Chapter 016

Lin Xiaohan screwed the lid back on and packed both the book and the bottle into his bag.

Chu Xia continued tidying up her comic books, pressing the creased pages flat and stacking them neatly.

As she picked up the last one, a timid voice suddenly spoke:
“Can I go to school?”

Both Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan looked up. At some point, a teenage boy in gray clothes had quietly approached. His face was dusty and smudged, and he looked disheveled from head to toe.

He appeared about fifteen or sixteen years old, eyes flickering uneasily, his expression full of nervous tension.

Without hesitation, Lin Xiaohan firmly replied, “Not without paying tuition.”

Chu Xia assumed the boy was like the girl they’d met that morning—wanting to study but unable to afford it, hoping to sneak into school for free.

But then the boy said in a small voice, “I’ll pay the tuition.”

Lin Xiaohan looked puzzled. “Then just have your guardian bring you to school and sign up.”

The boy hesitated for a moment and added, “My grandfather is Li Fugui.”

His grandfather is Li Fugui?

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan quickly understood.

They had just spent the morning learning about many families in the village, and Chu Xia had taken plenty of notes.

Li Fugui had been a landlord before the revolution.

Which meant this boy was once the pampered son of a landlord’s family—now labeled a member of the “Five Black Categories,” looked down upon and restricted everywhere.

Afraid Lin Xiaohan would reject him again, Chu Xia quickly jumped in, saying, “We’ll try to speak to the brigade for you. If there’s an answer, we’ll let you know, okay?”

At those words, a spark lit up in the boy’s eyes.

For the first time, he looked directly at Chu Xia and said gratefully, “Thank you.”

Then, as if scared to linger and be seen as an eyesore, he quickly turned and left.

Chu Xia snapped out of it and hurriedly called out after him, “Wait—what’s your name?”

The boy paused and replied, “My name is Li Xisheng.”

And with that, he hurried off again.

Chu Xia had now taken on the matter. Lin Xiaohan didn’t voice any objection, simply grabbed his bag and walked off.

Chu Xia packed her comics into her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and quickly followed him. She said, “If you don’t want to be involved in this, I can go talk to Captain Liang on my own.”

Lin Xiaohan glanced at her. “Did I say I didn’t want to be involved?”

Chu Xia grinned at him. “So, does that mean you’re willing to help him get into school?”

Lin Xiaohan looked away. “Our main goal right now is to enroll students and get the school up and running. I don’t care what kind of student they are.”

Chu Xia secretly breathed a sigh of relief. “Then let’s do it together.”

She couldn’t ask for more than to do things with him.

Because they’d given Liang Youtian their word—promising both him and the brigade secretary a school opening ceremony in seven days—Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan had barely had any free time.

After returning to the educated youth compound and finishing dinner, they only rested briefly before heading out to visit villagers, continuing to persuade families to send their school-age children to class.

At this point, Chu Xia’s standing at the compound was almost on par with Lin Xiaohan’s.

Her relationship with Han Ting and the others had completely frozen over—they didn’t speak to each other at all.

She was completely excluded from the lively, harmonious, and united atmosphere around her.

But even in this situation, Chu Xia didn’t feel the pain or unease of being isolated. Instead, she felt an unprecedented sense of ease, comfort, and freedom.

Ideally, they’d just mind their own business forever and not interfere with each other.

Before heading out to visit the villagers this time, Chu Xia took a can of meat from her travel bag.

Since she started cooking on her own, she’d been eating canned food for meals. Now, there were only two cans left in her bag. Even if she tried to ration them, they wouldn’t last much longer.

So, after thinking it over, she decided to use one can to trade for pickled vegetables at a villager’s home.

Most families in the village made their own pickles, but meat was a rare treat. If she offered meat in exchange, there would definitely be families willing to trade.

Of course, she couldn’t just swap one can of meat for a single jar of pickles.

Her canned food contained meat—it was valuable—so she expected to trade it for several jars of pickles.

If one family couldn’t offer that much, she’d simply open the can and divide it, trading with multiple families instead.

After packing the can, Chu Xia slung her bag over her shoulder and headed out with Lin Xiaohan.

She knew that when Han Ting and the others saw her leave with Lin Xiaohan, they’d surely gossip behind her back. But she didn’t care about their opinions or what they said.

At the villagers’ homes, she continued to work with Lin Xiaohan, using every persuasion tactic she could think of to convince them to send their kids to school. Most importantly, she had to get them to believe that education was worthwhile.

Although convincing people today wasn’t much easier than it had been yesterday, there was some improvement: when some parents began to hesitate, their kids would suddenly rush up and shout, “Dad, I want to go to school!”

