Translator: SJade, Editor: Dj22031
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Ye Ning left ten yuan for Ye Lan and carried a cloth bag to the village entrance before dawn. There was a bus from the township that arrived at the county town at 5:10. It was not very punctual, so you had to wait in advance.
Someone who knew her in the village saw her and asked with a smile: “Going back to class?”
“Yes, my leave has expired.” Ye Ning arrived late, and many people had rushed to the starting point early to grab seats. There were no seats near the front, so she could only sit at the back. Fortunately, there was a seat by the window. The cool wind blew in through the window, making Ye Ning breathe a sigh of relief. The bus at this time really stank, and she was feeling nauseous.
As soon as she sat down, a few more people came up. One of the aunt came to her side and asked: “Girl, can you ride in a bus?”
“I can’t.” Ye Ning had a very strange physique, especially in the morning. It was very uncomfortable to ride in a bus, but it would be much better in the afternoon. She thought it would be fine if she changed her body, but she didn’t expect that this body would be similar to her own.
After hearing that Ye Ning said she didn’t ride a bus well, the aunt didn’t have the nerve to suggest changing seats, so she then asked the acquaintance in front of her. The acquaintance said she was fine, so the two changed seats. Coincidentally, this person was Guihua, the same villager who had just greeted Ye Ning.
“You don’t ride a bus well? It’s really uncomfortable if you don’t know how to ride a bus.” Aunt Guihua looked like she felt sorry for Ye Ning.
“Yes, but there’s nothing we can do about it. We have to take a bus when we go out. Auntie is also going to the city?” People had already talked to her. If she didn’t answer even a word, it would be spread everywhere tomorrow that she had no manners.
Originally, because of her mother’s return to the city, many people in the village were already gossiping about them behind her back, and if bad words about her spread again, she would be fine in the city, but Ye Lan and Ye Gu still had to live in the village for several more months.
“Instead of going to the city, I’m going to the town to find my son. I remember you are about to take the college entrance examination, right? You are asking for leave at this time. It seems that your grades are very good.” Aunt Guihua looked at Ye Ning carefully. She had fair skin and picturesque features. Her son couldn’t find anyone prettier than her, and she was still a high school student.
“Are you still studying after high school?”
“That depends on my grades. If I pass, I can study. If I fail, I will find a job.” Ye Ning smiled, always feeling that this aunt was looking at her strangely.
“That’s the truth.” Aunt Guihua nodded, fearing that she might be planning to retake the exam even if she failed. If she continued doing this year after year, she would get older and hurt her family. Thinking of this, Ye Qingshan’s elder girl, was quite sensible, “If you want to find a job then, maybe my son can help.”
Ye Ning was even more surprised. It was said that Aunt Guihua was from the same village as her. But in fact, the two families had little contact. Even if they met on the road, they would just nod, she was being too enthusiastic now.
“There’s no rush for now. Let’s wait until after I take the college entrance examination. If I need it, I’ll trouble you again.” Ye Ning pursed her lips and smiled softly. The bus had just started. She leaned against the window. People who didn’t ride in buses well felt more uncomfortable talking. It was a pity that Aunt Guihua didn’t seem to want to let her go.
“Speaking of which, my Huaxing is also a high school student. He is from your school, but he is four years older than you. You may not recognize him.” Ye Ning smiled and shook her head. The middle school before 1982 was a two-year system. When she was in high school, her son had already graduated several years ago.
“My Huaxing has been sensible since he was a child. He followed me up the mountain to gather pigweed since he was five years old. He helped me burn the stove when he was seven years old. His academic performance is good, but he is unlucky. He fell ill during the college entrance examination. Otherwise, with his grades, he would have definitely been able to go to college. Our family is poor, but this kid is sensible and doesn’t want to repeat his studies at all. It’s because of his own merit that he got admitted to the No. 2 Middle School in the town and became a teacher. This year, he is earning thirty-two yuan a month, and there are some other benefits. He doesn’t even ask for the subsidy. He didn’t even ask for the money or tickets. I let him save his own money to marry a wife. If any girl can be with my son, she will definitely have no worries about food and clothing.”
Aunt Guihua said again and after still not being satisfied, she told Ye Ning a second time.
No matter how stupid she was, she could understand the meaning behind her words. Besides, Ye Ning was not stupid. Was she planning to marry her to her son?
Ye Ning was speechless for a moment, then quickly interrupted Aunt Guihua, “Auntie, I’m not good at riding in a bus, so I’ll take a rest first.”
“It must be uncomfortable if you don’t know how to ride in a bus. Just close your eyes and go to sleep. You’ll be fine if you fall asleep.” Aunt Guihua said very considerately.
Ye Ning really wanted to complain. If she hadn’t been praising her son beside her all the time, would she have been able to survive until now?
She closed her eyes and didn’t pay attention to other things. She felt much better immediately. She only heard Aunt Guihua talking to someone else again. Without saying a few words, she started praising her son again.
A person in the front seat said: “Your son is so good, is he married? Do you want me to introduce him to my relative’s daughter? She is so beautiful, and she manages her family very well.”
“My son is focused on his career and is not in a hurry to get married.” Aunt Guihua replied with a smile and said nothing more. It was obvious that she looked down on other girls.
Ye Ning didn’t know what Ye Huaxing was like. Anyway, she didn’t like Aunt Guihua’s behaviour at all. They said that marrying a person was not only marrying the man, but also marrying the family, especially the mother-in-law. That was the most important thing. The most important thing was that a bad mother-in-law could really affect a marriage. Besides, she was only nineteen years old. She was not anxious even when she was twenty-nine in her previous life. Why should she be anxious at nineteen?
She fell asleep while thinking about it. If Aunt Guihua hadn’t slapped her awake, she would have arrived in the county town.
