Han Jinhe smiled when he heard Lin Mu’ai’s question, and replied, "I saw how your eyes lit up whenever you saw him before. But just now, your eyes were calm when you glanced at him. It was as if he were a re stranger."
Lin Mu’ai chuckled at his words and said, "Comrade Liu and I have no relationship beyond being a teacher and a student’s parent. Without that layer of connection, he and I are complete strangers."
Han Jinhe looked at her and said nothing. She didn’t refute the comnt about liking Liu Pan. It seed she did like him before.
Thinking about his own experiences, he let out a sigh and said, "Liking soone isn’t wrong. But whether you end up together or not depends on fate. If it’s ant to be, it will co to you. But if it’s not, no matter how hard you try, you will never be able to have it."
Hearing his words, Lin Mu’ai was dazed for a while before she regained her senses. She nodded and replied softly, "You are right. It’s useless to forcefully hold on to sothing that doesn’t belong to you."
After the brief conversation, the two of them fell silent as they walked until they reached Lin Mu’ai’s house.
Walking into the yard, Lin Mu’ai said, "Comrade Han, thank you for sending ho."
Han Jinhe placed the bucket of at and bones near the yard and replied, "I’m the one asking a favor, so sending you ho is the least I can do."
He looked up at the sky for a mont before saying, "It’s getting late. I will take my leave now."
Lin Mu’ai nodded and said, "You can co get your al tomorrow."
"Okay."
After he left, Lin Mu’ai carried the buckets to the backyard. Not long after, two female educated youths ca to find her.
Seeing that she was busy cleaning the at, one of them asked, "Mu’ai, I saw Comrade Han send you back, and he even gave you so much at. What’s your relationship with him?"
Hearing this, Lin Mu’ai knew what these two wanted to know. The three of them had lived in the sa house for years, but she couldn’t bring herself to get close to them. The reason was simple. They didn’t share the sa mindset.
Even though she wasn’t close to them, she also didn’t dislike them. She treated them the sa way she treated the villagers, polite but distant.
So after a mont of silence, she replied, "We are just friends."
The two female educated youths exchanged glances and saw the disbelief in each other’s eyes.
They had seen how intimate the two looked from the window. Although they couldn’t hear their conversation, based on how Han Jinhe smiled at her, their relationship had to be more than friendship.
Certain of their conclusion, one of them said with a sneer, "Mu’ai, you must be joking. Would a friend give you that much at?"
Noticing the veiled jealousy in her tone, Lin Mu’ai let out a sigh and replied, "I’m only helping Comrade Han process the at because he doesn’t know how."
When they heard this, the two female educated youths observed her for a mont before one of them said, "Mu’ai, you know Sister Jiang likes Comrade Han, right? As friends, it’s not right for you to interfere in their relationship."
The mont she heard this, Lin Mu’ai chuckled and replied, "Comrade Jiang and Comrade Han have only shared so conversation before, how can they be in a relationship? Based on what logic are you saying that I’m interfering when there is no relationship to begin with between them?"
Before the two could reply, she added, "Besides, if Comrade Han and Comrade Jiang were in a relationship, why didn’t he ask her for help instead of ?"
Taking a deep breath, she said with a smile, "Comrades, we are all educated youths. So it’s better to think clearly and get the facts straight before you speak or slander others. It would be embarrassing to behave like uneducated people after reading so many books."
As soon as she finished, she turned around and continued cleaning the at, ignoring them.
Being rebuked like this, the female educated youths were angry, but they couldn’t find a word to refute her. In the end, they could only spit at her back and return to their room.
When she was finally alone, Lin Mu’ai raised her head to look at the sunset and let out a long sigh. It seed it was ti to move out of this place.
Early the next morning, every village under the Brigade’s jurisdiction was filled with the scent of at. Most villagers preserved their pork by turning it into smoked at, salted at, or jerky.
Since it was almost New Year, they saved part of the at and stored it outside until it froze. This way, they would be able to eat fresh at during the New Year’s Eve dinner.
At this mont, Lin Mu’ai was busy smoking the cured at. She had salted the at for preservation before smoking it with maple firewood.
The scent of the maple wood added a rich flavor to the smoked at. With the cold temperature, the smoked at could last for several months.
While tending to the smoking at, she also prepared als for herself and Han Jinhe. When the sun rose over the eastern horizon, the bone soup she had been simring since dawn was finally ready.
Just after she finished cutting her hand-pulled noodles, she heard Han Jinhe’s voice from outside.
"Teacher Lin, are you at ho?"
She quickly dusted the flour off her hands and went to the front yard. Seeing him approaching, she smiled and said, "Comrade Han, you are here. The al is almost ready."
Hearing this, Han Jinhe followed her to the kitchen. When he saw the at hanging on top of the firewood, he said, "Thank you for your hard work, Teacher Lin. You must have woken up early to prepare for all this."
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