“Teacher Lin, we heard from Suzhen that you were going to the provincial capital today to visit relatives.”
“We were all worried that once you left, you wouldn’t come back. Luckily you returned, and now we’re finally relieved.”
“That’s right. Your students didn’t even take their midday naps. They’ve been waiting here the whole time, afraid that such a good teacher like you might leave.”
The villagers spoke all at once, explaining their worries.
After all, Lin Qiuman had arrived here as a refugee, and she also had relatives in the provincial capital.
Before, she had said she had no job there and was undocumented. But who knew—after seeing the prosperity of the provincial capital, she might decide not to return to Xiwan Village, this remote and underdeveloped mountain village.
Lin Qiuman noticed that among the crowd, the Shen brothers—Shen Linghua and Shen Lingkang—were nowhere to be seen, and she couldn’t help feeling a little disappointed.
They had only known each other for two days, yet all the villagers were worried she might leave for good…
So why hadn’t those two brothers come?
“Everyone, I can’t bear to leave my students,” Lin Qiuman said reassuringly. “Don’t worry. As long as Xiwan Village needs me, I won’t leave.
“And even if one day I do have to leave, I would definitely tell everyone in advance. I wouldn’t disappear without saying goodbye.”
She cleared her throat and smiled gratefully.
“Everyone can go back now. I’ll head back as well.”
Amid the villagers’ chatter, she quickly made her way toward the primary school.
“Third Brother? Kang Kang?”
When Lin Qiuman arrived at the schoolyard, she saw two figures—one big and one small—facing away from her as they worked with yellow mud.
Nearby lay rows of freshly molded mud bricks. The two brothers were still busily shaping more brick molds.
Shen Linghua wasn’t wearing a shirt. Under the sunlight, the healthy bronze tone of his back gleamed, beads of sweat sparkling vividly.
There wasn’t an ounce of excess fat on his abdomen. Even from a distance, Lin Qiuman could sense the firmness of his muscles.
Her heartbeat quickened for no reason, and her gaze lingered on him, unwilling to move away.
“Teacher Lin!”
Hearing her voice, Shen Lingkang turned around. When he saw Lin Qiuman, his smile was dazzling, and he visibly relaxed.
Shen Linghua glanced at her after turning around.
“There—your wild chicken has already been killed and cleaned.”
“Everyone in the village was worried that I’d leave and never come back. Weren’t you two worried about that?” Lin Qiuman asked.
Seeing Shen Lingkang’s bright smile, she stepped forward, took a handkerchief from her pocket, and wiped the sweat from his forehead.
“If you had already decided to leave, would standing at the village entrance like two fools make you come back?” Shen Linghua scoffed, turning around to continue working.
Lin Qiuman had been mocked, but she wasn’t upset.
She felt that this was the real Shen Linghua.
If he wanted to curse, he cursed. If he wanted to do something, he did it. He didn’t need to suppress himself just because of her…
“Come here, Kang Kang,” Lin Qiuman beckoned to the slightly dazed little boy.
“This is milk I brought back from the provincial capital. Drinking milk helps with calcium and makes you grow taller.”
“I won’t drink it. You drink it,” Shen Lingkang said quickly, shaking his head and stepping back.
“I’m already grown up. Drinking milk won’t make me taller—it would just be a waste.” Lin Qiuman frowned slightly, taking Shen Lingkang’s dirt-covered little hand.
“Drink it quickly, or I’ll be unhappy.”
“You’re practically starving yourself, yet you’re worrying about whether others can grow taller?”
Shen Linghua neatly arranged the mud bricks one by one. In the entire day, he had made nearly two thousand bricks.
Fortunately the weather was good. Slightly dried bricks could be stacked together; otherwise, the yard wouldn’t have been big enough.
“Kang Kang isn’t ‘someone else,’” Lin Qiuman said, watching Shen Lingkang take a cautious sip of the milk before teasing Shen Linghua again.
He was so smart—just one sentence from her, and he would surely figure out what she meant.
Shen Lingkang awkwardly tasted the milk. When he looked up, he saw Lin Qiuman’s deep eyes.
Noticing that she seemed to swallow slightly, he felt embarrassed.
“Teacher Lin, you should drink it.”
Lin Qiuman wasn’t coveting the milk at all. She was simply moved by how carefully Shen Lingkang was savoring it.
“You sit here and finish it before you move,” she scolded gently before carrying her things back to the dormitory.
Shen Lingkang glanced at Shen Linghua. Seeing that his brother didn’t object, he secretly smiled and slowly savored the sweet fragrance of the milk.
Lin Qiuman worked as quickly as she could, organizing her belongings before cleaning the wild chicken and preparing to cook.
Tonight, she had to make the two brothers stay for dinner!
There wasn’t enough time to ferment dough for steamed buns, so she kneaded some dough and made a couple of fried flatbreads instead.
Soon, the delicious aroma of stewing meat drifted from the schoolyard.
While cooking, she secretly added a packet of chicken stew seasoning, which made the fragrance especially enticing.
When it was nearly done, she fished the seasoning packet out and threw it into the trash bin inside her space.
“Third Brother, Kang Kang, dinner is ready. Wash your hands and come eat.”
Lin Qiuman brought two small stools from the classroom and placed them together as a simple table.
Under the slanting rays of the setting sun, she stood there holding chopsticks and a porcelain bowl, a gentle smile on her face.
When Shen Linghua turned around, he couldn’t help staring.
The scene before him felt as if they had been living together for many years.
It made him want to freeze this moment forever.
“Third Brother?” Lin Qiuman noticed his burning gaze and shyly pressed her lips together, her heart beating faster.
“Coming.”
He bumped his chest lightly with his elbow, silently scolding himself for being so useless.
After wandering all over the country for so many years, he had ended up being trapped by a little girl!
The three of them sat around the small makeshift table.
Lin Qiuman kept placing pieces of meat and flatbread onto the brothers’ bowls.
She herself only held a small piece of flatbread, happily watching them eat.
“Why aren’t you eating?” Shen Linghua finally asked.
At first, he had pretended not to notice her gaze, but this girl was so bold—she had been staring at him the whole time.
“I ate something on the way back, so I’m not very hungry.”
Lin Qiuman shook her head. She wasn’t being polite.
This scene before her was something she had never even dreamed of.
So she didn’t care about eating—she just wanted to watch the two brothers, even if none of them spoke.
“That’s fine. Since Kang Kang and I ate the chicken today, I’ll catch you two more tomorrow.”
Shen Linghua nodded.
He suddenly thought about meals at home—two sisters-in-law, two nephews, and two nieces…
Forget one wild chicken. Even if they cooked ten, it would already be impressive if he managed to eat one extra bite.
But now Lin Qiuman was giving him meat and flatbread.
The difference made him unexpectedly look forward to the next time they might sit together at the same table.
“Third Brother, you’re too polite. You helped build the schoolhouse, so it’s only right that I cook you a meal.”
“I earn work points for it,” Shen Linghua replied. After a pause, he added,
“Usually I go out to earn wages, but when I come back to the village and work, the old village chief still counts work points for me.”
The last sentence was full of pride.
Normally he wouldn’t bother showing off such things—and he was even afraid that matchmakers might hear about his income and try to arrange blind dates for him.
So what was going on today?
Why couldn’t his brain seem to control his mouth anymore?