Chapter 55: Night Rendezvous
Dinner would be ready soon and time was short, so Zhao Wendong sprinted all the way to the Educated Youth Point. The sky had already gone completely dark, but a faint light shone from two of the rooms.
The brigade usually took good care of the Educated Youth Point, giving them a larger share of kerosene because Zhao Weiguo knew many of them read at night.
In the women’s quarters, Lin Zhiyin was leaning against the heated brick bed. Unlike the other young women, she wasn’t reading; she knew it was an easy way to become nearsighted. She stared blankly at the dancing flames, her mind a million miles away.
One moment, she’d think about her childhood; the next, her parents. ’I wonder how they’re doing now. Are they hungry? Tired? They’re so used to a life of comfort. I’m so worried about them!’ When an image of Zhao Wendong’s mischievous grin occasionally surfaced, she would quickly squeeze her eyes shut to drive it away.
Suddenly, there was a knock on the door. Li Juan called out, puzzled, "Who is it? What is it, so late?"
A young man’s voice came from outside.
"Lin Zhiyin, come out for a minute."
The young women flinched, instinctively shrinking further back on the heated brick bed. ’It’s that good-for-nothing hoodlum, Zhao Wendong!’
Lin Zhiyin was also taken aback. ’Why is he here?’
Seeing the other young women all looking at her, she felt her face grow inexplicably hot and flustered. She quickly put on her outer clothes, opened the door, and stepped outside.
"Tch, Zhao Wendong must be really desperate. To think he’d even go for someone like Lin Zhiyin!"
"I know, right? She’s got no figure and no looks. Plus, her family were capitalists, and she’s always so grimy..."
Inside, the young women whispered to one another, acting like covert agents out of fear that Zhao Wendong might hear them.
The moment Lin Zhiyin stepped out, she saw Zhao Wendong, who was slightly out of breath. Being sharp, she instantly realized he must have run the whole way. Her heart fluttered slightly, but on the outside, she kept her head bowed, acting as timid as a quail.
"What’s with this whole act? It’s not like I’m going to eat you!"
Zhao Wendong put on another fierce, overbearing expression. Lin Zhiyin, head still lowered, pursed her lips. ’Yeah, right,’ she thought. ’Keep up the act.’ Fearing he would see her expression change, she ducked her head even lower.
Feeling like a villain bullying a little maiden, Zhao Wendong sighed helplessly. ’This woman is fierce enough to blow up a ship, yet here she is every day, pretending to be timid. Doesn’t she ever get tired of it?’ he thought. ’Fine, if you want to act, I’ll play along.’ He kept up his fierce expression and asked,
"Have they been bullying you these past two days?"
Lin Zhiyin gently shook her head.
"Have you been eating what they’re eating?"
Lin Zhiyin nodded.
"Did you eat the nuts and bean buns I gave you?"
She nodded again.
"Have you missed me at all these past two days?"
Zhao Wendong asked suddenly, smirking, hoping to catch her off guard.
But Lin Zhiyin acted as if she hadn’t heard, not moving an inch.
’Damn, she didn’t take the bait!’
Zhao Wendong was a little dejected, but he couldn’t see that beneath her lowered head, the corners of Lin Zhiyin’s mouth were curving up uncontrollably. ’What a childish guy,’ she thought.
"These red bean paste buns are for you. Heat up and eat at least one every day. A strong body is the foundation of the revolution. Without your health, everything else is pointless."
Lin Zhiyin raised her head slightly, silently watching as Zhao Wendong roughly held open her coat pocket and stuffed the snow-white buns inside one after another. When she saw the last item he took out, her eyes lit up uncontrollably. It was a bar of scented soap, something she had wanted for a very long time.
"This bar of soap is for you. It’ll make washing your face and hair easier. Don’t be reluctant to use it."
"Oh, right. Don’t you have a mirror? Let me see it."
Lin Zhiyin wanted to say something but held back, pulling a broken shard of a mirror from her coat pocket.
"What is this piece of junk? You can’t see anything clearly in it, and you could easily cut your hand!"
After saying that, Zhao Wendong tossed the mirror shard away.
"You!"
Lin Zhiyin couldn’t help but gasp out the word, then immediately tried to stoop down and find the shard, but Zhao Wendong grabbed her arm.
