Chapter 107: A Gentleman Uses Words, Not His Fists

It had dragged on for far too long already, and that was not good.

That girl had to be sent far away, out of Jiang Xun’s sight, or sooner or later she would ruin herself completely.

Though, to be honest, she was already nearly ruined.

“Dad, are you still even my dad?” Li Cuihua stared at the brigade leader in disbelief.

“Mom, my dad doesn’t love me anymore…”

That made the two daughters-in-law in the family curl their lips. What nonsense. In the whole household, the one most spoiled had always been this little sister-in-law.

And yet she was still not satisfied, dragging the whole family down until they had become the laughingstock of the brigade.

“Uncle, even if you don’t get married, Comrade Jiang still won’t like you. He’s Sister Lin’s man, and Sister Lin is prettier than you…” Tiedan was playing with glass marbles. Hearing the adults talk, he looked up and blurted that out, but before he could finish, Li Cuihua had glared at him fiercely.

He shrank his neck and fled in a flash.

Just when everyone thought it was over, he poked his head out from the doorway again. “Aunt, Lin Jingyue is gentler than you, more generous than you, and better than you too. Comrade Jiang won’t be interested in you.”

The words were barely out before he slipped away as fast as grease on his feet, running quicker than a rabbit.

“Tiedan! You little bastard…” Tiedan’s mother rolled her eyes, kicked off a shoe, and hurled it.

But she didn’t even come close. He was already gone without a trace.

She turned back with an awkward laugh. “Little sister-in-law, don’t be angry. When Tiedan comes back, I’ll give him a good beating…”

“Little sister-in-law!”

“Cuihua!”

Before she could even finish, Li Cuihua went livid with rage and fainted on the spot.

Everyone was frightened out of their wits.

A few days later, the brigade leader’s family was marrying off a daughter, but the groom was not Sun Jiabao. He was from another brigade, surnamed Yuan.

On the day of the wedding banquet, the weather was bitterly cold, but Lin Jingyue still went to watch the excitement. She liked this kind of spectacle best.

The man was of medium build, about five foot nine, with cropped hair and a square face. In looks, he could not even compare to Jiang Xun, but his eyes were honest and clean.

At first glance, he seemed like a decent man.

Lin Jingyue looked at Li Cuihua, who did not want to get onto the ox cart and wore a terrible expression, and sighed inwardly.

What a flower, stuck in a pile of dung.

And Li Cuihua was the dung.

Still, people like that probably would not settle down and live an honest life. What would happen in the future was hard to say.

Lin Jingyue shook her head and left the crowd, returning to the educated youth quarters.

In the twelfth lunar month, snow came down in one flurry after another. Fortunately, they had prepared enough firewood.

Not only the firewood they had gathered themselves, but Tiedan and the others had also picked up quite a lot.

Lin Jingyue stayed tucked up on the heated kang, reading and writing, or else continuing her battle with the scarf.

After several failures, she could now knit with some skill and no longer dropped stitches.

Though Jiang Xun did not care whether the gift she gave him was good or bad, Lin Jingyue would not allow her sincerity to become a joke in someone else’s mouth.

If he wore it out later, people would surely say that the scarf his partner knitted was ragged and ugly beyond belief, yet Jiang Xun still treasured it as if it were a priceless heirloom.

Hmph. No way.

If she was going to do it, it would have to be the best.

“Jingyue.”

Lin Jingyue was humming a tune as she knitted when she suddenly heard a knock at the door, followed by Jiang Xun’s voice.

She set the scarf down and went to open the door. “Come in quickly. It’s too cold.”

Snow had already started drifting down outside.

These days it had only been snow grains, not a true heavy snowfall.

Still, weather like this was even colder.

Jiang Xun came in and sat on the kang, taking something out from his arms. “For you.”

“What is it?” Lin Jingyue took it and unfolded it.

A bright red scarf, along with a pair of gloves.

