Chapter 4: Leave of Absence

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Yun Yuzhi also whispered, "She's probably been dragged to Captain Xia's house for dinner by Xia Lin. She's now practically the Xia family's prospective son-in-law." After saying this, seeing Lu Jingqiu walking into the room, she added, "I advised Jingqiu today, and she said she's thought it through and won't pester Gao Shu anymore."

"Really?" Li Yinger was surprised, then skeptical, "She wouldn't just be agreeing to placate you, would she? She's been chasing him from the city all the way here for two years... No, they're childhood sweethearts."

"I think she's truly given up this time. She sounded somewhat sad when she said it, and she mentioned missing her parents. After the busy farming season, she wants to go back to see them. She looked quite pitiable."

Li Yinger sighed in relief, "After a heartbreak, how happy can one be? The day she ran out and didn't come back until midnight, she probably cried for a long time. The next day, when she had a high fever, her eyes were still badly swollen."

In fact, Li Yinger genuinely sympathized with Lu Jingqiu. After all, to pursue someone from the city to the countryside with such sincerity couldn't be feigned, and she found Gao Shu's cold-hearted demeanor somewhat distasteful.

Yun Yuzhi was aware of it too, but neither of them said anything. They were worried for her in their hearts but were afraid that asking directly would embarrass Jingqiu, "It's good that she's letting go. Gao Shu is a catch, but he only has eyes for Xia Lin."

Lu Jingqiu, unaware of the conversation outside, checked her small suitcase once she was back in her room. Inside was over a hundred dollars, some cloth coupons, grain coupons, brown sugar, malted milk, and milk—all sent by her parents and aunt, fearing she would suffer in this place.

They were afraid she'd be mistreated here.

Alas, had she not been so extravagant, she might've saved quite a bit of money.

Her parents only had her as a daughter, and they cherished her as if she might melt in their mouths or break in their hands. Both of their salaries were not low, and they spent all their money on their only daughter.

To say having an only daughter was unusual for that era wasn't because her parents didn't want children. Her father had been injured coming off the battlefield and had trouble fathering children for years. Eventually, her parents gave up hope. Her father wasn't biased towards having a son over a daughter and always treated her like a treasure.

Regrettably, she had been unfilial, sneaking off to the countryside for a man. In her aunt's letter, it said her mother cried for a full day and night—scolding her for her disobedience while also worrying about her being bullied in the countryside. Even her tough father had teary eyes, truly causing them both endless worry.

Her aunt and uncle shared a courtyard with them. With two sons and no daughters in their family, and living so close to each other, her aunt and uncle treated her as their own.

Her eldest cousin had joined the military, and her second cousin had found a job. All four members of her family were employed. Her aunt worked as a chef in a state-owned restaurant and often had access to delicacies, so over the past two years, her aunt had sent her quite a few packages.

She had given Gao Shu quite a lot of these treats, but unfortunately, Gao Shu avoided her, and in the end, Li Qian benefitted from them.

Now that she thought about it, regretting how all those good things ended up in someone else's stomach, she felt painfully stupid. She had been foolish to the extreme.

Having organized her things, Lu Jingqiu took out a can of malted milk and a pound of brown sugar, planning to visit Captain Xia's house in a few days. She intended to ask for leave to visit her family.

Just as she had finished packing up her stuff, Yun Yuzhi and Li Yinger entered the room. Seeing what Lu Jingqiu held in her hands, Li Yinger thought she was planning to give them to Gao Shu and spoke with a look of disappointment, "You're not planning to give these to Gao Shu as a wedding gift, are you?"

Lu Jingqiu truly regretted not getting to know them sooner. Yun Yuzhi, a Beijinger with many siblings, had come down to the countryside with another sister. She was straightforward and one of the most senior among the educated youth, hence was called Sister Yuzhi by the others.

Li Yinger had arrived a year earlier than Jingqiu, lived not far from here, and was from a decent family. She was articulate and had been recruited to teach at the local school within a year of arriving.

When Jingqiu first arrived, she was somewhat spoiled and tactless, offending many people. Thus, they didn't talk to her much, and with the two-faced Li Qian always hovering around her, they liked her even less.

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If it hadn't been for the incident a while back where Li Qian deceived them out of their money, they probably wouldn't have paid much attention to her.

Although they hadn't gotten all their money back, gaining two close friends wasn't bad either.

"I won't be as blind as before. When I, Lu Jingqiu, like someone, I'm straightforward about it. Chasing someone before they're married is fair game, but now that he's about to get married, naturally, I wouldn't shamelessly become a third party. I admit defeat with Gao Shu; there's nothing shameful about that."

It was the same in my previous life, except for the time when I learned that Gao Shu and Xia Lin were getting married, fought with Xia Lin once, then ran off to play missing on the mountain. After that, many things happened, but I never interfered with their marriage until they got divorced.

Li Yinger said, "Right, there's nothing shameful about it. I would think less of you if you had tried to break up their marriage. Jingqiu, even though you were a bit willful before, you still had a sense of propriety in your actions."

Lu Jingqiu smiled, feeling a bit embarrassed, "Thank you for being willing to be my friends, I before..."

Yun Yuzhi quickly interrupted her with a smile, "The past is the past. Who hasn't been young and foolish? We all learn from our ignorance. Being able to change is our greatest progress."

Li Yinger nodded, "Yeah, right, you didn't do anything wrong, don't feel bad about yourself."

Lu Jingqiu felt that was true, too. Who hasn't been young? She hadn't done anything outrageously wrong or morally corrupt. At most, she talked bad about Xia Lin at the Educated Youth Spot, went there with hostility to argue with her a few times, asserting her own "sovereignty" and warning her to stay away from Gao Shu.

In front of Gao Shu, saying things like Xia Lin was getting too close to the village's riffraff.

But Xia Lin really was hanging out with the riffraff; she had indeed heard the riffraff saying he liked Xia Lin.

Of course, the two of them had a misunderstanding over the riffraff, but after it was cleared up, they got along as if nothing had happened. Looking back on it, she felt like a clown performing antics, giving others quite a show to laugh at.

"I took these to go to Captain Xia's home; I want to ask for leave. Do you think he would approve my leave at this time?"

Yun Yuzhi and Li Yinger were also hesitant, as it was a busy time right now.

Moreover, Captain Xia was Xia Lin's father, and he knew about the several fights Li Jingqiu had with Xia Lin. Captain Xia was very protective of his daughter and, because of these incidents, sometimes assigned Lu Jingqiu the hardest tasks to punish her.

Plus, everyone in Ten-miles Village knew she liked Gao Shu.

Xia Lin liked Gao Shu too, and her biggest worry was that Captain Xia wouldn't grant her leave because of his daughter.

Yuzhi said, "Try first. If Captain Xia doesn't approve, then we'll think of something else."

Li Yinger suggested, "I think you should wait until after the wheat harvest is done. A few days' difference won't matter much."

Lu Jingqiu nodded and put her things back.

They hurried to rest for a bit while they could, as they would have to work through the night later.