would never forget them. But the truth was, she truly hadn't recalled them. Yet, she had a strange feeling, as if finding out who Xiao Lanqin resembled was extremely important to her.
"Hello, my name is Cai Weihong, and this is my husband, Qi Jianmin." Cai Weihong warmly invited them in, glancing back and forth at Lin Xinghuo and Xiao Lanqin: "Do you know each other?"
Before Lin Xinghuo could speak, Xiao Lanqin quickly said, "I went to the countryside to work in the same village as her."
That was a strange thing to say. Why not "join the production team in the same village as her?" Cai Weihong thought. She'd asked her aunt about it before, and she knew everyone in their dormitory was a day student. If they were day students, they must be from the city. Cai Weihong had been working for several years, and her earlier feigned surprise in asking Xiao Lanqin about "day students" was just a way for adults to get to know each other.
But although Cai Weihong was strange, she understood the ways of the world, so she didn't say much.
Lin Xinghuo smiled at her, "I'm Lin Xinghuo, this is Wu Nian, and this is my eldest son, Lin Beiguo."
Wu Nian's bright eyes dimmed. He also wanted to introduce him like Xinghuo did! Wu Nian gritted his teeth calmly. He had to be mature and responsible like Old Man Rong said. He had to be mature! Only then would Xinghuo feel that he could be relied on and would like him!
Xiao Lanqin looked at the increasingly outstanding Wu Nian and felt bitter: two years ago, she risked everything for love and would rather have nothing and live a hard life with him. At that time, no one understood and opposed it... But when Lin Xinghuo also returned to the village with a strange man, a man with a child, but no one in Buxian Village said a word against her. Those sisters-in-law and aunties who secretly scolded her as "stupid as smoking" secretly said that Lin Xinghuo and Wu Nian were a good match, saying that Wu Nian was good-looking and from a big city, and was barely a match for Lin Xinghuo... Now, her love had died long ago. For the sake of her future and face, she got engaged to Lin Qiyun, who was twenty years older than her. But how could Lin Xinghuo be so lucky to really meet such a good man?
"Lin Xinghuo, long time no see. This is my fiancé Lin Qiyun." After returning to the city for more than a year, Xiao Lanqin had matured more than her previous 19 years combined. Although her heart was in turmoil, she still quickly and automatically greeted him.
Just when Xiao Lanqin was daydreaming, she was attracted by Lin Qiyun, who was holding her arm with a leader-like demeanor. He took two steps forward and said with a smile: "Xinghuo? It's really you! Is Teacher Fang in good health? Didn't he come to see you off?" As Lin Qiyun spoke, he looked outside, but Wu Nian was tall and blocked the doorway, so Lin Qiyun could not see anything.
"Do you know each other?" Xiao Lanqin, who had just come to her senses after her hands were idle, hurriedly chased after him, stood diagonally behind Lin Qiyun, looked up at him slightly, and asked the same question that Cai Weihong had just asked.
Lin Qiyun smiled heartily and briefly recounted a small incident in which he had urged for a manuscript. Not only was it humorous, it also indirectly explained why he knew Lin Xinghuo, and gave everyone a little understanding of Lin Xinghuo's background.
No wonder the teacher had said this person was considered an upper-middle-class villain, Lin Xinghuo thought. If she were truly just a naive student needing to stay at her teacher's house, she'd be incredibly grateful to Lin Qiyun right now: with just a few words, he'd helped him save face.
Fang Tongjian hadn't come to see her off. The old man felt there was no point in simply sending her off to school, since it wasn't a school out of town. So, he set up a chat at home and invited a bunch of friends to a gathering. Of course, the highlight was a friend of a friend, the Vice President of the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine, who was in charge of administration. In Old Man Fang's words, his beloved apprentice's medical skills could easily "conquer" the faculty and staff involved in research and teaching, but even if the devil was easy to see, the little devil was hard to deal with. If she wanted to have a comfortable life at school, she really needed to get the personnel, logistics, and security departments in order. This careless and frivolous attempt at networking earned a reprimand from Elder Rong, but Old Man Fang wasn't afraid of his senior brother's stern face. He even wrote a letter to his friend inviting her to a party, carefully crafting the kind of gold-sprinkled paper that was so popular thirty years ago.
