Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 259 - 258: Are We Still Counting?

Chapter 259: Chapter 258: Are We Still Counting?

Today is Sunday, and after a busy week, Teacher Lin finally has some free time. Sitting on the long bench at the village school, she casually chats with Aunt Li while eating canned pineapple.

Outside the courtyard wall of the school, Li Da is busily writing slogans with his mouth.

"Right, just write here... What is shaking your hand, be steady, horizontal and vertical—"

Wang Dong, who feels constantly criticized, suggests, "Head of the squad, why don’t you write one?"

Li Da stares: "If I could do it, would I need to watch you dawdle?"

In the courtyard, Aunt Li rolls her eyes and complains to Lin Nianhe, "Your uncle is incompetent yet so demanding, sooner or later someone’s going to sack him and give him a kicking."

Lin Nianhe nibbles on her pineapple, giggling.

Seeing Aunt Li’s meticulous stitches while cobbling shoes, she asks, "Aunt Li, after the autumn harvest, aren’t we out of tasks?"

"Nothing much left," Aunt Li replies, "After grinding the corn and making pickled vegetables, we have to go to the mountains to chop enough firewood for the winter, otherwise when the heavy snow seals the mountains, we’d have nowhere to gather."

Lin Nianhe calculates and asks, "Isn’t that around November when all these are tackled?"

"Pretty much. This woodcutting should be done sooner rather than later, who knows when it might start snowing," Aunt Li says, her hands not missing a beat.

Lin Nianhe, sipping on the brine from the can, thinks hard.

This means there are three or four months of winter downtime when a lot could be achieved.

She mentally weighs her options when suddenly she hears Li Da calling her: "Miss Lin, someone’s looking for you!"

Lin Nianhe replies with an "Ah," greets Aunt Li, and runs out clutching her can.

She thought it could be Su Yuncheng or Sie Yufei, she even thought of Eldest Sister-in-law Zhou, but she’s still taken aback by who she sees.

Zheng Lirong, accompanied by Zheng Shan and Bai Xiaojun, stands at the entrance of the village school, all looking weary.

Zheng Lirong just has a small bundle, which seems to barely hold anything.

Seeing Lin Nianhe come out, a hint of embarrassment flashes across Zheng Lirong’s face, she looks at Lin Nianhe and after a long silence softly calls out, "Sister."

Lin Nianhe snaps back to reality, quickly greeting, "Sister Lirong, you’re here."

Li Da glances at them and, seeing it was women companions looking for Lin Nianhe, he doesn’t think much of it and continues directing Wang Dong in his work.

Lin Nianhe says, "Sister, come sit at my place for a while."

"Okay."

Zheng Lirong follows silently behind Lin Nianhe along with her two children.

Lin Nianhe leads them back to the Educated Youth Corps, first pours some water for them, opens another can for the children to share, and then starts cooking.

Zheng Lirong sits quietly in the courtyard, never speaking.

Lin Nianhe cooks noodles, prepares egg and sauce, and even makes a cucumber salad.

The lunch proceeds in silence; the two young kids, new to this place show no curiosity, merely eating their food without making a sound.

Zheng Lirong also struggles to eat, stopping numerous times to look at Lin Nianhe, but seeing her eat intently, she chooses to remain silent.

Zheng Lirong realizes, Lin Nianhe is quietly refusing.

Her concerns grow heavier, making it harder for her to eat.

The children eat slowly. Once they put down their chopsticks, Lin Nianhe offers, "How about I get some comic books for you?"

Zheng Shan keeps her head down, clutching at her own clothes without a word.

Bai Xiaojun glanced at Lin Nianhe, but it was just a quick look before he lowered his head again, timidly remaining silent.

Zheng Lirong frowned, "What’s going on with you two? Speak up."

"There’s nothing wrong, nothing wrong," Lin Nianhe quickly replied, "The children have been riding in the car for a long time, they’re tired."

As she spoke, she put down her chopsticks and took the two children into the room.

She arranged the kang table properly, let the two little ones take off their shoes to get on the kang. She fetched them some comic books and candies that Niuwa had left here, and poured some water.

"Shanshan, you play with your brother for a while. If you two feel sleepy, lay out the bedding before you sleep," Lin Nianhe said in the gentlest voice to Zheng Shan, "Your mom and I will be right outside, just call us if you need anything, okay?"

While speaking, Zheng Shan kept her head down, not raising it until she was directly addressed, then she cautiously glanced at Lin Nianhe and nodded almost imperceptibly.

"Very good." Lin Nianhe smiled as she ruffled her head, then turned to Bai Xiaojun, "Xiao Jun, listen to your sister, don’t play at the edge of the kang."

Bai Xiaojun reacted somewhat faster but still remained silent.

Lin Nianhe stepped out of the room and sat back down on the small stool.

Zheng Lirong watched her, and after a long silence finally asked, "You told me before that I could come to you if there was a problem...does that still stand?"

Lin Nianhe’s smile faded as she looked at her seriously and nodded, "It stands."

Zheng Lirong took a deep breath and slowly exhaled, seeming somewhat relieved.

She looked at Lin Nianhe and after a moment of silence said, "I am considering sending Shanshan and Xiao Jun to be educated at your village school."

Lin Nianhe frowned, "What about you?"

"I have to go back to the provincial city," Zheng Lirong replied.

She couldn’t let those who were willing to protect them go hungry, nor could she base her future on the dwindling hope of two thousand yuan that had not been taken away during a search.

She disliked dealing with the black market, but now, she had no other choice.

Circumstances had stripped away her preferences, making her willing to do anything.

Lin Nianhe looked at her and after a moment of silence asked, "Do you have a source?"

Zheng Lirong’s eyes flickered slightly as she said, "I won’t do that."

Lin Nianhe smiled and said, "Sister, Bai Bo is in trouble, not because he did business with me, but because he drove up prices and manipulated the market, and also..."

Zheng Lirong’s brow twitched slightly, her eyes reddened as she interrupted Lin Nianhe, "Don’t talk about him."

"Alright, I won’t mention him." Lin Nianhe took a sip of water and added, "I truly have a source, but there are many requirements."

Zheng Lirong gave a bitter smile, "You think I dare to take supplies from you?"

"Why wouldn’t you dare?" Lin Nianhe looked at her, "Unless you also plan to drive up prices or once again become someone else’s spy or scapegoat, telling things to people who shouldn’t know."

Zheng Lirong was silent.

"They made such a quick decision; being in the provincial city, you should understand better than me," Lin Nianhe rested her cheek on her hand and looked towards the distant Qingshan, "Some things can be done, but some things, once touched, mean death."

Zheng Lirong didn’t respond, turning back to look at the two children inside the room.

Zheng Shan was still sitting where she was, head bowed, fiddling with the hem of her clothes silently. Bai Xiaojun bent over, playing with a small wooden gun in his arms, also motionless.

"Sister, I really want to hate you," Zheng Lirong whispered, "If it weren’t for you, that scoundrel might still be alive."

"But I really can’t hate you... Even without you, the things he did would have killed him sooner or later... I failed to keep my man in line, I can’t blame anyone else."

Zheng Lirong’s voice trembled slightly, tears rolling down from her eyes.