So she didn’t dwell on it or continue pestering him. As long as she was walking beside him, she could absorb some of his energy.

Especially in the early morning sunlight, she felt completely recharged, filled with vitality, and not a single gloomy thought could take hold.

Bathed in morning light, they arrived at school just in time for the preparatory bell to ring, signaling the start of a new week.

The children were now used to school life, and everything was beginning to settle into a regular and orderly rhythm.

After teaching nonstop and drying out her throat, Chu Xia returned to the office for a drink of water.

She had just taken a few sips to soothe her throat when a little boy suddenly popped his head in at the door and shouted, “The brigade leader is here!”

The abruptness of it almost made Chu Xia choke on her water.

She quickly set down her enamel mug and looked outside. The little boy had already dashed off, but sure enough, Liang Youtian was approaching the office.

Chu Xia hurriedly stood up and, along with Lin Xiaohan, went out to greet him.

Liang Youtian glanced at the children playing in the yard. Hearing their greeting, he walked over with a smile and said, “Not bad. This is what a school should look like.”

Lin Xiaohan smiled and asked, “Are you here on an inspection?”

Liang Youtian headed straight into the office. “I’m here to pay your wages.”

At the mention of wages, Chu Xia’s eyes immediately lit up.

After entering the office and closing the door, Liang Youtian said to the two of them, “Before I hand out the money, I need to explain something clearly.”

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan both nodded. “Please go ahead.”

Liang Youtian continued, “This is a village-run primary school, so wages here aren’t handled the same way as in the cities. You both are registered as rural residents in our production team. The food you eat is distributed by the team, so your wages—like those of other members—are calculated in work points.”

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan nodded again.

Chu Xia thought to herself: Does that mean… we don’t actually get paid?

After all, for the other team members, work points were settled only at the end of the year.

Without waiting for them to ask, Liang Youtian went on, “You’ll be earning work points at the highest standard—ten points per day, all year round. At the end of the year, the production team will settle everything in one go. That means your total work points will be used to offset the food you’ve consumed throughout the year. If your points aren’t enough, you’ll need to pay the difference out of pocket. But if your points exceed the cost of your food, the surplus will be converted into cash and given to you.”

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan nodded again.

Liang Youtian added, “It’s the same for all the other team members. You two don’t need to worry. With just the two of you, there’s no way you’ll come up short. Some families have many mouths to feed—kids and elderly who can’t work—so they consume more grain than they can earn in points. Those families often need to raise a pig and sell it at the end of the year just to cover the gap.”

In that sense, their situation was actually quite favorable.

Other villagers had to support entire households, but for the two of them—no family, no dependents—everything they earned was their own. And they were earning at the highest rate: ten work points a day.

Liang Youtian had explained everything clearly, and the two of them understood well.

Lin Xiaohan then asked, “Then what money are you here to give us today, Captain Liang?”

Liang Youtian smiled. “Well, being a teacher does come with a little extra. As rural teachers, you’re entitled to a monthly subsidy—five yuan per person. I’m here to give you that subsidy.”

So there was actual money involved! Chu Xia’s eyes sparkled again.

Her whole face lit up with joy, and she cheerfully said, “Thank you, Captain Liang!”

Liang Youtian replied, “No need to thank me—anyone who becomes a teacher gets this.”

As he spoke, he took out the money from his pocket and handed each of them five yuan.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan both accepted it with smiles and thanked him again.

Liang Youtian didn’t linger. He opened the office door and said, “Alright then, I won’t keep you any longer. Time to get ready for your next class.”

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan walked him to the office door, but he waved them off from going further.

After watching him walk out the school gate, they turned and headed back into the office.

Chu Xia kept a straight face until the moment she stepped inside—then she couldn’t help breaking into a grin.

This was the first money she had ever earned in her life. Of course she was thrilled.

She sat happily at her desk, immediately counted out one yuan and fifty cents, walked over to Lin Xiaohan, and said, “Here, this is for half of the milk candy.”

Lin Xiaohan took the money without hesitation and even counted it.

As Chu Xia sat back at her desk, she said, “I wouldn’t short you a single cent.”

Still counting the coins, Lin Xiaohan replied, “Don’t be so sure.”

Chu Xia shot him a playful look and didn’t respond.

She packed her money into her schoolbag, got up, and rang the bell for class.

With the teacher’s subsidy in hand, she felt even more energized to teach.

That energy lasted all the way until noon.