Lin Xinghuo smiled lightly and said, "He has a friend visiting him, so he's busy."
Lin Qiyun didn't care that the other party didn't accept his offer, and even sighed: "Mr. Zhongqin is always hospitable."
Fang Tongjian, whose courtesy name is Zhongqin, is quite famous in Beijing's cultural circles.
Xiao Lanqin thought for a moment and called out, "Teacher Fang? The one from Hetan Farm!" When Xiao Lanqin was still in Buxian Village, she had heard that Lin Xinghuo had been accepted as a student by an old gentleman from Hetan Farm. At the time, Xiao Lanqin didn't take it seriously, thinking that Lin Xinghuo was wasting his good life and stepping into puddles wherever there were. Did she really think that because the people in Buxian Village called her "Auntie", she would become a fairy aunt who saved people from suffering?
Although Xiao Lanqin was naive at the time, her entire family worked in the propaganda department, and she was well aware of the political situation through osmosis, but she simply didn't bother to think about it. Xiao Lanqin knew immediately that Hetan Farm was a labor camp, full of people with "hats" who could be in for any misfortune. So, for those few years, Xiao Lanqin stayed away from the people at Hetan Farm, fearing that she would be implicated in any incident. Of course, Xiao Lanqin didn't have the time or the cunning to report them or gain merit. She simply used her knowledge to buy herself some advantages, such as slacking off, and the brigade never made a fuss.
But she didn't expect that the master Lin Xinghuo recognized was Fang Tongjian. Xiao Lanqin was young when she went to the countryside and had never heard of Master Fang's name. But since she returned to Beijing, she had heard her father and brothers talk about it a lot. Even her marriage with Lin Qiyun was because Xiao's father, who worked in the propaganda department, wanted to publish the script that was said to be written by Fang Tongjian and originally intended as a tribute to the leader... Fang Tongjian was notoriously disliked dealing with irrelevant outsiders, and the script was once a "political" task, so Xiao's father found Lin Qiyun, the former person in charge.
Xiao Lanqin's voice also made Lin Xinghuo regain a sense of familiarity. Xiao Lanqin had been chattering all those years in Buxiantun. She was young and the villagers liked her very much. They even changed the nickname "little sparrow" given to her by the boy to "little lark".
Lin Qiyun glanced at her, and Xiao Lanqin shuddered unconsciously. She quickly lowered her voice and put on her gentle tone again: "So he is Mr. Fang. I really missed a good opportunity to ask him for advice."
Isn't this a missed opportunity? Lin Qiyun patted her shoulder, as if gently comforting his fiancée, but in fact, his eyes were filled with mockery. If Xiao Lanqin didn't have such a silly face, he would really look down on her.
Lin Qiyun exchanged a few polite words with Wu Nian and Qi Jianmin, and even teased Lin Beiguo with a formality. However, Hu Da didn't seem to like him very much. With a disdainful expression, he snuggled into Wu Nian's arms and fell asleep. The little guy was so excited that he woke up early and was already sleepy. Lin Qiyun didn't care. He seemed to have to go to work. He glanced at the gleaming silver watch on his wrist, patted Xiao Lanqin on the shoulder, gave her a few words of advice, and left.
After a while, the sound of a car starting was heard downstairs, and everyone in the house realized that the black car downstairs belonged to Lin Qiyun.
But given Lin Qiyun's age, it was obvious that Xiao Lanqin wasn't his first wife. Furthermore, according to the introduction, they were still engaged. Cai Weihong, who was quite sociable, didn't know what to praise him with. Anyway, the phrase "young and promising" on the tip of her tongue didn't seem quite right.
