Chapter 024

Under the weight of Lin Xiaohan’s gaze, Chu Xia could no longer play dumb.

Her heart was racing beyond control. Unable to suppress it, she steeled herself, lowered her head, closed her eyes, and said, “I’m sorry.”

Lin Xiaohan’s face remained dark and unreadable as he looked at her. In the end, he didn’t press her for an explanation.

After a brief pause, he spoke again in a deep voice, “I don’t care what you’re planning. I don’t care what you want. Just keep your distance from now on. Stop deliberately following me around.”

Chu Xia stayed curled up in the corner like a kitten caught doing something wrong.

She kept her head down, eyes closed, and quietly responded, “I understand.”

Seeing her like this, Lin Xiaohan didn’t push any further.

He let out a soft breath, turned around, opened the office door, and returned to his desk.

After he left, Chu Xia remained in the corner.

Now that the pressure he brought with him had lifted, she quietly let out a long breath.

She leaned against the wall for a while, collecting herself. Avoiding Lin Xiaohan’s gaze, and instinctively putting as much space between them as she could, she finally walked to her own desk and sat down.

Once seated, she kept her head lowered, shielding her face with her hand as she worked to steady her breathing and heart rate.

She had truly been frightened just now.

What made it worse was that just moments earlier, she had been in such a good mood, thinking he had agreed to go to the market with her tomorrow. But then the very next second, right after entering the office, he did that to her.

She really was foolish—to think that just because he smiled at her, he had agreed to go.

Once she’d calmed down, Chu Xia exhaled another deep breath.

With her breathing, heart rate, and expression finally back to normal, she picked up the lesson plan, glanced over the day’s schedule, and quietly began preparing for class.

After five days of school, most of the village children had more or less adjusted to the rhythm of school life. Some even started arriving a bit early.

Before the morning prep bell rang, there were already the sounds of children chattering in the schoolyard.

Once the bell sounded, the rest of the students began arriving in groups. Some giggled and played as soon as they met, while others started loudly reciting what they’d learned.

Though it had been clearly stated at the start of the term that no one was allowed to be late—

In truth, nearly every day, there were still students who arrived late.

But these weren’t city kids who overslept or wasted time playing.

Village children had no such luxury.

When they were late, it was usually because they had chores at home.

For instance, they might have been told to collect a certain amount of manure in the morning, and if they didn’t reach the quota, they wouldn’t be allowed to eat that day.

These children rose before dawn every day, finished their tasks, and then rushed to school.

And now that schooling cost money, they had even more work to do.

To most villagers, work points and money were always the most important things.

Still, school rules were rules.

No matter how valid the excuse, discipline had to be enforced. Without it, the school would fall into chaos in no time.

After a few knocks on the iron sheet beneath the office eaves signaled the start of the day, the sun rose higher in the eastern sky. Chu Xia snapped back into work mode and stopped thinking about what had happened that morning.

When it was her turn to teach, she headed into the classroom to conduct her lesson.

When it was Lin Xiaohan’s class, she didn’t make up an excuse to go watch as she had before. Instead, she stayed in the office, focused on her own work. After finishing her tasks, she picked up her middle school materials and quietly worked on a few practice problems.

Feeling a bit tired from doing practice problems, Chu Xia’s attention was caught by the gray sparrow perched on the windowsill.

She set her pen down, rested her chin on her hand, and relaxed while watching the little bird. As her gaze drifted, she noticed the girl carrying a baby quietly slipping through the school gate again.

Ever since the school term began, this girl had been coming nearly every day.

She always picked class time to sneak in, quietly making her way to stand outside a classroom to listen for a while, then leaving just as silently.

Every time Chu Xia saw her, she pretended not to notice.

She turned a blind eye and let the girl listen in peace from outside the classroom. Even though Chu Xia wasn’t sure if the girl could actually learn anything this way, she didn’t stop her.

The school bell rang for classes and breaks, and soon the entire morning had flown by.

