It hadn't been a minute before Li Yinger came out from the Xia Family's house, and the two were preparing to leave.
Heading straight towards them, Xia Lin rushed over wearing rubber shoes and carrying an oiled paper umbrella. Seeing the two of them at her doorstep, she paused slightly.
Li Yinger spoke up first, "Xia Lin, I've brought you the thing you wanted. It's getting dark, so we'll be leaving now."
After saying that, she took Lu Jingqiu's hand and walked into the rain.
Xia Lin knew what Li Yinger was referring to and called out loudly, "Thank you, Comrade Li, I will surely cherish it as I read."
Worried that Lu Jingqiu had come to her house to make trouble, she didn't say much else and quickly turned to enter her home.
"Mom, what did Lu Jingqiu come to our house for?"
Mother Xia glanced at Father Xia, who was drinking tea, then replied, "She came to ask for leave, wanting to go home for a family visit."
"Go home for a family visit? At this time, she must be trying to dodge work. She's left the team with Li Qian, and no one at the Educated Youth Spot wants to help her work. She must not be able to cope. Dad, don't approve her leave."
Father Xia looked at his daughter and sighed deeply, "I wasn't going to approve it, but she directly threatened me, the brigade leader, with your wedding. What could I do about that?"
Xia Lin furrowed her brows, "Threatened? I knew she wouldn't be so well-behaved. Dad, how did she threaten you?"
Mother Xia said, "That girl threatened that if we didn't approve her leave, she would make a scene at your wedding."
"She wouldn't dare, I'll go find her."
Mother Xia quickly stopped her daughter, "Come back, what are you going to do now? I just asked Comrade Li too, and Comrade Li said she has let go of Gao Shu and wants to go home for a while. In my opinion, we should just approve her leave."
Xia Lin said, "Let go? Mom, you believe that? She's been doggedly chasing after Gao Shu all the way here for so many years."
There was already something amiss, and she hadn't had the chance to look into it, yet now Lu Jingqiu wanted to go home for a family visit. What was going on?
Mother Xia was also half in doubt, but there was nothing that could be done, "What should we do then? With her personality, she really might cause trouble if her leave isn't approved. And if it is, I'm worried she'll go back and talk to the Gao Family about you and Gao Shu."
Rather than continuing on about Lu Jingqiu, Father Xia instead asked his daughter dissatisfiedly, "What's the deal with Gao Shu? The two of you are about to have a wedding, and you still haven't told the Gao Family about your affair?"
"Dad, Gao Shu has already written a letter back. He said it himself, didn't he? His uncle is in the military and is usually very busy. His aunt has to work and take care of the kids; they won't be able to come now.
Gao Shu said he will take me home to officially meet the family this Chinese New Year."
Father Xia nodded, "That sounds fair enough. Since that's the case, it's perfect for me to approve Lu Jingqiu's leave."
Mother Xia said, "Old man, might she go back and speak ill of our Linlin to the Gao family? I think we should wait."
Father Xia replied, "What do you understand? Approving her leave now will mean she won't be around during our Linlin's wedding, preventing any trouble she might cause.
By the time the Chinese New Year comes, she won't have any holidays left. Our Linlin, following Gao Shu back, won't bump into her there. Gao Shu and Linlin can instead spend a good New Year there."
Xia Lin smiled, quickly walked over to Father Xia, and wrapped her arms around his, speaking coquettishly, "Dad, thinking this way is indeed good."
Mother Xia was still somewhat worried, "I'm just afraid that she will go back and speak ill of our Linlin to the Gao Family. If she instills some negative thoughts in them, they may get a bad impression of Linlin before she even arrives, making things difficult for her there."
As soon as Xia Lin thought of the Gao Family in West City, her expression became complex, but she quickly became indifferent, "Mom, don't worry. Your daughter is so likable and capable that she won't be afraid of whatever Lu Jingqiu says. Time will reveal the truth. Besides, it's Gao Shu's uncle's family, not his biological parents. We've discussed moving out after we get married. It doesn't matter even if his aunt doesn't like me, since we won't be living together anyway."
Mother Xia, who had experience in these matters, naturally understood mother-in-law and daughter-in-law relationships. Her daughter was right; since they were not living with biological parents, there really wasn't much to worry about.
On the other hand, as Li Yinger and Lu Jingqiu crossed the bridge, getting near to the Educated Youth Spot, Li Yinger said, "After you went out, Aunt Xia asked me if you'd really let go of Gao Shu. I said yes, but they looked skeptical. However, I think your leave request might work out."
"Oh, let's just leave it to fate. If it really doesn't work, I'll go find the Party secretary," said Jingqiu, who now seemed indifferent. She had tried being nice and also making veiled threats, but if nothing worked, she would just have to wait for a telegram from her father.
But she didn't want to wait that long.
Corn kernels, cornbread, and cold cucumber salad were mostly what they had been eating these days.
When the two arrived at the Educated Youth Spot, it was just in time for mealtime.
Li Qing saw Li Yinger return and kindly served her a bowl of porridge, "Where did you go in such heavy rain? If there's anything you need to do, I can help you."
Although Li Yinger took the porridge handed to her, she didn't exactly return the favor with kindness, nor did she engage further in conversation.
At that time, they couldn't just casually take the books out, so Lu Jingqiu hurriedly took over the conversation, "I went to ask the team leader for leave, and had Sister Yingying accompany me."
At the mention of leave, Zhang Shuo perked up; he also wanted to ask for leave but hadn't found a good reason and feared the team leader might not approve, "Leave? Comrade Jingqiu, what's the matter? Didn't you just recover from an illness? Why are you asking for leave again – did the team leader approve it?"
Lu Jingqiu shook her head, "I asked for family visit leave. I want to go back to my hometown."
The word "hometown" made Gao Shu, who was eating with his head down, pause momentarily, but he said nothing.
After dining, Jingqiu had just finished washing her bowl and chopsticks when Gao Shu was already waiting for her at the dormitory entrance, "Let's talk."
Although she didn't know what he wanted to discuss, she guessed it had to do with her family visit. She placed the lunchbox back in the room before following him to a secluded spot outside the courtyard.
"What do you want to talk about?"
"Why do you suddenly want to go home?"
"I miss my parents. What, do I need your permission to go home and visit them?"
Lu Jingqiu's tone made Gao Shu furrow his brows, as her manner of speaking was not like it used to be.
"Jingqiu, I've always treated you like a sister, before and it'll be the same in the future. When it comes to feelings, I want to follow my heart, and I don't want to deceive you. I hope you can come to terms with this."
Lu Jingqiu gave a wry smile and remained silent for a while, surprised by her foolishness in her previous life, mourning her own incurable condition. She had been by his side for so many years in her former life without being able to change his feelings, leading to two ungrateful sons in the end. Love was filled with tears, torment, and complexity. Her thoughts wandered as she said, "Yes, before and in the future, it will remain the same, there's never been a change. It's I who have been too persistent.
They say that for a woman to pursue a man is like chasing through a layer of gauze, yet so many years haven't swayed you. I am curious to know, what exactly about me do you dislike?"
Gao Shu didn't expect Lu Jingqiu to ask so directly, and after a long pause, he said hesitantly, "Jingqiu, you are a good person, it's just...""