Chapter 34 If you can't get used to the food at home, just come back!
Ruan Xiaofen boarded a bus to the township textile factory. Her mother, after receiving treatment, had also returned home and now only needed dialysis once a week.
Ruan Xiaofen's tragic fate was changed, and Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe both breathed a sigh of relief.
A week later, Lu Zhe came to Chu Yanxi's home and rode his bicycle to take her to the hospital to have the cast on her ankle removed and replaced with an elastic bandage.
On the way back, Chu Yanxi sat on the back of the bicycle and rotated her ankle. Although she could move it freely, it still hurt a little when she put weight on it. The doctor had specifically instructed her not to walk for at least a week.
Thinking of this, Chu Yanxi sighed softly: "I never expected to rest in this world for so long."
Chu Yanxi always felt that she was destined to be a hard worker.
In her original world, she worked tirelessly for her ideals, studying, taking postgraduate entrance exams, applying for civil service positions, and joining the police force... She wanted to make the most of every minute and second and never stopped.
During her two previous time travels, she faced difficult circumstances and numerous dangers. She exhausted herself to survive, was cautious in protecting herself, and racked her brains to change her father's fate. Where was there any time to rest?
But the world is different.
Forced to stay in bed due to a foot injury, Ruan Xiaofen's affairs were taken care of by Lu Zhe. At home, she had her mother's loving care and her father's warm protection, living a life of ease and comfort. With nothing to do every day, she felt a subtle sense of happiness and tranquility.
Although it was stolen leisure time, it gave Chu Yanxi a unique experience.
—So this is what it feels like to have your parents' love.
—It turns out that days without having to work hard are so easy and enjoyable.
No wonder everyone wanted to lie down in the original world.
When Lu Zhe heard Chu Yanxi's soft sigh, he felt a pang of heartache for some reason.
He knew Chu Yanxi's original lifestyle; negotiation experts faced high pressure every day with extremely low tolerance for mistakes. In that kind of work environment, Chu Yanxi probably never had a proper vacation.
A 28-year-old negotiation expert with such a wealth of knowledge must have been extremely diligent in his youth. He must have used every spare moment to read extensively and memorize quickly, and felt guilty whenever he took a break, just like I did when I took the bar exam and first entered the legal profession.
Lu Zhe, unusually, recited a line of poetry: "Stealing half a day of leisure from a busy life~"
The city sunlight shone on her, warm and gentle. Lu Zhe's voice was soft and deep. Chu Yanxi felt as if she were lying on cotton, and she smiled softly with her head down.
Yes, the mission in this world is basically complete. I don't know when the next time travel will begin. The remaining leisure time is all stolen.
Two weeks later, Chu Yanxi returned to normal, but she did not go back to the factory to complete the procedures for canceling her leave and resuming work. What she needed to do now was to hurry up and see her biological parents, as well as the "self" who had been born and was less than a year old.
Lu Zhe, of course, also wanted to visit his married parents, to say and do everything he hadn't had a chance to say or do in the previous world, and to help his mother change her tragic fate. Together, the two submitted applications for unpaid leave to the factory, citing "going out to investigate and find new job opportunities" as the reason.
This decision, like a stone thrown into a deep pool, stirred up huge waves in both families.
The Chu family was the first to erupt.
"Nonsense! Absolutely nonsense!" Chu Jianguo, who was usually taciturn, only knew how to bury himself in his work, and was always obedient to his daughter, slammed his fist on the table for the first time, his dark face turning red with anger.
"Your mother and I scrimped and saved, begged and pleaded with everyone to get you a job in the factory, hoping you'd have a stable job and a peaceful life. And now, you've just recovered and you're already causing trouble! Leave without pay? That sounds nice! The factory has posted the layoff list three times. Do you know how many people envy you for still having this job? Once you leave, the tea gets cold. You say it's leave without pay, but when you come back, will there still be a place for you?"
Wang Guifang was so anxious that tears streamed down her face. She slapped her thigh hard and said, "Xiaoxi, did you hurt your brain? Don't you know what our family's situation is? You're lucky you haven't been laid off! How dare you turn down a job? It's not that easy to make it outside. So many people have ended up with broken heads. You're a young woman. If something happens to you, how am I supposed to live?"
