Struggle Life in the 1970s

Chu Ye kept the photo carefully. In the remaining days, Mu Jiajun would wait for her at the school gate with breakfast every morning. After she finished eating, the two of them would take a car to the city. Mu Jiajun would take her to the movies or spend half a day in the library. Sometimes the two of them would walk aimlessly on the tree-lined road, and they would not feel awkward even if they didn't talk.

After the National Day, Mu Jiajun reluctantly returned to school, and Chu Ye also calmed down again. His roommate Chen An returned to school as scheduled, and brought dumplings stuffed with sauerkraut and pork, which made Chu Ye feast on the food.

As the days passed, Chu Ye's teaching style became more mature and stable, and English became the favorite subject of third-grade students. At the same time, her abilities were noticed by all the teachers in the school, and no one dared to look down on this beautiful young girl.

As autumn passed and winter came, the school welcomed the winter vacation when the first snow of the year fell. Chu Ye packed his luggage and, not surprisingly, saw Mu Jiajun, who had been waiting for a long time, at the school gate.

Originally, Mu Jiajun wanted to take advantage of the Chinese New Year to bring Chu Ye home, thinking that since he had already sent their photos home to his parents, it would be a good opportunity to bring his girlfriend home now. Besides, Chu Ye had already cut off contact with her family, and she could stay in school during short holidays, but not during summer and winter vacations, so she had nowhere to go.

But when he made this suggestion, Chu Ye thought about it and decided to refuse. He quickly used his salary to rent a house in the town. The house was a large bungalow made of bricks. Chu Ye rented one of them. Although it was not big, there was a well and an iron pot in the yard, which made it very convenient to live in.

The landlords were an elderly couple. After finding out that Chu Ye was a teacher in the town and was very popular among students, they began to trust her a little more. After paying the rent, the landlords handed her the keys and went to their children's home to celebrate the New Year.

The students of the school had left the day before, but the teachers had to stay in school to mark exams. Everyone was eager to go home, and their subordinates worked so hard that they finally finished all the work this afternoon.

When Chu Ye came out, Mu Jiajun had no idea how long he had been waiting. Some fine white snowflakes had fallen on his shoulders and head. After seeing Chu Ye, he hurried over and took the luggage from her.

"Don't you know how to find a place to hide from the snow?" Chu Ye couldn't help but complain in a low voice as he stretched out his hand to help him brush the snow off his shoulders.

"Aren't you afraid that I'll see you if you come out? It's most convenient to stand here." Mu Jiajun explained with a smile.

"Look down, it's on your hair too."

Mu Jiajun did as he was told. Chu Ye's hand gently brushed his hair, and bits of white snow fell in front of his eyes.

"Hey, look at you two, how sweet they are. What should we who are single do?" A teasing voice came from the school gate. The two turned their heads and saw Chen An and others coming out with luggage, looking at them with teasing eyes.

Chu Ye's hand froze, and the people opposite him chuckled. Chen An walked over first, making a "tsk tsk" sound, "You two are not being kind. We have seen it with so many eyes, why don't you two show some expression?"

"Yeah, you can't keep us watching you two perform. It's hurting our eyes."

"Hahaha, that's right."

Several people behind him started to speak. After half a year of getting along with each other, they had a deep bond with each other and were no longer as reserved as when they first arrived.

"Okay. Everyone is anxious to go home for the New Year right now, I'll treat you to a meal when you come back." Mu Jiajun was not a stingy person, so he agreed directly, causing everyone to shout that Brother Mu was righteous.

Everyone chatted for a few more words, and when the car arrived, they carried their luggage and went home. After Chen An got in the car, he opened the window and waved to Chu Ye with a smile, "I'm leaving first. You wait a little longer. I think the car will arrive soon."

Chu Ye smiled, waved and nodded. They were going in different directions home. Chen An thought that Chu Ye had not waited for the car yet, but he didn't know that she was at the door just to see everyone off.

She did not tell anyone at school about what was happening in her family. After all, it would not be glorious to tell others about such things.

After sending them all away, Chu Ye and Mu Jiajun came to the rented house. The landlord had left a few days ago. Now there was a thin layer of snow in the empty courtyard. After Mu Jiajun brought the luggage into the house, he checked the house inside and out. After confirming that there were no leaks or air leaks, he turned on the light switch and made a "click" sound to confirm again that there was no problem with the lighting.

"Why is your bed so hard? Can you sleep well? Is your mattress thick enough? Will you feel cold when you sleep at night? Is it okay for you to live here?" Mu Jiajun then checked whether there was any moisture or peeling in the corners, and whether there were any insects or ants in the boxes and cabinets. He then pressed the bed board worriedly, muttering to himself.

"Don't worry, I checked it when I rented the house. The landlord couple worked for the government when they were young, and they are still decent now that they are old. The hygiene of the house is very good. Even before I paid the rent, the old couple specially cleaned and swept the house." Chu Ye stood aside, watching him running around like a headless fly, and felt funny.

"I'm really worried about whether you can live well here. Actually, it's really okay for you to come to my house. I have so many rooms that I can't even accommodate them all. I can see you every day when you go there, and you won't be alone during the New Year." Mu Jiajun said, his voice getting lower and lower. He knew what Chu Ye was insisting on. Finally, he sighed helplessly and opened his luggage to make the bed for Chu Ye.

Chu Ye wanted to help but was not allowed to do so. He was ordered to rest aside. After Mu Jiajun made the bed, he cleaned the room again. Not only that, he also cleared the thin snow at the door. "It's just a little snow. It's okay to leave it there." Chu Ye looked at his cautious actions and felt like laughing.

