Became a Teacher
“It’s fine. I don’t mind the noise either.” Su Su knew the Lin family were all decent people and definitely wouldn’t casually touch her things. Besides, Mother Lin was diligent. Before Su Su even had to do anything around the house, she would already have everything done.
And just like that, Father Lin went to speak to Uncle Lin that very night, and they moved into a small household of their own. Since they would only be staying there for a little over a month, they didn’t move many things over.
As for Su Su, she stayed in her little room, and nothing much changed. Though she said she wouldn’t write letters to Lin Chuan, the moment his letters arrived, she immediately wrote back.
Lin Chuan said that finding a job couldn’t be rushed and that they had to wait slowly for arrangements. However, he had already applied for her to accompany the army, and he believed the troops would approve it soon. After all, he had been injured during his last mission, and the mission had been completed very well, so the higher-ups were pleased. They should satisfy this request of his.
Su Su knew that letters going in and out of the army were inspected, so she didn’t write too many ambiguous or romantic words. She only wrote that she missed him very much. Then she also explained what had happened with Lin Donghe and Qin Yueyue, as well as some little matters at home. Her writing was good, and she wrote many words. Her handwriting was also very beautiful, and the way she wrote was vivid, almost like storytelling.
When Lin Shan came back from outside, he saw his sister-in-law sealing the letter and said, “Sister-in-law, Second Sister-in-law is here. She said she has something to ask you.”
Second Sister-in-law?
Su Su froze for a moment, then realised who it was. She looked outside, and sure enough, it was the female lead.
She put the letter aside, stood up, and asked, “Do you need something?”
“I just wanted to borrow something from you.” Qin Yueyue waited until Lin Shan had run off before coming in and speaking to Su Su. Then, somewhat embarrassed, she said, “Do you have any toilet paper here?”
Most people in this era still used toilet paper to deal with their periods, but Su Su didn’t. Fortunately, she had bought some before for going to the toilet, so she went and brought her a roll. “Is this enough?”
“It’s enough. In a few days, I’ll go to the commune to buy some and return it to you.”
“No need to be so polite. It’s not anything important.”
“Tell me, why do I always… always bleed? I’m scared. What should I do?”
“Go see a doctor. What’s the use in telling me?”
Su Su acted as though she hadn’t seen her and continued sealing the envelope, looking extremely indifferent.
Qin Yueyue said, “Are you angry because, because of us, so many people moved into your home?”
“No. We were originally one family anyway. But is it really okay for you to stand here and say these things to me? Aren’t you in a hurry to use the toilet paper?” Su Su truly didn’t understand the female lead. What exactly did she still want to say?
“I’m not in a hurry. I actually came this time because I wanted to borrow money from you. I know you receive wages every month, and when you got married back then, there was also one hundred yuan in betrothal money.”
“What do you mean? Are you helping me count my assets?”
“No, no, that’s not it. I just want to beg you to help us. Lin Donghe’s temper has changed because of borrowing money. We have no other choice, so we can only come and borrow from you.”
“I’m sorry. Although I do have money, I also have to make plans for my future life. So I’m sorry, but I can’t possibly lend all my money to you.”
“Are you afraid we won’t pay it back?”
“Yes. I’ve never understood this. Do you really not know what three hundred yuan represents? Yet you actually gave all that money to your maiden family. In the future, they’ll keep asking you for more. If you keep living like this, are you still going to live your own life or not? With that bottomless pit there, I definitely won’t lend you money. Because you don’t even want to live your own life properly. No matter how much others help, it’s useless.”
“Fine. If you don’t want to lend it, just say so.”
“Uh, I already said it directly…” After Su Su finished speaking, Qin Yueyue’s face flushed red with shame. Then she turned and left.
But the moment she opened the door, she saw Lin Donghe and Lin Shan standing outside.
“Why are you two here? I’m going back now.” After saying that, she hid the toilet paper behind her back, pretending to look rather embarrassed. But she was also very uneasy, afraid Lin Donghe had heard the conversation just now. In truth, he had already told her that Lin Chuan and Su Su had helped them far too much, so he was too embarrassed to borrow more money from them.
But she felt that since they had money, why wouldn’t they lend it to their family? After all, they were relatives.
