Chapter 1 Jinshan
After leaving the educated youth settlement, the two did not go directly to the Xie family's house, but instead went to the commune's supply and marketing cooperative first.
Lin Qingqing hadn't originally planned to go to the commune, but she took some time yesterday to visit the brigade's supply and marketing cooperative. She found that while perishable items like firewood, rice, oil, salt, cigarettes, and alcohol were still in good condition, snacks and candies weren't fresh anymore. Thinking the commune wasn't far, she decided to make the trip.
In those days, resources were limited, so when visiting relatives, people would bring what they had at home. The generous ones would bring a few eggs and a piece of cloth, while the less generous ones would bring two pounds of coarse grains.
Lin Qingqing had considered bringing two jin of eggs, but felt it wasn't substantial enough. However, she wasn't well-off and couldn't bring herself to pretend to be rich. Just then, Li Juan was going to the city for fun and was worried she wouldn't have enough food coupons. So, Lin Qingqing traded the food coupons she had left over from exchanging with Director Yang last time for some snack coupons.
Upon arriving at the supply and marketing cooperative, Lin Qingqing went straight to the pastry counter. After asking around, she selected two pastries: one was peach shortbread, which was sweet and crispy, and was for Xie Wei's nephew and niece; the other was a cake, which looked white and tasted like steamed sponge cake, with a little sweetness but not too greasy, and was for Xie Wei's mother.
Lin Qingqing also bought two jin (approximately 1 kg) of tangerines. These tangerines were locally grown and called prickly tangerines. They looked a bit like sugar tangerines, but their juice wasn't as sweet. Overall, the prickly tangerines tasted good, and because they were locally grown, they were plentiful and inexpensive, and could be bought without ration coupons, making them very popular with the locals.
While Lin Qingqing was buying oranges, Xie Wei also bought two pounds of apples and pears.
Although apples and pears are also locally produced, the output is less, and apples are more durable and also need to be supplied to other provinces, so they not only need to be purchased with coupons, but are also much more expensive than oranges.
Lin Qingqing hadn't eaten fruit since she transmigrated. She was tempted when she saw the bright red apples, but she had neither money nor cash, so she gave up the idea of buying them. Xie Wei, on the other hand, was different. He didn't have many expenses in the army, and his siblings were all successful. Although they had agreed to give Li Xingfang a fixed amount of money for her retirement every month, the money they sent back was just a drop in the ocean compared to his salary.
Therefore, Xie Wei didn't have many concerns when it came to spending money. Seeing Lin Qingqing linger on the apples for a few seconds before picking out two pounds, he even said, "Mom loves fruit, let's pay for it together." The last part was addressed to the sales clerk.
Lin Qingqing nodded at first, but upon hearing the second half of the sentence, she quickly said, "I'll pay for the oranges." Then she said to Xie Wei, "Don't try to take it from me."
Helpless, Xie Wei could only say, "Then let's pay separately."
...
When Lin Qingqing and Xie Wei went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy things, Li Xingfang was also shopping.
Although Xie Wei and Lin Qingqing's words were somewhat exaggerated, the situation was largely accurate. When Xie Wei first returned from the battlefield, Li Xingfang wasn't in a hurry for him to get married. She would screen potential partners beforehand, making sure they were attractive enough so they wouldn't look mismatched, and that their education level wasn't too low so they wouldn't have much in common.
As a result, the girl she had carefully selected was either unsuitable or not in a hurry. Later, she simply said that she was not considering personal matters for the time being and did not want to meet her, which made Li Xingfang very angry.
Three years passed in a flash, and Xie Wei went from a promising young man to an older single man, while Li Xingfang lowered her standards again and again. She didn't care what kind of girl he was, as long as he could bring someone back.
So when Li Xingfang heard that her son was dating someone, she was so happy that it took her a long time to remember to ask who the other person was.
Upon learning that the other party was Lin Qingqing, Li Xingfang was a little surprised, but upon reflection, she felt it was only natural.
Although Xie Wei joined the army at a young age, only the father knows his son. While Xie Wei was kind-hearted, he wasn't the type to be overly enthusiastic; he knew from a young age to keep his distance from women. If he didn't have feelings for them, why would he be asking for food and delivering quilts, running to the educated youth settlement every day?
