Time-Travel: The Tragic Cannon Fodder Female Supporting Character Makes a Comeback
CHAPTER 141: The Pretty Educated Youth in the 1970s (9)
The village soon got a new village chief.
Perhaps Xia Shuang’s name had already spread far and wide, because the new village chief treated her with particular consideration.
She also began enjoying a laid-back life in the village.
Well, it wasn’t exactly that she was doing nothing. Her partner was strong enough to take on all her work for her, so she barely had to lift a finger.
The two of them would also occasionally head to town to treat themselves to a meal at the state-run restaurant.
They kept living this carefree life until the Lunar New Year, when Jiang Jin suddenly received a letter from home. His family had asked a relative to help him find a job, and he would be able to return to the city after the New Year.
Jiang Jin went to find Xia Shuang and tell her the news.
He knew she didn’t want to stay in the countryside.
Since this opportunity had come along, he planned to return first and get his job settled, then transfer his household registration back to the city. After that, he could invite Xia Shuang to visit the city under the pretext of visiting relatives and register their marriage. That way, she would be able to move back to the city too.
Xia Shuang felt a little touched as she listened to him excitedly talk about all these plans.
After all, the two of them had gotten together out of a sense of responsibility in the first place. He could easily have made no such promises and simply found a more suitable woman with a proper job to marry after returning to the city.
Resting her chin in her hand, Xia Shuang looked at him and deliberately asked, “I won’t have a job when I move back either, so you’ll have to support me. Now that you can return to the city, you could easily find a girl with a stable job. Aren’t you worried I’ll become a burden?”
Jiang Jin suddenly took her hand. His handsome features and bearing carried a hint of cool detachment, but his voice was earnest.
“Xia Shuang, you’re wonderful. I won’t look for anyone else.”
After spending the past few months together, they had grown much more familiar and comfortable with each other. Jiang Jin had already come to regard her as his other half.
Xia Shuang giggled and lightly traced her fingertip across his palm.
“Mm, I know you won’t leave me all alone.”
Jiang Jin was actually quite an interesting person. He seemed cold and quiet on the surface, but he was surprisingly attentive and always knew what needed to be done.
He was also incredibly accommodating toward Xia Shuang. Whether she suddenly wanted to go into town for a meal, sleep in a little longer, or simply didn’t feel like working, he never complained. He would quietly take care of her share of the work and accompany her wherever she wanted to go.
Even when Xia Shuang got bored and wanted to chat with him or came up with all sorts of strange and unusual ideas, he would patiently go along with her and indulge her.
Day after day, for months on end, his temper remained unbelievably good. The two of them practically never argued.
Xia Shuang couldn’t help asking him why. After all, his appearance and personality really didn’t seem to match.
His answer was that he was strong, so working never really tired him out. Besides, when a man is in a relationship, he should naturally be the one to put in more effort.
As for why he never lost his temper or argued with her, it was simply because there wasn’t much to get angry about in the first place. Besides, only a pathetic man would nitpick and argue with his own partner.
After that conversation, Xia Shuang’s fondness for him shot up even more.
Although they had been together for several months, they still acted politely and kept their distance whenever they were around other people.
In private, they were clearly much closer, but things hadn’t progressed to any physical affection yet.
Even holding hands just now had been a first for them.
After Xia Shuang playfully traced her fingertip across his palm, Jiang Jin’s face immediately grew warm, and he let go of her hand.
Xia Shuang couldn’t help sighing inwardly. What a pure and innocent romance they had!
……
After the Lunar New Year celebrations, Jiang Jin returned to the city on the sixth day of the first lunar month.
He was in such a hurry to leave because he wanted to get his job and household registration settled as soon as possible. Knowing how much Xia Shuang disliked farm work, he hoped to bring her back to the city early, while there wasn’t much work to do in the village during the New Year period.
After Jiang Jin left, Xia Shuang became a little listless.
The two of them had been together almost every day, going out and coming back side by side. Now that her usual companion was suddenly gone, she felt an unexpected emptiness and found it rather hard to adjust.
While Xia Shuang was struggling to get used to his absence, everyone else had begun speculating.