So she had opened her mouth, but she hadn’t expected Su Su to refuse.
She could only flee back in a panic. Unexpectedly, after Lin Donghe waited for her to finish using the toilet, he said in an extremely cold tone, “I told you not to borrow money from their family. They don’t owe you anything. Why do you always go looking for humiliation?”
“Wasn’t I doing it for you? If we borrow that three hundred yuan from someone else, they’ll definitely charge interest. How will you pay it back then?” Qin Yueyue’s tone was still quite gentle.
But Lin Donghe noticed one thing. She said how *he* would pay back the three hundred yuan, not how the two of them would pay it back together. Although he clearly knew she was studying and couldn’t possibly help him repay the money, deep down, he still hoped she would stand together with him and face all difficulties with one heart. But he hadn’t expected her to separate herself from it.
Fine. He had willingly wanted to marry her. But—
“I’ll think of a way to slowly pay it back. That’s my matter. But just as Comrade Su said, as long as you don’t make things clear with your maiden family, they’ll keep asking you for money forever. Are you going to give them money for the rest of your life?”
“They gave birth to me and raised me. Isn’t that what I should do?”
“Then what about my parents?”
“They’re not your biological parents anyway. As long as you do just enough to get by, that’s fine.”
Lin Donghe had previously told Qin Yueyue about his background, but he had never expected her to say something like this.
“What are you saying?”
“I… I didn’t mean it. I’ve been feeling uncomfortable these days. I keep having that, and I feel awful too. Can’t you just let me have some peace?” Knowing Lin Donghe was unhappy, Qin Yueyue immediately softened.
Lin Donghe didn’t want to say more. He went out to smoke, and then he saw Lin Hai come over. Just from his expression, he knew why he was here. Lin Shan had also heard that earlier conversation. Usually, that boy was closest to Lin Hai and told Lin Hai everything, whether there was a matter or not, so he had probably come to demand an explanation.
Lin Donghe didn’t want to argue with Lin Hai, so he took a drag of his cigarette and said, “Haizi, do you have something to say?”
“Second Brother, I think you and Second Sister-in-law are being a bit improper.”
“It won’t happen again. I’ll keep an eye on her.”
Lin Donghe immediately stopped him from continuing.
“Fine. Then keep her in check. I won’t tell Father and Mother about this for now.” After Lin Hai finished speaking, he walked away. But after a couple of steps, he turned back and said, “Don’t think our family is stupid. If you try to take advantage again, don’t blame me for being rude. My eldest brother isn’t home, so I definitely can’t let you bully my sister-in-law.” After saying that, he ran off.
Lin Donghe didn’t get angry either. What he said wasn’t wrong. His side had indeed already taken advantage of them. They couldn’t ask others to use their family savings to fill a bottomless pit, because even he himself didn’t know how that bottomless pit could ever be filled.
The plan for the year begins in spring!
After the sixteenth day of the first lunar month, everyone seemed to become busy.
The men of the Lin family were barely home from morning until night. Each person carried a small basket and a shovel and went out, gone for the whole day. It was said that one basket of manure could be exchanged for a few work points. If they could pick up ten baskets in a day, it would be equivalent to receiving two jin of grain at the end of the year.
Su Su didn’t understand the life of this era, but when she thought of her backpack, she felt that she was probably the luckiest person who had transmigrated.
There were no longer many people coming to the literacy class, but she still persisted. Recently, since there wasn’t much snow on the road anymore, people in the village often had carts going to the commune. After all, spring ploughing was coming soon, so some farming tools still needed to be taken to town to be properly sharpened.
Su Su also followed them to the commune a few times. The main reason was to call Lin Chuan.
Lin Chuan was often not in the office, so sometimes when she called, she had to wait for ages before he came running over to return the call.
However, Su Su couldn’t chat with him on the phone like usual. She could only say a few brief words before ending the call.
In her heart, she missed him very much. As a girl separated from the man she was passionately in love with, it was impossible for her not to have negative emotions. But when she thought about how her man had been handed over to the country, she couldn’t exactly fight the country for a man.
Forget it. In any case, he said the application for her to accompany the army was in progress. Perhaps if she endured for about another year, she would be able to go to his side.
Life here was rather casual, and a year would pass very quickly.
