Chapter 57 ☆ Buy Books

“What good stuff?” Cheng Yaoyao was extremely curious. She had no appetite for the dumplings. She kicked Xie Zhao several times with her toes and was anxious to see him.

Xie Zhao ate all the dumplings in a few bites, choking and causing veins on his forehead to pop out. Grandma Xie hurriedly gave him some loofah soup and sighed, “Why are you so hungry? Is the food at the driving school very bad?”

Xie Zhao had to explain a few things, telling Grandma Xie that the food in the machinery factory was good, and that he had brought some dry food from home, so he wasn’t starving.

When Xie Zhao finally got out, Cheng Yaoyao had been squatting in front of the two large bags, studying them for a long time: “What on earth are these? I’m so anxious!”

Xie Zhao pulled her up: “Don’t squat after eating; it will give you a stomachache.”

Xie Zhao untied the bags. One bag contained luggage and food, and the other contained a few mangoes and a paper bag.

“It’s a paper bag!” Cheng Yaoyao said happily.

“…No.” Xie Zhao took out the mangoes, revealing the books underneath.

Cheng Yaoyao was surprised and said, “It’s a book…”

“Shh.” Xie Zhao signaled Cheng Yaoyao to be quiet, glanced in the direction of the kitchen, picked up the book, and followed Cheng Yaoyao into her room.

Cheng Yaoyao’s room was very cool, filled with a faint fragrance and sunshine. The pink quilt on the bed was piled up messily, and a white lace nightgown was thrown on it, still retaining the look of Cheng Yaoyao when she got up. Xie Zhao took a look, and Cheng Yaoyao quickly shook the quilt to cover the nightgown, blushing and explaining, “I didn’t fold the quilt because I was in a hurry to get up today.”

Xie Zhao regained his composure, coughed, and placed the books on the table. These books were old and yellowed; some were textbooks, and some had their covers torn off, giving off a unique smell of old books.

Cheng Yaoyao picked up a book and opened it. The pages were crisp. It was a high school textbook. She opened another one and asked, “Where did you get this from?”

Xie Zhao looked at her and said, “Let’s see if it’s useful.”

Cheng Yaoyao, holding a book, leaned half against the table and flipped through it. She was wearing a pink blouse today, her long black hair scattered on her shoulders. Her waist was slender, and she had a porcelain bowl of jasmine flowers on the table. The snow-white jasmine flowers were immersed in water, half-opened and half-closed, exuding fragrance, making her black hair also carry a faint scent.

The sunlight poured in from the high, carved skylight, reflecting off Cheng Yaoyao, old books, and jasmine flowers. It looked like a picture of a lady, oddly out of place in the old and dilapidated house. Every time he looked at her, Xie Zhao felt more and more strongly that Cheng Yaoyao did not belong here.

Cheng Yaoyao looked up at this moment and met Xie Zhao’s overly intense gaze. “You haven’t told me yet, where did you find these books?”

“From the recycling station.” Xie Zhao found a piece of cloth and wiped each book clean to avoid dirtying Cheng Yaoyao’s hands.

Cheng Yaoyao snorted. “How could these be found in the recycling station? Xie Zhao, you’re starting to lie to me!”

“No!” Xie Zhao paused and told the truth. “Some of them were found on the black market.”

No wonder. Cheng Yaoyao opened a book and found a library card inside, with the county library’s seal on it. It must be that the library was unattended, and some people stole the book and sold it to Xie Zhao along with other books as junk.

Cheng Yaoyao took out the library card and tore it up. Together with Xie Zhao, they picked out the books with the library stamp and disposed of all the prohibited items. The books were roughly sorted into two piles: one with textbooks, ranging from elementary school to high school, and the other with various other subjects.

Later on, Xie Zhao sorted them out while Cheng Yaoyao sat beside him, holding a book and reading without even raising her head.

Xie Zhao suddenly said, “Grandma can’t see this.”

“Why?” Cheng Yaoyao asked curiously. “I’ll hide the book well and won’t take it out.”

Xie Zhao tore up the two banned books and said, “When our house was searched, they found the books my father brought back from studying abroad, and that’s why they took my father away. Grandma couldn’t bear to see this.”

“Ah?” Cheng Yaoyao exclaimed, throwing the things in her hand on the ground. “Why didn’t you tell me earlier? I don’t want these anymore, just the textbooks will do.”

When Cheng Yaoyao was being coquettish, she was extremely charming. When she was caring, she could make people’s hearts melt. Xie Zhao’s lips curled up slightly, and he picked up the book. “It’s okay, just hide it in the room and don’t take it out.”

Cheng Yaoyao hesitated for a moment but couldn’t bear to part with them. With no radios or computers these days, she was almost bored to death at home. She tilted her head and thought for a moment. “Then I should choose a few books to keep?”

Cheng Yaoyao picked up the pile and carefully looked through the books one by one. The book seller obviously didn’t know what was valuable; all kinds of books from the Ming and Qing dynasties, foreign classics, Soviet Union, and even fairy tales were mixed together.

