Chapter 015

After the four girls left, the dorm quieted down, and Chu Xia felt immensely at ease.

She lay down on her bed with the comic book in hand, reading while humming a little tune in relaxation.

But after a short while, a thought suddenly struck her. She sat up abruptly.

After rolling her eyes thoughtfully for a bit, Chu Xia stood up, gathered all her comic books, and went across to the boys’ dorm. Standing outside, she knocked on the doorframe and asked, “Can I come in?”

The others had all gone to the mill, so only Lin Xiaohan was left in the dorm.

He was sitting at the makeshift wooden table, reading Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

Hearing Chu Xia’s voice, he casually responded, “What is it?”

Chu Xia poked her head inside, glanced around, and then, after a brief hesitation, thickened her skin and walked right in.

Whatever she had to say was secondary—there was no rush. Her main goal was simply to spend more time with him, to soak up the “magnetic energy” he gave off, so she could break free from her narrative constraints sooner.

But she couldn’t let that true intention show.

So she answered Lin Xiaohan seriously, “I came to discuss what story we should tell the village kids this afternoon.”

As she spoke, she placed the stack of comic books on the table beside him. “I brought some illustrated storybooks from home. I doubt the kids in the village have seen anything like these. I think they’ll really enjoy them. How about we pick a few stories from these to tell?”

Lin Xiaohan reached for the comic books and flipped through them.

Most of them were about heroic figures like Liu Hulan, Dong Cunrui, and Huang Jiguang, and some were adaptations of revolutionary operas like The White-Haired Girl and The Red Detachment of Women.

They were mostly illustrations with a bit of text—perfect for catching the children’s interest.

After skimming through them, Lin Xiaohan closed the stack and looked at Chu Xia. “Since the kids are sure to like these, why don’t we keep them as a kind of incentive? They’ve probably heard the stories already. If we just read them out loud, it won’t be as fun as letting them read it for themselves once they learn to read.”

Chu Xia nodded in agreement—what he said made sense.

Lin Xiaohan continued, “So, instead of reading to them, we should let them browse the books. When they see the pictures, they’ll naturally get curious about the story. That’s when we can encourage them to go to school and learn to read. And we can tell them that these comic books will be kept in the office and distributed once a week for everyone to read.”

Chu Xia understood—this kind of approach would have the same motivational pull as offering them milk candy.

With that double temptation, the kids’ desire to attend school would only grow stronger.

She nodded again to show her agreement.

Then, looking at Lin Xiaohan, she asked, “So what story should we tell them?”

Without hesitation, Lin Xiaohan picked up the Romance of the Three Kingdoms from the table and held it upright. “This was only allowed to be republished in recent years. The stories in here are probably unfamiliar to the kids. Pick any segment—it’ll be new and exciting for them.”

Chu Xia didn’t have any other books, so she naturally nodded again.

They had to use a book when telling the stories—otherwise, the kids would only listen passively, never realizing they could find more stories themselves through reading.

Seeing she had no objections, Lin Xiaohan set the book down and added, “Then let’s do this: we’ll pick two classic and entertaining chapters—Borrowing Arrows with Straw Boats and The Battle of Red Cliffs. You tell one, I’ll tell the other.”

Chu Xia nodded so mechanically, she almost seemed like a machine.

Lin Xiaohan didn’t mind. He opened the book and handed it to her. “Chapter 46. Go ahead and read through it so you’re familiar with the plot. Once you are, think about how to tell it in a way that’s simple and fun.”

“Okay.” Chu Xia reached out and took the book.

Seeing how dazed she looked, Lin Xiaohan asked, “You can understand it, right?”

Chu Xia instantly perked up. “Of course I can.”

Although schooling across the country had practically come to a halt in recent years and most students barely learned anything before graduating, she had studied seriously when she was in school.

Satisfied with her answer, Lin Xiaohan didn’t say more.

He gave her Romance of the Three Kingdoms and took out The Scholars to read for himself.

After receiving the book, Chu Xia didn’t return to her dorm. She stood still on the spot, reading the first two lines, then, as Lin Xiaohan sat down again and opened his book, she pretended it was instinct and quietly sat next to him.

Lin Xiaohan noticed that she hadn’t left and had even sat down beside him. Confused, he turned his head to look at her.