As for Lin Qingqing's circumstances... they are indeed somewhat lacking, but there are advantages to being an orphan. Once married, she can live a stable life without always thinking about supporting her parents' family. There are cases like this in their brigade. After marrying into the family, she only thinks about her parents' family. Whenever there is something good to eat, she takes it to her parents' family. In the end, her parents' family lives a life of luxury while her own family eats meager rations.
Aside from her background, Lin Qingqing's other conditions are not bad.
Needless to say, you couldn't find a girl with such a neat appearance in the entire Xingfeng Brigade. Moreover, she always had a smile on her face, and she looked like she was blessed.
Although her education level was a bit low, that was because she didn't have the opportunity before. Li Xingfang had heard Xie Baoshan mention that Lin Qingqing could read and write, and thought she was a person with her own ideas; such a person wouldn't have a bad life.
Of course, the most important reason was that Xie Wei took a liking to it.
After several years of back-and-forth, Li Xingfang finally understood that her son had his own ideas. Rather than making demands and ruining this deal, causing her son to drag things out for several more years, it would be better for the family to have a peaceful meal together and settle her son's marriage as soon as possible.
Since she wanted to treat Lin Qingqing well, Li Xingfang wasn't going to cut corners. She planned to buy two fish and cook a chicken later. It was just that it wasn't time for the brigade to slaughter pigs and distribute profits yet, otherwise, a pork and rib soup would have been quite nice.
I ran into Zhang Lanhua while buying fish, and we chatted casually. I heard she wanted to...
As she slaughtered the chicken, Zhang Lanhua asked in surprise, "Is your daughter coming back?"
The reason for this question is that everyone treasures their old hen at this time; it's a real treasure. Xie Wei hasn't returned for three years, and Li Xingfang hasn't even killed the family's old hen to welcome him. Now that they're going to roast chicken, Zhang Lanhua can only think of Xie's youngest daughter, who also rarely comes home because she's busy with work.
Mentioning her daughter, Li Xingfang recalled a letter her daughter had written a while ago, saying that the provincial film studio was preparing to shoot a movie, and she was planning to give it a try. If it went well, she probably wouldn't be able to come home for the New Year. Although she missed her daughter, she knew that making a movie was a big deal, so she wrote back telling her daughter to focus on her own things and not worry about home. She then waved her hand and said, "No."
"If it weren't for your daughter coming back, why did you kill all the old hens?" Zhang Lanhua couldn't understand it at all. If it wasn't for her daughter, was it for the holiday? But she quickly dismissed the thought. There are so many holidays throughout the year, how could she possibly kill chickens every time? It's not like it's for the New Year.
This wasn't something to be ashamed of, so Li Xingfang didn't hide it. After weighing the fish and walking away with Zhang Lanhua, she said, "It's Wei Zi. He said he'd bring his girlfriend home for dinner."
"That's wonderful!" Zhang Lanhua exclaimed with delight. "Now that she's come to our door, can things be settled between the two of you? Who knows, you might even be able to hold your grandson next year!"
"Why so fast!" Li Xingfang retorted. "Besides, it's not like I don't have grandchildren to hold!"
“Why not so soon? We’ll finalize the marriage before the new year and get it done before Wei Zi goes back to the army. If she gets pregnant in March, then in ten months, she can give birth by the end of the year.” Zhang Lanhua counted on her fingers for Li Xingfang. “As for whether you want Wei Zi’s wife to give you a grandson soon, that’s a question for you to answer.”
Li Xingfang chuckled: "Alright, alright, even if they really want to get married, it's not as rushed as you've calculated. Wei Zi has to go back to the army to submit a marriage application for his wedding. I heard that the review process alone takes half a month, and sometimes two or three months. As for them, I just hope they can get the wedding done by the end of next year. I'm not in a hurry."
“You’re not in a hurry, but your Wei Zi might be,” Zhang Lanhua joked.
