Chapter 028

When Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan returned to the settlement, lunchtime had already passed.

Han Ting and the others were nowhere to be found—it was quiet inside and out.

Peacefully, she cooked and ate, then returned to the dormitory to rest.

After a short break, she saw Lin Xiaohan leaving with his basket and tools.

This time, she didn’t follow him right away like she used to.

Even though he’d said earlier that whether she followed him or not, it wouldn’t cost him a pound of flesh…

Chu Xia still felt it was best not to stick too closely or be too obvious. There needed to be a balance. Being a little more natural about it would go a lot further. Otherwise, she was sure he’d get annoyed again.

Come to think of it, it made sense. Even an ordinary person would feel uncomfortable and annoyed being constantly followed and watched like they were under surveillance—let alone someone like Lin Xiaohan.

So, Chu Xia stayed in the dormitory for another twenty minutes before deciding it was about time to head out.

When she left, she brought not only vegetable seedlings and seeds but also tools for digging holes, a wooden bucket for drawing water, and a dried gourd ladle for watering.

The journey from the educated youth point to the private plot was short.

As soon as Chu Xia stepped onto the riverbank, she craned her neck to look toward the land by the river.

She was getting quite good at guessing Lin Xiaohan’s whereabouts—sure enough, he was down there planting vegetables.

Chu Xia walked along the riverbank at a relaxed pace. When she reached the edge of the field, she hesitated for a second between greeting him or not, then smiled and called out, “Why didn’t you call me when you left?”

Lin Xiaohan didn’t even look up as he planted vegetables, his tone cool: “Aren’t you great at following people? If you need someone to do things with, then just come along. I don’t need company—why should I call you?”

Chu Xia was momentarily stunned by his reply.

Knowing his personality, she had already prepared herself to be ignored after initiating small talk.

If he was in a worse mood, he might even throw a few biting words her way.

So she hadn’t expected him to say something like that.

Maybe… he was actually in a good mood today?

Taking advantage of this rare opportunity, Chu Xia smiled and asked, “Then can I call you next time?”

And it turned out, Lin Xiaohan really was in a good mood today.

He replied in the same indifferent tone, “Suit yourself.”

Now, with anyone else, that tone might come off as annoyed or dismissive.

But coming from Lin Xiaohan, it was already considered generous and friendly.

After this exchange, whether Lin Xiaohan’s mood changed or not, Chu Xia’s certainly did—she felt a lot better.

She put down her backpack and basket, pulled out the vegetable seedlings and seeds she had bought in the morning, rolled up her sleeves, revealing her fair arms, and happily got to work planting.

For each seedling, she dug a hole.

She also had to think carefully about spacing between the plants.

Tomatoes, cucumbers, and loofahs needed space for trellises to grow on, so they required wider spacing.

After planting all the seedlings, she walked to the river to fetch water, then used her gourd ladle to water each one.

Since the plot was right by the river, fetching water was a lot easier.

Chu Xia wasn’t particularly strong, so she only filled the wooden bucket halfway.

With half a bucket of water in tow, she had just ladled a couple scoops onto the seedlings when a voice called out from the bank: “Teacher Lin, Teacher Tang—planting vegetables?”

Chu Xia looked up and saw that it was Liang Youtian.

Lin Xiaohan responded faster than she did, already answering, “Yeah, Captain Liang. Since it’s Sunday, we had time to come over and get the planting done. This way, we’ll have whatever vegetables we want later on.”

Liang Youtian smiled with approval. “You two really know how to live.”

Then he glanced over at a large unworked plot nearby and asked, “What’s going on with the rest of them? It’s been a week since the plots were assigned, and theirs still looks the same as the day they got it.”

Lin Xiaohan replied, “Maybe their families are well-off and supporting them from home, so they don’t need to bother.”

When she heard this, Chu Xia glanced at him.

Others might not know, but she and Lin Xiaohan, who lived together at the educated youth point, knew perfectly well—Han Ting and the others weren’t receiving much support from home. They were relying on whatever the village gave them.