Su Su bought some meat, then some potatoes and Chinese cabbage, and took the cart home again. When she stopped and got off on the road, she happened to see Qin Yueyue sweeping the courtyard.
These days, she often heard things about her. After all, Eldest Aunt kept coming to their house to complain behind Qin Yueyue’s back about her new daughter-in-law. It was normal in this world for mothers-in-law to criticise daughters-in-law, but coming every single day to complain was a bit depressing for others.
Mother Lin was also rather helpless. She said to Su Su, “Your eldest aunt isn’t the sort of person who likes speaking ill of others behind their backs, so she must really be holding it in too much to do this. Family shame shouldn’t be aired outside. She can’t go elsewhere to talk about it, so she can only come to our house to talk. Just bear with it a little.”
“Alright, I’ll listen for a few more days.” Su Su obediently agreed. But the female lead’s actions taught her one principle: when a daughter-in-law did something, it was wrong; when she did nothing, it was also wrong. Fortunately, her own mother-in-law wasn’t like that.
But the female lead was also at fault. For example, she used the excuse that the wounds on her body hadn’t fully healed to avoid working. Usually, she didn’t even cook at home. Lin Donghe had to come back after being busy outside for the whole day and cook.
Another example was that she didn’t want children.
Eldest Aunt had once told her to get pregnant early so she could help look after the child. Unexpectedly, Qin Yueyue refused to have children, saying she wanted to wait until she graduated from university. That would take three years.
Eldest Aunt was so angry she cried on the spot, then ran to Mother Lin to pour out her grievances.
At the time, Su Su even comforted her, saying that young people nowadays didn’t want children too early and preferred to focus on their careers.
As a result, Mother Lin nagged her for quite a while too.
So this was what a generation gap was.
In the blink of an eye, the weather turned warm, and the earth thawed.
The ground became very difficult to walk on, muddy and unbearable.
She had only gone to carry some firewood and nearly slipped. Fortunately, Lin Donghe happened to pass by and supported her, so she didn’t fall into the muddy road full of manure.
“Thank you…”
“What are you two doing?”
The female lead’s voice suddenly rang out. Su Su felt that this was truly a huge basin of dog blood drama. How had she managed to see this? This was definitely a misunderstanding. Surely she wouldn’t become the supporting female character who tried to seduce the male lead and then got kicked out, right?
Su Su stood up straight and immediately explained, “No, you’ve misunderstood. I almost fell, and he saved me.”
“Would it really be that coincidental?”
Qin Yueyue didn’t believe her. She always felt that Su Su looked like a little vixen, so it would be normal for her to seduce anyone.
Now that Lin Chuan wasn’t here, she must be unable to sit still and wanted to seduce her man.
But reality was just that face-slapping. Just as she was about to question Lin Donghe, her foot slipped.
Su Su couldn’t just watch the female lead fall, so she walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist, catching the female lead in the same posture the male lead had just used to hold her. Then she said, “Exactly like this. That’s right.”
Qin Yueyue: “…”
Lin Donghe: “…”
The scene was a little too beautiful. He had no choice but to go over and help Qin Yueyue up. “Let’s go back.”
Qin Yueyue could no longer say that she had misunderstood them, so she agreed.
As for Su Su, she returned home in her boots. After putting the firewood aside, she fetched water to rinse off her rain boots.
The weather today was really nice, but she couldn’t go anywhere. It was worse than winter. Apparently, even donkeys didn’t dare walk the roads now, because if one wasn’t careful, one might slip into the mountains.
So now, everyone stayed obediently at home and basically didn’t go anywhere.
Su Su’s literacy class basically had no one left, because the villagers had all started getting busy. It wasn’t easy to save up work points. Even Mother Lin had started going to select seeds. In this era, seeds had to be selected one by one. Su Su also wanted to go, but Mother Lin thought she would find it boring and felt it was better for her to stay home.
But at this moment, the postman, who hadn’t come for more than ten days, arrived.
Thus, Su Su received an official transfer order.
It stated that she was being transferred to X City University to become a teacher, because the teaching resources there were relatively backward, and they needed a fresh force like her to make up for their combat strength???
Su Su was completely stunned. Where had this transfer order come from? And wasn’t X City where Lin Chuan’s army was stationed?
