Chapter 63: Why Are You Learning in Secret?

The other villagers, upon witnessing Xu Lin’s act of saving the child, began to chatter amongst themselves.

“Oh dear, he choked on a peanut. You can’t give such little ones peanuts to eat.”

“That’s right. Kids this young don’t know how to chew properly. What would we do if something bad happened?”

“Exactly. Just last year, a child in Wulipo choked to death. The poor child’s mother went mad from grief.”

“Erwa is lucky to be alive. If it hadn’t been for Comrade Xu, who knows if he would’ve made it to the clinic.”

“I doubt he would have. I heard that the family in Wulipo lived just a hundred meters from the clinic and still couldn’t save their child.”

“Is that true? Then Erwa is truly blessed. They say that those who survive great misfortune are destined for good fortune. Erwa will surely have a good life ahead.”

The villagers gathered around Erwa, offering words of comfort, debating his luck, and some took the opportunity to size up Xu Lin.

This thin, dark-skinned girl didn’t look like she knew medicine, but who would have guessed she’d be so skilled? The child was saved with just a few expert presses of her hands.

Once Erwa’s father was certain his son was safe, his legs went weak and he nearly knelt before Xu Lin to express his gratitude. But before his knees touched the ground, Xu Lin sidestepped quickly, waving her hands and calling out, “Uncle, please don’t kneel. That would bring me misfortune.”

The others caught on and quickly joined in.

“That’s right, Comrade Xu is right. You mustn’t kneel; someone could use that against you.”

“If you really want to show your thanks, just bring some eggs or something as a gift. No need to kneel.”

“She’s so young; it could shorten her life.”

With everyone talking at once, Erwa’s father realized it was inappropriate. But as a simple country man, his first instinct for gratitude was to bow down. Blushing from the villagers’ admonishments, he smiled sheepishly at Xu Lin.

“Comrade Xu, I’m sorry, I didn’t think it through. You saved my Erwa; I would never want to harm you,” he stammered, rubbing his hands nervously. “How about you come to our house for dinner tonight? Let us thank you properly. Don’t worry, my wife keeps a very clean home.”

He quickly added the last, afraid Xu Lin would look down on their household for being dirty. He knew the educated youth came from the city and liked cleanliness. There had even been one who refused to let his feet touch the ground, walking on tiptoe everywhere. That one managed to find a way back to the city to work within a month.

Ah, he thought, what a thing to envy.

“No, really, I don’t mind at all,” Xu Lin replied, waving her hand with a smile. She’d endured worse than the countryside, and in the apocalypse, she had braved countless dangers among corpses.

Seeing Xu Lin’s sincere smile, Erwa’s father relaxed. Erwa’s mother, having recovered, came over with Erwa in her arms to thank Xu Lin as well. Other relatives joined in, their words of gratitude coming endlessly—they all knew that if it hadn’t been for Comrade Xu, their Erwa wouldn’t have survived.

Wang Facai eyed Xu Lin with a complicated look. He hadn’t expected the frail young woman to have such medical skills, and not simple ones at that. Unfortunately, their village already had a doctor. With her build, she couldn’t do heavy labor. He’d have to think about what easy work he could assign her. But easy jobs were few and far between, each already claimed by someone. Well, he’d just try to go easy when distributing tasks; let them do what they can and not push too hard. When it came time to cut pigweed, he’d send the girl—easy work, and she could get the village kids to help in exchange for candy. She’d probably enjoy that.

Amidst all the praise, Xu Lin cheerfully returned to the work field. Han Hong’s gaze toward her grew even more layered. As he dug, he asked, “Comrade Xu, when did you learn medicine? Who was your teacher?”

“I never had a teacher. I taught myself, in secret,” Xu Lin replied breezily, making things up as she went; she certainly couldn’t say she’d learned after traveling through time.

“Why did you have to learn in secret?” Zhang Qiang asked, puzzled.

“Because of the Xu family, of course.” Xu Lin placed all the blame on the Xu family; if they’d known she was learning medicine, they’d have stopped her. They never wanted her to have an easy life.

Zhang Qiang’s imagination ran wild: that family who’d swapped children and acted like spies—no wonder they’d want to keep her powerless and under their control. Suppressing and oppressing her was only to be expected.

Thinking of how Xu Lin managed to learn in secret under such difficult circumstances, Zhang Qiang felt ashamed. His own learning environment was so much better, yet he’d never thought to study hard—he felt he was letting down his parents, his family, and his teachers.

“Comrade Xu, are you still studying now?” Zhang Qiang asked.

“Yes, I’m always studying in secret,” Xu Lin said as she tossed weeds to the field’s edge. “It’s just a pity I don’t have a diploma. I wonder if I could take the graduation exam at the commune’s school.”

“You probably can. I’ll help you find out,” Han Hong interjected.

“Really? That’s wonderful, thank you so much!” Xu Lin’s eyes curved into crescents as she smiled, making Han Hong’s heart skip a beat and his ears flush red.

The three of them continued working, laughing and chatting, and before they knew it, the workday was over. Erwa’s mother came over with Erwa in her arms, reminding Xu Lin not to cook tonight, but to come to their house for dinner instead. Xu Lin readily agreed, returned to the educated youth dormitory with the others, and quickly set a pot on the stove to brew medicine she’d prepared for Granny Zheng. Later, she’d need to make it into small pills—after a lifetime of hardship, there was no need for the old woman to drink bitter decoctions if there were better options.

While the medicine simmered, Xu Lin also sorted through the herbs she’d gathered, planning to process them after dinner. In short, she was very busy.

Seeing Xu Lin brewing medicine, Qin Fang pinched her nose and walked off with a look of distaste.

Qin Fang and Su Liang had discussed it and decided not to share meals with the rest of the educated youth in the dormitory. But they needed someone to cook for them, so they planned to find someone willing to partner up for meal preparations.

With most of the educated youth back from work, Qin Fang and Su Liang quickly found Chen Zhaodi. Su Liang had done some investigating: among the four girls, Zhao Qing and Zhao Nan’s cooking was mediocre—worse even than Liu Pandi’s. Only Chen Zhaodi’s cooking was truly delicious. Of course, the best cook was Wu Siyu, but she refused to partner with them.

Today, Zhao Qing was in charge of cooking, with Zhao Nan helping out in the kitchen. They always helped each other when it was their turn. Chen Zhaodi and Liu Pandi were squatting in the courtyard, scrubbing their hands clean. Coming from poor families, they had no gloves for work, so their hands were especially dirty—mud wedged in every crevice, impossible to clean without serious effort.

That was when Qin Fang and Su Liang approached. Seeing the grime in their hands, Qin Fang looked on with clear distaste. If there were any other option, she certainly wouldn’t ask Chen Zhaodi to cook for them.