That tiny flicker of doubt on a parent’s face would visibly grow once the kid clung to their legs or arms, begging and shaking them.

After finishing the pitch to each family, Chu Xia would also take the chance to pull out her canned meat and ask if they’d like to trade some pickled vegetables for a taste of meat.

And a taste of meat—was something far too many people craved.

So even before she finished all the outreach, her canned meat had been completely traded away.

In return, her backpack was now stuffed full with five jars of pickled vegetables: dried radish, pickled garlic, preserved mustard root, soy-pickled cucumbers, and fermented soybeans.

After trading the last bit of meat, she stepped out of a villager’s home with her bag fully loaded.

Lin Xiaohan asked casually, “You sure you can finish all that?”

Chu Xia looked at him and said, “If I can’t, I’ll share it with you.”

Lin Xiaohan turned to look at her. “You’d be that generous with me?”

Chu Xia replied sincerely, “Yeah, I really want to be friends with you.”

Without hesitation, Lin Xiaohan turned his head back and said, “No need. I don’t want to be friends with you.”

Chu Xia: “…”

So cold… so heartless.

She unconsciously slowed her steps.

When she realized Lin Xiaohan was pulling ahead, she quickly picked up her pace to catch up.

After visiting another household together, they happened to pass by Liang Youtian’s home.

They knocked on the gate outside the courtyard, and soon heard Liang’s wife, Chen Jinfeng, call out from inside, “Who is it?”

Lin Xiaohan raised his voice and answered, “Auntie, it’s Lin Xiaohan.”

Chu Xia followed up, “Auntie, I’m Chu Xia. We came to talk to Captain Liang about something. Are you two already asleep?”

Not long after her words fell, Chen Jinfeng came out and opened the gate.

She led them into the courtyard and asked, “We’re still up. What do you need from old Liang?”

Lin Xiaohan smiled and said, “It’s about school enrollment.”

As for the specifics, they waited until they greeted Liang Youtian inside and sat down before explaining in detail.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan explained clearly about the grandson of Li Fugui.

After hearing them out, Liang Youtian let out a long sigh and said, “I know, you’re talking about Xisheng. That kid must be fifteen or sixteen by now. Age isn’t the problem—it’s his background…”

Lin Xiaohan picked up the conversation, “Exactly, it’s the background that’s tricky. That’s why we came to discuss it with you. Sure, his grandfather used to be a landlord, but he’s part of the new generation that can be educated and reformed. And since our school is meant to educate, isn’t it better that he gets the chance to learn too?”

Hearing this, Liang Youtian slowly nodded.

He then added, “Their family has indeed behaved well these past years. Especially Xisheng—he’s never shown any signs of problematic thinking. If he goes to school, the other villagers likely won’t object. But I still need to talk it over with the Party secretary. Once it’s settled, I’ll let you know. Sound good?”

That was good enough for them.

Lin Xiaohan and Chu Xia both replied, “Sounds good. Thank you for your help.”

Liang Youtian chuckled, “No trouble at all—it’s just a few words. You two must’ve been working hard these past few days, huh? How many students have you signed up so far?”

Chu Xia smiled and replied, “Not yet, Captain Liang. But we should have some soon.”

Liang Youtian looked at her and said, “Having confidence is a good sign. It shows we were right to trust you two. Keep working at it—this task of helping our village’s children become literate is all yours.”

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan both nodded at him.

With the main topic settled, they exchanged a few more casual words before leaving the Liang Youtian home.

Seeing that some households still had their lights on, they visited a few more before wrapping up.

Once they finished, the two walked side by side under the night sky and moonlight back to the educated youth dorm.

Chu Xia took a deep breath and said, “Let’s hope someone comes to register tomorrow.”

Lin Xiaohan replied with a steady tone, “I think they will.”

Chu Xia perked up. “Yeah, I think so too.”

The storytelling they did today was surprisingly effective.

Many children who had previously resisted the idea of school were now looking forward to it. They had gone from rejecting the idea of studying to really wanting to go to school, even expressing that desire eagerly in front of their parents.

Even if no one came to enroll the next day, with this kind of atmosphere lasting a few more days, there would definitely be some parents who would bring their children to sign up.

By the time the two of them returned to the educated youth station, it was already very late. Just like the night before, everyone else had already gone to bed.

Chu Xia actually preferred it this way. Avoiding overlapping activities with Han Ting and Su Yun meant she didn’t have to see them or hear their noisy chatter.

Even though they hadn’t done any physical labor that day—just talked nonstop—it was still quite exhausting.

Chu Xia quietly washed up and got into bed. It didn’t take long for her to fall asleep.