Since Lin Qingqing settled in Xingfeng Brigade, Xie Wei hasn't had a single day off, constantly running around taking care of things for her. Before, they thought he was really summoned by Old Master Xie, and they even specifically told Xie Baoshan that since Wei Zi had finally come home for a holiday, they shouldn't keep assigning him work; let him rest too!
Now that Xie Wei and Lin Qingqing are dating, they realize upon reflection that it wasn't Xie Baoshan being unreasonable and constantly ordering his younger brother around; it was clearly...
It was Xie Wei who used Xie Baoshan's name to find opportunities to contact Lin Qingqing!
Thinking of her son's enthusiasm, Li Xingfang felt that Zhang Lanhua's words made some sense, but she still said, "Let him be in such a hurry, I can't be bothered with him."
“You’re just saying that to me,” Zhang Lanhua said, not believing Li Xingfang’s words at all. “By the way, speaking of Wei Zi’s matter, I remember the girl who brought eggs to your house to thank him before, wasn’t that Comrade Lin?”
“It’s her,” Li Xingfang nodded.
Do you remember what I told you back then?
"What did you say?"
Seeing that she didn't remember, Zhang Lanhua reminded her, "When Comrade Lin went to see Wei Zi, you even asked if you wanted to go with him, but I stopped you and said that if you didn't care, the two of them might end up together. You didn't believe me then, but look, they obviously did, right?"
Reminded by her, Li Xingfang remembered: "Is there such a thing?"
“What do you mean by ‘seems’? It means there is.” Zhang Lanhua was not satisfied with her explanation. “If you ask me, when your Wei Zi gets married, you’d better prepare a cup of wine to thank the matchmaker.”
Li Xingfang was surprised by this coincidence and thought it was a very good omen, so she nodded and said, "Okay, I'll go back and tell Wei Zi, and I'll definitely prepare it for you then."
"Then it's settled."
...
When they were almost at Xingfeng Brigade, Xie Wei and Lin Qingqing got out of the car and walked back. On the way, Xie Wei talked about the Xie family's situation.
“My father didn’t have many brothers and sisters. He only had to support himself and my aunt. My aunt married and moved to the provincial capital, and my younger sister stayed at her house when she first went to the provincial capital. There are four brothers and sisters in my generation. You know my eldest brother,” Xie Wei said, glancing at Lin Qingqing. When she nodded, he continued, “My sister-in-law’s name is Song Yan. She is a teacher at the brigade’s primary school. They have two children. The older one is ten years old and named Xie Yuanjiang, and the younger one is six years old and named Xie Mei.”
Actually, Lin Qingqing had met the Xie family in the past two days, but she was in a hurry and didn't have time to say a few words. But she knew about Xie Baoshan's family situation, otherwise she wouldn't have specially bought a box of peach shortbread that the children liked.
"My second brother's name is Xie Qingshan."
Before Xie Wei could even begin to speak, Lin Qingqing couldn't help but ask, "Does your family name all come from mountains? How come your eldest and second eldest brothers both have two-character names, but yours is a single character?" She had been curious about this for a long time.
Xie Wei paused for a moment and said, "My name used to be two characters long. I changed my name after I started school."
Lin Qingqing said "Oh" and asked, "What was your name before?"
Xie Wei's expression stiffened upon hearing this, and he tried to reason with her, "Can we not tell?"
If he says he doesn't want to talk about it...
Lin Qingqing might not press the matter further. But the refusal in his words wasn't very strong, and Lin Qingqing was just too curious, so she looked at him with a smile: "But I want to know how?"
Her eyes crinkled into crescents, and her gaze was full of expectation, making it impossible for Xie Wei to refuse. He steeled himself and said, "Xie Jinshan."
"What?" Lin Qingqing was stunned.
Xie Wei looked at her with a deep gaze and his lips pressed tightly together, clearly thinking she was teasing him. So when Lin Qingqing realized what was happening, she could only suppress her smile and nod casually, "It... sounds pretty good."
"..." Xie Wei turned to look ahead, his tone slightly cool, "Laugh if you want to, don't force yourself."
"So I laughed?" Lin Qingqing asked, looking at him.
Xie Wei: "Mm."
