??Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Xia Lin’s Invitation
Chapter 51: Chapter 51: Xia Lin’s Invitation
“Comrade Jiang.”
“Did Comrade Jingqiu run into Xiao Mu?”
“Yes, I heard he was coming to the cafeteria, so I followed. What would you like to eat, Comrade Jiang? We’ve already gotten our food.”
Jiang Nanzhou glanced at the service window and said, “You go ahead and eat first.”
Soon after, he got himself a plate of food and sat down in front of them.
Lu Jingqiu asked Shen Mu which departnt he reported to.
“Gao Shu reported to Economics, and I reported to Managent Science. Comrade Jingqiu, what major are you planning to apply for?”
“Fine Arts, I’m currently working as an art editor at a publishing house, and I would like to continue working in this field.”
Lu Jingqiu knew that Gao Shu and Shen Mu would be taking different paths in the future; she just asked casually.
“Comrade Jingqiu is quite skilled, I’ve seen the propaganda paintings you did for the municipal party committee.”
“Huh? Comrade Jiang, how do you know about that?”
“Just call
Comrade Nanzhou, I heard about it by chance.”
“I hadn’t noticed before that Comrade Jingqiu had a talent for painting.”
“In Ten-miles Village, we were always busy with farming and construction; where was the chance to show it?” She was too busy chasing after n and fighting love rivals, who cared about hobbies at that ti?
Shen Mu nodded and didn’t want to expose their secrets, he looked up at his older brother and then said to Lu Jingqiu, “My brother just graduated from junior college. He was a top student in the whole school when he was studying, especially good in English. If you ever co across a problem and it’s inconvenient to find , you can directly ask my brother, especially since you live close by.”
Jiang Nanzhou said, “Comrade Jingqiu is preparing to apply for university.”
Lu Jingqiu nodded with a smile, “Please keep it a secret for , I’m afraid I’ll lose face if I don’t get in.”
Jiang Nanzhou laughed, “As long as you work hard, there will always be unexpected results.”
Lu Jingqiu was still confident in her heart, “I think so too.”
The three chatted while eating for half an hour, and Lu Jingqiu asked Jiang Nanzhou if he had seen her father.
Jiang Nanzhou said Commander Lu and the leaders had a eting and ate directly at the office.
Having no reason to wait any longer, Lu Jingqiu went back. Shen Mu went with her, wanting to see if Gao Shu had returned yet.
It turned out to be quite the coincidence; just as they arrived at the Gao Family’s place, Gao Shu and Xia Lin were coming out of the Gao Family’s yard.
Gao Shu was thrilled to see his friend, “Shen Mu.”
The first thing Xia Lin said had an ambiguous undertone, “So Comrade Shen and Comrade Lu are together, huh? You two?”
Shen Mu quickly explained, “I just ca looking for you once before and happened to run into Comrade Jingqiu. I heard you guys moved?”
Gao Shu patted Shen Mu and said, “Yeah, we just moved a few days ago. Do you have a place to stay? If not, co to my place, we have a room.”
Shen Mu said, “No, I’m staying at the army guest house.”
Seeing them chatting, Lu Jingqiu didn’t want to watch them display their affection and said, “You guys keep talking; I’m heading back.”
As she was about to move forward, Xia Lin suddenly turned to her and said, “Comrade Lu, we’ve moved to a new house and are planning to invite so friends for a al. Here I only know you, so co to my place tomorrow afternoon for dinner, especially since Shen Mu will be there.”
“No, I have to work tomorrow.”
“In the evening, after work.”
“I’m very busy, sorry.” After saying that, she turned to Shen Mu, said a word, and then went straight ho.
Shen Mu felt that inviting friends for a al, Xia Lin shouldn’t have invited Comrade Jingqiu; after all, they were forr romantic rivals. Now that both parties were settled, there was no need to get too close.
Lu Jingqiu had no interest in guessing Xia Lin’s intentions. Once back ho, she started morizing vocabulary and solving problems.
She studied until past ten in the evening, completed three sets of papers, morized forty vocabulary words, and covered one political science lesson.
She got up early in the morning and continued to review what she had morized the night before.
At work, Zhang Miao gave her a Book Coupon. She went straight to the Xinhua Bookstore after getting off work, eager to complete her self-study series of math, physics, and chemistry books.
She planned to start studying as soon as she got ho but was t at her doorstep by Xia Lin, who had been waiting for a while.
