"Why isn't our boss coming out to play anymore?"
"I don't know. His mom locked him up at home. Who knows what he's doing every day."
"So pitiful, not being able to come out and play. Where are we going today?"
"Want to go shoot birds over at the West Mountain? There are a ton of birds there."
The group of children discussed it for a moment, then swarmed off toward the West Mountain to shoot birds.
The village chief was particularly invested in Chen Yiping's studies. He had prepared all the old textbooks and necessary reading materials for him.
Ji Zhuxin specifically went to ask the village chief's wife what books Chen Yiping had, then took the book list to search for them.
Ji Zhuxin finally managed to borrow a copy of the Mathematics, Physics, and Chemistry Self-Study Series. She hurried back to have Ji Zhaoxi and the others copy the book down by hand so they could return it.
Finally, on a very ordinary day, the village loudspeakers crackled to life.
"Comrade commune members, comrade educated youths, we are now broadcasting an important announcement..."
The broadcast echoed continuously, and everyone in the village listened. A burst of passionate cheering erupted from the educated youth compound.
Villagers sat at their doorsteps drinking porridge, their eyes filled with confusion. "What is this college entrance examination thing? Is it a grain levy or something?"
"Mumbling on for so long, we can't even hear the weather forecast."
"Those educated youths are acting like they've gone mad. They just want to go back to the city; they can't handle the hardship of manual labor."
Only a few villagers knew what the college entrance examination truly meant and were thinking about where to go to gather more information.
Ji Zhuxin had even gone out of her way to ask about the political background check for Qin Du. Upon learning that the college entrance exam only looked at personal performance and not family background, Mother Qin couldn't help but tear up.
Every day after finishing his own studies, Qin Du would tutor Ji Zhaoxi. He broke down every single piece of knowledge into bite-sized pieces to feed to her.
Although Ji Zhaoxi had a poor foundation, she had a sharp mind and was willing to learn, so she didn't struggle too much when studying.
Later, Ji Zhaoxi discovered that Qin Du also had many books, but they were all hidden in the cellar.
These books had been hidden there by Qin Du's father. He had told Qin Du back then that there would eventually come a day when they would be useful, and unexpectedly, that day had really come.
"Brother Qin Du, can I really get into college?"
Ji Zhaoxi watched the wax dripping from the candle, her eyes somewhat bewildered.
To be honest, she didn't really know what getting into college meant. She had never read books growing up, but her sister took this matter extremely seriously, so she just listened to her sister.
Qin Du looked down at her and lowered his voice. "Of course you can."
Ji Zhuxin hadn't just been saying it casually when she called Ji Zhaoxi smart; she really did learn very quickly.
The weather had been getting colder lately. The temperature in the mountains was much lower than outside. Ji Zhaoxi was afraid of the cold, and sometimes her hands would freeze terribly while she was writing.
Qin Du found a tin can from the mine. He filled it with boiling hot water and wrapped it thickly with an old sock. Of course, the old sock belonged to Ji Zhaoxi.
Qin Du first tested the temperature against his own chest before handing it over to Ji Zhaoxi.
"Thank you, Brother Qin Du," Ji Zhaoxi said, happily hugging the tin can.
Qin Du gave a low hum of acknowledgment and sat back down beside her to continue reading.
Qin Du didn't like to talk. Other than when he was tutoring her, he was like a mute.
At first, Ji Zhaoxi was a little afraid of him and hardly dared to speak to him. But after realizing that he was just a man of few words and never lost his temper, she started to bully him.
After finishing a set of practice questions, Ji Zhaoxi would take a break. One moment she would go look at the coffin, imagining her father lying inside, and the next moment she would run out the door to play with the dog.
Qin Du calculated the time and dragged Ji Zhaoxi, who had been playing wildly outside, back indoors.
Ji Zhaoxi sighed deeply and resumed her studies.
After a hasty dinner, the two continued studying. There was a lot of food nearby, all brought over by Ji Zhuxin, who was terrified they might go hungry. But it was only Ji Zhaoxi who ate; Qin Du didn't touch it at all.
The cold wind howled outside, sounding like something was being blown away, and faint shouts of people could be heard. The drafts in the house had all been sealed off, so it wasn't particularly cold inside.
Suddenly, Qin Du felt a weight on his shoulder. He looked down to see that Ji Zhaoxi had fallen asleep at some point and was leaning against him.
There were faint dark circles under her eyes, the result of her exhausting efforts recently. She was wearing many layers, her sleeping face was flushed pink, and her breathing was light as she slept soundly.
Qin Du moved gently, cupping her face. The skin on her face was incredibly soft, so soft that he felt his hand sink right in. Her breath continuously brushed against his hand, tickling his palm.
He placed a blanket folded into a square on the table and let her rest her head on it to sleep for a while.
After doing all this, Qin Du looked at the words in his book, his mind suddenly going blank for a moment. He tried to get back into the zone, but he simply couldn't focus on studying anymore.
His gaze shifted back to the sleeping Ji Zhaoxi beside him. Even though her breathing was very shallow, so faint it was barely audible, he felt that the sound of her breath was more distracting to him than the howling wind outside.
Ji Zhaoxi loved to act spoiled and pout; Qin Du had always known this.
When he first moved next door to her house, the very first thing he heard was her whining to her sister, admitting her mistakes.
"Please, sis, I really know I was wrong. I'll never do it again next time."
But the next day, Qin Du realized that with Ji Zhaoxi, there would always be a next time.
Because she would say this exact phrase to her sister several times a day.
When she was getting a beating, the frequency could reach dozens of times.
Like right now.
"Brother Qin Du, can I finish writing this tomorrow? My hand is about to break. Please, I'm begging you, this is the last time."
Ji Zhaoxi looked pitifully at the book in front of her.
Seeing that Qin Du wasn't saying anything, Ji Zhaoxi hugged his arm and fake-cried. This trick almost never worked on Ji Zhuxin, but with Qin Du, the success rate was actually quite high.
When Qin Du refused to look at her, she stuffed her hand into his and said aggrievedly, "My hand is trembling from all this writing."
"Brother Qin Du, look at it. Later when my sister comes, just tell her I finished studying, okay?"
Because she had been hugging the hot water bottle, her palm was a faint pink. Her nails were neatly trimmed, and her hand, much like herself, was very delicate and pretty.
Compared to Qin Du's hands, Ji Zhaoxi's hand was pitifully small. She rubbed against his hand, and Qin Du paused for a moment but still didn't pull his hand away.
Ji Zhaoxi leaned on the table, craning her neck to look at Qin Du's expression. "Brother Qin Du, you're the best. Can you please cover for me? Otherwise, my sister is going to beat me."
Qin Du's throat tightened. He didn't look at her, only giving a low hum of agreement.
Her presence instantly pulled away as Ji Zhaoxi cheered and ran off to the side to play by the coffin.
Qin Du lowered his eyes. A tickling sensation spread from his heart to his entire body, and the scent of her perfumed balm still lingered on his hand.
He suddenly somewhat believed her sister's words.
"Qin Du, this wretched girl loves to wear people down. Don't let her fool you. Once you give in the first time, there will be countless times after that. But you should be able to handle it. As long as you keep rejecting her, she won't dare to act up."
Qin Du sighed. The truth was, he couldn't do it either.