Moreover, this university was X East University.
So, somehow, she had become a teacher—and might even become the female lead’s teacher?
Why did this setting feel so exciting? She absolutely had to go.
And she couldn’t make a fuss about it. She had to give Lin Chuan a huge surprise.
Thinking this, Su Su waited for Father Lin and Mother Lin to come back, then told them about the transfer order. But she didn’t say she was going to teach at X East University. She only said she was going to a school in X City to work as a teacher.
Mother Lin was naturally happy to hear this, because her daughter-in-law was about to start work, and she was even going to become a people’s teacher.
Nowadays, being a people’s teacher was a highly respected job.
Su Su said, “The transfer order says I have to leave immediately, because the school is about to start too.”
“Alright, alright. You should go. When you get there, let Chuanzi pick you up.”
“I want to give him a surprise. Don’t call or write to him, okay? I’ll definitely scare him.”
Seeing Su Su so excited, Mother Lin laughed and said, “Why are you so naughty?”
“I’m just this naughty. His reaction will definitely be very interesting.” When Su Su said this, even Lin Hai, who was standing to the side, laughed. He felt that when the time came, his eldest brother would definitely be scared into collapse.
“I agree with Sister-in-law doing this, so we won’t tell Eldest Brother. You can go there without worry. But the mountain road isn’t easy to walk, and you can only go on foot. Eldest Sister-in-law, can you manage?”
“I can. It’s fine if I go slowly.”
The moment Su Su thought about going to see Lin Chuan, she became unbelievably happy.
Just like that, the next day, Su Su spoke to the village party secretary, then packed her large backpack, put on her rain boots, and set off with Lin Hai towards the commune.
They were prepared for the determination of walking for two or three hours. They even carried military canteens. Su Su also had cakes in her bag, so she wasn’t at all afraid of getting hungry halfway.
Then she discovered there were others travelling with them. It turned out to be Lin Donghe and Qin Yueyue.
However, their method of moving forward was Lin Donghe carrying Qin Yueyue on his back as he slowly walked ahead. His attitude was truly good.
Su Su looked back at them and felt that they really were the male and female leads. This atmosphere wasn’t something modern men and women would normally have.
She suddenly remembered that she had once been carried back by Lin Chuan. It seemed the mountain road hadn’t been very easy to walk then either. But he had carried her very easily. Since the male lead’s configuration was also quite good, although he seemed a little slippery underfoot while carrying someone, he was still steady.
From afar, they looked like quite a warm pair. So sometimes, what outsiders heard might not be true. Only the couple themselves knew whether they were truly loving or not.
Just like that, the four of them arrived at the commune one after another.
Then Su Su got on the bus. Unexpectedly, the male and female leads also got on the bus. That was strange. Logically speaking, there was still some time before the female lead’s school started. Was she going early?
But she didn’t seem to have any intention of coming over to speak. Instead, Lin Donghe walked over and said, “Comrade Su, congratulations. Are you going to report for duty?”
“Yes.” Su Su answered with a smile. “What about you?”
“Yueyue’s school is starting soon too. I’ll first take her to the county town to see a doctor and get a few sets of medicine before leaving.” After Lin Donghe finished speaking, he glanced at Qin Yueyue, then said, “Be careful when you go out alone.”
“Mm, I’ll be fine.” Su Su motioned for him to go back and sit down. Then she calmly sat in her original seat, took out a piece of chocolate, and started eating.
She had walked for too long and felt as if her feet were about to break.
Sitting here, she could finally rest properly for a while. Unexpectedly, she leaned to one side and actually fell asleep.
Was she really that tired? She had only walked for a while and already fallen asleep?
But she really was that tired. When she got off the bus, she felt as if her waist was about to snap. She had to straighten up for a long while before she could take a step.
“Comrade Su, what’s wrong?” Lin Donghe politely asked.
“Nothing. I’m just tired.” After all, she hadn’t been carried out from the mountains by someone, so it was normal to be tired.
Lin Donghe looked a little worried as he left with Qin Yueyue. Su Su went to the train station to buy a ticket. However, without a letter of introduction from the relevant department, she could only sit in a hard seat.
With such a long distance, she felt she might not be able to endure it, especially since trains were extremely crowded now.
