Chapter 017

Chu Xia ignored everyone else’s reactions and went straight to place her steamed buns into Lin Xiaohan’s pot.

Then she took out two bowls and put some pickled mustard tuber in each.

Lin Xiaohan was particularly fastidious—he didn’t like sharing a dish with a woman, and he’d once even looked down on her for using his bottle cap to drink water. So of course, she separated the food into two bowls.

By now, the others had already started treating her and Lin Xiaohan as invisible again, chatting idly among themselves.

Staying out of their lively conversation, Chu Xia returned her own bowl of pickled vegetables to the cupboard and tied the cupboard door shut again with straw.

She placed the two bowls with pickled vegetables on the only empty table left, poured two bowls of hot water, and brought over two pairs of chopsticks, resting them on the rims of the bowls.

Once everything was set, she sat down at the table quietly to rest.

The kitchen was full of people—anyone saying a few words made the place feel lively.

Of course, there were still a few who didn’t say a word: Chu Xia, Lin Xiaohan, Han Ting, and Su Yun.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan didn’t really belong in this crowd anymore.

Han Ting and Su Yun simply weren’t in the mood to speak—and didn’t bother pretending otherwise.

Su Yun had never been much of a talker, and in the past couple of days she’d become even quieter.

The melancholy on her face and in her eyes had deepened, making her look even more pitiful than before.

Of course, the one who pitied her was Han Ting—Chu Xia certainly didn’t.

If Chu Xia pitied her, she would’ve had to give Su Yun everything she had. And back then, no one had pitied Chu Xia.

The buns in both pots finished steaming around the same time.

Lin Xiaohan and Guogai fetched the buns; their group of ten bustled about helping each other.

Things were much simpler on Lin Xiaohan’s end.

He placed the buns in a bowl, brought them over, and sat down to eat.

He had brought over Chu Xia’s buns as well, so she didn’t bother getting up.

Once Lin Xiaohan sat down, she picked up her chopsticks and started eating—steamed buns with pickled mustard.

The two of them ate at the same table in silence, while the rest of the room remained noisy.

Finishing their meal amid the unrelated clamor, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan didn’t linger at the educated youth compound. They left the kitchen, returned to their dorm to grab their school bags, and headed off together to the school.

Not long after they sat down in the office, Li Xisheng arrived at the school with his father, just as expected.

The father and son looked alike—and both had a hunched, timid posture.

As soon as they entered the office, Li Xisheng’s father thanked Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan profusely:
“Thank you, comrades, for giving Xisheng the chance to go to school. We’re really grateful!”

In truth, they hadn’t done all that much.

Chu Xia stood up and replied politely, “Uncle, there’s no need to say that. We really didn’t do much—just had a few words with Captain Liang. What really mattered was your good conduct; the brigade acknowledged that.”

Still, Li Xisheng’s father kept repeating, “Thank you, thank you.”

Before Chu Xia could respond again, Lin Xiaohan added, “We’re just glad we could help. Since you’ve earned this rare opportunity, make sure to cherish it. Just continue supporting our work in the future.”

“Of course, of course,” the father said repeatedly.

Chu Xia glanced at Lin Xiaohan and blinked, saying nothing more.

Lin Xiaohan didn’t waste time—he opened the desk drawer and took out a school enrollment form.

He turned the form around and slid it toward Li Xisheng’s father. Then, pulling the pen from his chest pocket, he removed the cap and handed it over.
“Do you know how to fill this out?”

“I do, I do,” the father nodded.

He took the pen and started filling it out while standing. Lin Xiaohan reminded him he could sit down, but the man shook his head and insisted on finishing it standing. Once completed, he pressed his fingerprint onto the form.

After that, he reached into his pocket.

It took him a while to find what he was looking for—a stack of old, worn-out currency vouchers. He placed them on the desk and said, “Comrade, please count this. One yuan and fifty cents for the semester, right?”

Lin Xiaohan counted—fifteen ten-cent notes. Just right.

