A Top Student’s Sorrows
Mother Lin smiled and said, “Then she’ll have an iron rice bowl, how wonderful.” This meant that even if her son changed careers later, they would still be able to arrange a stable job for him, and the two of them would surely have a good life together.
However, Qin Yue Yue didn’t feel quite as pleased. Why did Su Su’s mention of “worker” sound like it had a different meaning? She couldn’t help but smile as she asked, “By the way, Comrade Su, you’re a university graduate too, so why haven’t you been assigned a job?”
“I don’t know yet. I just graduated with my master’s degree and then came here.”
Not many people understood what a master’s degree was, but Qin Yue Yue, Lin Donghe, and Lin Chuan certainly did.
The girl in front of them was a bona fide academic star. In this era, most master’s degree holders were older, from the previous generation. Someone as young as her with a master’s degree was truly rare.
Qin Yue Yue felt as if she’d been slapped in the face, and her earlier joy faded. She merely said, “I’ll have to start preparing for my studies since I’ll be enrolling next year.”
Su Su noticed that she wasn’t as happy anymore and cluelessly asked Lin Chuan, “Did I say something wrong?”
“No, let’s go home.” He could see right through Qin Yue Yue’s attempt to show off, only to have it backfire. He thought to himself, She might have thought Su Su was easy to bully, but in the end, Su Su’s innocent words completely undermined her. No wonder she was a master’s graduate.
Mother Lin also found Qin Yue Yue’s behaviour strange. Getting into university was a good thing, but she wouldn’t be leaving until next year. And wasn’t this kind of joyous news something to celebrate with them? Why was she already talking about leaving? She looked at her honest son and felt a pang of regret for him.
Huh, why was her son sneaking glances at Comrade Su?
Mother Lin was a perceptive person. After they got home, she sent Su Su to the new house to tidy up and then pulled Lin Chuan aside. “Chuanzi, I know Yue Yue isn’t really sincere about you, but this engagement was arranged by our elders. We can’t do something as disgraceful as breaking it off. She may not understand, but you should. Even if she’s going to university, she hasn’t left yet. If you were to propose breaking it off now, our family wouldn’t be able to stay here; people would talk behind our backs.”
Father Lin, startled by this, added, “What? If he dares to break off the engagement, I’ll beat him to death.”
Lin Chuan clasped his hands together and simply nodded.
But then Mother Lin continued, “Su Su is a nice girl, and it’s not easy for her to come here alone. As her older brother, it’s your responsibility to look after her, but remember, she’s not your real sister. Don’t let people start gossiping.” After saying this, she noticed her son suddenly look up at her, his eyes turning red at the corners—a reaction she could see with the naked eye. But he quickly lowered his head and said, “I understand.” Then, without another word, he turned and left.
“What’s wrong with this child?” Those who knew Lin Chuan well knew that when he got emotional, his eyes would turn red, making him look even fiercer than usual. He had definitely been agitated just now.
Mother Lin paused mid-stitch, feeling a sudden wave of pressure emanating from her son. He didn’t like it when she mentioned Su Su in connection with him. Could this mean that he had actually developed feelings for her?
Heavens, what had she done?
This marriage needed to happen, and it needed to happen soon.
Once the wedding was over and her son had experienced the joy of married life, he would hopefully put all these troublesome thoughts behind him.
“Old man, go call his aunt to help me finish this quilt. We’re moving the wedding up by two days.”
“What’s the rush?”
“Just do as I say, or else…” Things might get out of hand.
Father Lin, always obedient to Mother Lin, immediately went to get someone to help finish the quilt. Within half a day, the quilt was done. They delivered it to the new house and then started spreading the word to the villagers that the wedding date had been moved up.
When Su Su heard this, she panicked. Moving the date up meant the wedding was in two days, and she hadn’t even asked Lin Chuan if he liked the female lead yet, let alone found time to flirt with him.
But whether it was her imagination or not, Lin Chuan seemed even more unhappy since the wedding date had been moved up.
Well, his face didn’t reveal much, but he seemed more silent and irritable, like a beast left alone in the wilderness. The sight of him like this tugged at her heartstrings.
He must have realised that the female lead didn’t like him and that she would be leaving soon for university. That’s probably why he was reacting this way.
Feeling a bit sorry for him, she glanced at Mother Lin and said, “Brother Chuan chopped so much firewood that the entire backyard is full. Could he be overworking himself?”
Mother Lin paused in her cooking and said, “I’ll go check on him.”
“I’ll go with you.”
The two of them went to the new house and found that Lin Chuan had indeed stacked the firewood into a towering pile. What’s more, he was bleeding.
Yes, bleeding.
His arm had been cut by something, but he was acting as if nothing was wrong, continuing to chop wood. Blood and sweat mingled and splattered into the air each time he raised his arm, creating a rather terrifying sight.
Mother Lin felt faint and immediately shouted, “Do you want to lose your arm? Stop right now, do you hear me?”
But Lin Chuan seemed not to hear her, continuing to chop wood as if no one had spoken.
“Brother Chuan, what are you doing? Stop it right now!” Why was the male lead so hot-headed? This wasn’t in the book!
Lin Chuan’s body stiffened, and although he kept chopping, his movements became noticeably slower, no longer as aggressive as before.
Mother Lin said, “You stay here and watch him; I’m going to get something to bandage his arm.”
“Alright,” Su Su agreed, and she ran over to Lin Chuan. Seeing that he still wanted to continue chopping, she grabbed his arm and said, “Whatever’s bothering you, let’s talk it out. You’re injured.”
“Let go.”
“No.”
“Let go.”
“I’m not letting go. If you don’t like it, go ahead and chop me up.” Su Su looked up at him, daring him to actually chop her. But she quickly realised something was off. She was holding his arm, and he was only wearing a military vest in the cold winter. The muscles in his arm were firm and well-defined, brushing against the side of her chest, which made her heart flutter unexpectedly.
He noticed it too. Suddenly, he didn’t dare move anymore. The axe slipped from his hand with a thud, and sweat poured from his forehead like rain.
Seeing him finally stop, Su Su let out a sigh of relief. Despite her embarrassment, she hurriedly took out a handkerchief to clean his wound. “How did this happen?”
“A tree branch.”
“Why weren’t you more careful? How deep is it? You keep getting hurt—last time, and now this time. If this keeps up…” She couldn’t finish her sentence. What was she going to say—if this keeps up, I won’t care about you anymore? But he wasn’t really hers to begin with.
“If this keeps up, what will you do?” His enticing voice whispered in her ear, and for a moment, Su Su thought she had misheard. But when she looked up at him, he was sitting upright again, as if he hadn’t just said something so flirtatious.
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