In these times, even city families received food rations based on headcount and household registration.

Most ordinary urban families could barely stretch their monthly wages to cover rationed grains and basic condiments. Fresh fruit and snacks were rare luxuries.

Every household had to pinch pennies, especially those with more children.

Of course, kids themselves wouldn’t necessarily be aware of such things.

Among the twelve educated youths, Lin Xiaohan’s family background was the best, followed by Chu Xia’s.

His parents had good jobs, and she was an only child. Her family had owned a restaurant before the land reform, so they had some savings.

The other ten, including Han Ting, came from very average families.

Their families had little means to support them. No one could expect that after being sent to the countryside, they’d live the same lifestyle as back in the city.

Even Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan couldn’t live as they had in the city.

After all, from the moment their household registrations were transferred to the countryside, they were no longer considered city dwellers. They could no longer rely on their parents’ constant care—they had to shoulder life’s burdens on their own.

In truth, Lin Xiaohan probably hadn’t received much care or protection from his parents, even before all this.

So it was clear that what Lin Xiaohan told Liang Youtian wasn’t the truth.

The real reason was that Han Ting and the others were lazy and afraid of hardship. They only went to work when absolutely necessary, and after that, all they wanted to do was rest and have fun. Tending to a private plot was the last thing on their minds.

As for why Lin Xiaohan said what he did—it was likely for the same reason he “defended” them in front of Secretary Liu last time: to prevent Liang Youtian from finding out the truth and causing them trouble.

After glancing at Lin Xiaohan, Chu Xia lowered her head and said nothing.

It wasn’t her business anyway. There was no need to get involved and risk offending Lin Xiaohan. She’d just pretend she hadn’t heard anything or noticed a thing.

Sure enough, Liang Youtian gave a dry chuckle and said, “Alright then. The plots have been given to them—if they want to farm, they can farm; if not, then so be it. As long as they behave and don’t cause trouble, I don’t care what they do.”

At first, he had hoped they might bring some honor to the team. Now he just hoped they wouldn’t stir up any trouble.

After saying that, Liang Youtian exchanged a few more pleasantries with Lin Xiaohan and Chu Xia, then left.

Chu Xia watched his figure slowly fade into the distance along the riverbank, lost in thought for a moment.

Before she could snap out of it, Lin Xiaohan suddenly said in a mocking tone, “If you’re so worried about your Brother Han Ting, you’d better hurry and catch up with Liang Youtian while he’s still nearby. Tell him to keep a close eye on your precious Han Ting and force him to live properly. Though I wonder—would your Brother Han Ting be grateful, or would he just accuse you of meddling and tattling to the village officials?”

Chu Xia returned to her senses and looked away: “……”

Which part of her expression made it look like she was worried about Han Ting?

She looked at Lin Xiaohan and retorted, “I’m not worried about him at all.”

He’s the male lead with a halo over his head—no matter what happens, he’ll always face it with confidence and come out fine. If anyone should be worried, it should be her, the unlucky supporting female character.

Besides, those ten people always stuck together. They didn’t need her—an outsider—to worry about them.

Lin Xiaohan stared at Chu Xia for a while, as if skeptical of her words.

But he said nothing more, eventually turning back to continue planting his vegetables.

Knowing full well how much Lin Xiaohan disliked Han Ting—his tone and expression always soured whenever Han Ting was mentioned—Chu Xia didn’t push the topic. She focused on her own gardening.

She finished watering the transplanted seedlings and then sowed seeds for lettuce, green onions, and bok choy.

She scattered the seeds carefully over the well-prepared soil, then covered them evenly with a thin layer of dirt, gently patting it down with her feet. Finally, she gave the soil a light watering, just enough to moisten it without washing the seeds away.

By the time she was done planting all the seedlings and seeds she had bought, the sun was already beginning to set.

Neither she nor Lin Xiaohan left immediately. While there was still some daylight left, they dug up a few freshly sprouted wild vegetables by the riverside and put them in their baskets to carry back to the educated youth dormitory.