But Xiao Lanqin's mind wandered, suddenly remembering something: her original dorm was 102, on the first floor. It was said that the four dorms on the sides of the first, second, and third floors were reserved for day students, as they were located at opposite ends of the building and might be cooler at night. They were allocated to day students who didn't need to sleep overnight. She hadn't cared much about it, but Lin Qiyun had said that 102 was on the shady side, and the first floor was damp. Even if she didn't live there permanently, not getting any sun wouldn't be good for a girl. So, he used his connections to get her moved to 301, on the sunny side. At the time, Xiao's parents were quite pleased, especially her mother, who urged Xiao Lanqin to get along well with Lin Qiyun and try to get married the next year.
Xiao Lanqin glanced at Lin Xinghuo. Could it be that he changed her room just because Lin Xinghuo was in this dormitory? As doubts arose in her heart, Xiao Lanqin thought of many things, such as what she heard the teacher say in the room when she was picking up the door key at the logistics office:
"How can we possibly use up all the twelve day student dormitories?"
"There are more than enough. There aren't many local freshmen this year. Only four girls submitted their applications for off-campus housing in advance, and I don't think there will be many who will fill out the application form when they report."
"But our dormitories are gas-heated. When the heating goes off in the middle of the night, the temperature drops incredibly quickly. The dormitories at the ends, especially, aren't as well-ventilated as those in the middle. How can the students tolerate this? Those twelve dormitories have to remain empty even if they're not fully occupied."
"That's a bit of a scam."
"That's not true. We originally planned to separate the day students into four-person dormitories, with two or three people sharing them depending on the situation, to give them some space... But some people would rather live in a crowded room than live in the north-facing rooms."
At the time, Xiao Lanqin had simply thought the two teachers were quite free, and that the future her family had planned for her after graduation, as an administrative teacher, seemed promising, with both leisurely and respectable work. But now, Xiao Lanqin realized they were talking to her, clearly indicating that she was the one who had disrupted the logistics department's plan and insisted on changing her dorm room.
She couldn't help blushing when she remembered the school worker muttering, "Dormitory beds are assigned according to grades, so how can they be moved around?"
"Sort by grades?" Xiao Lanqin suddenly thought. She turned around to look at the bed she occupied. Sure enough, there was a "number one" taped to the headboard. Xiao Lanqin opened her report card and found a handwritten number for bed number four. However, she was always careless and didn't look carefully.
Xiao Lanqin's face was burning with anger. She ignored the others who were enthusiastically helping Lin Xinghuo carry the luggage into the house and hurriedly picked up the things. With a red face, she walked over to Cai Weihong's bed number four and whispered, "Sister-in-law, I didn't see the number on the bed just now. Let's switch."
Cai Weihong called out, "You still have a number?" Then she said embarrassedly, "I didn't notice it either. Thanks for reminding me."
Cai Weihong's husband opened the list, took a serious look at it, and then said, "You're in bed number three." That's the one opposite car number four.
But Lin Xinghuo's eyesight was such that he couldn't tell that the couple were pretending to give Xiao Lanqin a way out. Qi Jianmin's eyes went straight to the place where the bed number was registered on the paper. If he hadn't figured out the list in advance, he wouldn't have been so accurate.
Cai Weihong noticed Lin Xinghuo's gaze and gave her husband an embarrassed elbow: "He is a student of Hua University, and is quite proficient in numbers and calculations..." The more she spoke, the more obvious her words became, so Cai Weihong quickly stopped talking.
Lin Xinghuo said with a smile, "Brother-in-law Cai turned out to be a top student at Hua University... Sister Weihong, can we sleep head to head?" One, two, and three beds were against the east wall, allowing for either head-to-head or feet-to-feet sleeping. But Cai Weihong's bed was too close to the door. If they slept feet to feet, her head would be facing the door. Anyone who opened the door would be exposed to a draft, which would be unbearable for long periods of time.
