Chapter 175
Jiang Yexun and Su Xiaoxiao didn’t care about what Luo Shanzhu might be thinking. As soon as their eyes met, they immediately locked onto each other.
Su Xiaoxiao ran over, taking small steps. She stopped about two meters away from Jiang Yexun and tilted her head, looking at him with an affectionate smile. “Let’s go and deliver the gifts to Xingzhi and Tiewa, then go to the educated youth dormitory,” Jiang Yexun waved toward Su Xiaoxiao.
Su Xiaoxiao’s heart raced rapidly, and she couldn’t resist getting closer. As she pressed herself against him, she realized what she was doing.
Jiang Yexun was already quite enamored with her, and her soft and warm presence pressed against his arm ignited his passion. “Ahem, um… Little educated youth, can you let go for now? Let’s deliver the gifts first,” he said, and his voice was husky, adding to the allure.
Su Xiaoxiao, who was tightly pressed against him and couldn’t take a step further, felt boneless and twisted herself, nestling into his firm chest. Her whole body adhered to him, causing Jiang Yexun to stop for a moment.
After struggling for a few seconds, he changed his stance to hug her. Unfortunately, there were no trees around, so he had to stay on high alert, listening for any approaching footsteps.
“Be good, let go for now. We’ll deliver the gifts and then head home. We can do whatever you want,” Jiang Yexun said. All the heat in his body seemed to be directed towards a particular spot. He was overwhelmed and restless.
“No, give me another hug,” Su Xiaoxiao buried her head in his chest and rubbed it softly. Her warm breath excited the blood in Jiang Yexun’s heart. His reason told him to push her away, but his wrapped arms only got tighter, and he felt parched and restless.
After a brief hug, Su Xiaoxiao decided it wasn’t enough and even wanted a kiss. However, they heard someone approaching – it was a woman’s voice that grew louder as she got closer. Su Xiaoxiao pinched her thigh to regain her composure. She withdrew from Jiang Yexun’s embrace before he pushed her away.
The scorching warmth from his chest was replaced by a cold breeze. Jiang Yexun felt like all the warmth in his heart was extinguished. He gritted his teeth and looked towards the approaching duo.
The two people, who had been chatting and laughing, were startled when they saw Jiang Yexun and Su Xiaoxiao standing there. “Yexun, Educated Youth Su, you’re back. How was it outside? Did you have fun?” they asked, somewhat embarrassed.
“Yes,” Jiang Yexun replied briefly, obviously not in the best mood. The newcomers realized that they might have interrupted something and quickly left, not daring to say another word.
“Let’s go; we need to hurry and deliver the gifts,” Su Xiaoxiao called out and turned toward the direction of Xingzhi’s and Tiewa’s homes. She seemed eager to move quickly, probably afraid she might do something to Jiang Yexun if they lingered any longer.
Observing her restlessness, Jiang Yexun gently smiled, his eyelids drooping. He hurriedly followed her. They spent some time at Xingzhi’s and Tiewa’s houses, discussing topics like the families of Jiang Yexun’s two brothers tried to move into the newly built houses and their plans to acquire materials to reinforce their current homes.
Fortunately, both Xingzhi’s and Tiewa’s families were quite hardline, and didn’t let them have their way. However, Jiang Yexun and Su Xiaoxiao had expected these would’ve coming, so they weren’t particularly angry.
By the time they left Tiewa’s house at half-past eleven, they leisurely made their way to the educated youth dormitory. As they arrived at the gate, they heard cries of distress coming from inside.
“I can’t take it anymore; I’m going to die! When will these days of reclaiming wasteland end?”
“They won’t make us work until it snows, will they? We’re all exhausted! Last year, we didn’t spend this much time reclaiming the land.”
Su Xiaoxiao was somewhat surprised and turned to Jiang Yexun. In her previous life, she was already married to him at this time and didn’t need to reclaim wasteland. She clearly remembered that they had only spent twenty days reclaiming land back then.
“It’s probably my father’s way of venting his frustration, deliberately making things difficult for people,” Jiang Yexun said, his father was only a team leader, but he had a big authority in the team, so he couldn’t help but sneer.
The people in the courtyard turned around to look when they heard the voices at the gate.
