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Hearing Liu Xiuzhen's question, Qinglan finally woke up from her chaotic memories. She shook her head at Liu Xiuzhen, her eyes dull and lacking brightness, and weakly murmured, "It's nothing."
"Then let's sit by the fire for a while before going to sleep," Liu Xiuzhen said in a consulting tone.
Qinglan shook her head again, remaining silent.
Liu Xiuzhen tugged at her hand and suddenly exclaimed loudly, "Oh my, why are your hands so cold? I told you not to go outside; it's so cold, you might freeze!"
As she spoke, Liu Xiuzhen reached out again to take Qinglan's hand. "You should warm yourself up a bit."
Qing Shusheng and Liu Jiawei quietly watched Qinglan.
Irritated, Qinglan shook off Liu Xiuzhen's hand.
Liu Xiuzhen stared at her in confusion, not understanding what had upset her this time.
"I got a headache from the cold wind. I'm going to sleep now," Xu Jue said, realizing that her earlier attitude was not very good. She glanced apologetically at Liu Xiuzhen and added just in time.
Without waiting for Liu Xiuzhen to respond, she went straight into her room and closed the door.
After turning on the light, she sat for a while before turning it off again, leaning against the bed without falling asleep.
In fact, on the way home, she had optimistically thought that perhaps An Shaojie would return on the day of his exam. He never liked to go home with others anyway, and since he was upset with her, it was very likely he would choose to go home alone.
Later, when she got home and was on her way to his house, she even imagined that when she entered his home, she would see him at the dining table or hear Bai Cuifen calling out to his door as before, "An Shaojie, Lanlan is here."
Even though he did not appear.
However, the scenes she imagined did not come to pass.
There was no trace of him in his home, and Qinglan felt it no longer brimmed with life as it once did, even though he rarely spoke when he was there. But with his presence, Qinglan felt that the air in their home seemed alive, capable of dancing and laughing. With his scent lingering in the room, Qinglan could sense vitality, as her heart was filled with life.
But now, simply because his presence and essence were absent, she felt that the home had lost all its vitality, even though Bai Cuifen and An Shaomin welcomed her more warmly than before.
Yet she remained dazed, just like her feelings.
That night, Qinglan leaned against her bed, lost in thought, unable to sleep the entire night.
The next day, she fell ill and was sick for several days, much like the time she had been poisoned by Bee, drifting in and out of a heavy sleep for days.
During that time, she vaguely sensed that An Shaomin had come to see her and that Bai Cuifen had also visited to check on her.
By the time she recovered from her illness, the New Year had already passed.
After the New Year, An Shaojie still had not returned.
That day, after a long absence of gloomy weather, the sun finally shone through; the sunlight outside the courtyard carried a hint of spring and was somewhat blinding.
Indeed, after the New Year came the beginning of spring; green shoots had already sprouted in the rice fields. The water in the ditches and ponds in front of the village inexplicably rose a bit, no longer appearing thin and cold. The water transformed from dark and chilly to bright and clear.
The people in Liu Family Village began to carry various farming tools into the fields and hills again.
Qing Shusheng stood under the Locust Tree in the yard and said to Liu Xiuzhen, who was hanging clothes under the eaves, "I plan to contract the mulberry trees on the back hill after the new year. If no one else wants it, I intend to take it on because this piece of land has poor soil quality, and the mulberry season is short with fruits that are hard to preserve. During the village committee meeting last year, everyone showed no interest in these mulberries."
Liu Xiuzhen did not respond and continued hanging clothes.
Qing Shusheng took a puff of his cigarette and remained still. He was waiting for Liu Xiuzhen to speak.
Liu Xiuzhen said, "Haven't you always been in charge of family matters?" She did not turn to look at Qing Shusheng and remained focused on taking clothes from the basin to hang on the bamboo pole.
Qing Shusheng nodded, "Then it's decided."
At that moment, the Vice Village Head happened to pass by the yard. Qing Shusheng immediately left Liu Xiuzhen and called out to him.
The Vice Village Head stepped into the yard, and Qing Shusheng offered him a cigarette and helped him light it. The Vice Village Head was a few years older than Qing Shusheng, so even though he held a deputy position, Qing Shusheng treated him with great respect.
"What’s up?" After taking a deep puff of smoke, he lifted his head from the haze and asked Qing Shusheng.
"We need to find time after the new year to hold a meeting," Qing Shusheng said, gazing at the distant green mountains and mist, with a slight chill making him squint his eyes.
"What kind of meeting?" The Vice Village Head frowned. Despite being older than Qing Shusheng by just a few years—having eaten more rice and salt—he had never been sure about handling village matters. He merely held a position without taking much interest in anything, leaving everything for Qing Shusheng to worry about. However, Qing Shusheng still respected him; before making any decisions on major or minor issues, he would always consult him, even though he would only nod in agreement.
"Nowadays, the Plum Tree forest on the front hill, the Mulberry Tree forest on the back hill, and the Hawthorn trees planted on Azure Dragon Hill have already started producing fruit in recent years. Since they have been planted, we need to take good care of them. Otherwise, it will be like before when inspectors come; they plant a few saplings, but once they leave, no one takes care of them. This has been happening year after year, wasting money. I think we should contract out all the fruit tree forests in the village. With the money from these contracts, we can invite some technical personnel to come to the village each year to teach planting, cultivation, storage techniques, etc. Even if we can't make money, we can manage these fruit trees well. When inspectors come again next year, we won't need to buy saplings for planting anymore; that would save money. What do you think?"
Qing Shusheng took out a cigarette and lit it.
"Agreed," Vice Village Head nodded and said, "That's a good idea. I've thought about it too, and it fits perfectly. It's settled then."
After discussing the fruit trees, he and Qing Shusheng stood at the corner of the yard chatting for a while longer. After smoking half a cigarette, he waved goodbye to Qing Shusheng and went off to work.
Qing Shusheng entered the yard and saw Qinglan coming out, standing in the center of the yard looking at the sun.
"Lanlan, feeling better?" Qing Shusheng asked.
Qinglan did not respond; she continued to hold her hand to her forehead, intently gazing at the sun.
"I haven't seen such a nice sun in a long time," Qinglan murmured to herself.
"The sun is nice; let's go for a walk," Qing Shusheng suggested.
Qinglan walked out of the yard and stood on the bridge, unsure of where to go.
Without An Shaojie, Liu Family Village suddenly felt strange to Qinglan. Was this the place where she was born and raised?
Why did everything before her seem unfamiliar? Why did all the sights stare at her with fierce expressions? It seemed they didn't recognize her either. She could only walk aimlessly based on her feelings.
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