After the students had all gone home, Chu Xia returned to the office, tidied up her things, and said to Lin Xiaohan with a spring in her voice, “I’m not heading back just yet—I’m going to visit Captain Liang’s house.”

Two days ago, she had borrowed one yuan from Chen Jinfeng.

Now that she finally had money, she naturally wanted to return it right away.

After a quick goodbye to Lin Xiaohan, Chu Xia slung on her backpack and took off running.

When she arrived at Liang Youtian’s house, Chen Jinfeng was in the middle of cooking lunch. Chu Xia called out “Auntie” and went straight into the kitchen, handed her the money, and thanked her.

In times like these, every household was short on money. Chen Jinfeng didn’t stand on ceremony either—she accepted the money with a smile.

After that, she chatted casually with Chu Xia and asked what she had bought at the market the day before.

As their conversation wrapped up, she mentioned offhandedly, “After lunch, I have to head to the commune for a meeting.”

Chen Jinfeng was the women’s committee director of the Tanxi brigade. She’d been notified that there was a meeting at the commune that afternoon.

Chu Xia wasn’t particularly interested in what kind of meeting Chen Jinfeng had to attend, but she listened politely anyway.

After a moment, something popped into her mind and she quickly asked, “Auntie, when you’re done with the meeting, if you have time, could you help me buy something?”

It was a small request, and Chen Jinfeng agreed right away. “What do you need?”

Seeing her agree so readily, Chu Xia pulled out a small cloth pouch from her backpack, then took out some money and ration coupons and said, “Auntie, could I trouble you to buy me half a jin of pork belly and half a jin of white flour?”

Chen Jinfeng took the money and coupons without hesitation. “Sure, I’ll pick them up after the meeting. But I won’t bring them to the school—come by my place after school to pick them up.”

Chu Xia responded happily, “Great, thank you so much!”

She had asked Chen Jinfeng to bring back the flour and pork, of course, because she’d promised Lin Xiaohan that when they got their wages, she’d treat him to zhajiang noodles.

A favor owed was a debt to be repaid—and the sooner, the better for peace of mind.

So, after school that evening, Chu Xia again quickly said goodbye to Lin Xiaohan, grabbed her backpack, and rushed to Chen Jinfeng’s house to collect the pork and flour she had brought back from the commune.

Since the educated youth center had no vegetables, Chu Xia also borrowed some carrots and cabbage from Chen Jinfeng.

It was still too early in the season for fresh cucumbers—otherwise, a few slivers of that would’ve made the noodles even more refreshing.

Leaving Chen Jinfeng’s place, Chu Xia carried the pork and flour back toward the youth center.

Halfway there, she ran into Lin Xiaohan, who was also on his way back. She quickly picked up her pace to catch up to him and asked, “Why are you still on the road?”

Lin Xiaohan glanced at her and replied with a question of his own: “Where did you go?”

She had bolted off like a whirlwind at noon after a brief goodbye, and again after school—who knew what she was up to?

Chu Xia lifted the pork and flour in her hands and said, “I asked Auntie Jinfeng to bring me half a jin of pork and half a jin of flour from the commune. I’m going back now to make you zhajiang noodles.”

Then she looked straight at him and asked with a smile, “Are you excited?”

Lin Xiaohan replied arrogantly, “Eh, it’s alright, I guess.”

Chu Xia rolled her eyes at him. “Oh, come on. Just admit it.”

Still in his usual tone, Lin Xiaohan said, “What’s there to admit? It’s not like I haven’t had noodles or meat before.”

Chu Xia gave him a sidelong glance and stopped responding.

Once back at the youth center, Chu Xia washed her hands and immediately got to work making zhajiang noodles.

Lin Xiaohan sat lazily at the kitchen table, looking utterly indifferent. He didn’t help with anything, just sat there watching Chu Xia bustling back and forth.

As she kneaded the dough, she looked over and asked, “Can you help me chop the meat?”

Making noodles was no small task—she had to knead, roll, and cut the dough into noodles, dice the meat, and julienne the vegetables she had borrowed.

When Lin Xiaohan didn’t reply, Chu Xia continued kneading and said, “Never mind, forget I asked.”

After all, when someone’s doing you a favor by cooking, it doesn’t make sense to expect them to help too—especially not someone as stingy as Lin Xiaohan.

But after sitting a while, he suddenly got up, grabbed the pork, and left the room.

He came back with it washed, placed a cutting board on the table, and without a word—face full of grumpiness—started slicing and dicing the pork.

Chu Xia gave him a surprised glance and smiled to herself, silently.