Ye Ning was a little annoyed in her heart, but she couldn’t show it on her face, “Auntie, we’re here, then walk slowly.”
“Yes, I was thinking about telling you something.” Aunt Guihua pointed to the window, where a man wearing a Chinese tunic suit, with his hair parted in the middle, and dressed as an artistic young man said, “That’s my son, do you want to meet him?”
“No, Auntie, the bus is leaving soon, so I won’t get off.” Ye Ning hurriedly avoided it. She had never seen such a shameless person before meeting Auntie Guihua.
Aunt Guihua smiled and said: “It doesn’t matter. There are many buses from the town to the county. You get off the bus and walk around. After lunch, I will ask my son to take you to the station to take the bus.”
“No need, I have to go to school in the afternoon, so I won’t disturb you anymore.” Ye Ning was already a little angry. Why was this person not conscious at all?
“Mom, what are you doing up there? Come down quickly, the bus is leaving.” The man came to the bus door and shouted.
Aunt Guihua turned around and waved to Ye Huaxing, “Son, come quickly, this is Xiao Ning from your Uncle Qingshan’s house. You guys played together when you were kids. What’s the matter, do you still know each other?” Ye Ning recalled with all her might, they had never crossed paths at all!!! They were four years apart, and he went to school when she was old enough to play. Besides, it was impossible for a little girl like her to play with a naughty boy, and she couldn’t even tell a lie.
“This is… Xiao Ning?” Ye Huaxing’s eyes suddenly lit up when he saw Ye Ning, “If you didn’t tell me, I wouldn’t have known. The woman’s eighteenth transformation is true[1].”
He had always looked down on Xiangli. He rarely went back, and when he did, he always stayed at home. So, he had never seen Ye Ning. He didn’t expect there was such a beautiful girl in the village. If he had known about it earlier, he would have run home often.
Aunt Guihua smiled and glanced at her son, “Xiao Ning took leave these two days to go home to see her younger brother and sister. Now, she has to go back to school again. She is in the same high school as you and is about to take the college entrance examination. By the way, Xiao Ning, Huaxing has taken the college entrance examination. If you don’t understand anything, you can ask him, right, son.”
“Yes, although I have been teaching junior high school for the past two years, I have never let go of revising my high school knowledge. What don’t you understand, you can definitely ask me.” Ye Huaxing nodded quickly.
Knowing that Ye Ning was a high school student, Ye Huaxing’s eyes brightened even more. Only such a beautiful and educated girl could be worthy of him.
Ye Ning could tell what he was thinking at a glance. She had seen many men like this. They didn’t know how much they weighed. They still imagined that women they married should be as beautiful as flowers and still make money to support the family. They didn’t even think about whether such a woman could like you.
“No need, the high school curriculum was restructured last year, and it’s very different from before. Teacher Ye may not be very clear about it.” Ye Ning glanced at the driver, wondering why he hadn’t started yet.
“Call Teacher Ye more points. I’m a few years older than you. Why don’t you call me Brother Huaxing.”
Ye Huaxing sat next to Ye Ning.
Ye Ning was so disgusted that she couldn’t keep her smile on. “Teacher Ye and I don’t know each other that well. The bus is about to leave. You guys should get off quickly.”
Hearing her words, Aunt Guihua became a little unhappy, she felt that Ye Ning was a little too rude, and just as she was about to speak, Ye Huaxing pulled off the hem of her clothes, “Then let’s go first, and we can come to the town to play when we have the opportunity.”
Ye Huaxing asked with twinkling eyes as he watched the bus drive away: “Why didn’t I know there was a female high school student in the village before?”
“You used to go to school, and then you were busy with work. How could you have time to know this? What’s the matter, you fell in love with her? She looked good at first, but then she looked a little too arrogant. No, it’s better not to look for her.” Aunt Guihua looked disdainful.
“Educated people tend to be more arrogant. It will be better to wait until we get married and have children. Mom, you can find someone to go to her house later and talk to her elders.”
Ye Huaxing thought about her being so beautiful and a high school student, so her being arrogant, it was as it should be.
“That’s right.” Aunt Guihua nodded. No matter how arrogant or squeamish she was, after she got married, she had to have children and take care of the housework.
Ye Ning didn’t know what they were thinking, otherwise she would have slapped them, and now she felt sorry for the girl who would marry into their family in the future. She arrived at the county town in a daze, got out of the bus and took three deep breaths. It was really uncomfortable to ride in this bus today. Fortunately, the station was not very far from the school. It only took about ten minutes to walk there.
When he saw Ye Ning, the class teacher asked, “Have you done everything at home?”
Ye Ning did not hide anything and told the class teacher about the general situation at home, “So I plan to keep it a secret until my sister goes to high school. Then I will bring my brother to the county seat to go to school.”
The head teacher pondered for a moment, “Your brother is in elementary school?”
“Yes.” Ye Ning nodded.
“I have a classmate who is a teacher in the second primary school. Let me ask him later. Relatively speaking, the teaching quality of the second primary school is very good, and the surrounding environment is also good.”
The head teacher knew the situation of Ye Ning’s family and felt even more sorry for the child.
“Thank you, teacher, I was worried about this!” Ye Ning really didn’t expect such a good thing, so she sincerely thanked her teacher.
“Although your current situation is special, I still hope that you can continue to complete your studies. The next few years in college will be difficult. It will be fine after graduation.” Ye Ning’s grades could still let her make it to college. The class teacher felt that it was a pity for her to give up like this.
“I will try my best.” No matter what, she would definitely take the college entrance examination, but the results were really not guaranteed. Fortunately, Ye Qingshan could still be used as an excuse, and no one would doubt that she failed in the exam because of him.
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[1] It is a Chinese saying that “a woman changes eighteen times during her eighteen years of life”.