C43

I hope the headmaster of the primary school, Cheng Ning, and the village head of Jintian Village, Tian Dongan, will wait for us at the bus stop.

"It's all thanks to Mr. Huo this time," he said. "I hope the primary school can be successfully completed. And Miss Zhao, thank you very much for your support. The principal, the children and I don't know how we should thank you all. We will make use of this ceremony to invite all of you over to properly receive us.

Huo Yelin's tone was very serious. "Don't do that. This time, we've come purely to check up on the children's living conditions. We don't want to burden them further."

"Yes," said Zhao. "We've experienced the lives of our children personally, so we can talk about the hardships of the mountains to more people and attract more kind-hearted people to fund education in poor areas."

The principal and the village chief looked at each other and nodded gratefully.

It was a red tricycle that came to pick them up. The wheels on the tricycle were rather old, but the seats on the tricycle were quite new. They must have just changed.

Huo Yelin got on the car first and extended his hand to Zhao Yelin.

Zhao Yilin looked up and saw that he had changed into a simple yet gentle black blazer.

Zhao Yilin grabbed his hand, but before he could do anything, she pulled him into her arms.

"Sit tight."

"Yes." Zhao Yilin was sitting in the furthest room, listening to him begin to discuss the purchase of equipment in the school with the principal, Cheng Ning.

The scenery in the mountain was charming and charming. With each movement, the scenery was deep and shallow green, overlapping layer by layer.

She looked around her quietly, her heart calm and clear as if it had been washed with endless green.

The north was still feeling the cold of late winter, but it was already as warm as spring, and the earthen yellow roads lingered among the dark green mountains. There were flowers, birds, and the sound of running water.

The green here was extremely primitive and boundless. When placed within the bosom of a natural mother, one could clearly feel a sense of comfort and warmth.

As Huo Yelin spoke, he noticed the reflection of the mountains in her eyes from the corner of his eye. His tone became even more relaxed.

The tricycle ran into the uneven mountain road from the relatively flat road. After several hours of bumpy running, Zhao Yilin felt like she was going to faint from the journey and finally heard what the Village Head said.

Jintian Village was situated between two large mountains, with its compact and scattered wooden houses situated on the mountainside. As its name implied, the village was surrounded by green terraced fields. If the harvest season arrived, it would be a dazzling scene of gold.

It took them a long time to reach their destination.

The principal pointed to the white rooftop that was peeking out from between the branches and said, "That's the elementary school. It's getting late, I'll bring you guys there for another look tomorrow?"

Zhao Yelin did not say a word as she looked at Huo Yelin.

Huo Yelin nodded and said, "Yes, we'll settle it down first. We'll go over again tomorrow morning to take a look."

The village head said, "Alright, Director Huo will go to my house while Miss Zhao will stay at the principal's house for the time being."

Huo Yelin pointed at Zhao Yilin and then at himself. "We're not together?"

The Principal and Village Head were stunned for a moment before they explained, "The Village Head's house can only have two empty rooms, the other room is for Mr. Li, the sponsor."

Huo Yelin and Zhao Yelin glanced at each other. Huo Yelin said, "Let her stay with me. Li Xingxin won't be coming."

"Ah?" "Why can't I come?"

Huo Yelin held onto Zhao Yelin's hand as they walked up the stone stairs. "There's something wrong with the business. You can't come."

Hearing his words, the Village Chief did not ask any further, and instead invited the two of them to stay at his house.

He Shuhui, the wife of the village chief, showed Zhao Yilin to her room.

The room was surrounded by concrete walls, the windows were small and dim, a single wooden bed was placed in the corner, the bed was made up of two layers of mattress, the bedsheets were covered with sheets that looked new, beside the bed was an old desk, and on the table was a stack of books, all of which appeared to be related to history at first glance.

He Shuhui entered the room and helped her place the suitcase against the wall. She said in a rather unpracticed Mandarin, "The house is simple. Don't mind the girl."

Zhao Yilin comfortably sat on the bed and said, "Thank you for tidying up so clean. The quilt is so soft. It must be very comfortable when you sleep." She hugged the quilt with a look of enjoyment on her face. He Shuyi smiled and said, "It's made from our own cotton. It's thick and sturdy."

After He Shuhui left, Zhao Yilin was lying on her bed looking at her phone. There were only two messages left. She tried to call Fang Xinying, but the call went through. They chatted for a while and called Zhang Youzheng again, but failed to get through twice.

The signal was sometimes good and sometimes bad. He had to find a different time.

At this moment, the Village Chief and Huo Yelin walked over as they spoke. The two of them walked past her and opened the door to the room next to hers.

The soundproofing effect of the house was average. Zhao Yilin could hear the two of them talking as she pressed her ear against the wall. After a while, the village chief left. Huo Yelin's team also quieted down.

Zhao Yilin was sitting against the wall with her knees in front of her. She had not heard anything for a long time, so she knocked on the wall.

"Thud."

She quietly listened for a while, but Huo Yelin did not respond.

