Chapter 20: Beibei Falls in Love with School

Returning to Quanshui Village, the sky was already turning dark. She first returned to her room to wash up before carrying ten steamed buns to knock on Xie Yuanyuan's door.

When Xie Yuanyuan opened the door, she saw that the entire room was so full of things placed on the floor that there was barely any space to walk.

"Did your dad move the entire Xie Family here for you?" An Yinan teased with a smile, looking at the five cans of malted milk powder on the floor, along with canned goods, powdered milk, and bundles wrapped in oil paper.

Even more exaggerated was the fact that there was actually a large iron pot…

Xie Yuanyuan raised her head from behind a large parcel with a tearful expression, "Lao Xie must have some misunderstanding about my appetite."

On the floor, there was also rice, flour, and oil…

Indeed, such heavy paternal love.

"Your parcel is over there; I won't go over to eat today," Xie Yuanyuan's chubby little finger pointed in a direction.

An Yinan smiled and walked out the door, carrying one parcel in each hand.

She finally understood the source of Xie Yuanyuan's pure nature; with such deep love, a child is naturally purer, as all harm has been isolated from them.

After walking back to her room, "Beibei, take these buns to Brother Zhang Qian."

"Okay." Beibei took the cloth bag and went to the First Courtyard.

She first opened the letter; the characters on the first letter were vigorous and powerful, carrying a sense of sharpness.

There was no salutation at the beginning, only the four words "Seeing the letter is like meeting," and below that was a simple self-introduction; it was very obvious that he had forced himself to write about trivial matters of daily life just to fill the space.

Chen Xun was the youngest son of her godparents. Inside the letter was also a money order for eighty yuan, which the letter stated was a gift for their first meeting.

And that small parcel also came from Chen Xun; inside was a military overcoat and a military water canteen.

Putting these aside, she took out the second letter. Seeing the familiar handwriting, An Yinan knew it was written by her godmother.

It wrote about the punishment of the fake maternal family and asked if she had adapted and if she needed anything. It also carefully told her to keep her guard up when meeting people, not to trust others too easily, and that she could discuss anything with the family. There was also a money order for ten yuan, which was the rent for the house; the house had been rented to the County Revolutionary Committee, so even if those people from the fake maternal family were released, they wouldn't dare go to the house to cause trouble.

The large parcel contained a set of winter cotton mattress and quilt. She didn't know how her godparents had managed to gather the cotton; the quilt was very substantial and must have weighed seven jin.

"Sister, time to eat." Beibei had heated up the food, the leftovers from noon, and the meat buns.

An Yinan put all the letters aside and walked to the outer kitchen with An Xiangbei, "What did you do today, Beibei?"

An Xiangbei lifted his little face, "Today Huzi, Xiaoshitou, and I went to cut grass for the cows and earned two Work Points. In the afternoon, I told them stories from the picture books; they really liked listening to my stories."

In these past few days, Beibei's face had gained a little flesh. Although his little face was a bit darker, it now held smiles.

"Sister bought a few more books; I'll give them to you in a moment."

"Beibei, do you want to go to school?"

An Yinan asked little Xiangbei. Although the educational level in the village couldn't compare to the City, she could tutor him herself. Furthermore, she discovered that little Xiangbei learned everything very quickly and had a very agile mind.

"Can I?" Little Xiangbei looked up, his black and white eyes filled with expectation. He didn't want to bring it up to his sister because he was afraid of making things difficult for her. Life was already very good now; they had a place to live and could eat their fill every day.

But he loved learning and wanted to acquire more knowledge.

An Yinan felt a pang in her nose. Beibei was so young, yet so cautious, "Of course you can."

"Beibei, do what you want to do; Sister is always here."

An Yinan rubbed Beibei's soft hair with a smile on her face, though her eyes were filled with sour moisture. He was only a ten-year-old child, at such an innocent and carefree age, yet he was so cautious.

A brilliant persistence appeared in An Xiangbei's eyes. He would never forget that night for the rest of his life.

