Chapter 69: Learning English

Lin Yue’s aura was so strong that Sun Hongmei was startled and took two or three steps back, her wrist also aching from being grabbed.

She hurriedly pulled her hand away from Lin Yue, saying with a forced bravado, “Who are you trying to be tough with? What, you think you can stand up for yourself now that you’ve found relatives? I’m the one who brought you back with half a bag of grain, what can you do here! It’s just a broken motorcycle; I don’t want to ride it! Xiaoxi, your brother is unfilial, let’s just walk back tonight, and let the villagers see how heartless your brother is!”

She grabbed Zhang Xiaoxi and hurried away.

Zhang Yuandong didn’t stop her. He got on the bike, waited for Lin Yue and Liu Fang to get on with the children, turned on the headlights, and slowly followed behind Sun Hongmei and Zhang Xiaoxi. He didn’t speed up until they caught up with the main group of villagers.

Lin Yue knew that Sun Hongmei must have something up her sleeve, and she just needed to find an opportunity to confirm it.

Thinking about this, she had a mischievous idea. She pretended to be surprised and shouted, “It’s Principal Xu En Yuan!” She deliberately emphasized Xu’s name. Sure enough, she saw Sun Hongmei flinch in fear and look around suspiciously.

Lin Yue secretly laughed, saying apologetically, “Oh, I was mistaken.”

Sun Hongmei was furious, but she didn’t dare to glare at her. She mumbled under her breath, tightly holding Zhang Xiaoxi’s arm, almost dragging her forward.

Lin Yue found it funny, but she also had a hint of doubt in her heart. Looking at her anxious expression just now, she shouldn’t have come here specifically for Xu. So, why had she been coming here so often these days, when she hadn’t been to Donglinjia Village for so many years?

The motorcycle continued to move slowly forward. It was a special time, and it was late at night. Zhang Yuandong was worried about their safety, so he escorted them for a while.

But in Sun Hongmei’s eyes, this was proof that Zhang Yuandong still cared about his mother and didn’t dare to ignore her and her daughter.

Although she didn’t get to ride in the car, she was still very proud.

But when she caught up with the main group, she didn’t hesitate to gossip about her eldest son and his family.

They were all from the same village, and everyone knew each other. Sun Hongmei was happy to scold her eldest son all the way, but few of the people accompanying her really believed her. Moreover, everyone had seen Zhang Yuandong shining his headlights behind them all the way.

One outspoken aunt laughed, “You’re an old woman with wrinkles all over your face, why are you arguing with the young couple! They won’t take their wife and children, and they’re going to take you? You should give the young couple more time together, so they can have another grandson soon!”

Sun Hongmei had always considered herself a beauty since she was young. She was only in her early forties; how could she stand hearing someone say she was old? She was so angry that her eyes were about to roll to the back of her head.

She had a bad temper, so she spat at the aunt, and she didn’t talk to the group anymore. She just dragged Zhang Xiaoxi forward in silence.

Hearing the words “have another grandson,” Zhang Xiaoxi turned back and glared fiercely at the aunt, her eyes unusually fierce, like a little wolf cub, glowing slightly in the darkness.

The aunt was startled by her gaze and secretly cursed. She avoided the two of them for the rest of the way.

Lin Yue’s group had already heard Sun Hongmei gossiping about them, but they didn’t care.

This woman was like that, not very harmful, but she would still come out from time to time to annoy people, it was annoying.

If she wasn’t Zhang Yuandong’s mother, she would have already taken action.

The roads in the countryside were not easy to walk, and it was late at night. Zhang Yuandong slowly drove the sidecar tricycle back home with the group. When they arrived, the two children were already asleep.

It was still early. Zhang Yuandong washed up in a leisurely way, then lingered in Liu Fang’s room for a long time. Liu Fang pushed him out of the room, chuckling mischievously, “Brother Zhang, don’t waste such a good time here, go back quickly!”

Zhang Yuandong blushed.

After last night, he always felt that his thoughts were impure. He was afraid that Lin Yue would see something, so he didn’t dare to be alone with her.

He went into the room with a serious expression, took out a book from his travel bag, and sat at the square table, flipping through it seriously.

Lin Yue had already heard Liu Fang’s teasing. Seeing his expression now, if it weren’t for the redness on his face, she would have thought something big had happened.

She didn’t know that Zhang Yuandong had so many inner thoughts. He looked like he was being coy again.

You’d think such a grown man would be as awkward as a young girl when it came to matters of love.

Lin Yue tried to recall, could it be that she accidentally touched his waist on the road just now and he noticed? But she should… probably… not be so bold to do that, right?

She wanted to ease the atmosphere and leaned over to ask, “It’s so late, why are you still reading? Is there work?”

Zhang Yuandong showed her the book, “No, I’m learning English.” He was struggling to learn English, and he had only read two words before he calmed down.

Lin Yue picked up the book and flipped through it, surprised, “You’re learning English by yourself?”