“Xiaoxiao!” Tao Junlan’s eyes lit up, and she immediately ran over to embrace Su Xiaoxiao.
With open arms, it was clear she wanted to give Su Xiaoxiao a big hug. Jiang Yexun’s face instantly grew cold, and he reached out to take his small object to the side.
Tao Junlan missed her target and looked at the cold-faced man with displeasure. “Comrade Jiang, you’re really petty, even getting jealous of a fellow comrade.”
“Any problem?” Jiang Yexun raised an eyebrow, putting on a fierce and intimidating appearance.
Tao Junlan finally remembered that the man in front of her had a notorious reputation in the team.
“Alright, don’t scare my friend,” Su Xiaoxiao patted Jiang Yexun and said, somewhat helpless.
With that, Jiang Yexun eased the coldness on his face and put down the bamboo basket he had been carrying. He had already delivered gifts to his three friends in the team, so the items they were carrying were all meant for Su Xiaoxiao’s friends.
Su Xiaoxiao picked out two scarves from the basket, a khaki one and a peach-colored one. She handed them over to Tao Junlan and Qian Siyu, respectively. Then, she took out two pieces of cloth and a few pounds of pure wool yarn for them.
“These are things I specially bought for you in Beijing. The fabric and yarn are just enough to make clothing,” she said.
“Thank you! We’ve also made something for you recently; let me go get it,” Tao Junlan and Qian Siyu took the gifts without any hesitation and then turned to go back to their rooms.
When they came out again, Tao Junlan was holding a thirty-centimeter high ceramic jar.
“This is the soy beef we made for you. It can last for almost half a year without spoiling,” Tao Junlan said.
“Wow, you’re too kind to me,” Su Xiaoxiao’s eyes lit up when she heard about the soy beef. During the snowy winter, it was indeed necessary to have some delicious food to pass the time, as they couldn’t leave their homes.
Seeing that his girlfriend liked it, Jiang Yexun reached out and took the jar, thanking them as well.
Tao Junlan hesitated for a moment but then said, “Xiaoxiao is from Shanghai, and if you have connections, you can also get some marinated crabs, it’s a great way to pass the winter. Make sure to use good quality yellow wine; it makes the crabs taste even better.”
“Alright,” Jiang Yexun immediately made a mental note of it.
Seeing that Jiang Yexun didn’t seem annoyed by her comments, Tao Junlan and Qian Siyu felt somewhat relieved.
Sitting down at the small table in the courtyard, they lowered their voices and asked, “When you brought Comrade Jiang back, did your parents say anything?”
“I didn’t take him back; there was some trouble with my brother. I stayed with him for a month,” Su Xiaoxiao explained briefly.
Tao Junlan and Qian Siyu were tense but visibly relieved when they heard that her brother had already approved of Jiang Yexun.
Su Xiaoxiao couldn’t help but find it amusing. “Weren’t you both looking forward that I won’t marry Brother Yexun?”
“Well, it’s alright. We see that he treats you well, and your future mother-in-law cares about you. Most importantly, those people in his family haven’t troubled you these times, and he can protect his wife,” Tao Junlan said somewhat awkwardly.
Although they felt sorry that their delicate friend, who was used to city life, had to stay in the village from now on, marrying Jiang Yexun didn’t seem like a bad decision. At least, none of the city men were as loving and protective as him. Their mothers-in-law were all difficult to deal with.
“Yeah, I think he’s great too,” Su Xiaoxiao replied.
Hearing her friends’ approval of her partner, Su Xiaoxiao’s mouth curled into a wide smile.
“By the way, my brother has arranged for military-style winter coats for you. They should already be at the post office in the city, and I’ll pick them up tomorrow.”
Although they had winter coats, many people couldn’t get enough cotton to make them, so they either had thin coats or only one set, making it hard to wash and change. Su Xiaoxiao remembered that she and her friends had caught colds because their coats weren’t warm enough in her precious life. So, she had asked her brother to help arrange for several military-style winter coats to be sent from the army.
“Wow… Xiaoxiao, you’re really amazing,” Tao Junlan was moved and wanted to hug Su Xiaoxiao.
She had only moved halfway forward when she felt a sharp gaze fixed on her. She shivered, didn’t even need to look up to know who was staring at her like that.