This time, Zhuang Nuo admitted in front of everyone that she liked Su Li.
Children didn’t know any better. They thought that if two people liked each other, it meant they were dating.
Su Li and Zhuang Nuo thought so too, and began acting like a proper “couple.”
But now Zhuang Nuo was staying in the capital instead of returning to the island, and Su Li felt as if the sky had fallen in.
He cried, and Zhuang Nuo cried along with him.
Su Li kept clamoring for Nuonuo to go back with him.
Zhuang Yi’s transfer order had already come through. Even if Zhuang Nuo was willing to go, there was nothing she could do.
Lin Zhilan had no idea what to do with the little rascal. She wiped his tears and snot with a handkerchief. “You want to be with Nuonuo that badly? How about I leave you here in the capital?”
Su Li’s eyes were brimming with tears. After hesitating for a few seconds, he said, “Okay!”
Of course, that was absolutely not okay.
Half coaxing and half deceiving him, Lin Zhilan got Su Li onto the train.
Su Li was now in a “long-distance relationship,” and Linlin also realized that her brother would not be returning with them. The two children were both listless throughout the journey.
Su Lang received their letter and came to meet them.
The moment Lin Zhilan saw him, her entire body relaxed. She no longer had the energy to think about anything and only wanted to hurry home and wash up properly.
After eating dinner at home, Lin Zhilan fell into a deep sleep. When she woke up, she was faced with two sobbing children.
Linlin lay on her left, her eyes red. “Mommy, I miss my brother.”
Ever since she could remember, she had always been with her brother.
It was only after they got home this time, without Jiang Chengzhou returning with them, that Linlin truly felt his absence.
Lin Zhilan was just about to comfort her daughter when Su Li began wiping away his tears as well.
Lin Zhilan sighed. “You miss your brother too?”
“Huh?” Su Li froze. “Yeah!”
Yeah, my foot!
“Your brother will be back during winter vacation. Can you hold on until then?”
Linlin blinked her big eyes, and the tears in them rolled back and forth. “Mommy, I think I might not be able to hold on.”
Lin Zhilan found it both amusing and heartbreaking.
She stroked her daughter’s head. “Your brother promised that he would call when he had time. Winter vacation will be here in just a few months. Then you’ll be able to see him.”
“Mm.” Linlin pouted and hugged her mother’s arm tightly.
Su Li wrapped his arms around her other arm. “I can’t hold on either.”
“Then try harder.”
Su Li tried very hard. He held it in until his face turned red.
In the end, he really couldn’t hold it anymore and let out a thunderous fart.
The air seemed to freeze for several seconds.
Lin Zhilan and Linlin screamed at the same time, sprang out of bed, and ran barefoot into the living room.
“Heehee.”
Amused by his mother and sister’s reactions, Su Li broke into a mischievous grin.
Su Lang happened to return with food from the cafeteria. As soon as he entered, he saw his wife and daughter standing barefoot in the living room. “What happened?”
“Daddy, Su Li’s fart stinks so bad!”
Su Lang glanced toward the bedroom. “Then… should we eat in the courtyard?”
“What do you think?” Lin Zhilan glared at him.
She was definitely taking her anger out on him!
Who told him to be Su Li’s father?
Pinching his nose, Su Lang went into the bedroom to open the windows and sprayed some floral toilet water around the room. Only then did he bring that stinky little rascal back out.
After washing his hands, Su Li obediently went to get bowls and chopsticks for everyone.
Out of habit, he took out a set for Jiang Chengzhou too.
When Lin Zhilan saw the empty seat at the table, she sighed and fell silent.
The two children also said nothing.
Su Lang had been living alone at home for the past few days, so he had already grown used to it.
He even wondered whether his wife and children would be this miserable whenever he went out to sea.
He put a piece of spare rib into Lin Zhilan’s bowl. “Eat first. I ran into Principal Yuan outside just now. He said you’re to go to the school for a meeting tomorrow morning.”
The moment the conversation turned to work, Lin Zhilan pulled herself together and picked up her chopsticks.
Linlin made a study schedule for herself. She had fallen behind on it during their trip to the capital, so she needed to catch up now.
The two women of the household had both found things to occupy themselves with and put their emotions aside.
That left only Su Li, sitting across from his father and staring at him.
“Su Li, what are you doing?”
Su Li propped his chin up with both hands. “I don’t know.”
Su Lang thought for a moment, then took out some copybooks that Linlin had used before and gave them to him to practice writing.
The little fellow sat up straight and carefully traced each character stroke by stroke. Unfortunately, his hands seemed determined not to cooperate. Even the simplest strokes came out crooked, messy, and terribly ugly.
Jiang Chengzhou had always done well in school, and Linlin’s studies had never given her parents any cause for concern.
After watching him practice writing for an entire afternoon, Su Lang suddenly realized that the little demon in their family probably wasn’t destined for a scholarly career.
Su Lang was only realizing it now, but Lin Zhilan had noticed it long ago.
Su Li’s time in kindergarten went smoothly enough. But after he started primary school, a major problem emerged on the very first day.
When Su Li was in kindergarten, he had to thank pinyin whenever he wrote his name.
The character “Li” never appeared in his exercise books. He always wrote “Su li” instead.
But once he entered first grade, there were midterm and final exams. He couldn’t keep muddling through like that.
On the very first day of school, he threw a fit and demanded to change his name.
Lin Zhilan asked him what he wanted to change it to. He said he wanted the surname “One” and the given name “Two-One,” so that his full name would be “One-Two-One.”
“…”
Even if Lin Zhilan and Su Lang, his parents, agreed, the civil affairs bureau would never approve it.
Su Li’s request was suppressed, and on his first day of primary school, he obediently practiced writing his signature.
So Su Lang was only just discovering that his son was a poor student—he was rather slow on the uptake.
Lin Zhilan was now the director of the traditional Chinese medicine department at the military district hospital, as well as a teacher at the school.
Su Lang had been promoted, but he continued to keep a low profile.
Jiang Chengzhou was studying in the capital, and the family gradually grew accustomed to his absence. The only painful part was the amount they spent on long-distance calls every month.
If Lin Zhilan and Su Lang hadn’t both earned good salaries, they probably wouldn’t have been willing to make so many long-distance calls.
A great deal had happened that year.
The second national college entrance examination had been held successfully, and the talent-selection system had been fully restored.
Toward the end of the year, Reform and Opening Up officially began.
In the countryside, the household responsibility system was introduced, with land being divided among individual families.
Restrictions on population movement were also relaxed. People were allowed to travel between cities and the countryside, visit relatives, and engage in short-distance trade without such strict controls.
The arts and literature gradually began to recover. Many old books and traditional Chinese medical texts were unsealed, and ancient books that had been confiscated were gradually returned to their private owners.
Everyone had originally assumed that Jiang Chengzhou would be able to return during winter vacation so that the whole family could reunite.
But his school was rather special. Yan Yuan and the others had half a month off, while Jiang Chengzhou had only seven days.
Several days would be spent traveling back and forth, leaving him barely any time at home.
Afraid that the journey would be too exhausting for him, Lin Zhilan simply told him to spend the New Year in the capital.
If they had known earlier, Lin Zhilan and Su Lang could have requested leave in advance and the whole family could have gone to the capital to see him.
But by then, it was too late to ask for leave at such short notice.
Fortunately, there were several elderly relatives in the capital. Su Jue and Deng Jing were also at home, so Jiang Chengzhou would at least have somewhere to go.
Still, the news that Jiang Chengzhou couldn’t come home for the New Year left everyone in the family feeling disappointed.
