Chapter 14 : Going to Lu’s House

Su Mo didn’t yet know that she had been labeled a scheming woman. But even if she found out, she wouldn’t care. She didn’t want to get too involved with the people in the educated youth center. It was enough for them to be mere acquaintances with whom she exchanged polite nods.

If they became too close, they would still come to visit her after she moved out, and it would not be convenient for her to do anything she wanted.

Su Mo pushed aside the straw, took out the eggs, and counted them. There were 23 eggs.

Su Mo felt a little warmth in her heart.

After putting the eggs away and covering the basket with straw again, Su Mo placed the straw basket next to her suitcase.

Now that everyone had seen it, she couldn’t put it into the space.

After finishing her task, Su Mo followed the other educated youth to the brigade headquarters to ask for leave from the brigade leader. Along the way, the atmosphere felt a bit strange, and the other educated youth looked at Su Mo with some scrutiny.

Su Mo didn’t care and just kept walking forward with Ma Xiaojuan.

When they arrived at the brigade headquarters, Su Mo went directly to the brigade office to find the brigade leader.

Team Leader Lu Baoguo was writing something on paper. When he heard a knock on the door, he looked up and was surprised to see it was Su Mo.

“Su Zhiqing, are you feeling better? What can I help you with?” he asked.

“Thank you for your concern, Captain. I’m feeling better now. I came to ask for a day off to go to the county town,” Su Mo replied.

Lu Baoguo was the older brother of Li Cuihua’s husband, Lu Baojia. The night before, he had heard about Lu Changzheng and Su Mo from his gossiping sister-in-law.

Although the commune leader had said that forcing marriages after skin contact during a rescue was a bad habit and should be banned, if both parties were willing, he had no right to interfere.

“Are you going with Changzheng?” Lu Baoguo asked.

Su Mo was taken aback but nodded.

“Okay, go ahead,” Lu Baoguo said with a wave of his hand.

Although asking for leave during the autumn harvest was generally not allowed, the harvest was almost over, and Su Zhiqing couldn’t do much work anyway. Besides, she was about to get married, so it wouldn’t be unreasonable for her to go to the city and buy some things. The brigade should also show some humanity, right?

Su Mo had prepared many reasons, but she didn’t expect it to be approved so easily. She was momentarily dazed and didn’t even know how to leave the team office. It was only when Ma Xiaojuan called her that she snapped out of it.

“How did it go? Did you get it?” Ma Xiaojuan asked quietly. Asking for leave during the autumn harvest would make people dislike you, so she had to make sure no one overheard.

Su Mo nodded.

“Didn’t the captain scold you?”

Su Mo shook her head.

Ma Xiaojuan pouted unhappily. “Why was I scolded when I asked for leave? Even though I had a legitimate reason to go to the health center and take care of you, he didn’t approve it. I think the captain has something against me. I’m so unlucky. I don’t know how I offended him.”

Ma Xiaojuan started thinking about whether she should give something to the team leader after the autumn harvest.

Her family had told her that she had to stay in the countryside for at least two or three years before they could bring her back. If the captain kept targeting her, her life would become difficult.

Neither the original owner nor she knew much about the team, so Su Mo didn’t know what to say in response.

“Then when you go to the county town, remember to buy me some egg cakes. I’m so greedy, I feel like I’m not full every day. If you can carry the enamel basin, buy it if not, forget it. And if there’s sugar, get me a pound of it,” Ma Xiaojuan continued.

Although Ma Xiaojuan didn’t like candy much, there was an older educated youth named Lin Xia who often secretly ate candy. Ma Xiaojuan had caught her a few times and had started craving it too. She now had to buy a pound of candy and keep it for when she wanted to eat it.

If she had known earlier, she wouldn’t have been so greedy and would have brought more things from home. Now her life was miserable.

“Okay, go quickly, quietly, and don’t let anyone see you. Remember to buy food first; I can get the enamel basin later,” Ma Xiaojuan added worriedly.

Su Mo was amused by Ma Xiaojuan’s greedy behavior and said softly, “Okay, I’ll remember to buy you food first.”

Not long after Su Mo left, Lu Qing’an arrived at the brigade headquarters.

Lu Baoguo saw him and smiled. “Secretary, is your family preparing for a wedding?”

Lu Qing’an thought to himself that this old man, Lu Baoguo, was really well-informed. Before their family had even mentioned it or told anyone, he already knew about it.

He didn’t show it, though. “It depends on Changzheng’s opinion. As his parents, we’ll just cooperate.”

Lu Baoguo secretly laughed to himself. This old fox was still pretending to be kind to him, while his future daughter-in-law was already preparing to go to the city to buy her dowry.