Honestly, Lin Qingqing hadn't intended to laugh, but his seemingly nonchalant attitude, despite clearly caring, was just too... well, she couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. And the more she laughed, the harder she became, until she almost couldn't straighten up.
Xie Wei had no choice but to stop, holding the bicycle with one hand and helping her up with the other, and asked helplessly, "Is it that funny?"
Using the strength of his elbow, Lin Qingqing stood on tiptoe and rested her chin on his shoulder, shaking her head with a smile: "The name isn't that funny, but you... hahaha."
Before she could finish speaking, she couldn't help but laugh again, tilting her head forward so that her hair touched Xie Wei's ear and jawline, making him freeze. He carefully turned his head to look at her, but as soon as he moved, he felt her breath as she laughed on the skin of his neck.
They had never been this close before.
Xie Wei's voice tightened: "Qingqing."
"What?" Lin Qingqing finished laughing, looked up at him, and immediately noticed something was wrong. She narrowed her eyes slightly. "You're blushing?"
Xie Wei paused in turning his head: "Hmm?"
"His skin is getting redder," Lin Qingqing said. Being in the army meant exposure to the elements, so Xie Wei wasn't the typical handsome guy with bright red lips and white teeth. At first, his ears were only slightly red, not very noticeable, so she couldn't be sure. But as she asked, the redness spread to his cheeks, and she was certain.
This discovery excited Lin Qingqing.
Because Xie Wei was always the one solving problems in their daily interactions, he seemed more mature and composed. Seeing him blush by chance was quite novel, and it couldn't help but stir up some mischievous thoughts.
Lin Qingqing asked softly, "Are you shy?"
"No," Xie Wei replied calmly.
"Then look at me."
Xie Wei didn't look at her; instead, he turned to look around. Only when he saw that no one was around did he feel relieved. He coughed and said, "We should go."
Xie Wei had no choice but to turn his head and say, "I'm looking at you now..."
Lin Qingqing tiptoed and kissed him on the lips. His voice stopped abruptly, and he stared at her with wide eyes, completely stunned.
Seeing his expression, Lin Qingqing's smile widened. She took two steps back, turned around, and said, "Go back quickly."
But before she could take more than a few steps, Xie Wei, who had rushed over, grabbed her arm. She looked up at him; the blush on his face had faded, and his expression was extremely serious: "You just kissed me."
His question was so direct that even Lin Qingqing, the one who started it all, felt a little embarrassed and turned her head away, saying, "It seems so?"
"It's you." Xie Wei's voice deepened.
"Yes, it's me. What do you want?" Lin Qingqing asked, glancing at him sideways.
Xie Wei's gaze fell on Lin Qingqing's lips, but he quickly looked away when she looked over and said, "I'm very happy."
His expression was so serious just now that Lin Qingqing thought he was going to tell her she was being too forward and that she shouldn't do it outside next time. Unexpectedly, he uttered this after a long pause, smiled slightly, and strode forward.
Xie Wei watched her walk forward and quickly followed. His gaze went down from her face to her half-hand under her sleeve. She was holding the bicycle with one hand and reaching out with the other to hook her hand.
Feeling her hand being held, Lin Qingqing moved her fingers, but he didn't let go. He opened his palm and enveloped her entire hand.
...
As they approached the Xie family's house, the two resumed their previous conversation.
Xie Wei said, “My second brother was assigned to teach at the county high school after graduating from university. My second sister-in-law was his high school classmate. After graduating from vocational school, she entered a government agency. They have a son named Xie Yuanhong. My younger sister Xie Shan is two years older than you. After graduating from high school, she was admitted to the city's cultural troupe and was just transferred to the provincial cultural troupe last year.”
Lin Qingqing listened and nodded repeatedly, then asked, "Will they come back this time?"
Xie Wei shook his head: "My second brother said he would come back during the New Year holiday. As for my younger sister, I heard that the provincial film studio is going to select actors from their art troupe. She is interested in trying it out. If she succeeds, she may not come back for the New Year."
"She wants to be a movie star?" Lin Qingqing asked in surprise.
"It's just a try, and it might not even work," Xie Wei said with a smile, then remembered to ask, "Have you seen the movie?"
