Chapter 25: Keep her

This night, it rained non-stop.

Su Yue and the others huddled in a corner and squinted like that all night. When they opened their eyes in the morning, the rain was still pouring down outside, and the house had completely turned into a pond, suitable for raising fish.

Wu Xiaoxiao looked desperate. “I don’t think we can sleep well.”

Mao Lin also said, “It seems that this house is uninhabitable, but where else can we go?”

Su Yue looked up at the roof and directly saw that several pieces of grass on the roof had been washed away by the heavy rain, exposing the sky outside. At this time, rain was pouring down. She couldn’t help but worry. “It won’t stop raining, and we can’t repair the house, so do we just keep waiting?”

Li Xiaoqing looked at the weather outside the house and became worried. “This rain is also too heavy, and it will rain again at night. It looks like it won’t stop for a while. If it keeps going, we will be in trouble.”

Several people were listless. Yesterday they thought they would go to the town market with much anticipation. Now let alone go to the market, they don’t even have the energy to talk.

Mao Lin even had red eyes, feeling so aggrieved that she felt homesick.

The firewood in the kitchen was all wet from the heavy rain, making it impossible to make a fire or cook. The original idea of ​​making some breakfast to fill their stomachs was also in vain. Not only did the few of them have no place to sleep, but now they also had no food.

Fortunately, Su Yue is a foodie, so she always has snacks in her box, she took them out and gave them to everyone so that no one will go hungry.

At noon, the rain stopped for a while, but the wet things could not be dried immediately, and the kitchen was still unusable. Su Yue and others filled their stomachs with snacks.

After eating, they were about to go to the brigade headquarters to find the party secretary to tell them that they wanted to repair the house. Unexpectedly, the rain started to fall again after stopping for a while.

Su Yue felt that if things continued like this, this shabby house might be in danger. And looking at the weather, it’s not a thunderstorm at all but more like a continuous rainy day, and nobody knew when it will clear up.

Su Yue stood up and said to them, “We can’t wait any longer. We have to go to the brigade headquarters to talk about it and let the brigade solve it for us.”

They all agreed and each found a tool that could cover themselves and walked to the brigade in the mud and water.

When they walked to the entrance of the brigade department, they found that several educated youths who lived in another compound were also there.

Li Xiaoqing stepped forward and asked, “Why are you all here?”

A male educated youth named Zhao Jianwei replied, “It’s because of the rain. The house is full of water, everything is damp, and we can’t even cook. Look at this; we don’t know when the weather will stop. We can no longer live in our house, so we came to the brigade members to help us solve it. Are you here for this matter too?”

Li Xiaoqing nodded helplessly, “Yes, our situation is also the same. We haven’t eaten two meals. If we continue like this, we will starve to death.”

“Then let’s tell the brigade members together and ask them to solve it for us.”

The group of people shouted and rushed into the brigade. Hu Haibo, the educated youth head, told the Party Secretary about the situation, “Party Secretary, our kitchen is wet. Please help; we can’t even burn the firewood, so we didn’t eat two meals. Also, a lot of the grass on the roof our house has been washed away as well as our beds have been soaked, so we can’t even sleep. Secretary, you have to think of a way to solve it for us.”

Party secretary Han Jiayou took a smoke and started thinking about what to do about this matter. It would be easy to deal with one or two educated youths, but as for these dozen, there aren’t many places in the brigade to accommodate educated youths. But the rain won’t stop even for half a minute. We can’t let the educated youth starve to death in the house or be soaked in the rain.

The party secretary blew out a smoke ring and asked other members in the brigade what they thought.

Han Qingsong stood up and said, “I went to see the situation last night. It is true that the houses in the Educated Youth Point can no longer be inhabited, and we don’t know when the rain will stop. We must arrange for the educated youth to live elsewhere as soon as possible and wait until the rain stops to repair the houses in the Educated Youth Point.”

“How to arrange it? There are more than a dozen people; where can the brigade have room to arrange them?”

Han Qingsong said, “If there is no place to arrange it together, we can arrange it separately and let the members accept the educated youth, one per family. That’s fine.”

Yan Cuihua, the women’s director, couldn’t help but clap her hands and say, “Actually, this is a good idea. It turns out that when we didn’t build an educated youth camp, the educated youths just lived in the houses of the commune members. Although the houses of the commune members are not spacious now, it is still possible to accept one or two.”