Her eyes widened. “You knitted these yourself?!”

“Mm. Try them on.” Jiang Xun’s ears were faintly flushed, but he quickly returned to his usual calm.

Lin Jingyue: “…”

She looked at the half-finished item beside her with a hard-to-describe expression, silently flipping herself off.

She was truly terrible.

Jiang Xun chuckled. “I’ve bought the train tickets. Yours is in five days.”

In the end, Lin Jingyue still decided to make a trip to An City. She wanted to meet the people from the Wu family. Even if Old Mrs. Wu was dead, there was probably still some trace of the truth known by others.

Besides, she had another, more important reason.

She wanted to make a move at a black market in another place.

It was already 1975. In a little over two years, the college entrance exam would be restored, and she would definitely have to return to the city.

By then, she could do all the things she wanted to do.

And prepare for a future of lying flat and doing nothing.

“What about yours?” Lin Jingyue wound the scarf around her own neck, revealing a pair of dark, glistening eyes. “Does it look good?”

“Good-looking!” Jiang Xun nodded without hesitation.

Lin Jingyue smiled with satisfaction and lowered the scarf again. “Are you leaving tomorrow?”

“No, the day after tomorrow.” Jiang Xun sounded a little reluctant, though he said nothing more.

He roughly understood what she was thinking and respected her resolve.

Her caution was only natural. He would give her all the sense of security she needed, and when she felt ready, he would take the next step properly.

Lin Jingyue glanced at the scarf beside her. That meant there was still time.

Just as long as winter did not pass before she finished knitting hers.

Among the educated youths, those going home for New Year’s were only Jiang Xun, Zhou Yan, and Luo Jianhua.

The others either felt pained by the bus fare, thought going back was pointless, or, like Zhao Hua and the rest who had only arrived that year, also thought it was pointless.

The next day, Luo Jianhua left, and Xie Wenjuan even saw him off for a stretch.

Lin Xinjian withdrew his gaze and looked toward Lin Jingyue by the stove, his heart complicated.

Lin Jingyue would be going back for New Year’s too. Where would she go?

Right. She also had a very rich aunt. That woman treated her exceptionally well.

She really did have good fortune. Even like this, people still flocked to her.

Lin Jingyue naturally noticed Lin Xinjian’s gaze, but she did not care. Without Lin Xinrou, Lin Xinjian was nothing more than trash.

There was nothing to fear at all.

“Brother, I’m here.” Xie Yunzhe suddenly walked in carrying a suitcase.

Seeing him, Jiang Xun said with some exasperation, “You’ve only been here a few months, and you’re already going back?”

“It’s New Year’s. How bleak would it be for me to spend it here alone?” Xie Yunzhe waved a hand. “Going back is more fun.”

“You got leave approved?”

“Of course. I even have an introduction letter, heh.” Xie Yunzhe fished the papers out of his bag and showed them off.

“…”

“Lin Jingyue, are you going home for New Year’s? If not, come straight to the capital. The capital is great fun. I’ll take you everywhere.” Xie Yunzhe leaned closer to Lin Jingyue.

As he spoke, he kept shooting frantic looks at Jiang Xun.

Jiang Xun pretended not to see him and could not be bothered to pay him any mind.

Xie Yunzhe cursed him in his heart for being a block of dead wood, then went on chattering with Lin Jingyue.

Little did he know that while he was cursing others, someone else was cursing him too.

Zhou Yan glared at his back and muttered “idiot,” though Xie Yunzhe never heard it.

But Lin Jingyue did. She burst out laughing.

Xie Yunzhe thought she was laughing because of him and redoubled his efforts.

In the end, it was Jiang Xun who could not bear it any longer. He grabbed Xie Yunzhe by the collar and dragged him away.

“Brother, hey, hey, hey—what are you doing? A gentleman uses words, not his fists…”

The next day, Jiang Xun and the others had to go to the county seat to catch the bus to the city, so they were up at dawn.