A visit home to the city usually lasted no more than three days, but it had already been five days, and Jiang Jin still hadn’t returned.
Could it be that he had decided to stay in the city?
Everyone at the educated youth compound, along with the villagers, knew that the two were dating. Although nobody said anything openly, they looked at Xia Shuang with sympathy.
People in those days were just that practical. Who would willingly stay in the village doing farm work if they had a chance to return to the city? Once a man had secured a job back home, he would naturally look for a woman with a similar background and a job of her own.
Xia Shuang wasn’t blind. She could already tell what everyone was thinking from their sympathetic looks.
Since nobody had come right out and asked her about it, she couldn’t be bothered to explain.
By the twelfth day, rumors had already spread through the village in several different versions. Some claimed Jiang Jin had gone back to the city and married a city girl, while others pitied Xia Shuang for being so unfortunate.
Then Jiang Jin returned.
The reason he had taken so long was that the factory wouldn’t resume work until the sixteenth day of the first lunar month. After finally getting his job settled yesterday morning, he had taken an overnight train straight back.
This time, besides transferring his household registration, he intended to take Xia Shuang back to the city with him.
As soon as Jiang Jin returned, he didn’t even stop by the village production team office to handle the household registration. Instead, he hurried straight to where Xia Shuang was working.
Since the New Year had only just passed, there wasn’t much work to do. The educated youths had only resumed work the day before, so Xia Shuang was chatting with everyone while doing her work at a leisurely pace.
Just then, a child came running through the entrance and shouted, “Educated Youth Xia! Your partner, Educated Youth Jiang, is back!”
Xia Shuang’s face lit up. She wiped her hands and immediately got to her feet, hurrying outside.
The other educated youths grinned and started teasing her. “Well, look who finally came back! Xia Shuang’s been waiting so long, the flowers have already wilted!”
Xia Shuang had barely taken a few steps when she spotted someone walking toward her along the roadside.
Compared to his simple, rustic appearance back in the village, he now looked neat and well-groomed, with a fresh crew cut.
He was tall and somewhat lean, but had a well-proportioned build. Combined with his rugged, sharply defined features, he looked incredibly handsome and dashing.
Xia Shuang hurried toward him, fighting the urge to throw herself into his arms. Instead, she stopped right in front of him and gazed at him steadily.
Pouting slightly, she looked at him with a hint of grievance in her voice.
“Jiang Jin, I missed you so much while you were gone.”
Jiang Jin’s heart softened. He raised a hand to pat her head, his voice a little low as he replied, “Mm, I missed you too. I came back this time to transfer my household registration, and I’ll take you home with me while I’m at it.”
Xia Shuang’s eyes lit up. She could finally return to the city! Overjoyed, she grabbed his hand and gave it a happy shake, beaming at him. “Mm! That’s wonderful!”
It was only 1976. Even if she wanted to take the college entrance examination, she would have to wait until October of the following year. The original owner had been desperate to return to the city, and Xia Shuang certainly didn’t want to stay here either.
Besides, if she already had a partner she could rely on, why insist on doing everything herself? Going back to the city was the obvious choice.
When the villagers heard that Jiang Jin had secured a job in the city and had specifically returned to transfer his household registration, as well as take Xia Shuang back to register their marriage, they were all happy for her. One after another, they praised Jiang Jin for being a man of conscience.
Jiang Jin had brought back plenty of local specialties, which he distributed among the educated youths and the villagers.
He also brought two bottles of good liquor and some cigarettes when he went to see the village chief to get the paperwork done.
The village chief was practically grinning from ear to ear. He readily approved their departure and issued the household registration documents for both of them.
Once Xia Shuang returned to the city and registered her marriage, she could transfer her household registration there without having to make another trip back to the village.
After lunch, Xia Shuang gave the things she didn’t plan to take with her to the other educated youths to use.
The two spent a little more time chatting with everyone at the educated youth compound. Amid their reluctant farewells, Jiang Jin and Xia Shuang packed up and left.
Since it was still early, they needed to catch a ride to the county town first, spend the night there, and then buy tickets for an early departure the next morning.
.jpg)
Comments
Post a Comment