“This is a good idea, but I’m afraid that the members won’t be happy. No one’s house is spacious now. Some families sleep together in the same room, including the whole family. It’s definitely not possible to add an outsider if they aren’t willing.”

What the party secretary said is true. Nowadays, every household has a small house but a large population. Some families have more than a dozen children. There is no room for them in their own homes so where can there be any place to accept educated youths? In the past, it was because the commune members were unwilling to accept educated youths. Hence they built the educated youth house/camp.

Han Qingsong glanced at Su Yue, who was standing at the door; his eyes deepened, and then he said, “Lets announce this on the speaker that according to the principle of voluntariness, whoever wants to accept educated youth to their house can come to the brigade headquarters and say it. If there are still educated youths who are not accepted in the end, then we will find another way to arrange the.”

After several members thought about it, it seemed that this was the only feasible method.

So at noon, the loudspeaker at the brigade headquarters rang, and the brigade head personally shouted through the loudspeaker: “Members, please pay attention. Because of the rain, the houses of the educated youths are leaking badly and cannot be inhabited. Now I hope that the members can take in the educated youth. The members who have spacious homes can accept one or two educated youth to stay temporarily for a while. It will be until the weather is fine and their house is repaired. Those who are willing to take in the educated youth are invited to the brigade to register.”

The brigade head said it several times in succession through the loudspeaker, and everyone in the brigade heard it.

The Han family was having lunch, and were stunned when they heard what was said through the loudspeaker.

Han Lao-er sighed, “I thought that the next day the rain would stop. It seems that God is not willing to let the sky clear. The houses of the educated youth are dilapidated. It is indeed uninhabitable when it rains. It is estimated that it will even be difficult to open the fire.”

Old Lady Han thought of Su Yue and immediately frowned with worry.

Han’s second daughter-in-law also thought of Su Yue and asked Old Lady Han, “Mom, Su Yue definitely doesn’t have a place to live. Should we invite Su Yue over to stay at our house for a while? After all, she treats our family well.”

Han Lao-san laughed when he heard this. “Second sister-in-law, don’t worry about Su Yue. Someone is already worrying about her.”

Old Lady Han didn’t understand what he meant, so she asked him.

Han Lao-san said, “Han Qingsong likes educated youth Su. Last night he rushed to take care of Su Yue and even asked Su Yue to sleep in his house with his mother.”

Han third’s daughter-in-law immediately became interested. “What? Our captain actually likes Su Yue?”

Han Lao-san said, “No, Han Qingsong is probably happy in his heart to let the members accept the educated youth this time. He will definitely ask Su Yue to go to his home. His house is a brick house, and it is quite spacious. It is one of the best in our brigade. Su Yue will definitely be willing to live there.”

Han’s third daughter-in-law clapped her hands and laughed, “So this is a good opportunity. Could it be that Su Yue lives in the brigade captain’s house and settles down permanently? She doesn’t need to go back to the educated youth camp anymore if she becomes the brigade captain’s wife directly?”

Han Lao-san nodded. “I think it’s possible. The two of them will live under the same roof and will be in contact with each other every day. If Han Qingsong takes care of Su Yue and shows more attentiveness, it will be easy to win over her.”

The two said happily but they completely didn’t notice Han Aiguo’s expression.

It was Old Lady Han who slapped the table and angrily said, “What nonsense! I think you two need to keep your mouths shut; otherwise, you will be bringing trouble. Su Yue is not married yet; you can’t ruin a girl’s reputation like this?!”

Han third’s daughter-in-law shrank her neck and explained a little aggrievedly, “Mom, we are not ruining Su Yue’s reputation. We don’t talk nonsense when we go outside; we just talk about it at home.”

Han Lao-san also felt that his mother was making too much fuss. “Mom, we have good intentions. Maybe Su Yue will actually get together with Han Qingsong in the end. Han Qingsong is not bad in all aspects, and he likes Su Yue. It’s good for the two of them to be together.”

“It’s good, what’s so good!” Old Lady Han was so angry that her liver ached, and she cursed, “It’s Su Yue’s freedom to be with whomever she wants. Why do you need to be her matchmaker? You all have nothing to do, right? If you have nothing to do, just work for me!”