She thought for a moment and knocked again.

"Knock knock."

She pressed her ear to the wall, but still couldn't hear anything. "Strange, is he not here? "That's impossible."

She knocked three more times. "It was clearly only the principal who came out just now. It was impossible for him to fall asleep in such a short period of time, right?"

She couldn't help but knock a few more times.

Creak. The door to her room was opened. Huo Yelin stood at the door and asked, "What are you doing?"

Zhao Yilin looked at him in disdain and blushed. "I-I knocked on the wall, didn't you hear?"

"Yes." Huo Yelin looked at her with slanted eyes. "I came to tell you that the wall isn't for knocking. No matter how long you knock, I won't be able to open the door to welcome you in."

Zhao Yilin didn't know how to explain. "I'm not knocking on the wall to get you to open the door."

Huo Yelin frowned and asked, "Then what for?"

Zhao Yilin couldn't take it anymore and shouted, "You! Come back and knock on the door again!"

Huo Yelin stood at the door in silence for a while. He glanced at her and said, "You're crazy." Then he closed the door and went back to his room.

Zhao Yilin slammed her pillow in anger. "I've never seen such an uninteresting person!"

It was time for dinner.

He Shuhui cooked a table of Xiang dishes, but before they reached the main hall, they could already smell the rich fragrance.

The village chief called for the two children supported by Zhao. One of them was called Liu Zhaoyang, who was 12 years old. The other was Yang Qing, who was 13 years old.

They gave the homemade and homemade puppets to Zhao Yilin.

Zhao Yilin was moved to tears. She gave them the stationery and toys that she had brought along, along with several hundred yuan each.

Huo Yelin looked at her and hesitated, but did not say anything.

Including the two children from the Village Head's house, eight people were gathered around a table to eat. It was extremely lively.

Back then, she was only six or seven years old. A child that wasn't even as tall as her waist became a small adult. Six years had really passed in the blink of an eye. Things changed. Some people were growing, some people were getting old, and some people were no longer in this world.

It was unknown if it was due to fatigue or excitement, Zhao Yilin could not fall asleep even after a long time.

She put on her coat and went out into the yard.

Zhao Yilin inhaled deeply as the fragrance of the mountains permeated the air. Her body and mind felt invigorated. Looking up at the starry sky, one would not be able to see such a pure night sky in the city.

It was transparent, and calm enough to reflect the scene in a person's heart.

Qi Xiaoyan was standing in front of the small school. He was squatting on one knee with his chest puffed out. Liu Zhaoyang was tying a red scarf around his neck.

"Look here." Zhao Yilin wanted to take a picture of them with a camera in her hand.

Qi Xiaoyan turned around and gave a bright smile, just like the smile of Liu Zhaoyang, who was only six years old.

Zhao Yilin felt a pang in her heart, and her eyes turned sour.

She didn't want to come here, but she didn't want to come here. She didn't want to come here, but she didn't want to come here.

It was unknown when Huo Yelin had walked out of the room and stood behind her. He was as quiet as the jujube tree in the yard. He stood silently in the night, listening to her cry.

After a long while, Zhao Yelin wiped away her tears and turned around to return to her room. She saw Huo Yelin standing behind her. He held a cigarette in his hand, looked into her eyes, and took a drag from it.

As the sparks flared brighter and brighter, Zhao Yilin took a step back and coughed with his hands covering his mouth.

In the darkness, Huo Yelin's expression was gloomy and unreadable. He opened his mouth, took out his cigarette and extinguished it with his bare hands, saying, "I'm fine now."

Zhao Yilin clutched at his chest, trying to see his expression.

Huo Yelin turned around and walked back. Zhao Yelin quickly grabbed his arm and asked, "How do you know I can't smell the smoke?"

Huo Yelin said in a calm voice, "Your reaction is so obvious that anyone can tell."

"That's not right!" The time you smoked me in the car, you obviously knew. But before that, you never smoked in front of me! "Why, how do you know!"

Huo Yelin did not say anything, but the more silent he became, the more frightened Zhao Yelin became. Her long nails dug into his arm.

After a moment of silence, Huo Yelin asked, "What kind of answer do you want to hear?"

Zhao Yilin was stunned. She did not think about the answer she wanted to hear. She just wanted to know the truth. However, no matter how she looked at her extreme actions, it was as if she was forcing Huo Yelin to give her an answer, a truth that she yearned for in her dreams.

Huo Yelin's voice was like a cloud floating down from the horizon.

"If I say that I am Qi Xiaoyan, will you be happy to know everything about you? If I say that I am not Qi Xiaoyan but only found out about you, will you be utterly disappointed and turn around to leave?"

"No." Zhao Yilin shook her head. "No, I didn't mean it that way. Ye Lin, you misunderstood me."

"Did I misunderstand you?" Huo Yelin squeezed out a sneer from the corner of his mouth, "Just now, you were wiping away your tears. Now, who is the one holding my hand and questioning me? "Zhao Yilan, don't take me for a fool!"