When the bell rang to dismiss class, the children burst out of their classrooms in high spirits, lining up as usual to head home.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan watched group after group of children leave the schoolyard.

Once the last batch from the 10th Production Team was gone, the courtyard finally quieted down.

Chu Xia let out a soft breath, said nothing to Lin Xiaohan beside her, and turned to head into the office.

Lin Xiaohan went into the office to gather his things and leave. Unlike before, Chu Xia didn’t rush to grab her bag and follow him out.

He walked out of the office toward the school gate.

Just as he turned to lock the gate, he noticed Chu Xia still sitting inside, not coming out.

He paused, remembering what he had said to her that morning.

Since she wasn’t leaving, he decided not to lock the gate and simply walked off.

Chu Xia stayed behind in the office precisely because of what Lin Xiaohan had said earlier.

Since he was already upset with her, she knew she couldn’t keep following him or trying to get close.

She decided to wait at the school for a while.

Once Lin Xiaohan had returned to the educated youth compound and finished eating, she would go back.

After a full morning of work, she just wanted to rest a bit.

Chu Xia took out a mirror from her bag and looked at her face.

Her time shadowing Lin Xiaohan hadn’t been for nothing.

Now, when she made expressions in the mirror, they appeared a bit clearer—though she still couldn’t make out her full features.

Looking at her reflection, Chu Xia realized she really had been too impatient, trailing Lin Xiaohan too closely.

As the saying goes, “Haste makes waste.” And sure enough, she’d annoyed him.

She took a deep breath and tried to calm herself down, reminding herself not to rush—everything needed to proceed slowly.

If she truly angered Lin Xiaohan and pushed him to the point of wanting to get rid of her, he might start plotting against her, maybe even sabotaging her job. That would be a total loss.

Since he had only given her a verbal warning so far, she needed to stop now.

As long as she was still working with Lin Xiaohan, once his temper cooled, she’d continue to have bits of time around him each day. Not much, but better than nothing at all.

Besides, Han Ting was currently ignoring her, letting her do as she pleased. That meant—for now—she didn’t have to worry about being bound by the novel’s plot, or being forced to comply with Han Ting’s demands, playing the fool for his benefit.

But she also couldn’t let Han Ting’s current hands-off attitude fool her into thinking everything was fine.

If the novel’s narrative constraints weren’t completely broken, she would eventually get dragged back into the path the original story had set for her.

Chu Xia exhaled again in front of the mirror.

In her heart, she repeated to herself—Don’t rush. Take it slow.

Steady. Steady is always better.

After thoroughly reflecting on her recent missteps and adjusting her mindset, Chu Xia put the mirror back in her bag, slung it over her shoulder, and headed back to the educated youth compound.

Since she’d decided not to rush, she took her time on the way back.

She strolled along slowly, admiring the wildflowers and weeds by the roadside. When she saw a particularly pretty flower, she bent down to pick a couple and played with them in her hand.

A flock of gray-feathered ducks swam in a nearby creek, rippling the water in neat circles as they passed.

By the time Chu Xia returned to the compound, Han Ting, Lin Xiaohan, and the others had already eaten.

As she reached the entrance of the fenced courtyard, she happened to run into Lin Xiaohan coming out.

Seeing him, she quickly lowered her head and stepped aside to let him pass first.

Lin Xiaohan stopped and looked at her for a moment, but ultimately said nothing and left expressionlessly.

Chu Xia let out a soft sigh of relief and went into the kitchen alone to start cooking.

If it weren’t for needing Lin Xiaohan to help her break free of the novel’s plot constraints, she wouldn’t have shamelessly clung to him like this. She actually thought being alone was pretty nice—free and easy.

Even if she needed friends to cope with boredom or loneliness, Lin Xiaohan wouldn’t be the one she’d choose.

Being friends with him would just be asking for misery. He was arrogant, dismissive, and had no interest in making friends.

If he treated someone well, it was definitely because he wanted something.

If she ever truly escaped the confines of the novel’s plot, she would run far away from Lin Xiaohan without hesitation.