"No, that won't work. What if you accidentally fall when you go out? You're the only one in this yard and no one will help you if something happens." Although he said so, he stayed here obediently in the next few days. He went to the hotel to sleep at night and stayed in this small yard during the day. He also took Chu Ye to the town to buy meat, vegetables and eggs. Not only that, the two of them also ran to the city. Mu Jiajun kept complaining that her clothes were not thick enough, so he dragged her to the department store and bought her everything from top to bottom.

Chu Ye didn't want to spend his money and wanted to refuse, but the man waved his hand, took out his wallet, and paid the bill with a few swipes. Seeing this, Chu Ye was silent. She silently took out her own salary and bought a high-quality cashmere sweater for Mu Jiajun, which was equivalent to her almost two months' salary.

Mu Jiajun was so happy that he wanted to hug Chu Ye intimately in the crowd. He tried his best to control himself so that he looked crazy. He was obviously the son of a wealthy family, but now he looked like a fool, causing the guests around them to unconsciously move away from them.

When they got on the car back, he still held the clothes tightly in his arms. Chu Ye just found it funny, "The clothes you usually wear are not necessarily cheaper than this. Why are you still so stupid?"

"You don't understand. This is the first piece of clothing you bought for me. Of course I am happy. Not only am I happy today, but I will still be happy when I think of this in thirty years." Mu Jiajun smiled brightly, and the warmth in his eyes was scorching even in winter. Chu Ye turned her head away embarrassedly, and at this moment, her left hand seemed to be touched by something, and then a big hand locked her palm tightly, and the two hands were clasped together with their fingers intertwined.

Chu Ye didn't dare to look at him anymore. She pressed her red cheeks against the car window, trying to dissipate the heat.

As the year draws to a close, the town becomes bustling again. People are preparing New Year's goods, buying new clothes, and teasing their children by buying one or two small toys. These scenes are not much different from Chu Ye's hometown.

Maybe it was because her mood had changed, she didn't feel too sad at this happy family moment. Maybe it was because her family didn't bring her much joy even during the Chinese New Year in the past, but now that she was independent, she felt relaxed everywhere.

Mu Jiajun stayed with her here for a few more days. Finally, as the Chinese New Year was approaching, he had to go home, so he spent some time with Chu Ye before reluctantly leaving.

Chu Ye was not idle either. She found a good day and took a bus back to town. However, this time she did not go home, but turned around and went to the department store.

As the year draws to a close, the department store is very busy. Chu Ye easily finds the counter where his third sister is. After all, because of Chu Hua's outstanding sales ability, she was transferred to a prominent place by her superiors early on. Chu Ye finally squeezed through the crowd and found a place with few people to wait.

When there were fewer people around, Chu Ye walked over to say hello. Chu Hua originally thought it was a customer buying something, so she looked up and put a smile on her face again, and greeted him in a hoarse voice. When she saw it was Chu Ye, she was so happy that she couldn't help it. However, because there were customers around her at work, she stopped abruptly, bent down and took out a key from the counter, and told her to go home and wait.

Chu Ye nodded in agreement. When she arrived at her third sister's house, only her niece Gao Xing was there. Gao Xing was drawing at the table. When she heard the door open, she thought it was an adult coming back, so she happily ran to the door to greet them. When she saw it was Chu Ye, she was stunned for a moment, and then shouted "Auntie!"

Chu Ye rubbed her head and talked to her for a while, then took out a wooden pony toy from the cloth bag, and also took out a bag of chocolate candies and biscuits, coaxing the child to shout "Long live Auntie!"

By the evening, my third sister and her husband got home from get off work. They were both extremely tired, so they simply went to a state-owned restaurant to pack up some dishes and put them on plates, which became dinner for several people.

After dinner, Chu Hua was curious about why she came suddenly, and Chu Ye just said that she missed her and was happy. When Chu Hua asked about the preparations for the New Year at home, Chu Ye was evasive and said that it should be ready. Chu Hua had been working all day and was already exhausted. She didn't notice her evasion at all. When she went back to her parents' home to visit after the New Year and discovered what had happened in the past six months, the scene was completely different.

She still slept with Gao Xing at night. The next morning, Chu Hua wanted to keep her, but she refused, saying she had something to go home for. Chu Ye got on the bus back to school and returned to the small rented house.

On New Year's Eve, the snow that had been falling all day and all night disappeared in the early morning. Everywhere you looked, it was all silver-white. Chu Ye waved a shovel to pile up the snow in the yard, and then rolled a big ball and put it on top, vaguely revealing the shape of a snowman.

Chu Ye was busy all day today. She rolled out the dough, mixed the stuffing and made more than 40 dumplings. She made a dozen for herself and left the rest outside where they would not go bad in the cold weather.

The continuous sound of firecrackers outside slowly turned into children's laughter as night fell. The children went out to pick up firecrackers, and when they came across some scattered firecrackers that could still be ignited, they laughed again. Then someone lit the fire, and with a "whoosh", the firecrackers exploded again in the dark night.

Chu Ye returned to the house after dinner and read a few books with the light on. Just then, there was a knock on the door. She thought it was the children playing on the street and didn't want to pay attention to it. Unexpectedly, the sound rang again, still three times at a leisurely pace.

This didn't sound like a child knocking on the door. Chu Ye became suspicious and stood up and walked to the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Mu Jiajun."

(End of this chapter)