Chapter 5 You Have a Crush on Him

“Bang!” Xie Hezhang slammed the door shut as he entered his room.

In the room with only a wooden bed, Xie Hezhang put his sister down and handed her the lunch box.

Xie Xiaoqian hadn’t eaten all day, and she lowered her head and devoured the food.

Xie Hezhang leaned against the headboard expressionlessly, looking up at the moonlight filtering in through the narrow window, his hand reached into his pants pocket, he didn’t find his cigarette case, but he did find a piece of nougat wrapped in blue oil paper.

He remembered the girl who had given him the nougat, wearing a blue cotton dress.

An educated youth from the city, a daughter raised by a good family, her skin was as white and tender as freshly picked cotton.

Her eyes were big and round, black and shiny, and when she looked at him, they were like two juicy grapes.

She was prettier than all the female educated youths who had come to Helian Village.

“Hezhang, this female educated youth definitely has a crush on you!”

Fang Han’s frivolous voice rang in his ears. Xie Hezhang’s Adam’s apple bobbed, and his heart began to feel a little warm.

But it quickly subsided.

Impossible, what could he offer someone to like him now?

After Xie Xiaoqian finished eating, Xie Hezhang handed her the nougat.

Xie Xiaoqian foolishly stuffed the oil paper into her mouth.

“You don’t eat it like that.” He hugged his sister and patiently taught her to tear off the oil paper and fed it to her.

“Sweet, hehe.” Xie Xiaoqian, who was thin and pale, licked the candy and giggled. Since she fell from the mountain, her mind hadn’t been quite right, “Brother, this is delicious.”

Xie Hezhang looked at her gently and replied, “Brother will buy you some more later.”

*

Shu Qingyao was in a particularly good mood after seeing Xie Hezhang.

She was skipping as she walked back.

As soon as she got back, she saw Ruan Wenhui sitting in the next dormitory for female educated youths, chatting away. When they saw her come back, for some reason, they all fell silent.

Shu Qingyao glanced at Ruan Wenhui, who was sitting in the middle. The other woman, perhaps out of guilt, looked away and didn’t dare to meet her gaze.

Seeing her expression, Shu Qingyao knew that this woman must have been spreading rumors. She sneered and went into her room.

Opening her bulging suitcase, Shu Qingyao took out a bag of nougat and a bag of peanuts, and took them out.

She would be living here for a while, and she couldn’t let Ruan Wenhui make up stories. She had to build a good relationship with her roommates.

Ruan Wenhui was still inside. When she saw her come in, she widened her eyes and fell silent. A female educated youth in her thirties reacted quickly and smiled to greet her, “Shu Qingyao, why are you here?”

Shu Qingyao smiled, “I brought some snacks from home. I can’t finish them by myself, so I brought them to share with everyone.”

Jiang Qin, the female educated youth, said, “No, no, no, how can we accept that?”

“What’s the matter, I can’t finish them by myself, it’s better to share them with everyone.”

Shu Qingyao smiled brightly and distributed the nougat and peanuts to everyone, except for Ruan Wenhui.

People who eat your food are more likely to be kind to you. Jiang Qin’s attitude towards Shu Qingyao became much warmer. She poured her a glass of water, “Shu Qingyao, you live alone, come to our dormitory to play when you’re bored.”

Shu Qingyao also smiled, “Okay, I just came down to the countryside, there are still many things I don’t understand, I’ll trouble Sister Qin then.”

She took a sip of water and saw Ruan Wenhui sitting by the window, her face turning green, red, and white, but she didn’t say anything. She chatted with Jiang Qin for a while and then turned to leave.

In this place, she didn’t think about how to retaliate against Ruan Wenhui. A cornered dog will bite. Although Ruan Wenhui was a woman, who knew what she would do if she was pushed too far? It wouldn’t be fun if she stabbed her.

As long as this woman didn’t keep trying to die, she didn’t want to bother with her.

Shu Qingyao returned to her dormitory, lay down in bed, and pulled out the jade pendant from around her neck. She couldn’t help but touch it.

This was the only thing Xie Hezhang had left her, and it was also the only proof that she had traveled to 1976. If this jade pendant wasn’t still here, she would have doubted if it was all a dream.

