??Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Xia Lin’s Enthusiasm
Chapter 50: Chapter 50: Xia Lin’s Enthusiasm
Father Lu smiled awkwardly and then smiled at the two of them.
After dinner, they didn’t stay long, as they had to return to the military unit with Father.
Lu Jingqiu ca out to see them off, which coincided with her own plans to go out and buy study materials.
Before they had a chance to leave, Xiao Shun and Xiao Yin ca over with a small broken bowl, “Sister Xiao Qiuqiu, look.”
Lu Jingqiu saw the bowl full of earthworms and quickly covered her eyes, feeling a bit nauseous, but she knew it was food for the chicks. With one hand over her eyes, she pointed to the chicken coop and said, “Just throw a few to them, that’s enough. You dug up so many, can your chickens even finish them all?”
Jiang Nanzhou watched Lu Jingqiu’s actions and was slightly startled, and Lih Huakun also chuckled covertly, thinking how delicate girls were, scared by a few earthworms.
Xiao Shun smiled innocently and said, “They can, they will probably eat them, and once finished, they can lay eggs, and then my sister and I will have eggs to eat.”
Father Lu only then noticed that there were two new chickens at ho, and smiled, “Did you get these chickens from Aunt Liu?”
Lu Jingqiu laughed just as naively as Xiao Shun, “Now that we have chickens, we will have eggs to eat in the future.” Her thoughts were as simple and happy as Xiao Shun’s.
Xiao Yin, at this mont, quietly ca up to Lu Jingqiu and took out a little spotted cat from a tattered cloth bag, “Sister Xiao Qiu, can we keep this cat at your place first, tonight my brother and I will make a proper cat cage and then take it back.”
“Ah, you really want to keep a cat?”
Xiao Shun then excitedly ca over and said, “Sister Xiao Qiu, I found this one in the yard, it was being bullied by other cats, it’s so pitiful.”
Since there were guests at ho, Lu Jingqiu didn’t talk much with them and nodded, “Okay, let’s put it in the yard for now.” Lu Jingqiu, worried that it would run away, covered it with a wooden barrel that was broken but had air holes.
After seeing the two kids off, she locked the door and followed Father and the guests toward the big courtyard’s entrance.
Just as they reached the entrance of the big courtyard, they happened to run into Gao Shu and Xia Lin.
Xia Lin, upon seeing them, quickly approached with a smile. Lu Jingqiu was just thinking about how Xia Lin had never been this enthusiastic when seeing her before, knowing that such warmth from her probably ant no good.
The next second proved her wrong.
“Comrade Jiang, long ti no see.”
Lu Jingqiu glanced sharply at Jiang Nanzhou, who gave her a nod in return.
“Comrade Jiang, you left in such a hurry last ti, I didn’t get a chance to thank you. Which unit are you with? Co over for dinner when you have ti.”
“Doing good deeds is what we should do, it’s our duty, Comrade Xia need not be polite. We have other matters and must go now,” he said, skillfully sidestepping Xia Lin and catching up with Father Lu ahead.
Gao Shu, who was just bidding farewell to Father Lu, and Xia Lin could not stay any longer for conversation.
It was then that Lu Jingqiu rembered Zhang Yumin’s words that Jiang Nanzhou had saved Xia Lin while hunting wild boars, what a coincidence.
After exiting the gate, Lu Jingqiu went her separate way from the others.
She went to the New China Bookstore and with two book coupons, purchased several study materials.
It was already February, and alongside working, she also had to focus on reviewing, having forgotten the exam questions from her previous life. But she could still rember so of them generally.
Of course, she needed true talent too, as the butterfly effect could change things, and Lu Jingqiu didn’t know if it had affected Yun Yuzhi and the others.
Oh dear, she had forgotten to ask Gao Shu.
Having returned ho, Lu Jingqiu started reviewing textbooks and trying out so practice questions.
To test her current level.
English was her weak point, and she was determined to conquer it.
Her and Yang Bo’s work in municipal governnt was so outstanding that they were comnded by the municipal committee and even received rewards from their unit—this month they would each receive five extra yuan.
An editor from one departnt ca today, needing three of them to produce so illustrations for a collection of three hundred stories, and poems, all in ancient Chinese style.
Each person was allocated ten illustrations; Lu Jingqiu spent her days at the unit drawing and, at night, seriously studied at ho.
Five days later, she went to the editorial departnt of the West City Daily News and submitted her Tree Planting Day illustration. She was received by a female editor in her thirties, whose na she didn’t know because she traveled there in person.
The selection was still in progress, and after internal evaluation, they would write to her.
After leaving the newspaper, she passed by Gao Family’s place and noticed they were moving things out.
Lu Jingqiu guessed that Gao Shu’s family was moving away.
It was better for them to move. Although she had let go and no longer loved, it was still suffocating to see their intimate behavior every day.
When she got ho, Lu Jingqiu soaked a stead bun and prepared a raw egg for Hua Hua.
The three-month-old Hua Hua was now beginning to get fluffy. All furry and so clingy. Hua Hua had given her quite a lot of happiness during this ti.
“Hua Hua, today Sister drew the artwork she submitted with you in it, work hard Hua Hua. One day Sister will create a series of illustrations for you, how’s that?”
“ow.”
“You agree?”
“ow, ow.”
“Eat first then.”
Lu Jingqiu also fed so to Xiao Shun’s family’s kitten, and while she was doing so, Xiao Shun and Xiao Yin sneaked over.
