Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart
Chapter 455 - 454 Big Brother, Please Turn Back

Chapter 455: Chapter 454 Big Brother, Please Turn Back

"Success?"

"Really? It works?"

"Let me try, I want to try too!"

The people around them instantly boiled with excitement; they all wanted to have a go themselves.

They shook half a sack of corn kernels out, all excitedly praising how much less effort it took with this device, and how they couldn’t get tired no matter how much they threshed.

If it weren’t for the head chef’s anger spurring him to bellow and chase them away when he saw a table full of corn kernels, the remaining half sack of corn cobs wouldn’t have been spared either.

"What are you all gawking at? Hurry up and clean this up!" The head chef stood with hands on hips, giving orders to his apprentices to clean up the aftermath.

He went over himself, picked up a handful of corn kernels, rubbed them carefully between his hands, and played with them closely for a while, his eyes reddening.

"Jeez, young people sure have smart ideas. This really saves trouble!"

The head chef sighed softly, the smile on his lips impossible to suppress.

As the corn kernels slipped from his fingers back onto the table, he turned to his apprentice and said, "Take the remaining corn cobs to Miss Lin; they’ll definitely have a use for them."

After giving his instructions, the head chef turned and went back to the kitchen, from which were soon heard sounds that seemed both like crying and laughing, interspersed occasionally with "Good, good."

That night, except for Lin Nianhe, probably no one else could sleep well.

Mr. Lin and Aunt Lin sat on the sofa all night looking at the threshing machine, both pairs of eyes somewhat red.

For the other residents in the courtyard, they could only relay what they saw verbally, over and over again describing the appearance of the threshing machine and the silky feel of threshing corn cobs with it.

The older folks thought back to more than twenty years ago, to the introduction of the wheat harvester; when they saw it, they felt joy, but even more so, the pressure to catch up and intensify their research and manufacture of machinery.

Now, their hearts were filled with nothing but joy, happiness, and delight.

The night was long, filled with laughter and cheerful voices.

The next day, Lin Nianhe was woken up by the noisy chatter in the living room.

She listened groggily for a while and understood—everyone had come to see the threshing machine.

Lin Nianhe quickly got up, washed, and made her bed before heading downstairs.

Aunt Lin had already gone to the hospital because today Lin Huai Zhou was being discharged, and they were going to bring him home. Unexpectedly, there were a lot of people downstairs, and Lin Nianhe, standing on the staircase, found it hard to squeeze through.

"Don’t you all touch it; my daughter said that this machine was made by the machinery factory’s Level 8 Machinist along with four apprentices after toiling for several hours yesterday. If it gets damaged, that won’t do... Stop making noise, all of you. Once my daughter wakes up, let her demonstrate for you."

"Alright, alright, we’ll wait for Xiao He to wake up. This thing is precious; we can’t afford to damage it."

"It’s already six o’clock; Xiao He must be hungry, right? Should we go wake her up?"

"Don’t be silly; Xiao He must be tired from yesterday. I heard Yuncheng say she was also busy in the workshop."

"Oh, then we’ll just wait. We don’t start work until later anyway!"

Lin Nianhe weakly spoke to a slender comrade in front of her on the staircase: "Excuse me, could you let me through?"

"No way! We’re all queuing here! I swear I’ll defend my spot to the death!"

Lin Nianhe: "..."

I mean, you’re firmly in the very last place up to the staircase; do you really need to defend that spot?

The guy in front was rubbing his hands together, his voice full of anticipation, murmuring, "I wonder when Xiao He will wake up. I really want to witness it with my own eyes!"

Lin Nianhe: "..."

Is it possible that she’s already up, but you’re blocking her way down?

Lin Nianhe continued to struggle: "Big brother, could you please turn around and look at me..."

"No way! Don’t think that just because you’re a female comrade you can sway me. I won’t be shaken by anything except for Xiao He waking up!"

The big brother in front didn’t like to look back and couldn’t be bothered to think about why there was still someone behind him, even though he was at the end of the line.

Lin Nianhe helplessly looked at the back of his head, sighed, then took two steps back and stood a little higher. She then raised her right hand high: "Reporting, I’m awake!"

The crisp female voice instantly drew everyone’s attention.

Mr. Lin sprang up from the sofa and parted the crowd to create a grand avenue for his daughter.

The big brother who didn’t like to turn around finally looked back, wearing a particularly splendid expression on his face.

Lin Nianhe, feigning amnesia, greeted him as if nothing was wrong.

Big brother: "...!"

Miss Lin has such a good temperament! After his tough talk with her, she’s not even angry! She really, she really... He really deserves to die!

Mr. Lin didn’t know what had happened. He came to Lin Nianhe, protected her, and asked, "Did they wake you up?"

"No, I just woke up," Lin Nianhe said with a smile and shake of her head.

"You were so tired yesterday and went to bed late. Why didn’t you sleep a bit longer?"

Mr. Lin’s words sounded more like an excuse for Lin Nianhe. Almost everyone present had been soldiers and were accustomed to waking up early. Although it was only a little past six, it was considered very late compared to their usual wake-up times.

Lin Nianhe gently went along with Comrade Old Lin and said softly, "I’ve already slept quite a bit. I’m not sleepy anymore."

Mr. Lin tenderly rubbed her head and pointed at everyone in the room, saying, "Your uncles and elder brothers all want to see how the corn shucking machine works. Daughter, why don’t you give everyone a demonstration?"

"Okay."

Lin Nianhe rolled up her sleeves, sat down, took an ear of corn, and began the demonstration.

As corn kernels showered down, waves of astonished exclamations were heard along with some who were clapping excitedly.

At that moment, Lin Nianhe felt like a corn shucking performance artist.

The artist performed with three ears of corn, then her father stepped in to call a halt.

He ushered everyone out of the house on the pretext that Lin Nianhe still had to go to the machinery factory. While he was saying "it’s nothing," his face beamed with pride.

Lin Nianhe stayed by his side to see the guests off, being obedient and gentle, chatting with everyone, not missing even the least noticeable person.

The big brother who didn’t like to turn around was the last to leave. He stopped at the door, scratched his head awkwardly, and said to Lin Nianhe: "Uh, Xiao He, I’m sorry."

Lin Nianhe’s smile was radiant as she generously shook her head: "It’s nothing. You just wanted to see the corn shucking machine, too."

Watching her sincere smile, the big brother laughed naively: "Hehe... I work at the research institute. If you need anything in the future, come to me."

Mr. Lin added from the side: "Daughter, you don’t recognize him, this is your Uncle Wang’s youngest son, Wang Ruian. He was sent abroad to study computers. You mentioned wanting to study computers before; if there’s anything you don’t understand, you can ask him."

Wang Ruian added to Mr. Lin’s addition: "I also studied some mechanical knowledge! The corn shucking machine you made is very impressive. Did you study this area before?"

Lin Nianhe eloquently presented the excuse she had already prepared: "I haven’t studied this area before. It was just that, while working in the countryside, I happened to see the village kids flicking out the corn kernels from dried ears, and that’s where I got the inspiration."

She had figured out this story the moment she decided to bring out the corn shucking machine. She even had a scapegoat ready—the child Bai Xiaojun. The boy never lacked clothing or food, he was young, and had no reverence for grain. He really did once flick corn kernels, and was caught by Li Dahe, getting quite a few swats on his little bottom.

"Ah? Is that so?" Wang Ruian’s eyes sparkled. He clenched his right fist into his left palm, "Exactly! Every invention stems from life!"

Lin Nianhe’s lips carried a smile, her eyes crescent-shaped.

She decided then, when she returned, to bring a few extra candies for little friend Bai Xiaojun.