Xie Zhao separated the textbooks into elementary school, junior high school, and high school categories. He picked up a junior high school textbook and flipped through it, trying to decipher the questions with some difficulty, his lips moving silently as he read the obscure questions.

Xie Zhao was reading seriously when suddenly a book flew towards him, whistling through the air. Xie Zhao raised his hand to catch it but was met with Cheng Yaoyao’s blushing face.

“Xie Zhao, you are shameless!” Cheng Yaoyao’s eyes trembled, her cheeks were red, and she said angrily, “You… what kind of crappy book did you get?”

Xie Zhao flipped it open and saw an illustration showing a man and a woman making love on a swing, depicted in great detail. Turning the next page, he saw an even more explicit posture, which shocked Xie Zhao.

Xie Zhao had never seen such a thing before. His cheeks immediately turned red, but he stared at it, unable to look away. He spoke incoherently, “This… I don’t know…”

“You’re still staring! Shame on you! I’m going to tell Grandma!”

Cheng Yaoyao jumped up in anger and ran out. Xie Zhao grabbed her in a hurry and said, “Wait!”

With a “swish,” Cheng Yaoyao’s pink blouse tore open at the neckline, revealing half of her creamy shoulders and collarbones, as well as the thin shoulder straps of snow-white lace.

The air in the room became thick with tension, and a faint sweet and warm fragrance rose up. Xie Zhao’s eyes turned red in an instant, and a line of red appeared under his narrow eyes, which frightened Cheng Yaoyao’s heart.

Grandma Xie’s voice came from the yard. “Brother Zhao, help me fetch some water. Where are they? Yaoyao? Brother Zhao?”

“You!” Cheng Yaoyao came to her senses, stomped her feet, and was about to yell.

Xie Zhao covered her mouth with his hand, and the soft touch of his palm made him feel hot again. He looked at Cheng Yaoyao with tears in his eyes and begged in a low voice, “Sister, don’t scream.”

Cheng Yaoyao’s breath was filled with Xie Zhao’s scent. Her waist softened instantly, and she struggled desperately in Xie Zhao’s arms. Xie Zhao misunderstood her and tightened his embrace, urgently explaining in her ear, “I really don’t know about that book, don’t be angry.”

Cheng Yaoyao struggled for a while, then suddenly stopped moving, staring at him in horror, with a drop of water hanging on her wet eyelashes. Her eyelashes were so dense and long that they could hold a drop of water. Xie Zhao was distracted for a moment, then froze.

Xie Zhao’s hand pressed on a soft and elastic piece of flesh. His mind went blank, and he pressed it again subconsciously. Cheng Yaoyao trembled all over, staring at him with shame and anger, and stepped hard on Xie Zhao’s foot.

Xie Zhao suddenly loosened his grip, but Cheng Yaoyao did not move immediately. She seemed furious and leaned in his arms, trembling all over. Her cheeks and neck turned pink, and she looked like she had been bullied.

Xie Zhao half-carried her to the bed, straightened her torn collar, and almost knelt before her. “Sister, I didn’t just…”

What was he not? The sensation of his palm on her soft flesh made him excited. Xie Zhao’s words were stuck in his throat, and he was slapped on the head.

Cheng Yaoyao recovered and slapped him again. The slap was soft and swept across his cheek like a caress. Xie Zhao’s Adam’s apple moved, and he stared at Cheng Yaoyao, not dodging or avoiding, but rather provoking her.

Cheng Yaoyao was so angry that she jumped up and threw a book at Xie Zhao. “Get out!”

Just as Xie Zhao was about to explain, he was slapped hard on the back. With a whoosh, it was as powerful as thunder, and it was completely different from Cheng Yaoyao’s slap. This slap was fair and honest, causing Xie Zhao’s brows to knit together, while Cheng Yaoyao shrank back in fear.

Grandma Xie held a feather duster in her hand, her hair standing on end with anger. “What are you doing, you beast?”

Xie Zhao’s face flushed red, and he looked at Cheng Yaoyao speechlessly. “I…”

“Ouch!” Cheng Yaoyao covered her face with her hands, turned over, and threw herself on the bed, her shoulders trembling.

Grandma Xie was even more furious. She grabbed Xie Zhao by the ears and pulled him out. “How can you be worthy of the ancestors of the Xie family for doing such an immoral thing? Get out of here!”

How could Grandma Xie’s strength shake Xie Zhao? Fearing that Grandma Xie would fall, he was dragged out and hit with a feather duster. Xie Zhao hid behind and walked around the room with Grandma Xie. “Grandma, you misunderstood. I didn’t bully Sister!”

Grandma Xie raised the feather duster and said, “Come here! I saw everything. What can you say? Didn’t I teach you not to do immoral things since you were a child?!”

Xie Fei screamed in fear and rushed into the house to ask Cheng Yaoyao for help. She saw Cheng Yaoyao lying on the bed, trembling all over. She rushed over and said, “Sister, what’s wrong with you? Did you have a fight with Brother? Don’t cry!”

Cheng Yaoyao raised her head after a long while. Her face looked like she was both crying and laughing. “I…” She suddenly burst into laughter, unable to hold it back.