He looked at the man and said, “All set. School starts in about three days. The brigade will announce it over the loudspeaker, so listen for the notice.”

The father nodded.

With everything taken care of, both parties felt relieved.

Li Xisheng’s father thanked them again and again before leaving with his son.

Lin Xiaohan was putting the form and money back into the drawer when the two were already out the door.

He called out, “Hey, wait a moment—there’s one more thing.”

The father and son turned back. “Comrade, is there something else?”

Lin Xiaohan put down the form and the money, took a milk candy from the drawer, and walked over to hand it to Li Xisheng.
“As promised—every student who enrolls gets a piece of milk candy.”

These were the kinds of things they hadn’t even seen in years, let alone eaten.

Li Xisheng didn’t dare accept it and quickly waved his hands. “No, no, I don’t need it.”

Lin Xiaohan didn’t waste time arguing. He just stuffed the candy into the boy’s hand.
“It’s not just for you. Everyone who signs up gets one. We keep our word.”

After hearing that, Li Xisheng slowly curled his fingers around the candy and held it tightly in his palm.

He didn’t refuse again. He thanked Lin Xiaohan and left.

Outside the school gate, Li Xisheng’s father said, “Now that you’re going to school, study hard. Don’t worry about anyone else. Just focus on learning. No one in the Li family has ever been illiterate.”

“I will, Dad,” Xisheng replied.

He kept his hand with the candy tucked in his pocket. Even without eating it, his heart already felt sweet.

After Li Xisheng and his father left, the office quieted down again.

Chu Xia returned to her desk, rested her chin in her hand, and gazed toward the doorway. “If only two more would show up,” she murmured.

Just as her words fell, a few people appeared at the entrance—two adults with two children. As it turned out, it really was two more.

Chu Xia bounced up from her seat in delight. “They’re here!”

Lin Xiaohan leaned forward to glance outside.

Soon, the four of them stepped through the office door.

Before Chu Xia or Lin Xiaohan could even greet them, the two children eagerly shouted, “Teacher, we want to go to school!”

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan smiled and replied in unison, “Wonderful, welcome!”

One of the parents chimed in, “They wouldn’t take no for an answer. Obsessed, I tell you! All night long, talking in their sleep about going to school.”

Chu Xia chuckled as she pulled an enrollment form from her drawer. “Wanting to learn is a good thing. School is where we teach and nurture, where kids grow up. Reading and writing will be useful for the rest of their lives.”

With that, she and Lin Xiaohan each helped a parent fill out an application.

Since neither of the parents could write, Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan filled in the forms for them, and had them stamp their fingerprints at the end.

After the paperwork and fees were handed in, the two children could barely contain themselves.

They leaned eagerly over the desk, eyes wide, and asked Chu Xia, “Is there really milk candy?”

Smiling, Chu Xia retrieved two milk candies from the drawer and placed one in each of their palms.

The moment the candies landed in their hands, both kids’ eyes went wide. A second later, they burst into cheers and laughter, jumping with excitement and dashing out the door like the wind.

Naturally, they were off to show off.

Holding their candies, they ran into a group of kids and shouted at the top of their lungs, “My dad took me to enroll at school! And right after, the teacher gave us milk candy! Look—it’s real milk candy!”

The other children exploded with excitement.

Playtime came to a halt as kids scattered toward home, grabbing at their fathers’ arms or clinging to their legs, insisting they had to go to school—no matter what.

Some parents had already been swayed a bit by Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan’s earlier visits, and their families could barely afford to send a child to school. Now, with the kids clamoring, many gave in and went to register.

And after registering and receiving milk candies, word spread even faster among the children.

These same kids who had no interest in school before were now fighting for the chance to go.

Over the next two days, more and more parents brought their children to enroll.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan took full advantage of the momentum—telling stories during the day, visiting homes to talk with parents at night, and waiting at the school during lunch for more families to arrive.

Their figures became a familiar sight near the small pond by Team Eight and in the school office.

The stack of enrollment forms in the drawer grew thicker. The candy box grew lighter…