Wealthy Beauty in the 60s
Chapter 92 - 91: Bringing Breakfast to Secretary Li (Happy Women’s Day!)

Chapter 92: Chapter 91: Bringing Breakfast to Secretary Li (Happy Women’s Day!)

Gao Jiaxing said, "Stop getting involved in so many things in the future."

Xia Xiao suddenly stared at Gao Jiaxing with a sour discomfort in her heart for the first time. She didn’t say anything and just turned around and left, the disappointment in her heart only known to Xia Xiao herself.

Gao Jiaxing watched Xia Xiao leave without turning her head, and for the first time, he felt an emptiness in his own heart. He regretted his bluntness, knowing he was actually concerned but unable to express it properly, he wished he could slap himself.

Upon returning to the dorm, Yang Xuehua said, "Xia Xiao, don’t take their words to heart, it’s also about taking precautions."

"Xia Xiao, you shouldn’t blame others for what they say, these last few days everyone has been suffering from backaches and it’s normal to feel some resentment," Wang Aihua consoled.

Feng Ying chimed in, "These people are so boring, why don’t they blame the county? Secretary Li came back and told everyone based on the notice from the county. If there’s blame, it should be placed on the county."

"Exactly," Dong Meihua echoed.

Sun Yuhua didn’t speak, she felt uncomfortable too; she was so tired, itchy all over, and her hands hurt. If it weren’t for considering Xia Xiao in the dorm, Sun Yuhua would have complained as well.

Xia Xiao didn’t mention to everyone that the typhoon might come tonight, and with the weather so oppressive and hot, it was uncertain whether it would rain or typhoon.

When Xia Xiao stepped out of the dorm, she encountered Li Zhenchuan. He was looking at the sky and asked Xia Xiao, "Educated Youth Xia, do you think the typhoon will come?"

"Do you hope for the typhoon to come, Secretary?" asked Xia Xiao.

Li Zhenchuan fell silent for a moment, then slowly shook his head, "I’d rather the typhoon didn’t come. Some brigades have harvested ahead of time, but others haven’t."

Xia Xiao said, "Secretary Li, the weather is so stiflingly hot, it might rain tonight, but whether a typhoon will come, I don’t know."

Li Zhenchuan said, "Weather forecasts aren’t always accurate, but I feel like it might rain tonight too. We still need to be prepared just in case."

Xia Xiao nodded; the rice everyone had gathered hadn’t been threshed yet but needed to be secured against both typhoon and rain.

That night, sure enough, it rained heavily. The continuous thunder in the sky, like bombing, kept everyone from sleeping.

At that time, without lightning rods and unlike the conditions of later generations, you couldn’t just close the doors and windows; thunder and rain would still disrupt sleep.

Boom, boom, boom

The thunderclaps seemed to strike directly into people’s hearts. For the first time, Xia Xiao felt the lightning was striking terrifyingly close, fearing even the roof of her dorm might be blasted open.

In bed, Xia Xiao and Yang Xuehua huddled close together. With lightning accompanying the thunder, and its flickering brightness, the sharp sounds struck fear into everyone, causing goosebumps.

"It’s so scary." Dong Meihua and Feng Ying clung together, as did Wang Aihua and Sun Yuhua, covering themselves tightly with blankets.

In the middle of the night, the typhoon arrived, the wind howling and beating against the doors and windows, its howling sound like the cry of a death-seeking ghost.

That night, no one could fall asleep. Already exhausted, they listened through the night to the sounds of thunder and lightning, tormented further by the noise of the typhoon, leaving everyone physically and emotionally drained.

Outside, Li Zhenchuan, Gao Guoqiang among others, were organizing people to protect the crops, daring not sleep themselves.

In the morning, the typhoon persisted, and nobody wanted to go out, but hunger prevailed and they still had to put on raincoats to go to the cafeteria to eat.

There were still quite a few people in the cafeteria, all deep in discussion when [Xia Xiao heard Gao Guoqiang call out, "Educated Youth Xia."]