A brand-new, small, framed mirror appeared right in front of her. One side was the mirror, and the back had a design depicting the ’Great Unity of Workers and Peasants’.
"Oops, I accidentally lost your old one. I guess I’ll have to compensate you with a new one!"
Lin Zhiyin froze, staring blankly at the small mirror in front of her.
"What is it? Are you so moved you’re speechless? Hehe, in that case, why don’t you agree to go out with me!"
The tiny bit of warmth that had just blossomed in Lin Zhiyin’s heart instantly vanished. She unconsciously clenched her small fists. ’Does this idiot really think this whole roguish act is handsome?’ she thought. ’He’s clearly just a clueless hothead who has no idea how to win a woman’s affection. But... then again, doesn’t that just prove he’s reliable? When someone like him says ’a lifetime,’ he really means it.’
She didn’t even realize that she, who had always been so wise and clever, was now subconsciously making excuses for Zhao Wendong. Seeing that Lin Zhiyin still wasn’t reacting, Zhao Wendong gave an awkward laugh, scratching his head.
"Uh, you should go back inside. It’s cold out. I’m heading home too! I’ve got a busy morning tomorrow."
Zhao Wendong pressed the small mirror into Lin Zhiyin’s hand, turned, and started to run off. Suddenly, from behind him, Lin Zhiyin spoke softly.
"When you go out to sea... be careful!"
Zhao Wendong froze, turning his head to look at Lin Zhiyin in disbelief. ’Is she... worried about me?’ A huge wave of joy surged up from the bottom of his heart, and he quickly nodded with a goofy smile.
"Yeah, okay!"
Lin Zhiyin clutched the small mirror tightly, glanced up at Zhao Wendong, and then hurried back inside the room. ’Look at that dopey expression on his face,’ she thought. ’I just said one thing to him. Does he really need to be that happy?’ As she thought this, the corners of her own mouth couldn’t help but curl upwards.
When Zhao Wendong got home, the food was already on the table, and the whole family was just waiting for him to start eating. Seeing him return so elated and with a radiant glow on his face, Song Xiaoyu teased him with a smile.
"Well now, Third Brother, what kind of miracle elixir did you take? You’re absolutely glowing!"
"Hehehehe, the elixir of love!"
Zhao Wendong declared, puffing out his chest with a smug look on his face.
Chen Yanmei’s interest was immediately piqued. "What happened, my boy? Did you hold hands? Or did you kiss?"
"Ahem, not quite! Geez, Mom, there are kids here!"
’This mom of mine... why does she have to be so direct?’
"Then where’s this ’love’ you’re talking about?"
Chen Yanmei, completely unconcerned, pressed on relentlessly.
"’When you go out to sea... be careful!’ See? You all heard that! Not only did she know I was going out to sea, she told me to be careful! She cares about me!"
The Zhaos: "..."
Although they didn’t have a term for "lovesick," seeing Zhao Wendong’s state, they all felt the urge to slap some sense into him and snap him out of his fawning state. It was pathetic. The girl said a few words to him and he was over the moon. He’d gone from being a perfectly good street tough to a complete suck-up!
Besides, half the village now knew that Zhao Wendong was going out to sea. The Educated Youth Point was right by the shore; was it really so strange that she knew?
Although everyone scorned Zhao Wendong’s lovesick behavior, his cooking skills received unanimous praise. The only one with a complaint was Chen Yanmei, who was a little unhappy that he used too many of the newly bought seasonings. It made her heart ache to see them used so freely.
"Third Brother, this is so yummy! Little Tuanzi is so happy!"
Little Tuanzi’s mouth was covered in rice grains, her eyes smiling into little crescents.
"Third Brother, how are you so amazing?"
"Hahaha, Little Tuanzi, you’re the one with the best taste in our family!"
Zhao Wendong stopped eating. He happily put down his chopsticks, lifted his little sister up, and nuzzled his face against hers, making her giggle nonstop.
"By the way, doesn’t the village have four sets of fishing nets in total?"
Zhao Dashan suddenly spoke up.
"Yeah, why?"
"Well, there are only three of you, so you can take one more person. How about you take your uncle?"
"Forget it! He’ll just cause more trouble if he comes!"
Zhao Wendong shot the idea down instantly. He didn’t even want to get into it when it came to his uncle; he knew the man all too well from his past life. Four words were enough to sum him up: a vicious, ungrateful bastard.