“Sister Xiao Qiu, thank you. We have finished it now,” they said.
Lu Jingqiu, hearing Xiao Shun’s furtive whispers, knew Aunt Liu must be unaware: “Your mom doesn’t know yet, does she?”
The two kids laughed guiltily, and Xiao Yin said, “We just put it in a corner outside the house, using bricks and wood to make it a den. If my mom finds out, we’ll just put it in your yard for a few days.”
Xiao Shun, seeing that the Bengal cat was full, picked it up straight away: “Sister Xiao Qiu, don’t you think it’s very docile?”
Lu Jingqiu nodded.
“We’ll take it with us now. When we get back, we also plan to make a little sand pit for it, err, just a small one. Otherwise, my mom will find out.”
“You can just dig a little in the corner of your vegetable garden,” Lu Jingqiu suggested.
Xiao Shun and Xiao Yin nodded, telling her they had already nad the cat Ah Fu.
Lu Jingqiu felt it sounded more like a dog’s na, but thought Ah Fu still sounded quite nice.
After sending off the two little ones, she went upstairs to start working on her own test papers. Hua Hua had eaten on the first floor and had run up to lie beside her on the second floor, sleeping silently.
Literature was no problem for her, and although she had forgotten so math, a little review would not be a big issue.
Since she was aiming for the art college, she also needed to practice her sketching.
Even though she had relived her life once, she had never been exposed to these things before; everything was unfamiliar. If she wanted to get into a university, she had no golden finger and could only rely on her own efforts.
These days, Lu Jingqiu got up very early. When Father Lu awoke, she would join him, sitting on the balcony to morize vocabulary, political science, physics, and chemistry.
Her own efforts were also rewarding.
That day, Lu Jingqiu visited her old high school and found the senior year’s horoom teacher. After explaining her situation, the teacher was very supportive, telling her she could co to him with any questions on problems she encountered.
The teacher even suggested she attend classes at the school and, upon learning that she was working and it was inconvenient to co to the school, still reminded her to review diligently and not miss this opportunity.
Lu Jingqiu’s visit to the school was to ask the teacher for so review papers.
The teacher said the senior students had just started the sester with new lessons and would not enter the review phase until a month later. He told her to co each week to collect review test papers from him then.
Although Lu Jingqiu’s trip was in vain, she was still quite happy.
After finishing the ten sets of illustrations for the ancient poems, she made a few revisions, and the editor was quite satisfied. With a few scattered illustrations from ti to ti, work wasn’t too busy.
That day, just after Lu Jingqiu got off work and arrived at the yard, she ran into Shen Mu, whom she hadn’t seen for half a year, at Gao Family’s doorway.
“Comrade Lu Jingqiu.”
“Shen Mu? …Are you here to report?”
Shen Mu nodded enthusiastically: “School is starting soon, so I ca a few days earlier to see my brother as well.”
“Oh,” Lu Jingqiu said, looking behind him at the Gao Family’s ho, “Are you here to find Gao Shu?”
“Yes, I just found out he moved. It was a wasted trip.”
“Where are you heading now? Do you want to sit at my place for a while?”
“No need, I’m going to find my brother.”
“Are you going to the army camp? I’ll go with you then; I’m going there to eat.”
“What a coincidence, my brother also told
to wait for him in the canteen.”
“Then accompany
back ho to drop off my bike,” Lu Jingqiu said.
“Sure.”
On their way ho, Lu Jingqiu couldn’t wait to ask him which school he got accepted into: “The sa school as Gao Shu, Politics and Law University.”
“What about Sister Yuzhi and Li Yinger?”
“Li Yinger and Li Qing got into Li Yinger’s city’s Normal University, Zhang Yumin went to Agricultural University in Capital City, Yun Yuzhi also got into a college in Capital City, just a teacher’s training junior college, and Zhang Shuo also got into a junior college.”
“Not bad, not bad at all, both couples are in the sa city, I’m really happy for them.”
“It’s all thanks to those materials you gave Sister Yuzhi and Li Yinger, we relied entirely on them towards the end.”
“I just thought they’d be bored over there, so I gave them so books; I didn’t expect it would help you guys.”
Shen Mu smiled, turned his head to see the fleeting look of loss on Lu Jingqiu’s face, paused, then consoled, “Comrade Lu Jingqiu, I heard from Gao Shu that you were not bad in school either, you can try this year.”
Lu Jingqiu humd in response, “We are like old comrades who have worked together for years, just call
Jingqiu. And yes, I’m already preparing for it.”
“You’ve already started reviewing?”
“Yep.”
“If you co across any difficult problems in the future, you can co find
at Politics and Law University.”
“Thank you, if there are any, I will definitely go.”
Lu Jingqiu put her bike at ho, and though she wanted to invite Shen Mu in to sit for a while, knowing that there was no one at ho, she declined out of consideration.
With ho recognized, there would be plenty of opportunities in the future. Lu Jingqiu took a box of food and went to the canteen with him.
On the way, they talked about eating in the canteen and Lu Jingqiu quickly explained, “Lately I’ve been reviewing as soon as I get off work, and my dad has been busy recently. I’m too lazy to cook for myself, so I almost always eat in the canteen these days, saves ti.”
Upon arriving at the canteen, Lu Jingqiu didn’t see her dad but instead ran into Jiang Nanzhou, who, clad in training clothes, spotted them at first sight.
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