Once back at the educated youth compound, everyone went about their own tasks.

Lin Xiaohan washed up and started cooking first, while Chu Xia purposely waited to avoid being around him too much, knowing he might get annoyed if she hovered near him all day.

Instead, she washed and chopped the wild vegetables to feed her baby chicks.

The chicks were still very small—tiny, fluffy yellow balls—and could be kept in a simple chicken cage for now.

While Lin Xiaohan worked in the kitchen, Chu Xia was busy in the courtyard. She drew water from the well to wash the dirt off the wild vegetables, chopped them finely, and put them into a broken clay jar she had found.

While chopping the vegetables, she gave her three chicks names.

As she pulled each chick out of the cage to feed them, she said, “You’ll be called Got Food… You’re Got Water… And you—Got Money!”^[1]T/N: Chu Xia jokingly gave her three baby chicks some funny and symbolic names: “Got Food,” “Got Water,” and “Got Money.” In Chinese, the original names are 有饭吃 (yǒu fàn chī), … Continue reading

But once the three chicks gathered around the jar to eat, she could no longer tell which was which.

She gave up trying to tell them apart after a while—after all, there were three chicks and three names, so each one had a name regardless.

As they ate, Chu Xia simply sat nearby, quietly watching them.

Once they looked full, she poured a little water into the jar so they could drink.

Just as the chicks took a few sips, Han Ting and the others returned from the fields. Laughter rang out from outside the yard.

Chu Xia didn’t respond or disrupt their harmony—she just stayed squatting in the corner of the fenced courtyard, continuing to watch her chicks drink water.

Han Ting and the others didn’t call out to her either, heading straight to the kitchen to wash up and start cooking.

Since she wasn’t in a rush to eat, Chu Xia remained outside watching the chicks run and play.

Once they tired out, she put them back in the cage and cleaned up the droppings.

Only after the kitchen was empty did she go in to cook her own dinner.

Because it was so late, by the time she finished eating and cleaning up, it was nearly bedtime.

But since she’d slept a bit more than usual that morning, she had a harder time falling asleep that night.

Going to bed late made her wake up later than usual the next morning too.

After getting up, she hurriedly washed up, fed the chicks, and made breakfast.

By the time she sat down to eat, Lin Xiaohan was already halfway through his meal.

Chu Xia took a big bite of her steamed bun.

Just then, the others—who had gotten up even later—came into the kitchen to cook.

They were surprised to see Chu Xia sitting with Lin Xiaohan at the table.

Han Ting paused for a moment, and the rest of the group looked a little stunned as well.

They weren’t sure what kind of relationship Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan had now, so none of them said anything.

The group busied themselves—some stoking the fire, others drawing water, and some yawning as they sat.

Chu Xia had no interest in paying them any mind.

When she saw Lin Xiaohan finish eating and get up to wash the dishes, she looked up and called to him, “Wait for me!”

Then she took another big bite of her bun, quickly finished eating, and got up to clean her dishes too.

After washing up, she hurried out the door.

The others had seen the whole thing.

As soon as Chu Xia left the kitchen, Gu Yuzhu couldn’t help but comment, “Is something wrong with her? Lin Xiaohan clearly doesn’t want to deal with her, and she’s still clinging to him like that?”

Han Ting’s expression darkened. He replied curtly, “Why do you care so much?”

Seeing that Han Ting was clearly in a bad mood, Gu Yuzhu shut her mouth and said no more.

The others also kept their opinions to themselves.

Chu Xia, carrying her backpack, jogged for two minutes and quickly caught up with Lin Xiaohan.

She caught up to Lin Xiaohan, slowed her steps, and said slightly out of breath, “Why didn’t you wait for me?”

Hadn’t they agreed just yesterday that she could call on him to walk together?

And besides, commuting to work together was the most natural thing in the world.

Lin Xiaohan turned to glance at her, eyes full of silent exasperation.

If he had walked at his usual pace, he would’ve already reached the school by now.

But although Chu Xia asked the question, she didn’t actually care all that much in her heart.