Lin Qingqing had certainly seen the movie, but the original owner of this body might not have. She thought for a moment and shook her head, saying, "No, how could..."
What's wrong?
"Do you want to go see a movie?" They had just started talking about movies, and Xie Wei remembered how the soldiers in his regiment would take their girlfriends to the movies when they were dating, so he asked.
"Today?"
Xie Wei assumed she wanted to go today, frowned, thought for a moment, and said, "I'm afraid it's too late today. How about when you have your next day off?"
“Sure, I could,” Lin Qingqing said hesitantly, but she still wanted to visit the market. If she went to see a movie during her next holiday, she probably wouldn’t have time to go to the market. But seeing that Xie Wei seemed very excited, she thought for a moment and said, “Then let’s do it next time.”
Let's postpone going to the market; she doesn't have anything she urgently needs right now anyway.
Just as they agreed to go to the movies, Lin Qingqing saw Li Xingfang come out of the house and quickly let go of Xie Wei's hand. Li Xingfang was not yet sixty years old and had very sharp eyesight; how could she not have seen what was happening between them? Her smile widened as she walked out and said with a smile, "Qingqing is here."
"Auntie," Lin Qingqing called out, carrying her purchases inside.
"You're here, why are you carrying anything?" Li Xingfang said quickly when she saw what Xie Wei was carrying, and then scolded Xie Wei, "You were watching her buy things and didn't you stop her?"
Xie Wei said helplessly, "I tried to stop them, but I couldn't."
"Auntie, please don't blame him. I wanted to buy it myself, and it's nothing expensive, just a small token of my appreciation," Lin Qingqing said as she handed the item to Li Xingfang.
Li Xingfang had no choice but to accept the things, and led Lin Qingqing into the house, instructing her, "I'll let it go this time, but don't bring anything next time you come, or I won't let him in."
"Then we won't let him in." Lin Qingqing covered her mouth and laughed.
Xie Wei had just stepped over the threshold when he heard this and stopped in his tracks: "Should I leave now?"
"Alright, you're already inside, how could I not let you in?" Li Xingfang said reproachfully, walking to the table under the portrait of Chairman Mao opposite the entrance, taking out white sugar, making a cup of sugar water, and handing it to Lin Qingqing.
Lin Qingqing had just sat down when she saw the enamel mug being handed to her, so she stood up again, took it, and said, "Thank you, Auntie."
"You're still so polite, girl," Li Xingfang said with a smile.
When they first met, Li Xingfang never imagined that Lin Qingqing would have this connection with her son, so she didn't take that meeting to heart. Now she doesn't remember what they talked about, only that Lin Qingqing was very polite and courteous.
Xie Wei knew they had met before, so he wasn't surprised his mother would say that. He asked, "Isn't my older brother home?"
"He was called away the moment you stepped out." Xie Baoshan
Although her position wasn't high, she had a lot of work to do, and there was never a moment of peace throughout the year. Li Xingfang had long been used to it.
"Where is your sister-in-law?" Xie Wei asked again.
"She went to the supply and marketing cooperative. Didn't you see her when you came back?"
"It seems we haven't run into each other?" Lin Qingqing asked Xie Wei, unsure. He nodded in confirmation.
"They'll probably be back soon," Li Xingfang said, clapping her hands. "There's chicken stewing on the stove. I'll go check on it. Wei Zi, you stay here and keep Qingqing company."
Lin Qingqing quickly stood up and said, "Shall I go with you?"
"No need. This is your first time in our home, how can we let you do chores? Let Wei Zi show you around," Li Xingfang said with a smile. She wasn't the kind of mother-in-law who was overly controlling and always wanted to intimidate her daughter-in-law by making her do this and that as soon as she arrived.
“Yes, I’ll show you around.” Xie Wei said, standing up.
Li Xingfang nodded, "That's right." She then instructed Xie Wei to treat Lin Qingqing well and not to bully her.
"How could I bully her?" Xie Wei argued, and after his mother left, he said to Lin Qingqing, "Shall we go for a walk in the back?"
Author's note: First update, second update at 9 PM.
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