The men standing at the entrance of the male dormitory saw the two female comrades leaving, and Zhang Shuo carefully reminded Gao Shu beside him, "Lu Jingqiu has gone out; she's not going to trouble your girlfriend again, is she?"
Gao Shu furrowed his brows upon hearing this as he watched Lu Jingqiu walking away.
Zhang Yumin slapped him on the back and said, "Don't talk nonsense, come over and help make dinner if you have nothing to do."
Zhang Shuo replied, "Captain, it's not my turn to cook today."
Shen Mu, who was nearby, said, "Captain, it's Gao Shu and my turn today," and then pulled Gao Shu with him towards the kitchen.
After the two left, Zhang Yumin reminded Zhang Shuo, "Comrade Lu Jingqiu has been behaving much better these days, don't instigate Gao Shu."
Li Qing said in a joking tone, "Captain, he's just too bored and wants to stir things up again."
Zhang Shuo huffed lightly and ignored Li Qing.
Lu Jingqiu and Li Yinger braved the heavy rain and arrived at the Captain's house.
They were greeted by Mrs. Xia, who initially had a smiling face upon seeing Li Yinger, but her smile vanished the moment she saw Lu Jingqiu: "What are you here for?"
Lu Jingqiu didn't mind and even said with a smile on her face, "Aunt Xia, I'm here to see the Captain today; I want to request some leave."
Li Yinger also hurried to smooth things over, saying with a laugh, "Aunt, is the Captain at home? I've got something to discuss with him."
Lu Jingqiu turned her head and glanced at Li Yinger, who smirked at Mrs. Xia and subtly nudged Lu Jingqiu from behind.
Lu Jingqiu felt very grateful.
Mrs. Xia's face brightened with a warm smile at Li Yinger, "Your uncle is in the room."
Then she called into the house.
At this moment, the Captain walked from inside the house to the front room entrance.
Mrs. Xia quickly invited them in.
Li Yinger, leading Lu Jingqiu into the Xia family's living room, said to the Captain with a smile, "Captain, I want to make a phone call home. Is the commune's telephone working yet?"
The Captain gestured for them to sit and shook his head as he replied, "The signal pole was damaged by a neighbor village's tractor before the summer harvest; it still hasn't been repaired. If you want to contact your family, you need to go to the town post office to send a telegram or a letter."
Li Yinger said, "Ah, that's too bad," and subtly nudged Lu Jingqiu from underneath.
Understanding the hint, Lu Jingqiu quickly placed the prepared items in front of Captain Xia and said with a smile, "Captain, I've been in our village for more than two years and haven't returned home once. I'd like to go back and visit my family after the summer harvest."
Captain Xia, although not as overt as Mrs. Xia, was also disinclined to favor her: "What is this? Take it back, take it back."
Lu Jingqiu wasn't in a hurry; she pushed the items toward the captain again: "Captain, I know I was foolish before and caused you a lot of trouble. These small tokens are just my way of showing gratitude."
Captain Xia was usually very caring toward them, the educated youths, and very responsible to the villagers, but when it came to his precious daughter, he changed. Ever since Jingqiu arrived at Ten-miles Village, she had continuously been a thorn in his daughter's side.
Today, after finally waiting for Jingqiu to come to ask him for a favor, he naturally wasn't going to be blinded by these little things: "Although you haven't gone home for two years and I should approve the leave, you're choosing the busiest time in the fields when we're short of hands. If I approve your leave, and other educated youths know about it and come to ask for leave too, with you setting the precedent, should I approve or not? And not just the educated youths, even in the village, there are lazy folks who don't want to work. I can't approve your leave, so take these things back."
Li Yinger chimed in from the side: "Don't worry, Captain. Currently, only Jingqiu at the Educated Youth Spot is going home to visit. Have you forgotten? Several of us have already gone home to visit over the past two years. Besides, during this season, we wouldn't go back either. Jingqiu truly has urgent business to attend to."
Captain Xia said: "You little rascal, you think you can speak for your Educated Youth Spot? Or are you able to make sure the villagers don't ask for leave?"
The captain was clearly making it difficult for her, and Jingqiu wasn't trying to be diplomatic anymore: "Captain, there have been plenty of leave requests during the busy times before, and even villagers have asked for days off these past few days, which you approved. Why does it become a problem when it's my turn? It's as if I'm setting an example, and the whole village will stop working if I ask for leave."
As soon as Jingqiu finished, Captain Xia hadn't yet responded, when Mrs. Xia, who had entered from outside with a cold expression, said: "Comrade Lu, are you suggesting that the village head is deliberately making things difficult for you? Anyone in the village who asks for leave has urgent reasons."
If someone doesn't like you, no matter what you say, it's wrong: "Whether it's deliberate or not, I don't know, but my visit home is also for urgent reasons. Otherwise, I wouldn't have chosen this time to go. Moreover, I'm not one of those layabouts from the village. Although I admit I've been pampered, I am aware of my responsibilities. Otherwise, I wouldn't have waited until the farm work was done to ask for leave. Captain, can you approve my leave or not?"
Seeing that Jingqiu wasn't giving up, Captain Xia evasively replied: "It's pouring rain and you've been busy all day, hurry back home. Let's wait on the leave request."
Jingqiu knew that "waiting" meant an indefinite delay, and although she was frustrated, she was powerless since she was on bad terms with his daughter, and he was taking personal grievances into consideration; she was just a minor educated youth and had to put up with it.
Looking at the items on the table and realizing that her efforts were futile, leaving them behind wouldn't do any good, and not wanting to give them away for nothing, she picked them up again: "Since the captain has said to wait, then I'll wait. Oh, a few days ago, Xia Lin came specifically to deliver an invitation to me— they're getting married in half a month, right?
Captain Xia, you know how wholeheartedly I've loved Gao Shu. Seeing them getting married, how can I bear it?
With my temper, if no one stops me, I might make a scene at the wedding. Captain Xia, you'll need to bear with me a bit more. After all, I followed Gao Shu from the city all the way to the countryside.
*Sigh*, Sister Yuzhi and Sister Yingying have been advising me these past few days. I was really thinking of letting go. Heartbroken as I am, I just wanted to go home and see my parents. Since the captain is worried my leave request at this time will set a bad example, then I'll listen to the captain." Saying that, she turned to look at Li Yinger: "Sister Yingying, do you have anything else to do? If not, let's go."
"Oh, is Aunt Xia and Xia Lin at home? I have something to look for her."
Mrs. Xia was stunned by Jingqiu's words and seemed lost in thought; called by Li Yinger, she quickly came back to her senses: "Linlin? She just left the house. She insisted on going out in this downpour, saying she wouldn't listen."
Jingqiu didn't want to stay at the Xia Family any longer and said to Li Yinger: "Sister Yingzi, I'll wait for you outside."
After speaking, she hugged the items and left the house. They didn't want them, and she wasn't keen on giving them away either.
The Xia Family's home was situated on the eastern side of the village, backed by a shallow river, and to the right, there was an empty space that led to a small bridge towards the fields.
As soon as Jingqiu stepped outside, she faintly heard voices coming from the right side.
In the heavy rain, it was impossible to hear clearly, let alone see who was talking.