Xia Xiao responded and headed toward Gao Guoqiang. At the moment, Gao Jiazhi and Gao Jiaxing were by his side, everyone looking somewhat haggard, and Gao Jiaxing’s face was clearly unhappy.

Xia Xiao didn’t pay him any mind, nodded at Gao Jiazhi, and called out to Gao Guoqiang, "Captain, did you need me for something?"

"Secretary Li caught a cold last night, so you’re to bring him breakfast. I’ve asked your Aunt to prepare some medicine and she will deliver it to him."

As soon as Gao Guoqiang finished speaking, Xia Xiao acknowledged with an "Oh," took the breakfast he handed her, and thought about how they, the female educated youths, had also had a hard time sleeping last night in their blankets. Secretary Li and Gao Guoqiang must have had it even worse, surely facing the wind and rain outside.

With breakfast in hand, Xia Xiao left, while Gao Jiaxing, dissatisfied, said, "I could have taken it. Why does Xia Xiao have to go? She hasn’t even had her breakfast yet."

Gao Guoqiang replied, "You’d better eat quickly. Later, you’ll come with me to check on the rice crop. Taking care of people is something the female comrades are more skillful at doing, and since Educated Youth Xia gets along well with Secretary Li, she’s the most suitable to go."

Gao Jiaxing’s face darkened, and Gao Jiazhi pulled him aside. After Gao Guoqiang had left, Gao Jiazhi said to Gao Jiaxing, "Did you two have a fight?"

"No," Gao Jiaxing replied.

"No? Then why did Xia Xiao ignore you? She’s not usually like this."

At Gao Jiazhi’s words, Gao Jiaxing fell silent, his expression clearly gloomy.

"That means you did have a fight," Gao Jiazhi said.

"I said we didn’t," Gao Jiaxing stated and walked away.

Gao Jiazhi watched his retreating figure and shook his head, muttering, "It’s so obvious, yet he still denies it. Stubborn mule."

When Xia Xiao arrived at Li Zhenchuan’s quarters, a sparse old house vacated by the village, she even noticed leaks in the roof as she entered.

"Secretary Li," Xia Xiao called out.

"Educated Youth Xia, what brings you here?" Li Zhenchuan asked, surprised.

"The captain sent me to bring you breakfast. I heard Secretary Li caught a cold, are you okay?" Xia Xiao asked with concern.

"It’s nothing serious," Li Zhenchuan shook his head and thanked her for the breakfast.

"Have you eaten yet?" Li Zhenchuan inquired.

"Not yet, I’ll pack it up and eat back at my quarters soon," Xia Xiao said, thinking about adding some spring water to Li Zhenchuan’s cup, seeing that he had a cold.

She wasn’t acting out of a saintly heart, but she did have a lot of respect for the old cadre, Li Zhenchuan. So when she saw his water bottle was empty, she sighed, "Secretary, you go ahead and eat. I’ll go get you a pot of boiling water. Aunt Hong has prepared some medicine for you, and the captain said she’ll bring it over soon."

"No need to trouble yourself," Li Zhenchuan demurred, but Xia Xiao had already left.

Li Zhenchuan smiled ruefully; he knew it would be tough coming down here, but he hadn’t anticipated it to be this hard. He did not fear hardship; his fear was of failing.

And it would be a lie to say Secretary Li wasn’t worried. It wasn’t his first work assignment, but this time in the production team was different, it concerned everyone’s food and lives. Li Zhenchuan felt the weight of responsibility heavy on his shoulders.

Moreover, his coming here in a huff was also driven by an aspiration to achieve success, not to face failure. After a night of rain, thunder and lightning, and typhoons, Li Zhenchuan worried all night, watching over everything with Gao Guoqiang, never expecting to catch a cold.

Xia Xiao arrived at the canteen and ran into Yang Xuehua and the others. Seeing Yang Xuehua, Xia Xiao brightened up and said, "Sister Xuehua, have you had breakfast?"