Chu Xia sensed his gaze but acted as if she hadn’t noticed it, lowering her head to continue reading.

Not treating her as air, Lin Xiaohan asked in an unfriendly tone, “What are you doing?”

Chu Xia glanced at him, her eyes clear and sincere as she replied, “Reading.”

Lin Xiaohan: “…”

Lin Xiaohan: “What I mean is, why are you sitting here reading?”

Chu Xia’s expression grew even more innocent and sincere as she asked, “Is it not okay to sit here?”

Lin Xiaohan: “…”

Talking to her really takes a lot of effort!

He stopped looking at her, returning to his book without acknowledging her further.

Chu Xia, hiding the smile at the corner of her mouth, also turned back to her book.

The boys’ dorm wasn’t his alone. If she wanted to sit, what was the problem?

After Lin Xiaohan stopped talking, Chu Xia quickly became engrossed in her book again.

She finished reading it once, then went over the plot again. She carefully thought about how to tell the story in a more engaging and appealing way, with simplicity and clarity being the most important aspects.

Once she had a plan, Chu Xia closed the book and handed it to Lin Xiaohan, saying, “I’m done.”

Lin Xiaohan didn’t care how she had read it, just reached out to take the book.

With her preparations complete, Chu Xia wanted to ask if they were leaving now, as they could still find the children outside.

Before she could say anything, Lin Xiaohan suddenly extended his hand in front of her, holding a piece of milk candy.

Chu Xia froze when she saw the candy.

Compared to the time in the morning when he had lent her steamed bun and pickles, she felt an even stronger, more unreal illusion now and almost couldn’t resist the urge to pinch her own arm.

Seeing her dazed, Lin Xiaohan spoke, “Take it.”

Chu Xia snapped out of her daze, still with an incredulous look, and hesitantly raised her hand to accept the candy, her tone uncertain as she asked, “Are you giving it to me?”

Giving it to her?

Lin Xiaohan gave a sneering, almost dismissive laugh, “What are you thinking? Take it, you can give it to the kids after you finish telling the story.”

Chu Xia: “…Oh.”

Right, what was she thinking?!

How could she have thought Lin Xiaohan was giving her candy to eat?!

Lin Xiaohan, the stingy guy who wouldn’t even spare candy wrappers for others, had already done the most generous thing he could for her when he lent her steamed bun and pickles in the morning.

Chu Xia, not feeling too embarrassed, acted like nothing had happened.

She carefully put the milk candy in her pocket and looked up at Lin Xiaohan again, asking, “Are we leaving now?”

“Let’s go.” Lin Xiaohan grabbed his book and walked out.

Chu Xia took her own picture book and hurried to follow him out.

By the small river at the southernmost edge of the village, seven or eight children were playing with mud.

This river was a favorite playground for the village kids because there was a muddy patch by the riverbank.

At that moment, one of the boys was crouching in the mud, digging earnestly with his bare hands.

After digging for a while, he suddenly shouted, “Look! Come and see! I found oil mud! I told you it could be found here, but you didn’t believe me!”

When the other children heard him, they all gathered around to take a look. When they saw that he really had found the rare oil mud, they all squatted down to start digging with their hands.

For them, oil mud was the best kind of mud—hard but not easily broken, and it was easy to shape. Whatever they made with it turned out better than with regular mud.

The children squatted together, eagerly digging, but none of them found any more oil mud.

After a while, some of the children lost interest and got up, leaving to play with regular mud on the riverbank.

Two more children gave up and went to the shore.

Just as they started playing with the regular mud, another child ran over, bent over with his hands on his knees, panting heavily, and said, “I heard… there are two educated youths… at the small pond by team eight, telling stories. Lots of people have gone to listen. Do you want to go too?”

The boy who had just gotten to the shore asked, “What kind of story? The usual ones?”

If it was the usual kind, they wouldn’t bother going. They might as well keep playing with mud.

The boy, still panting, continued, “No, it’s a really interesting story that no one has heard before. I think it’s about three people becoming sworn brothers and three countries going to war.”

Upon hearing this, the others immediately became excited.

They quickly washed their hands by the river and then ran toward the direction of team eight.

By the small pond near team eight.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan were sitting on the large tree that lay by the pond.

When they first started telling the story around noon, only five or six children were listening.