But he still said, “Yes, yes, the country now advocates freedom of love and marriage, and we, as elders, should listen to the young people.”

—-

After Su Mo returned to the educated youth station, she took out all the tickets that the original owner had brought from the space, which were valid nationwide, and counted out two hundred yuan. She then placed them into the cross-body bag that the original owner had carried.

The original owner’s shoulder bag was beige, a bit like the retro style from later generations. In an era when green shoulder bags with the words “Serve the People” were common, the original owner’s shoulder bag was quite special.

Su Mo recalled that the clothes worn by the original owner’s family were all very exquisite, which was somewhat inconsistent with the hard-working and simple style of that era.

Although they spent their own honest money, while others were struggling, they were the only ones dressed elegantly. How could others not be jealous? Moreover, to some with ulterior motives, the Su family, as red capitalists, was a big prize, and they would seize any opportunity to get something from them.

The whole family had fallen because they were too high-profile and misjudged people’s hearts.

Su Mo didn’t have to wait long before Lu Changzheng arrived. When she heard him calling her outside the door, she quickly locked the door and went out.

When Lu Changzheng saw Su Mo, he saluted her solemnly and said, “Comrade Su, I have a request that I hope you can approve.”

Su Mo was startled by Lu Changzheng’s serious expression and asked, “Did something happen?”

“My grandfather heard that I have a girlfriend and wants to meet you. I wonder if you agree,” he said.

Su Mo had always had a feeling that Lu Changzheng wouldn’t easily give up on his plan to marry her, and she had been waiting for him to make a move.

Seeing him say that, Su Mo nodded in agreement.

Lu Changzheng saluted her solemnly again, then rode his bicycle and took Su Mo home.

The educated youth station was quite far from the Lu family home. The educated youth station was at the head of the village, while the Lu family lived at the far end.

Su Mo sat on the bicycle, looking carefully at the village for the first time. If nothing unexpected happened, she would live here for several years in the future.

This village, with more than 150 households, was quite large. At Lu Changzheng’s speed, it had been several minutes since he left the educated youth station, and they still hadn’t reached his home. After a few more minutes, Lu Changzheng drove his bike into a yard and stopped.

“We’re here, Comrade Su,” he said.

Su Mo got off the bike and looked around the house in front of her. Although she had heard that the secretary’s family was well-off, she was still a little surprised when she actually saw it.

In front of her were three rows of imposing blue brick and tile houses. The middle row had five rooms, and the left and right rows each had three rooms, resembling the layout of a quadrangle. The yard was very clean, and the vegetable garden at the front was full of vegetables, clearly showing that the owner was very hardworking.

Lu Changzheng led Su Mo to the main hall while introducing, “The three rooms on the left are where my eldest brother’s family lives, the three rooms on the right are where my second brother’s family lives, and the one in the middle is where my parents and grandfather live.”

“Our… our place is not here. It’s about a five-minute walk from here. I’ll take you to see it later.”

Su Mo felt a little embarrassed by what Lu Changzheng said. Her cheeks turned slightly pink, and she didn’t know how to respond.

At that moment, two little boys ran out from the main hall while playing. They were startled when they saw Lu Changzheng, immediately stopped, and shouted in unison, “Third Uncle!”

Lu Changzheng nodded and asked, “Where is your great-grandfather?”

The taller boy said, “Grandpa has gone back to his room and is lying down.” As he spoke, he glanced curiously at Su Mo.

Seeing the two boys peeking at Su Mo, Lu Changzheng said, “This is your future third aunt.”

The two children understood and shouted in unison, “Hello, Third Aunt!”

Su Mo smiled, reached into her bag, and took out six pieces of maltose candy, giving three to each boy. “Hello, please have some candy.”

She had found this maltose when tidying up her space the day before. There were still about a dozen pieces left, all wrapped in transparent paper with no writing on them, so she wouldn’t be worried about it being discovered.

On the way here, she had thought that since Lu Changzheng’s brothers were all married, they must have children at home, so she had secretly taken the maltose from the space and put it in her bag.

“Thank you, Auntie ,” the two children shouted even louder.

Looking at the candy they had never seen before, the shorter one asked, “Aunt , is this milk candy?”

He had only eaten milk candy sent by his third uncle once and still remembered the taste.

“This is not milk candy, this is maltose.”

“What is maltose?”

“It… it’s sugar made from malt,” Su Mo explained, though she wasn’t sure how to explain it to the children.

The two children wanted to ask more questions, but Lu Changzheng dismissed them. “Go and play.”

It was clear that both children were very afraid of Lu Changzheng. When they heard him, they grabbed the candies and ran off.