Chapter 58

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Protagonist:

Chai Mi

When Chai Mi woke up, it was already past four in the morning.

In summer, dawn came early; by past four, the horizon had already turned fish-belly white.

Chai Mi glanced at the chair she was leaning against, then touched her neck and rubbed her waist...

Her waist was nearly broken...

Having sat stiffly all night, Chai Mi felt the joints of her waist aching along with it, and her back was uncomfortable too; she didn't know if this was an omen of lumbar strain.

She moved about for quite a while before feeling somewhat better.

Leaning on the windowsill, Chai Mi looked around the room; her father Chai Youqing had not returned last night, and only Chai Xiu lay slanted on the kang head, without a pillow, without changing her clothes, sleeping soundly.

Country folk have always risen early and slept early.

Moreover, in this era, radios were relatively few; apart from the Village Chief's home, which had a secondhand 14-inch black-and-white television, no one else even knew what a television looked like, let alone mobile phones and such.

Therefore, without these things to pass the time, it was hard not to sleep early and rise early.

Chai Mi drew a basin of cold water from the pressurized well and washed her face.

Without applying any cosmetics, her complexion was extremely fair and tender, making her sigh to herself: Young, truly damn good.

After being busy for a while and making breakfast, Chai Mi then called Chai Xiu up to eat.

After breakfast, Chai Mi felt increasingly sleepy and slept a little while longer, not waking until ten fifty-three.

Sleeping in again would only make one more tired.

Chai Mi shook her head helplessly, washed her face with clean water again, then boiled some hot water, preparing to drink a cup of tea.

A morning without tea had no energy.

Leaning against the kang head, Chai Mi was pondering what to do in a few days; always sitting at home eating up the mountain was no good either.

The family's savings had been very small these years; three children always used more than one, and even with frugality, it still did no good.

In recent years, many people in the village had started to get rich. The first person in the village to get rich was surnamed Zhou, and they had all moved to the south; Chai Mi had a deep impression of his family because that household had a son named Zhou Fang, who was Chai Mi's—"childhood friend."

Chai Mi thought for a moment and decided "childhood friend" was more suitable; that Zhou Fang, when young, had delicate features, was tall and thin, and had fair skin; a boy with fair skin was good-looking, and the village had always thought he was a young lady, and Chai Mi had always thought so too...

Until later when his family moved away; at that time Zhou Fang was only twelve or thirteen, and he wrote Chai Mi a letter saying he liked Chai Mi, and only then did Chai Mi know that her "good brother" was actually male...

In the days after, this fellow did keep writing letters, only Chai Mi didn't like reading them... those letters were several thousand words long, from Qin Shi Huang to Emperor Xianfeng, from family matters to major international events, from the college entrance exam top scorer to the hardship of farming; Chai Mi didn't know if this fellow had been ruined by the eight-legged essay, beating around the bush with no focus.

Not even a single sentence: Have you eaten?

Enough to let Chai Mi know this was just nonsense...

In the first few days, this fellow still sent letters, saying Chai Mi should come get together when free, and treat Chai Mi to a meal.

Chai Mi laughed angrily after reading the letter at the time.

Chai Mi: He's in the south saying he'll treat me to a meal?!

Which day? Where? What to eat?

Said nothing at all, just from several thousand li away said he'd treat me to a meal?

Such a funny thing... Chai Mi didn't believe it at all.

Then, angry, she tore up the letter.

Better to mail over two catties of pig head meat; that would be real...

Day after day, who the hell did he learn from, just doing empty things...