Zhang Yuandong nodded, answering honestly, “Yes, I’m going to the Command College next year. I don’t know what specific content I’ll be learning, but my old leader told me that English is very important. If you want to go further, you have to learn English.”

Lin Yue nodded.

English wasn’t emphasized in China yet. The foreign language courses in universities were generally still Russian.

Zhang Yuandong’s old leader was very insightful to see the development of English.

But it was also possible that China had already started to pay attention to the English language, after all, the relationship between China and the old big brother had not been good in recent years.

She knew too little about the army and didn’t quite understand, “You’re going to the Command College, are you going to university?” She remembered that there were Workers’, Peasants’, and Soldiers’ Universities in this era. She didn’t know if they existed now. Anyway, she hadn’t heard of them since she came here.

Zhang Yuandong explained with a smile, “No, the Command College is a place for military training.”

Thinking that Lin Yue knew so little about him, he couldn’t help but tell her about his situation, “I went to university, I was admitted to a military academy from the army.

When I first joined the army, I met a good leader. He saw that I was young and heard that I had finished junior high school, so he told me not to give up studying.

I was able to get into the military academy thanks to his guidance.

Later, I was able to quickly rise to the rank of deputy battalion commander because I followed his arrangements.”

Lin Yue asked in confusion, “Then why are you a company commander now?”

Zhang Yuandong felt a little embarrassed, as if he was bragging, “During the border defense war last year, I was temporarily appointed to the front line. After the war ended, I was transferred back to my original unit, and I was also temporarily appointed as the company commander of a certain regiment.

But my salary is still paid according to my administrative rank.”

Hearing him say this, Lin Yue instantly understood.

China was a country that had emerged from hardship. In this land they were in, there was no village that hadn’t produced martyrs.

When the original owner was a child, she had also heard adults talk about how a certain military officer had been promoted on the front line, leading them to charge. This was the first time she had heard of someone being demoted on the front line.

Zhang Yuandong didn’t know what she was thinking, otherwise, he could have told her about several military officers who had experienced this. Some of them were even at the rank of major general at the 1955 Conferment of Ranks ceremony.

Lin Yue had heard Zhang Yuandong talk about the battles he had participated in before. At that time, she could still think of some random jokes in her heart. Now, hearing him say this, a wave of respect for the great soldiers surged up from her heart.

But Zhang Yuandong had finished junior high school, which she hadn’t expected, “I heard you had a hard time when you were young. I thought Sun Hongmei wouldn’t let you go to school.”

Zhang Yuandong was silent for a while, then said, “She didn’t let me go to school, it was my uncle who paid for my education.”

So that’s how it was. She thought Sun Hongmei and her husband didn’t seem like the kind of people who would be so kind.

When the original owner married him, Zhang Da Bo’s family hadn’t fled to the northeast yet. Lin Yue remembered that they had all taken good care of the original owner.

With Zhang Da Bo around, Sun Hongmei didn’t dare to bully the original owner so blatantly.

It wasn’t until their family moved away that Sun Hongmei quickly kicked the original owner out.

Lin Yue was afraid that he would feel sad thinking about the past, so she changed the subject, “You said you wanted to learn English, I can teach you.”

Zhang Yuandong was about to ask, “You can speak English?” Then he thought about her identity. It seemed like he shouldn’t be surprised if she could do anything, so he didn’t ask. He just nodded, looking at her with anticipation.

Lin Yue took the English book and first tested his foundation.

English wasn’t emphasized at this time, and Zhang Yuandong had been self-taught. He had basically no foundation.

But he didn’t need to learn very well. Everyone spoke “mute English” at this time, as long as he could understand the general meaning.

At first, Lin Yue wanted to correct his pronunciation, but if Zhang Yuandong spoke with a genuine British accent outside, no one would know where he learned it.

Moreover, there was a major movement in a few years. She suddenly felt that “mute English” was pretty good, so she simply didn’t correct him.

Who would have thought that many years later, when Zhang Yuandong really needed to use English to communicate with others, his pronunciation had already solidified, and he had spent a lot of time trying to correct it, but he couldn’t.

The night was long, and the two of them, one teaching carefully and the other learning diligently, presented a heartwarming scene.

The two little ones turned over from time to time, occasionally muttering in their sleep, saying “magic gourd” or something.

The candlelight was dim, and the two of them were looking at the same book, their bodies unconsciously getting closer and closer, almost to the point where they could hear each other’s breath.

Zhang Yuandong looked at her with bright eyes, his gaze not avoiding hers, nor did he have his usual composure. There was only determination and persistence in his eyes.

Although there was no affection in his gaze, Lin Yue’s heart skipped a beat, and her heart felt as if it had been lightly touched by fire.

Lin Yue had a faint feeling that if things continued like this, their relationship might take a step further.

Unfortunately, the later events happened too suddenly, leaving her little time to sort out her thoughts.