Early the next morning, before dawn had fully broken, knocking sounded in the courtyard of the educated youth dormitory.
Still half asleep, Zhou Xiaomei shuffled over to open the door. The moment she saw the tall figure standing outside, she instantly woke up.
“C-Comrade Lu?” she stammered. “Is… is something wrong?”
Lu Zhanye stood at the entrance holding a cloth bundle. “Is Lin Wan awake?”
“She… she should be…” Zhou Xiaomei stepped aside and called into the room, “Lin Wan! Someone’s here for you!”
Lin Wan was putting on her coat when she heard the voice. She walked out, and upon seeing Lu Zhanye, she showed no surprise at all. She simply nodded.
“Morning.”
“Morning.” Lu Zhanye handed her the cloth bundle. “My mother steamed some cornmeal sponge cakes. They’re still warm. Eat first—I’ll wait and walk to work with you.”
Inside the bundle were two golden-yellow corn cakes still giving off steam. Even their smell was far more appetizing than the thin mush served at the educated youth canteen.
The other educated youths had also gotten up by then. Seeing the scene before them, they all froze in the doorway.
Sun Xiuying wiped her face and stared wide-eyed. “Lin Wan… what’s going on here?”
Lin Wan accepted the bundle. Before she could speak, Lu Zhanye spoke first, his voice calm and clear:
“Comrade Lin Wan and I are seeing each other. We’ll be getting married in a month. When the time comes, everyone’s invited to the wedding feast.”
The courtyard fell silent for three full seconds.
Then it exploded into noise.
“What?!” Zhao Jianguo nearly dropped the towel in his hand.
“Dating? Marriage?” Zhou Xiaomei’s mouth hung open wide enough to fit an egg. “When did this happen? H-how do I know absolutely nothing about it?”
Sun Xiuying looked at Lu Zhanye, then at Lin Wan, and finally squeezed out one sentence: “Lin Wan, you really know how to keep secrets!”
Lin Wan took a bite of the sponge cake. The sweet fragrance of cornmeal melted across her tongue. She looked up at Lu Zhanye, only to find him already looking at her with an open, steady gaze.
“We only decided yesterday,” she said lightly. “Eat breakfast first. We still have work.”
The other educated youths exchanged bewildered looks, all bursting with questions. But seeing Lin Wan’s calm expression and Lu Zhanye standing there as though everything were perfectly natural, none of them found it easy to ask further.
Lu Zhanye waited in the courtyard. Leaning against the mud-brick wall, he pulled out a cigarette case from his pocket, then seemed to think better of it and put it back away.
Lin Wan quickly finished eating, washed her hands, and came out again.
“Let’s go.”
The two of them left the educated youth dormitory one after the other.
Only after they had gone far away did the courtyard erupt again.
“My god! Isn’t this way too fast?!” Zhou Xiaomei was still in shock. “Yesterday they decided? Today they announce it publicly? And next month they’re getting married?”
“Lu Zhanye…” Liu Zhijun lowered his voice. “That’s the production team leader’s younger son. I heard his family conditions are pretty good, but he’s stubborn and has high standards. He’s turned down matchmaking for years. How did he suddenly fall for Lin Wan?”
“What’s wrong with Lin Wan?” Sun Xiuying rolled her eyes at him. “She’s from Beijing, educated, pretty in a refined way, and she doesn’t slack off at work. She’s just a bit quiet.”
“I didn’t mean she’s bad…” Liu Zhijun scratched his head awkwardly. “It just feels so sudden.”
“Alright, alright, hurry up and eat. We’ve got work.” Zhao Jianguo cut them off. “This is their business. Stop gossiping.”
That said, the entire educated youth dormitory spent the whole day secretly discussing it anyway.
News spread through the village just as quickly.
That morning at work, Lu Zhanye and Lin Wan appeared together at the west slope fields. They weren’t holding hands or acting intimate, but simply walking side by side already looked different enough.
“Hey, isn’t that the Lu family’s second son? Why’s he going to work with the educated youth?”
“I heard they’re dating! Getting married!”
“Seriously? Since when? How come I never heard about it?”
“Just this morning. Lu Zhanye personally went to the educated youth dormitory and announced it. Said everyone’s invited next month.”
“My goodness, that Lu boy finally came to his senses! He’s already twenty-two. If he waited any longer, he’d become an old bachelor!”
“Educated Youth Lin? The one from Beijing? She’s a quiet girl, works hard too.”
Voices of discussion rose and fell one after another. Some were curious, some surprised, and some sincerely happy for them.
But there were discordant voices too.
During the midday break in the fields, several women sat together sewing shoe soles and chatting. One woman in her forties with high cheekbones curled her lip.
“What’s so good about marrying an educated youth? Her family’s so far away—they can’t help with anything. What if she gets homesick and runs back to the city? Wouldn’t all this effort be wasted?”
A round-faced auntie beside her smacked her lightly. “Wang Cuihua, what nonsense are you spouting? I’ve observed Educated Youth Lin. She works hard and doesn’t try to cut corners, and she’s pretty too. She’s educated—she’s a perfect match for Zhanye!”
“Exactly!” another younger married woman chimed in. “Brother Zhanye has high standards. If he likes Educated Youth Lin, he must have his reasons. Besides, so what if her family lives far away? Once the young couple closes their door and lives their own life, it’ll be peaceful!”
Wang Cuihua’s expression darkened after being rebuked. She muttered unhappily, “I was only saying it casually…”
“If you don’t mean anything by it, then say less.” The round-faced aunt glared at her. “Don’t ruin someone else’s happy occasion.”
At that moment, Lin Wan and Lu Zhanye happened to pass nearby.
Someone called out, “Zhanye, heard you’re getting married? Congratulations!”
Lu Zhanye nodded. “Thank you, Auntie.”
“Educated Youth Lin, you’ll be one of our village people from now on!” the round-faced aunt said warmly. “If you need any help, just ask!”
Lin Wan gave a faint smile. “Thank you.”
She truly looked much more spirited now than when she had first arrived in the countryside. Back in the city, long-term malnutrition had left her frail and thin. But over the past half month, at least she had been able to eat her fill—even if it was only coarse grains, there was enough of it. Some color had returned to her face, and she had put on a little weight. She no longer looked like a gust of wind could blow her over.
More importantly, her eyes had changed.
The confusion and quiet endurance she carried when she first arrived were gone, replaced instead by a calm determination.
Walking beside her, Lu Zhanye’s gaze swept over her profile.
Under the sunlight, the tiny hairs on her face glimmered gold. Her eyelashes were long, and the bridge of her nose straight and elegant. She was not breathtakingly beautiful, but she was pleasing to look at—the kind of face that grew more attractive the longer one looked.
The two walked to a quieter corner of the field and sat down to rest.
“Don’t mind the villagers talking,” Lu Zhanye said.
“It’s fine,” Lin Wan replied. “I expected it.”
She pulled a cloth bundle from inside her coat and opened it. Inside was half a sponge cake.
“Have you eaten?” she asked.
“I already did,” Lu Zhanye said. “Save it for lunch.”
Lin Wan didn’t insist. She wrapped it back up carefully. Looking out at the endless stretch of black soil in the distance, she suddenly asked:
“Where’s the house?”
“East side of the village, not far from the production team office. Detached courtyard,” Lu Zhanye replied. “Three rooms. One main room, east and west side rooms. The main room has a heated kang bed. The east room’s the kitchen, and the west room stores odds and ends.”