She buried her face in the quilt again, leaving Xie Fei confused. “Grandma is beating Brother! Sister, go out and try to persuade her!”

Cheng Yaoyao laughed so hard that her whole body weakened. She wiped away the tears from her eyes and said to Xie Fei, “I don’t want to persuade him. He deserves it!”

Even so, Cheng Yaoyao still stopped Grandma Xie. It took her a long time to convince Grandma Xie that the two of them were just joking, and that Xie Zhao accidentally tore Cheng Yaoyao’s clothes, which was why Cheng Yaoyao got upset.

Grandma Xie was skeptical. “Why did he go to your room for no reason? Don’t make excuses for him. A woman can swallow any loss, but not this kind of loss!”

After saying that, she glared at Xie Zhao fiercely.

Xie Zhao was chopping wood in the yard. There was a red scar on his face. He didn’t even raise his eyes. His expressionless face was full of frustration.

Cheng Yaoyao raised three fingers. “Really? Why should I make excuses for him? Am I the kind of person who is willing to suffer a loss? He brought me some college entrance examination ^[1]are a national standardized test for university admission in some countries. review materials and helped me move them into the house.”

“College Entrance Examination?” Grandma Xie keenly caught the term. “Hasn’t the college entrance examination been canceled? Did you hear any news?”

An old lady from the countryside actually knew so much about the college entrance examination. Cheng Yaoyao didn’t notice this and just said, “My father wrote to me and told me that, according to inside information, the college entrance examination will most likely be resumed in the next two years.”

Grandma Xie asked, “Yaoyao, are you going to take the college entrance examination?”

Also ready to… leave here?

Cheng Yaoyao nodded without hesitation and smiled. “I plan to review, and Xie Zhao will review with me too!”

Xie Zhao suddenly raised his head, his eyes somewhat surprised.

“College entrance exam… College entrance exam, great. No matter what the situation is, studying is the best way out!” Grandma Xie nodded excitedly, thinking about something. “The college entrance exam will not be resumed so quickly. You have at least two years.”

Xie Fei opened her ignorant little eyes and suddenly asked, “But given our family background… can we take the college entrance examination?”

This sentence was like a pour of cold water over Xie Zhao’s head, cooling down his feverish mind and extinguishing the slight heat that had just started in his heart.

He pursed his lips. “I’m not good at studying.”

Grandma Xie said angrily, “Nonsense! Your father taught you when you were a child, so you have a good foundation for reading. Your father and the teacher praised you for having a photographic memory. If it weren’t for…”

Grandma Xie threw away the feather duster and pulled Cheng Yaoyao. “Yaoyao, tell Grandma in detail about the college entrance examination. How much do you know?”

Cheng Yaoyao knew a lot about the first college entrance examination. Her grandfather had been a candidate in that year’s exam. At the age of 28, her grandfather was admitted to university, becoming the most prestigious college student of that era, and he was always very proud of it.

When she was a child, her grandfather would talk to Cheng Yaoyao about his college entrance examination every day while drinking wine at dinner. He would talk about how he was sent to work in the countryside, how he studied hard, and how he predicted the test questions. Everything was still vivid in Cheng Yaoyao’s mind. She even remembered the set of review materials her grandfather mentioned, which predicted more than half of the test points.

Cheng Yaoyao couldn’t say any of this, so she could only pick out some vague things to tell Grandma Xie. “My father has a friend who works in the Education Bureau. It is said that the country is already planning to resume the college entrance examination. And no matter your family background, you can take the exam.”

Cheng Yaoyao’s words were like a ray of light, illuminating the dark road ahead for the Xie family. The prospects she described were so good that the Xie family, who were used to suffering, did not dare to believe it.

Xie Zhao said expressionlessly, “If I go to school, what will happen to our family?”

Grandma Xie said angrily, “If you can get into college, Grandma can die with peace of mind. Why are you still worrying about this? I need to think about this carefully. Yaoyao, put the books away in the room and don’t spread this news, otherwise, you will get into trouble.”

“Okay.” Cheng Yaoyao nodded obediently.

Grandma Xie didn’t even eat dinner and went back to her room with her hands behind her back. Whenever she encountered something important, she would think about it alone in her room, and then come up with a plan.

Cheng Yaoyao and Xie Fei put away the books in the room. Xie Fei looked at the textbooks with envy. Like Xie Zhao, she had never been to school, and the only words she knew were taught by her grandmother and brother.

Cheng Yaoyao gave her a few elementary school textbooks and a fairy tale book that wouldn’t cause trouble. “If you don’t understand anything, come and ask me.”

“Yeah!” Xie Fei ran out happily, holding the book.

Cheng Yaoyao looked around the room curiously but couldn’t find the erotic book. She guessed that Xie Zhao had taken it away when her grandmother wasn’t paying attention.

Dinner was a pot of mung bean soup with mixed flour steamed bread, a little sugar added, sweet and cold, with pickled cucumbers and pickled basil leaves. It was appetizing and refreshing. Xie Zhao held the bowl alone, sitting on the steps of the yard, as if he were angry with someone.

Cheng Yaoyao narrowed her eyes, picked up a bowl, and walked over.