"Sister, I want to go to school, I really, really want to."

An Yinan nodded, "Alright, when spring comes next year, Sister will send you to school."

"Yay!" Only at this moment did An Xiangbei look like a child.

That night, An Yinan took a bag of sponge cakes and went to the Captain's house.

She knocked on the courtyard gate first. When Auntie Chen heard it, she patted Huzi, "Your fairy sister is here."

In this Quanshui Village, when villagers entered a door, they would shout with loud voices; when would they ever knock?

Fewer people came from the Educated Youth side, and only Nan Nan came often. Now, hearing the knock, she knew who it was.

Huzi ran out of the room first, "Fairy sister, it really is you."

An Yinan walked into the courtyard and asked Huzi with a smile, "Have you eaten?"

"Ate, ate. Today Grandma boiled an egg for me; it was so delicious." Huzi was extremely happy. Usually, let alone eggs, he couldn't even see an eggshell.

The two chatted as they entered the room.

"Nan Nan, come sit on the kang." Auntie Chen was sewing clothes under the kerosene lamp.

An Yinan followed the local customs and sat cross-legged on the kang, "Auntie Li, I want to ask about something."

"What is it? Just say it." Auntie Chen put down the clothes in her hands.

"Next spring, I want to let Beibei go to school. What procedures do I need to handle?"

Auntie Chen clapped her hands, "Hi, I thought it was something major!"

"Huzi is also going to school next spring. Just have your uncle write a certificate and an introduction letter."

Auntie Chen thought for a moment and said in a low voice, "There is news from the Educated Youth Office; Xiangbei will be the same as the village children, except he won't have a grain ration."

An Yinan finally felt relieved. She had come to the countryside as an Educated Youth, and her household registration had already been moved to Quanshui Village. However, Beibei's household registration was still in the City, and he had a City grain ration. Before she left, she had given the grain book to her godmother.

She had come this time fearing that the household registration would make it difficult for Beibei to attend school, but she hadn't expected it to be so easy.

"Then I will have to trouble Uncle to write the certificate. Next year, Beibei and Huzi will go together," An Yinan said politely.

Auntie Chen liked listening to Educated Youth An speak; her words were pleasant, and doing things for her made one feel bright inside.

An Yinan remembered the afternoon's events and asked again, "Auntie Chen, do you know Auntie Liu?"

Auntie Chen's smile froze for a moment, and she sighed, "Auntie Liu is a pitiful person. The couple only had one son, and after graduating from high school, he insisted on joining the Military."

"Everything was fine for the first few years, but last year, people from the County Revolutionary Committee and the Military came and said he had sacrificed while executing a mission. Old Liu was already too sick to get off the kang, and upon hearing the news, he didn't live three more days before he was gone."

"Since then, Auntie Liu rarely leaves her courtyard. Only during the rush harvest does she come out to earn Work Points. Usually, she stays huddled in her courtyard, doesn't speak to anyone she sees, and the villagers don't go over there either."

Hearing this, An Yinan roughly understood the reason why Auntie Liu had helped her.

"Where does Auntie Liu live?" An Yinan asked.

Regardless, Mother Liu had helped her, and she kept this help in her heart; when she was able to lend a hand in the future, she would naturally do so.

"Follow the path from the village to the west, and the last household is the one; why are you asking about Mother Liu?" No one in the village discussed Mother Liu, and logically, the Educated Youth over there would know even less.

An Yinan recounted what happened today, without saying a single word more than necessary.

"You should stay away from that Er Gouzi, and the Lu Family one is even more of a rascal; as a young woman, you still need to be careful." Auntie Chen gave a couple of instructions, though she could not say much more.

"I know. With Beibei's schooling settled, I can rest easy. I'll head back now." An Yinan nodded with a smile, lifted her legs, and stepped off the kang to leave.

After seeing An Yinan off, Auntie Chen entered the room and only then discovered there were still things on the cabinet; she slapped her thigh, "Hey, this Nan Nan, she's too much of a stranger."