Chapter 14.2

“…” This guy was really suspicious. To dispel Xie Hezhang’s doubts, Shu Qingyao counted out two yuan from her pocket, “Let’s do this, I’ll pay two months’ salary in advance. How about that?”

Xie Hezhang looked at the brand new renminbi in Shu Qingyao’s hand, but he didn’t move. Instead, Xie Helan rushed forward and took the money from Shu Qingyao’s hand.

She smiled and said, “Teacher Shu, since you’re so sincere, then it’s one yuan a month. Let’s make it clear, this girl is stupid. If she accidentally breaks your things, I won’t be responsible!”

She had just wanted to bargain with Shu Qingyao. Seeing that Shu Qingyao had money, she wanted to…

Now Xie Hezhang was back, she was afraid that he wouldn’t agree, and the duck in her mouth would fly away. She quickly settled the matter.

Xie Hezhang grabbed Xie Helan’s hand and snatched the money back. Xie Helan was furious and shouted, “Xie Hezhang, are you crazy? Someone is willing to help you raise your sister, and you’re still picky. Can you afford to raise Xiaoqian with your meager work points?”

A flash of annoyance crossed Xie Hezhang’s handsome face, and a sense of indescribable awkwardness spread through his heart.

He couldn’t afford to raise Xie Xiaoqian. He worked his butt off every day, just to make ends meet. Xie Xiaoqian followed him, and she could only eat one meal a day. The seven-year-old girl was as thin as a cat.

If he had any ability, he wouldn’t have let his own sister fall off the mountain and break her leg. He didn’t have the money to treat her, and Xie Xiaoqian still limped when she walked.

Xie Hezhang’s eyes dimmed instantly. Shu Qingyao saw his expression and her heart ached.

She quickly said, “Xie Hezhang, I really want to take Xiaoqian as an apprentice. She’s so talented, I can’t bear to let her talent go to waste. Please believe me. I’m not pitying you. I’m giving you this money because I hope you can trust me and entrust Xiaoqian to me.”

Xie Hezhang looked up at the woman’s sincere and bright eyes. He stuffed the money back into Shu Qingyao’s hand.

Shu Qingyao said anxiously, “Xie…”

“If you really want to teach her, then I can’t accept this money from you.” Xie Hezhang’s voice was cold and hard.

Xie Helan was furious and shouted, but Xie Hezhang ignored her. He pushed Xie Xiaoqian in front of Shu Qingyao, “Kneel down and call her Master.”

“Ah, no, no, no!”

Before Shu Qingyao could finish speaking, Xie Xiaoqian knelt down neatly and kowtowed three times, calling out to Shu Qingyao, “Master.”

Shu Qingyao glared at Xie Hezhang and picked up Xie Xiaoqian, saying to her, “Just call me sister like before.” Of course, she would have to call her sister-in-law in the future.

Xie Xiaoqian blinked her eyes and sweetly called her, “Sister.”

Shu Qingyao looked at Xie Xiaoqian and said to her seriously, “Xiaoqian, you’re not stupid, you’re very talented,” she even said, “You’re a rare genius in music.” “Study hard with me, and your future will be more than just being a teacher in the village.”

Xie Xiaoqian didn’t know if she understood, but she looked at Shu Qingyao with a bewildered expression. Only her big, black and white eyes gradually showed a longing.

She wanted to learn music with Shu Qingyao, she wanted to see the future she spoke of. The afternoon she spent with Shu Qingyao in the classroom was the happiest time of her life.

Shu Qingyao put Xie Xiaoqian down and then stuffed the money back into Xie Hezhang’s hand, “Take this money. Xiaoqian won’t be doing nothing while she’s with me. She’ll help me steam rice, wash dishes, and clean the classroom. This is her salary.”

Xie Hezhang hesitated for a moment, but ultimately didn’t refuse.

Seeing him accept the money, Shu Qingyao finally breathed a sigh of relief.