Han Lao-san and his wife felt that his mother was angry for no reason, but they did not dare to say any more and just ate their food obediently.

Han’s second daughter-in-law looked at Old Lady Han’s face and asked tentatively, “Mom, do we still have to go to the brigade headquarters to register? If we don’t tell Su Yue, will it feel like our family is ungrateful?”

Old Lady Han raised her eyes and glanced at Han Aiguo, who was silent.

She snorted in her heart and said, “No. Xiao Su is so beautiful and capable. Someone must be willing to take her in. Maybe that kid Han Qingsong can really take her in. If it is true, we can’t interfere with other people’s marriage, right? Han Qingsong is indeed a good match for Xiao Su.”

Han Lao-san and his wife stared at each other. Mom, you didn’t let us talk nonsense just now. Why are you talking about it here again?

It was raining heavily outside, and there was no need to go to work for the time being. The commune members stayed at home. The men repaired farm tools and mended frames at home, while the women took out their torn clothes and sewed and mended them.

Han Aimin played with his nephews and nieces in the house, but after playing for a while, he felt bored and couldn’t stay in the house any longer, so he simply put on his coir raincoat at home and ran out for a walk.

He remembered what was said at the brigade headquarters today, and thinking about Su Yue, he simply ran to the brigade headquarters to see who was willing to accept educated youths.

When he arrived at the brigade headquarters, he happened to see Han Qingsong talking to the party secretary about accepting educated youths. He didn’t go in and just listened at the door. He heard Han Qingsong say, “My house is also spacious. My mother sleeps alone. The house is just suitable for accepting a female educated youth. My mother really likes Su Yue. I think I will let educated youth Su come to my house.”

Several other cadres felt that Han Qingsong was morally upright and took the initiative to solve the problem of educated youth to set an example, so they all praised him and would definitely not object to his proposal and wrote down his and Su Yue’s names together.

Yan Cuihua said, “We will see if anyone else comes to take in the educated youth later. When it gets dark, I will notify the educated youth one by one. If anyone takes it in, I will ask them to move over. Qingsong, since your family has decided to accept Su Yue, then you can inform her in advance now and ask her to move to your house in advance to avoid the inconvenience of moving things when it gets dark.”

Han Qingsong was very moved, but thinking about Su Yue’s character, he still refused and said, “It’s better not to do anything special. Director Yan, you can inform us when the time comes.”

Yan Cuihua nodded. “That’s okay.”

Hearing this, Han Aimin was in a bad mood. He turned around and walked away, not wanting to wander around anymore, and went directly home.

When the second daughter-in-law saw Han Aimin coming home listless, she couldn’t help but ask, “What’s wrong with the fourth child? Why are you not happy after going out?”

Han Aimin pursed his lips and said gloomily, “I just went to the brigade headquarters, and I heard that the brigade captain is indeed going to take in Sister Su Yue, and that Sister Su Yue will move to his house in the evening. I…I want Sister Su Yue to live in our house.”

After hearing this, Han’s second daughter-in-law patted him on the head, “Don’t be unhappy. The captain is interested in your sister Su Yue. Going to his house will be good for your sister Su Yue.”

Han Aimin dropped his head and said in a muffled voice, “Then what if in the future, Sister Su Yue really becomes the captain’s wife? Will she never ask me to sell things for her again?”

Han Aimin liked Su Yue very much and wanted to sell things for her, not for money, but because he thought that he may never be able to go to town again. He felt sad thinking about that.

Han’s second daughter-in-law didn’t know what to say, because if Su Yue really got along with the captain, she would definitely find someone from the captain’s family to work together, and it would definitely not be their family’s turn again.

Han Aiguo, who had been keeping his head down and silently knitting frames, suddenly moved and the branch pricked his finger. Blood immediately flowed out, but he seemed not to feel any pain at all, just staring blankly outside the house, feeling empty and dull in his heart.

She is going to live at Han Qingsong’s house? Will she eat and work with him in the future? Will she make delicious food for him? Will she smile sweetly at him?

Yes, if she really likes Han Qingsong and marries him, then they will be husband and wife. She will smile sweetly only for him, cook delicious food only for him, and work only with him.