The two of them continued working without saying a word. Chu Xia kept rolling and cutting the noodles, while Lin Xiaohan chopped the pork and shredded the cabbage and carrots into thin slivers.

Seeing how precise his knife work was, Chu Xia couldn’t help but say, “You’re really good with a knife.”

Lin Xiaohan answered without missing a beat, “Of course.”

Chu Xia: “……”

Clearly, this guy didn’t even know how to spell the word “modesty.”

Once everything was prepped, it was time to start the fire and cook the meat sauce.

Chu Xia turned to him again. “Can you help me tend the fire?”

Lin Xiaohan gave her a speechless look. “Don’t you think you’re pushing your luck a little?”

Chu Xia, determined to adapt to any situation, backed off and quietly went behind the stove to handle the fire herself.

After lighting it and heating the pot, she came back to the front to start frying the pork belly.

But since she also had to watch the fire, she kept running back and forth between the front and back of the stove.

Watching her juggle it all, Lin Xiaohan suddenly got up again, his face full of annoyance, and went to sit behind the stove to handle the fire.

He sat there, scowling, tossing corn cobs into the stove.

She said she was treating him to noodles, but half the work ended up on him!

Chu Xia stood at the stove, looked at him, and smiled, “Thanks.”

But Lin Xiaohan didn’t smile back at all. His expression remained cold and irritated as he kept throwing corn cobs into the fire.

Meanwhile, Chu Xia stood at the stove, focused on frying the pork belly.

The pork belly was pan-fried until golden and fragrant, then the sauce was added and slow-cooked over a low flame.

Once the sauce was done, the rest was easy.

She boiled water for the noodles, blanched the vegetables to remove their raw taste, and finally arranged everything in the bowls with the meat sauce.

Chu Xia didn’t pile all the noodles into one bowl.
She filled a large bowl first, and with the rest, she filled a smaller one.

The large bowl was for Lin Xiaohan, and the small one for herself—just enough to settle both their dinners.

Right as the two of them sat down and were about to eat, Han Ting and the others returned from the fields.

As soon as they washed up and walked past the kitchen door, they could already smell the mouthwatering aroma of meat through the curtain.

All ten of them wore confused expressions as they walked in one by one.

The scent inside was even more intense, and when they saw Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan sitting at the table, mixing meat sauce, vegetables, and white noodles with their chopsticks, none of them could stop themselves—they all swallowed silently.

None of them knew what was going on and had no right to ask.

So, just like always, they lit their own stoves, cooked their own food, and steamed their own coarse grain buns.

What was different this time, though, was that they had to eat their plain food while surrounded by the overwhelming aroma of meat they couldn’t touch.

It was pure torture—so much so that none of them could even speak.

The other nine all looked silently toward Han Ting.

Han Ting sat there with a dark expression, exuding an aura that kept everyone quiet.

Chu Xia and Lin Xiaohan, of course, ignored the ten others completely.

After mixing the noodles, Chu Xia didn’t eat immediately. Instead, she watched Lin Xiaohan take the first bite.

Once he finished that first bite, she looked at him with hopeful eyes and asked, “How is it?”

Lin Xiaohan nodded seriously, then suddenly put on an exaggerated tone and expression, savoring it as he said,
“This is amazing! I, Lin Xiaohan, have never in my life tasted such delicious zhajiang noodle! The noodles are perfectly al dente with a nice chew, almost springy. The diced pork is crispy on the outside and tender inside, just the right texture, bursting with flavor. The vegetables add a refreshing crunch at just the right moment. And this sauce—I’ve never had anything this good, not even in Beijing! Let me guess, it’s your secret recipe, isn’t it?”

Chu Xia had never seen Lin Xiaohan praise someone like this before.

And as soon as he finished speaking, she clearly heard multiple people swallow hard.

Realizing exactly what Lin Xiaohan was doing, Chu Xia quickly ducked her head and covered her face with her hand, resting her chopstick-wielding hand on her forehead as she tried to steady her voice and play along, “You guessed right. It is my own special sauce—took a lot of effort to perfect it.”

With Lin Xiaohan being so deliberately provoking, Han Ting and the others must be fuming.

Chu Xia was genuinely worried Han Ting might come over and punch Lin Xiaohan—maybe even drag her into it too.

Yet even as she was scared, she couldn’t help but want to laugh. Her lips refused to stay still.

So she kept her head down and hid her face behind her hand, not daring to look at anyone in the room—especially not Han Ting and his crew.

If she saw their expressions now, she was sure she’d burst out laughing. Out loud.