Was it this jade pendant, left to her by Xie Hezhang’s mother, that brought her to this era, wanting her to change her son’s fate?

Shu Qingyao never believed in any supernatural things, but after this happened, she couldn’t help but…

She couldn’t stop her mind from wandering.

Holding the jade pendant, she drifted off to sleep, unaware that the jade pendant in her palm was emitting a faint glow…

Suddenly, a commotion reached her ears.

“Ma’am, these apples seem pretty good today. Should I buy a few pounds to make apple juice for the master and the babies?”

The smiling woman in front of her was her housekeeper. Seeing that she didn’t respond, she started picking apples from the shelves, “These apples look so sweet! The master and the babies will surely love them!”

Shu Qingyao looked around in confusion, realizing she was in a nearby imported supermarket. She often went there with Xie Hezhang, and the layout was instantly recognizable.

People were coming and going, but their faces were blurry.

Why was she at the supermarket? Wasn’t she…

Shu Qingyao instinctively pinched her arm.

It didn’t hurt…

It was a dream.

Knowing it was a dream, Shu Qingyao calmed down a bit.

Looking at the dazzling array of fruits in the imported supermarket’s fruit section, she couldn’t help but think: What if she could bring these fruits back to her poor husband in Helian Village?

Xie Hezhang surely hadn’t tasted these delicacies.

The housekeeper, Xiaoling, put four or five large, red apples into a bag and went to weigh them. Shu Qingyao pushed the cart and subconsciously picked up some bananas and pears.

…

The next day, Shu Qingyao woke up with a sore back and aching muscles.

She had spent the entire night pushing a supermarket cart and selecting items.

No wonder her back was sore after pushing a cart all night!

Shu Qingyao stretched, saw that the sun was already rising, and quickly got out of bed.

Suddenly, a bag of red things on the bed stopped her in her tracks.

She turned around and instinctively looked at her bed!

There was a bag of apples on the bed, packed in a supermarket bag.

Shu Qingyao rubbed her eyes, feeling disbelief. She walked over, picked it up, and took a look. Even the price tag on the plastic packaging looked familiar.

89.8 yuan.

Wasn’t this the bag of apples Xiaoling bought in her dream, the ones she was going to take back to make juice for Xie Hezhang?

Shu Qingyao sat on the bed, examining it over and over, even taking out an apple and biting into it.

The rich, sweet aroma of the apple was a fresh treat she couldn’t experience in Helian Village.

After finishing an apple and pinching herself several times, Shu Qingyao confirmed that she had actually brought something from her dream.

“Dinner is ready!”

Before Shu Qingyao could figure out what was going on with the apples, someone called out from outside.

The educated youths had their own kitchen, and their dining area was separate from the villagers. Yesterday, they had only eaten at the public canteen with the villagers to welcome the new educated youths.

“Coming!”

Shu Qingyao shouted back to the window, stuffed the remaining four apples into her suitcase, then thought for a moment and took one out, putting it in the cloth bag she was carrying, before going out.

The food today was much worse than yesterday.

A few handfuls of sorghum porridge, thin and watery, and a pile of vegetable mush scooped from a pot, probably burnt, with a smoky smell.

Shu Qingyao had eaten a large apple in the morning and was quite full, so she didn’t react much. Only Ruan Wenhui and another short-haired female educated youth who had just come to the countryside were struggling to swallow the food.

The other educated youths lowered their heads and slurped down their porridge. Seeing that Shu Qingyao and the others hadn’t touched their chopsticks, they urged, “Hurry up and finish, we have to work later. If you don’t eat enough, you’ll starve at noon!”

“How can you eat this?” Ruan Wenhui, after all, was from the city. Although her family favored sons over daughters, they wouldn’t let her starve. Seeing that Shu Qingyao hadn’t touched her chopsticks much, she assumed she had secretly eaten her fill in the dormitory. She rolled her eyes and flattered Shu Qingyao, “Yao Yao, do you have anything else to eat in your room? Give me some, I’ll help you with the work later.”

Shu Qingyao picked up her sorghum porridge and took a sip, saying calmly, “I don’t have anything to eat, and I don’t need your help.”

“You’re lying.” Ruan Wenhui didn’t believe her. Seeing the bulge in her cloth bag, she reached out to rummage through it, “Did you bring some food in there? Your parents are so good to you…”