She would never try to cozy up to him again, only to be met with constant disdain.

Smoke began rising from the chimney of the kitchen.

Over in the east house—the boys’ dormitory—

Han Ting and the others were hanging out after dinner.

Seeing Lin Xiaohan go out after eating and Chu Xia return to the kitchen alone, Li Qiao nudged Chen Sisi and asked, gossiping, “Do you think something’s going on between those two?”

Before, they went everywhere together—ate, walked, worked—it was like they were attached at the hip.

But today, Lin Xiaohan came back first, and Chu Xia came later. Their timing was completely off. And just now, when they passed each other at the gate, they didn’t even exchange a word. Clearly, something was up.

Chen Sisi was slow to react and hadn’t had time to speak when Gu Yuzhu picked up the thread and said, “Probably because Lin Xiaohan thinks she’s stupid. He’s gotten what he wanted from her and doesn’t want to bother with her anymore. With her kind of brain, getting tricked and kicked aside by Lin Xiaohan is just par for the course, isn’t it?”

The others had all noticed the change between Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, and they’d heard Li Qiao and Gu Yuzhu’s exchange.

Chaozi looked over at Han Ting and asked, “Should we go check on Chu Xia?”

“No need,” Han Ting replied without hesitation.

Let her learn her lesson properly.

Chaozi naturally followed Han Ting’s lead.

He acted as if he had never asked the question.

After finishing her meal and cleaning up the dishes in the kitchen, Chu Xia returned to the dorm to rest.

Since Li Qiao and the others were all in the boys’ dormitory, the girls’ dorm was quiet—a peaceful place to relax.

While resting, Chu Xia couldn’t help but wonder where Lin Xiaohan had gone.

There wasn’t any more work left to do in the private plots today, so he had most likely gone to the school.

Of course, wherever he had gone, Chu Xia had no intention of seeking him out today.

After her meal, she settled in for a nap at the dorm, planning to head to the school a little later—ideally right before afternoon classes began.

As for Lin Xiaohan, after finishing his lunch and leaving the educated youth compound, he did indeed go to the school.

He disliked the noise and commotion of the boys’ dormitory, so he returned to the school office and sat down to read.

At this hour, he was the only one at the school, and the whole place was quiet inside and out.

He had always been someone who enjoyed solitude and silence—sometimes he wished he were the last person left on earth—but for some reason, today felt… off. Like something wasn’t right.

He read two pages before losing interest.

He closed the book and tossed it onto the desk, glanced at the horse-head clock on the wall, then turned his head to look at the neighboring desk.

The moment his eyes landed on it, he realized what was wrong.

In his subconscious, there should have been someone sitting at that desk. That person might’ve been quietly reading or working through exercises, or maybe even napping. But whatever the case, the desk shouldn’t have been as empty as it was now.

Holding his breath slightly, Lin Xiaohan looked back at the clock.

Then he leaned lazily against the back of his chair and just stared at the clock’s hands.

The lower half of the glass on the horse-head clock was decorated with three blooming peonies.

Beneath the glass, the pendulum swung rhythmically, while the minute hand ticked forward—one notch, then another.

Each large notch marked five minutes. Three notches meant a quarter of an hour.

Fifteen minutes passed, then five more. Outside the school gate, students began arriving with backpacks. The quiet ones headed to class, while the rowdier kids chased each other, kicked, shouted, and jostled their way to the classrooms.

One after another, students trickled in. The minute hand ticked forward another five minutes.

Lin Xiaohan finally looked away, drew in a light breath, stood up, and grabbed the small iron hammer before leaving the office.

He stood under the eaves outside the office door in front of a thick iron sheet and raised the hammer, striking it hard to signal the warning bell.

Inwardly, he thought coldly: If she’s even one minute late, I’ll get Liang Youtian to dock her one cent!

But just as he finished ringing the bell, Chu Xia walked in through the front gate.

Lin Xiaohan, hammer still in hand: “…”

Well then. No wristwatch and still perfectly on time.