“Comrade Lu, I’ve co to take you to our house for dinner.”
Jingqiu replied indifferently, “I already declined yesterday.”
“I know, but Zhang Shuo also ca today. He said he wants to thank you in person for the materials you mailed them. It’s not easy for your friends from the Educated Youth Spot to co here; you wouldn’t want to miss seeing them, would you?”
Jingqiu furrowed her brows slightly, not understanding why Zhang Shuo had also co.
“If Comrade Zhang has co, as comrades working on the sa project, indeed we should et. Please help
convey to Comrade Xia Lin that I’ll wait for him and Comrade Shen Mu tomorrow at the State-owned restaurant near the compound to have a al together.”
“Comrade Zhang Shuo is leaving early tomorrow morning. He has been accepted to a college in the next city. He is stopping by to stay for one night to et you all.”
Jingqiu, worried that Xia Lin might have so sche up her sleeve yet feeling obliged to et a comrade with whom she shared the revolutionary cause, although they had not been on good terms before.
After much hesitation, Jingqiu followed Xia Lin to the old Gao Family mansion on her bike.
Xia Lin rode ahead on her bike, with Jingqiu following behind. Neither of them spoke again.
As they were nearing the mansion, Xia Lin slowed down, rode alongside Jingqiu, and asked, “Comrade Lu, what made you suddenly decide to buy them books back then? Those books weren’t cheap; they must have cost forty or fifty yuan at least. I heard you didn’t take a penny from them.”
“Comrade Xia Lin wants to know which aspect? Do you want to know why I bought the books, or why I didn’t take any money?”
Xia Lin was thrown off by Jingqiu’s way of thinking, and her mind stalled for a mont before she sheepishly said, “Naturally, I’m curious about both.”
“The incident naturally started because of Comrade Xia Lin.”
“Because of ?”
“Previously, Comrade Xia Lin suddenly asked to borrow high school textbooks from Li Yinger, which inspired Sister Yuzhi and Li Yinger to suddenly find the motivation to study, saying they’d had little entertainnt in the countryside for years, with scarce access to books and newspapers, leaving them with only the two books that Li Yinger had brought.
I was going ho at that ti and promised to bring back more books for them when I returned.
However, the books in the bookshop were too expensive, and I was reluctant to buy them. I could only gather my own books and those from the neighbor’s child to bring to them.
Tsk, who could have imagined that just a few months later, college entrance exams would be restored. Comrade Xia Lin, what made you think of studying high-school-level material at that ti? Did you know about the college entrance exams being restored and were preparing in advance?”
Xia Lin was caught off guard by Jingqiu’s sudden counter-question and replied, “No, I’m just a girl from the countryside. How could I know about the restoration of the college entrance exams? You know that I was seeing Gao Shu; he was a high school top student, an urban resident, and his family was well off. I felt inferior and didn’t want people to think I wasn’t good enough for him. I couldn’t change other aspects of myself; the only way to improve was through studying.”
“I didn’t want people to think I wasn’t good enough for him.” Wasn’t this statent implying sothing about her? Jingqiu had often said similar things in front of Xia Lin and friends previously.
Seeing Jingqiu with a cold expression and remaining silent, Xia Lin continued, “Actually, I quite envy you. When you wanted to work in the countryside, you went, and when you wanted to co back to work in the city, you did, and you even got a great job at the publishing house. Unfortunately, I wasn’t that lucky. If I had a job at the publishing house, why would I bother with college? College takes five years, and there’s no salary. You’ve saved those five years, made a fair amount of money, not to ntion building seniority over that ti. I really envy you.”
Xia Lin used the word “envy” twice, and Jingqiu, having lived for so long, surely understood what she ant. She smiled and said, “Since you envy
so much, how about we trade places?”
“…” Xia Lin chuckled sheepishly, not expecting Jingqiu to be so articulate now, leaving her feeling powerless to respond, “How can one’s life be exchanged?”
“How can it not.” Your life has always been changing.
It wasn’t just Xia Lin’s life that was changing; in Xia Lin’s eyes, Jingqiu’s life was changing too. For instance, she wasn’t violated, and she returned ho early, although she didn’t get into college that year, she started working earlier.
Did this an that other aspects of her life would also change, like her marital prospects?
She had to be vigilant not just with Gao Shu but in other aspects of her life as well.
…
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