Cai Weihong smiled and said, "Why not? You, the younger comrade, are taking care of me, the older sister." Everyone knows that sleeping feet-to-feet is the most comfortable way to avoid being disturbed by others. Cai Weihong had originally planned that no matter which side the window slept on, she would always sleep with her head facing south. She was almost thirty, and she couldn't stand the draft from the door opening and closing. There was a foot-long iron bar between the two beds anyway, so the girl's feet couldn't reach her head—of course, if the girl had sweaty and smelly feet, that would be another matter.
On the other side, Xiao Lanqin silently moved the pillow from the north to the south.
Lin Xinghuo had the most luggage among the three of them. Wu Nian was quick and ran back and forth twice to move everything in no time.
"How did you get all this stuff?" Cai Weihong was curious. She and Qi Jianmin each rode a bicycle, and they barely managed to bring their bedding and pillows. Unfortunately, this school wasn't as close to home as Qi Jianmin's own university; it was on the edge of town, making it inconvenient to ride a bike. So, when her son said he wouldn't accompany her to school, Cai Weihong agreed. Otherwise, this kid, at such a young age, would have treated his parents differently. Cai Weihong wouldn't have spoiled him.
"Oh! You are the ones who drove the ox cart here." Cai Weihong stood in front of the window and looked down, and was immediately envious.
Lin Xinghuo smiled and said, "There's another person from my hometown village who also got into our school. He lives in the west yard and has a lot of luggage, so he uses a cart."
The west yard was the boys' dormitory, so Qi Jianmin said, "Your hometown is really amazing, as it produced two college students at once!" He and his wife were both admitted to college and became famous in the neighboring alleys. There was even an old lady who dug up the broken bricks from the top of his wall in the dark, muttering something like "good feng shui for a top scholar". Qi Jianmin's son was urinating at the foot of the wall at the time, and Qi Jianmin was so scared that he quickly covered his son's mouth, but was kicked by the brat.
Lin Xinghuo smiled, and it was a good opportunity to spread the reputation of the elders of the River Beach Farm back then: "It's not just the two of us, there are twelve people in total who passed the exam!"
"Twelve?!" It was said there were over five million candidates this time, but only about two hundred thousand were admitted. The country is so huge, how many could a single county possibly accept? Not to mention the rural areas, even one who got in would be a phoenix from a chicken coop!
"Our village is a remote mountain village. When the labor camp was relocated, it was chosen as the location... The teachers themselves were in dire straits, but they remained selfless and dedicated. They were willing to teach us anything we asked. Not only did they teach the children to read and write, they also taught us many skills, such as weaving, spinning wool, knitting sweaters, and making leather boots... They also helped us build several collective workshops in our village. Everyone's life is getting better and better."
Qi Jianmin and Cai Weihong exchanged a glance and said sincerely, "It's not just the husband on the farm who's kind; the villagers in your village are just as kind." Otherwise, they wouldn't get along this well. In the past two years, many veteran comrades who had been sent to labor camps have returned to work. When they recount their past, most of them didn't get along well with the villagers. Those who didn't like them were considered good, and some even mistreat them.
Lin Xinghuo was very proud: "That's right, the people in our village are very good!"
Cai Weihong recalled that when she and her husband had just greeted Xiao Lanqin, Xiao Lanqin had said that she was working in the queue in Selangor. At that time, Lin Xinghuo had not yet arrived. So, Lin Xinghuo's hometown was in Selangor?
A mountain hut? Cai Weihong sighed, thinking, "Yes, those labor camps for relocated cadres were built in impoverished, mountainous, and water-scarce areas." But such a beautiful girl, it's hard to believe she was raised in the countryside.
Cai Weihong and his wife, one obsessed with numbers, the other working in the staff pharmacy at the age of sixteen, were both admitted to university, naturally possessing a tenacious drive for learning. However, they also didn't fit into the "cultural circle." Even if Lin Qiyun had said Fang Tongjian's name, they wouldn't have known who he was. Seeing Lin Xinghuo's bedding now, they were still thinking that this girl's husband's family was wealthy!