Suddenly, she saw a sign at the entrance of the train station. It read: *Comrade Su Su, please come here to collect your train ticket.*
???
Su Su walked over and asked about it. The staff member there immediately said, “You are Comrade Su Su, right? A sleeper ticket has already been prepared for you here. Please take it.”
“Who prepared this?”
“The Education Bureau of X City.”
“Oh, thank you. Can I refund the ticket I bought here?” Su Su hadn’t expected things to be arranged so well in the unseen workings of fate. Even a sleeper ticket had been prepared for her.
She was truly grateful. Otherwise, after this train journey, she felt she might have been sacrificed.
She sat in the waiting room for almost an hour, and that time was truly difficult to endure. She used her thermos cup to get a pot of hot water, then sat there drinking hot water while waiting. After finally waiting until she could board the train, her legs were practically floating as she walked.
There really were so many people. After much effort, she found her berth and sat down.
The sleeper berth was as crude as ever, but fortunately, it was a lower berth, so it was easy to sit on. At least she didn’t have to climb up.
Su Su now felt like a worn-out doll with no strength at all. She directly collapsed onto the sleeper berth without caring about her image. Then, too lazy to get up, she took her slippers out of her backpack and placed them to the side, covered herself with the blanket, and fell asleep.
Heaven knew why she was able to sleep so much. She nearly slept all the way to her station.
The surroundings were clearly terrifyingly noisy, yet she somehow slept so deeply. Fortunately, before she fell asleep, she had threaded the strap of her backpack through her arm, so no one could steal it.
Seeing that she was about to arrive, Su Su went to wash her face and tidy herself up. She didn’t know whether anyone would come to pick her up.
X East University was said to be a not particularly good school, just an average one. But being able to go there as a university teacher was already considered very impressive. At this time, the country was focusing on national education. There were also many university students, who would become the fresh force of the country’s future reform and opening up, so teaching staff were still taken very seriously.
It was just that her age was probably younger than some university students, right?
For example, she was younger than the female lead.
Finally, the train arrived. She put on a small padded jacket she had brought and got off. The weather had already warmed up, but because the sun had gone down, it was still a little cold.
After getting off the train, she indeed saw someone on the platform holding a sign to pick her up. The words written on it were very polite.
*Welcome, Master’s graduate Comrade Su Su, to X East University for guidance.*
“…” Su Su blushed a little. In her own era, there were truly many people studying for master’s degrees, so it wasn’t anything rare. But with this sign being held up, she felt as if she were some rare beast descending the mountain.
Moreover, the person picking her up was a male comrade in his forties wearing a Zhongshan suit. She couldn’t put on airs too much. So she walked over and smiled. “Hello, may I ask if you are a teacher from X East University?”
“No, I am the president of X East University. May I ask, little comrade, do you need something?” The man in his forties wore glasses and looked very gentle.
“…” Little comrade? So they didn’t actually know how old the real Su Su was, did they?
Su Su coughed lightly and said, “I am Su Su.”
“Ah? Well, the person I came to pick up is Comrade Su, a top student who graduated from a famous university and one of the few master’s graduates in the country. Could it be that you have the same name?” She had graduated, then gone down to the countryside to temper herself for half a year. At the youngest, she should be twenty-seven or twenty-eight, right? A master’s degree wasn’t something one could complete in a short time.
Su Su immediately took out her transfer order, as well as the letter of introduction from when she had gone to the village.
This time, the president was shocked. He immediately stretched out both hands and said, “Aiya, I never expected Comrade Su to be so young and promising. This is our school’s good fortune, our school’s good fortune!”
Su Su was somewhat embarrassed. “It’s nothing.”
“Please come this way. We’ve already prepared a car to send you to the school staff dormitory. Everything has already been arranged for you there. Food and accommodation are completely free, and there is also a newly opened library. Oh, right, my surname is Guan. My name is Guan Yu.” The president seemed extremely enthusiastic. As he walked, he had basically introduced the whole school to her.
But Su Su thought of something.
The male lead seemed to be the lost child of a family surnamed Guan. And that family’s second uncle seemed to be a teacher.
Surely there couldn’t be such a coincidence in this world, right?
**Author’s Note:** The male and female leads will meet very soon.
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