She became more and more upset as she spoke, tears streaming down her face: "Was it Lu Zhe who instigated you? I knew it! He looks honest, but he's very cunning. Instead of being a good cadre himself, he insisted on dragging you along to mess around! Isn't he pushing you into a fire pit?"
The focus immediately shifted to Lu Zhe, who was standing at the door, intending to discuss the itinerary with Chu Yanxi.
Chu Jianguo suddenly looked at Lu Zhe, his eyes filled with disappointment and anger: "Officer Lu, I, Old Chu, have always thought you were a reliable young man, someone who understands a lot. How did you end up like this? You've disappointed me so much! Is this how you take care of my Xiaoxi? Taking her along to do nothing productive? You want to make your way in the world, I won't stop you, but you can't drag Xiaoxi into these dangers. If anything happens to her, I... I'll never forgive you!"
Wang Guifang also rushed to Lu Zhe's side, crying and pleading, "Little Lu, I beg you, please don't lead our Xiaoxi astray! She's young and doesn't understand, you can't let her do whatever she wants! Is a leave of absence without pay something you can just do so easily? If you leave, what if..."
Lu Zhe was cornered in the small living room by Chu's parents. Faced with a barrage of accusations and tears, he could neither refute nor reveal the truth. He could only bow slightly and grit his teeth to endure it all.
His face burned, but his mind remained perfectly clear.
"Uncle, Aunt, please don't get agitated, listen to me first." Lu Zhe's voice was as calm as possible, full of sincerity. "We're not fooling around, nor are we going to do anything dangerous. You two know the situation at the factory better than we do. They say they're reducing staff to increase efficiency, but the factory hasn't taken any real action. Do they know what the future holds? They've already laid off three batches of employees, even senior fitters like you, without any mercy. Maybe in a while it will go bankrupt, close down, and everyone will be laid off? Yanxi and I have discussed it, and we want to take advantage of the opportunity we still have to go out and see what other options there are."
He looked at Chu Jianguo with sincere eyes: "Master Chu, you've worked in the factory your whole life, your skills are top-notch, but the factory just laid you off like that. Reform and opening up are inevitable, and the external environment is constantly changing. We can't stick to old ways and just sit and wait for layoffs. Yanxi and I are still young, we can't just watch our path get narrower and narrower. We're just going out to learn and investigate, to see what new opportunities are available. We will never do anything illegal or disorderly. I promise you, we will take good care of Yanxi, and we will come back in a month, whether we've found a way out or not."
He then looked at Wang Guifang and said gently, “Auntie, I know you’re worried about Yanxi. But it’s precisely because we’re worried that we can’t just sit and wait for our doom. Think about Ruan Xiaofen. If we hadn’t come up with a solution in advance, what would have become of her? Times have changed. Just sticking to the old ways won’t guarantee you enough to eat. We have to find ways to make a living for ourselves.”
Chu Yanxi sat on a chair to the side, quietly watching Lu Zhe clumsily yet patiently deal with his parents' anger. Seeing him afraid to look up when his father yelled at him, and helpless when his mother cried, yet still trying to communicate with him again and again using the simplest of reasons, a very faint smile appeared on the corner of her mouth.
This feeling of being shielded and protected was both unfamiliar and somewhat...novel to Chu Yanxi. As a negotiation expert, she should have faced all of this herself, but at this moment she chose to remain silent, leaving the "battlefield" entirely to Lu Zhe.
Lu Zhe's explanation was not entirely unreasonable, but it still could not completely dispel the old man's concerns. The cycle of arguing, crying, and reasoning continued.
Ultimately, perhaps it was Lu Zhe's persistence and sincerity that moved them, perhaps it was seeing their daughter's silent yet resolute eyes, or perhaps it was their utter despair over the factory's future, but Chu Jianguo and Wang Guifang reluctantly accepted the reality. Despite their immense reluctance and worries, they finally sighed and relented.
"Sigh, we can't interfere with the affairs of you young people!"
“You all need to take care of each other out there. Remember to come back in a month. No matter what you've accomplished or how much money you've made, you absolutely must come back, understand?”
"Xiaoxi, girls must learn to protect themselves and never be willful."
"Xiao Lu, you better behave yourself and don't do anything reckless! Do you hear me!"
Lu Zhe's face flushed red as he nodded repeatedly, making assurances.
