Transmigration: Flirted with My Childhood Sweetheart-Chapter 19 - 18 Whatever You Think, Comes

The next day, the sun rose as usual, oblivious to the commotion of the night before, carefreely shining upon the earth.

Before heading to work, Wen Lan and Wang Shumei came to visit Lin Nianhe, and seeing her small face still "pale," they didn't say much. They made her a cup of malted milk and left some egg cake on the edge of the kang bed before leaving.

After they left, Lin Nianhe couldn't sleep either. She simply got out of bed and planned to tidy up the room within her capabilities.

Her place was in such disorder, it was hard to look at it, everything was almost scattered on the ground, with nowhere to put anything.

It's hard for a clever wife to cook without rice, and she didn't even have a cabinet or chest, so it was hard to keep things in order.

While Lin Nianhe was fretting, Aunt Li's voice came from outside: "Educated Youth Lin, are you home?"

Lin Nianhe quickly responded, opened the door, and walked out to greet her.

The sunshine fell on her face, making her squint.

She had just washed up, her long hair neatly swept to one side and braided into a plait, making her small face seem no bigger than a palm. Her thick eyelashes were black and long, like butterfly wings.

Aunt Li was astonished, she had never seen such a beautiful child, like a fairy.

Immediately, she felt a pang of sympathy - looking at Educated Youth Lin's pale face, it was clear that she was unwell!

Aunt Li wasn't aware of the miraculous effects of top-tier whitening serums, and felt that Lin Nianhe was paler than the day before, surely still shaken by the distress caused by that mother and daughter duo.

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She instinctively reached out to support Lin Nianhe, her voice much softer: "Educated Youth Lin, have you eaten? If not, let Auntie cook something for you?"

"Aunt, I've already eaten," Lin Nianhe said with an obedient smile, "I'm feeling much better."

"You just say that to be stubborn!"

Aunt Li glared at her lightly, then moved on to the matter at hand: "Your Second Uncle Li mentioned that you ordered furniture from him, it was like this - he made some furniture for the eldest of the He family from the Nine-miles Team, originally for their wedding, and all materials used were top-notch."

"The eldest of the He family is a soldier, who was supposed to come back last month to get married, but his leave got denied at the last minute due to a mission, and probably won't be able to return until the end of the year. Old He from their family broke his leg a few days ago, and all the cash they had was spent on dowries for their two sons..."

"Your Second Uncle Li thought since the furniture was brand new and unused, still stored in their backyard, and you were in need of everything, if you wanted it, he would arrange to transfer the money to Old He, to let him treat his leg injury first."

Lin Nianhe's eyes brightened as she listened.

When you need a pillow, someone brings it to you!

She nodded eagerly: "That sounds good, but wouldn't furniture meant for a marriage be more expensive?"

Aunt Li waved her hand with a smile: "Same price for all, the He family is only in trouble for these two months, once the eldest son's allowance is sent back, they can buy new furniture."

There is not much fuss over making furniture in the countryside, and it's not fashionable to have intricately carved designs nowadays, so there wasn't much difference in terms of pricing.

Second Uncle Li was also kind-hearted, after all, once the money is returned to the He family, there's still the chance they may not order new furniture.

Lin Nianhe inquired: "Aunt Li, what kind of furniture did the He family order? My room is small, I might not have space for it."

"They added a kang cabinet, and a large wardrobe with double doors. The eldest son's bride of the He family is a primary school teacher from the town, and Old He family specially made her a desk," Aunt Li explained, "Your Second Uncle Li said, the size should be fine for you, just that the desk might be a bit big, it'll be a tight squeeze in your small room."

Lin Nianhe nodded like a pecking chicken: "I'll take it! I don't mind squeezing in, and don't laugh at me, but my belongings are still all scattered on the floor, it even worries me to look at it."

Aunt Li laughed heartily and told her: "Then just wait at home, I'll go back and let them know, and have the furniture sent over to you straightaway."

"Alright, thank you so much, Aunt Li."

"Hey, it's the least I can do. The He family isn't having an easy time either, we should help out when we can."

Aunt Li spoke and walked away.

Lin Nianhe hurried back to the room to fold up the bedding and made space for the kang cabinet.

Soon after, Second Uncle Li and Second Aunt Li came with a handcart, and Aunt Li followed them, bringing along their daughter, Xiao Hehua.

"Educated Youth Lin, go to the yard, no need for you to lend a hand here," Second Aunt Li said heartily, waving her hand as she and Second Uncle Li moved the furniture.

This kind of solid wood furniture was quite heavy, but neither of them appeared to struggle; they were clearly used to this kind of work and were very strong.

Lin Nianhe, thinking of her own convalescence, simply took Li Hehua to squat in a small unobtrusive corner and even washed an apple for the little girl.

"Hehua, have you started school?" Lin Nianhe asked casually, trying to make conversation.

Li Hehua took small bites of the apple, replying softly, "I'm in third grade... but Mom hasn't let me go to school these past few days."

Lin Nianhe immediately thought of the gossip Aunt Li had mentioned and asked, "Is it because of the little boy from the Zhang Family who fell into the river?"

Li Hehua nodded: "I used to go to Birch Team's school with Brother Tiezhu, but since Brother Tiezhu got sick, Mom won't let me go by myself."

"How far is Birch Team from here?"

"Eight miles... Actually, I can walk there by myself, I'm not a little kid anymore."

Lin Nianhe was stunned.

Eight miles, with such little legs, how could it not take three or four hours to walk?

Lin Nianhe thought back to her own school days.

Ever since kindergarten, she had been taken to and from school by car, even when the school was only a few hundred meters from her home, she had never measured that distance with her own legs.

She had also heard about the difficulty children in impoverished areas faced in getting to school, but because she hadn't seen it firsthand, she never took it seriously, thinking that her donations of stationery had squared away everything.

Now, seeing the longing for school shining in Li Hehua's eyes, a pang of sorrow hit her heart.

She softly asked, "Why doesn't our team have an elementary school?"

Li Hehua clearly didn't know the answer to this question, cradling the apple, she shook her head in confusion, looking innocently at Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe stroked her head, pushing the apple closer to her mouth, "Eat up."

Li Hehua's face turned red as she took another tiny bite and asked, "Sister Lin, can I share this with my parents?"

"You may." Xiao Hehua was so considerate it was heart-wrenching, and Lin Nianhe's tone became even softer, "I've given it to you, so you can give it to whoever you want."

Li Hehua beamed brightly, holding the large apple as she went to find Aunt Li, insisting on sharing the apple that she had barely bitten into with her.

How could Aunt Li bear to eat it? Only after much persuasion did she nibble a tiny bit, then she sent Li Hehua off to play and took out 20 cents, intending to give it to Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe quickly dodged and declined with a stream of words, eventually making Aunt Li helpless between laughter and tears, and she put the money away again.

"Aunt Li, doesn't our team have an elementary school?"

Aunt Li grimaced: "No, a couple of years ago the commune mentioned building a new school, but that never happened... We're struggling to have enough to eat, where's the money to build so many schools!"

"My old man said the commune mentioned that more educated youth will be sent to the countryside in a few months, but we have no idea where to place them yet. Besides borrowing grain, the village will probably have to provide funds to build houses."

Lin Nianhe did not respond to this; she silently watched Li Hehua writing characters in the dirt with a stick, her brow slightly furrowed.