As the wealthy "husband", Wu Nian handed Lin Beiguo, who was sleeping with his mouth open and snoring, to Lin Xinghuo and began to make the bed for Lin Xinghuo: first a layer of moisture-proof leather mattress, then three thick mattresses that were particularly soft, then a crisp coarse cloth sheet, and then a sheet with small floral patterns to prevent wrinkles, but finally there was a layer of snow-white velvet blanket on top of the sheet.
Lin Xinghuo's quilts were one thin and one thick, both covered with matching floral sheets. A pair of pillows sat at the head of the three-foot-tall bed. Just as Cai Weihong was about to speak, Lin Xinghuo had already placed the soundly sleeping Lin Beiguo on the inner pillow. The closer the little one leaned, the more soundly he slept.
Lin Xinghuo glanced at a certain cat and whispered, "Why did you bring this pillow?" She had only brought one! She had only made one when she made this quilt, and it was kept at school for her occasional use. But Wu Nian had human hands, and the human form was much more nimble than furry claws. She diligently sewed an identical pillow with her own needle!
Wu Nian said nothing, and gently pulled open the thin blanket to cover Lin Beiguo. From behind, his waist was bent like a bow, thin and strong, which made people think of the big cats they were going to hunt.
Cai Weihong couldn't help but gasp in pain. The little kid was put on the snow-white velvet blanket without taking off his shoes. This couple was too young and didn't know how to live.
But looking at the bedding, you can tell they're wealthy—who would make such a wide single quilt these days? That quilt must be 1.5 meters wide, not to mention the fur mattress underneath, which Cai Weihong thinks looks like a bearskin. And why would she leave such a large piece of fur in a dorm room where she doesn't even stay at night? She's not afraid of losing it!
Xiao Lanqin's bed had just been made, and in her hasty and frantic efforts, it wasn't quite smooth. Cai Weihong took a look and thought, if one only looked at her outward appearance, this Xiao classmate who worked in a car should have come from a wealthy family. But now look at her bedding and curtains, which were half-new and not even as good as her own... And she's engaged to a man so old, so there must be something complicated going on with this girl.
Cai Weihong, busy with her own affairs, still held on to her previous thought: she should stay away from Xiao. But previously, it was because Xiao's dress was too outrageous. Not only were she wearing fashionable clothes, but she also had her eyebrows plucked so thinly with makeup, which Cai Weihong found uneasy. Now, she wanted to stay away because Xiao was full of contradictions: she was well-dressed, but her luggage was simple; her older fiancé seemed considerate, but he hadn't lifted a finger to take care of her; and most importantly, Cai Weihong stole a glance at Xiao Lanqin's butt. For an unmarried girl, her butt was quite big.
She had worked in the staff pharmacy for so many years that she had been able to learn from others and was admitted to the College of Traditional Chinese Medicine. She thought she had good judgment, but the two girls in her dormitory were a little strange. One was unmarried but had a big butt like a woman who had given birth, and the other had a child who was two or three years old but looked like a girl who had never given birth.
At this time, Wu Nian was hanging a tent for Lin Xinghuo. He was also very capable. He had prepared the bamboo pole long ago and just placed it under the cart together with Wei Chunxing's shoulder pole. Now he quickly set up a tent made of thick gauze embroidered with fox cubs for Lin Xinghuo.
"Oh, this is great!" Cai Weihong was extremely envious. The tent was impenetrable and people outside could not see clearly inside.
"Where did you buy it?" Cai Weihong also wanted to buy a bed, but the department store and the street supply and marketing cooperative didn't have them, otherwise her relatives would have told her in advance.
Lin Xinghuo glanced at Wu Nian and said with a smile, "I made it myself."
"Did you embroider this fat fox too?" Cai Weihong held Lin Xinghuo's hand: "You have such a skillful hand." No wonder she came from the mountains and married into such a wealthy husband's family. Girls with clever hands are rare everywhere.
A truly skilled monkey who hides his merits and fame.
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The author has something to say: Xiao Lanqin, the love-brained educated youth.
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