"Yes, yes, I will definitely take good care of Yanxi."
"Uncle and Aunt, don't worry, I won't do anything reckless. Even if you don't trust me, you have to trust Yanxi. She's a person with her own ideas, and I'll listen to her when we're out and about."
"We'll definitely come back, we promise. No matter what happens, we'll be back in a month."
...
After finally getting Chu's parents' approval, Lu Zhe returned home only to be met with a different kind of family storm.
Lu Zhe's parents were both middle school teachers, cautious and meticulous throughout their lives, valuing "stability" above all else. When they learned that their eldest son was going to give up his enviable union cadre position, take a leave of absence without pay, and go to Jiangcheng for some "inspection," it was as if they had heard a fairy tale.
"Lu Zhe! Have you been corrupted by your brother?" Lu's mother's fingers trembled with anger. "Your brother is a good-for-nothing, always thinking about speculation and profiteering. How did you become like that too? A union cadre, how respectable is that? How can you be so ungrateful?!"
Mr. Lu looked heartbroken and pounded on the table: "Your mother and I have taught all our lives, hoping that you two brothers would behave yourselves and get government jobs! But you, you're trying to turn your secure jobs into worthless ones! Do you think Jiangcheng is so easy to conquer? You don't know anyone here, what are you going to investigate? To investigate how to lose money?"
What gave Lu Zhe even more of a headache was that his younger brother, Lu Ming, was fanning the flames from the side: "Dad, Mom, you don't understand. My brother has finally figured it out. This is called seizing the opportunities of the times, you know? Maybe, after a trip to Jiangcheng, my brother will come back a millionaire. That's much better than working in the factory, haggling and doing those trivial things!"
As a result, he naturally received a severe scolding from Lu's father.
When faced with his intellectual parents, Lu Zhe needed to be more strategic in his explanation. He could no longer use the straightforward phrase "finding a way to make a living," but instead emphasized more respectable reasons such as "broadening his horizons," "learning from advanced experiences," and "exploring the future development of the factory," even implying that this might be a way to train and improve his personal abilities, which would be helpful for his future advancement.
He cleverly avoided sensitive terms like "going into business to make money," and packaged his trip to Wuhan as a positive and planned study and research trip.
This tug-of-war lasted for several days.
Finally, after Lu Zhe's persistent pleading, Lu's parents reluctantly nodded, but the worry on their faces did not diminish at all.
On the morning of their departure, the sky was overcast. Both Chu's parents and Lu's parents came to the simple train station to see them off. The atmosphere was somewhat somber, as if it were a farewell between life and death.
Wang Guifang held Chu Yanxi's hand, repeatedly giving her instructions, her tears never ceasing: "Xiaoxi, be careful out there. If you can't get used to the food, come back. If you need money, write home. Don't try to tough it out. Remember, you must take good care of yourself..."
Chu Jianguo silently handed Chu Yanxi a small, tightly rolled-up handkerchief and whispered, "Take this, even if you're poor, be prepared to travel."
The same was true for Lu Zhe; his mother secretly slipped him money, while his father repeatedly told him to "think thrice before you act."
The train sounded its whistle and slowly pulled into the station.
Green carriages, noisy crowds, and the smells of instant noodles, sweat, and coal smoke created a unique scene at train stations in the 1990s.
Chu Yanxi and Lu Zhe shouldered their bags, bid farewell to their worried parents, and boarded the train heading south.
I found my hard-seat seat, put my luggage away, and the train slowly started moving. My parents' figures on the platform grew smaller and smaller until they finally disappeared from sight.
Chu Yanxi sat by the window, her gaze fixed on the fields outside, which were beginning to show signs of early spring green as they sped by. Lu Zhe sat beside her, letting out a soft sigh of relief, as if a heavy burden had been lifted from his shoulders.
"Finally... out." Lu Zhe said softly, his tone tinged with exhaustion, but more so with relief and anticipation.
Chu Yanxi didn't turn around, but simply gave a faint "hmm".
The wheels struck the rails with a rhythmic clanging sound, carrying them toward the unknown city of Jiangcheng, toward Chu Tongyu, who was now 33, and Shen Jing, who was 28, and toward a crucial juncture in their respective destinies.
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Author's Note: Extra chapter this weekend! Please leave lots of comments, my darlings!
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