Xie Helan saw that the money didn’t end up in her hands, and her face turned ugly. But because Shu Qingyao was present, she didn’t dare to make a scene. She endured it and said with a smile, “Hezhang, this money was negotiated by me. You have to give me half of it.”

Then she said to Shu Qingyao, “Teacher Shu, have you had dinner? Why don’t you stay for dinner at my house?”

Shu Qingyao shook her head, “I’ll eat at the educated youth dormitory.” Then she turned her head and smiled at Xie Hezhang, whose expression was unclear, “Xie Comrade, will you walk me home sometimes?”

Xie Hezhang looked at her deeply, then lowered his eyes and said, “We’ll see.”

He carried Xie Xiaoqian into the house, let her eat in the room, and then took out a clean lunchbox from the house.

This lunchbox was the one Shu Qingyao had given him yesterday.

Shu Qingyao put her own lunchbox into her small bag and smiled, “Xie Comrade, let’s go. I have something to tell you.”

*

The moon hung high overhead.

It was the fifteenth of August, a full moon.

The night wind carried a hint of coolness, blowing over, mixed with the scent of green grass from the cornfields by the roadside.

It was somewhat pleasant.

Shu Qingyao stretched and took a deep breath of the unpolluted air. She smiled at Xie Hezhang, who was walking beside her.

The seventeen-year-old boy had a furrowed brow, as if he was solving some major life problem, with a youthful air of maturity.

Xie Hezhang asked in a deep voice, “What do you want to tell me?”

“Oh…” Shu Qingyao played with the small braid in front of her chest, “Did you think I was deliberately saying I wanted to take Xiaoqian as an apprentice to get close to you?”

“You…”

Xie Hezhang was speechless for a moment. His thoughts were exposed, and he looked up at Shu Qingyao.

Shu Qingyao blinked innocently, “Who told you to ignore me? At first, I did think that way.”

Xie Hezhang: “…” She actually dared to admit it.

Xie Hezhang: “How could I ignore you?”

“Humph. I’ve never met anyone as hard to please as you in my life.”

Shu Qingyao wasn’t lying.

In the city, boys always chased after her, trying to please her and curry favor with her. Even when she married Jiang Xun, it was Jiang Xun who pursued her.

She had never actively pursued a man before.

Xie Hezhang pursed his thin lips and didn’t speak.

For a rich girl from the city, just throwing a little money out of her pocket was enough for a country person to eat for a month.

Maybe for Shu Qingyao, providing a child with three meals a day and a salary, as long as it could achieve her goal and make her happy, was just a drop in the bucket.

She wouldn’t lose anything.

In the end, she would get bored with this game and leave.

Nothing would happen.

Shu Qingyao blew on the wind and said softly, “Although I initially hoped that Xiaoqian would be a matchmaker, later, when I taught Xiaoqian to sing, I found that she really has a talent for music.” Her voice softened, and she looked at Xie Hezhang, “I really intend to take her as an apprentice. Since she already calls me Master, I naturally have to teach her everything I know.”

“Are you satisfied with this answer?”

Xie Hezhang’s thin lips were tightly pressed together.

He didn’t say he was satisfied, nor did he say he wasn’t.

Shu Qingyao looked at his young, stubborn, and arrogant face and sighed deeply.

Her husband was really hard to deal with when he was young!

Sigh, so how did he fall for her back then?

“By the way.”

When they reached the entrance of the educated youth dormitory, Shu Qingyao remembered something.

She said to Xie Hezhang, “This Sunday, you’ll be off too, right? Do you have time?”

“What’s wrong?”

“I want to go to town to buy some things.” Shu Qingyao blinked her eyes and smiled sweetly, “Xie Hezhang, will you accompany me then? It’s hard for a girl to carry things.”

Xie Hezhang looked at the smile on Shu Qingyao’s face, his heart beat a little faster, and he turned around, almost running away in a panic, his voice low and hoarse, “… We’ll see!”