Chapter 112: School Life

The letter Lin Miaomiao wrote to Li Zheng had been penned quite some time ago. Back then, Lin Miaomiao was deeply concerned about Li Yanhé’s situation, so she hastily wrote to Li Zheng before his sudden departure.

But no one anticipated that Li Zheng, overwhelmed with busyness and the passage of time, never got around to reading that letter.

Sighing, Li Zheng glanced at the sky outside. It was heavy and overcast, snow about to fall at any moment. He tossed the letter into the fireplace, leaned back in his chair, and closed his eyes. After a long while, he murmured softly, “You all will be back come spring, won’t you?”

After that whispered thought, Li Zheng shut his eyes once more.

Meanwhile, Lin Miaomiao’s factory had recently resumed operations. She busied herself like a spinning top, whirling endlessly. Seeing her like this, Li Yanhé found it somewhat amusing. Lin Miaomiao surveyed the area around Daankou; it was hardly an environment suited for raising ducks.

She shared her worries with Li Yanhé. After lowering his gaze for a long moment, Li Yanhé said, “We could raise ducks in the South and transport them to Daankou.”

At first, Lin Miaomiao shook her head upon hearing this, then stared blankly at a nearby water pit. Pointing to it, she said, “There are actually many such pits around Daankou.”

Suddenly, she recalled how her grandmother, living in the countryside, once bought a pit, cleaned it out, filled it with water, and started fish farming there. Lin Miaomiao remembered that her grandmother had raised fish before. Lost in thought staring at that pit, Li Yanhé wondered what she was contemplating.

Sometimes Lin Miaomiao furrowed her brow; other times she shook her head. Her expressions were vivid and ever-changing.

Watching her, Li Yanhé couldn’t help but smile. Lin Miaomiao pointed at the pit again and mused, “If we dig this pit a bit deeper, maybe we could raise fish and ducks—perhaps even some geese.”

Li Yanhé looked around at the barren land, noting that the pit, due to the terrain, was neither too big nor too deep. He was momentarily taken aback by Lin Miaomiao’s words, then nodded slowly, saying, “But the water in this pit is stagnant. After some time, it will turn foul.”

Hearing this, Lin Miaomiao frowned and sighed, saying nothing further.

Daankou received little rainfall, and there was no pipeline technology. Filling the pond artificially would mean stagnant water, and draining and refilling it would be a costly and laborious endeavor.

Seeing Lin Miaomiao’s expression, Li Yanhé said, “It doesn’t have to be Daankou. After all, this country is vast; there must be some merchants elsewhere.”

Lin Miaomiao paused, then a charming smile curved her lips. Excited, she said, “I must go to the South sometime, try to make this duck business work.”

“No, better yet, open my own duck farm down there. That way, transporting duck feathers will be much easier.”

Her eyes darted about, plotting and planning. Li Yanhé shook his head with a smile, saying nothing further.

Before long, Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhé spent another year in Daankou. The two children, Lin Langluan and Lin Langze, had grown taller.

In ancient times, fourteen-year-old girls were considered ready for marriage, and fourteen-year-old boys were deemed grown men, capable of labor.

Seeing them thus, Lin Miaomiao felt a measure of relief. When she first met them, they had been wild children, barely civilized, barely surviving. Now, they had grown up.

Lin Langluan was now a proper young man, and Lin Langze’s medical skills had improved greatly—even though both were only fourteen.

Yet, in Lin Miaomiao’s heart, they were still children. In her mind, adulthood came at eighteen, so she refused their pleas to venture out into the world.

When Lin Langluan and Lin Langze set out, they pouted, clearly unhappy. After the New Year, in March, Lin Miaomiao and Li Yanhé prepared to return to the capital.

Before leaving, Li Yanhé handed over his military command to the general who had come to take over. Seeing this, Lin Miaomiao suddenly recalled a phrase her history teacher once mentioned:

“When the birds have flown, the good bow is stored; when the cunning hare dies, the hunting dog is cooked.”

Silently, she pondered this as Li Yanhé noticed her obedient demeanor and smiled warmly at her.

As he climbed into the carriage, Li Yanhé glanced back at Lin Miaomiao and teased, “Why are you staring at me like that?”

She looked up at him seriously and said, “Am I witnessing a historic moment?”

Curious, Li Yanhé asked, “What do you mean?”

With a slight smile, Lin Miaomiao said, “You know, in our time, historical records were kept like this.”

Clearing her throat, she sat up and spoke slowly: “In the twentieth year of Yongchang, third month, the Prince of Shengxuan County relinquished his military command over Daankou. This was a historic scene.”

“The transfer of military power marked the integration of nomadic and agrarian civilizations within the Great Yong dynasty.”

Li Yanhé chuckled and asked, “Why say it like that? What exactly are nomadic and agrarian civilizations?”

Lin Miaomiao looked at him and explained patiently, “Nomadic civilization is from the North, agrarian civilization from the South.”

“Literally, it means farming and cultivation. From a historical perspective, agrarian civilization is more advanced than nomadic.”

She spoke carefully, word by word.

Li Yanhé frowned and said, “I didn’t expect you to have grown so much.”

Lin Miaomiao gave him a half-amused, half-exasperated look, causing Li Yanhé to feel a bit puzzled.

He met her gaze and asked, “What’s wrong? Why look at me like that?”

She said, “You know, this is exactly what I learned in history class.”

Li Yanhé nodded approvingly. “To master textbook knowledge and apply it to real life—that’s commendable.”

Tilting her head, Lin Miaomiao smiled sheepishly. “Well, I didn’t really understand it then. The teacher made me memorize it, but I couldn’t. My mother scolded me, and it became a vicious cycle.”

Li Yanhé laughed softly, shaking his head.

“Tell me about your school days,” he said.

Lin Miaomiao nodded and began, “I wasn’t a good student either.”

“When I first started high school, I was a bit immature. At that time, all the girls were sporting blunt bangs, so I followed the trend.”

“My mother told me she used to have blunt bangs too. Once, because I had a school event and my bangs had grown too long, I didn’t get them cut.”

Li Yanhé, unfamiliar with the term, asked, “What are bangs?”

Lin Miaomiao gestured, placing her hand over her forehead, and said, “It’s when you comb the hair at the back forward and cut it straight across, dark and even.”

Li Yanhé chuckled, “That doesn’t sound very flattering.”

Lin Miaomiao looked at him calmly and said, “That’s nonsense. Back then, we didn’t know what looked good or bad. We just saw others doing it and thought it looked great.”

Li Yanhé nodded, smiling.

“I was in a hurry to get to school, and my bangs were untrimmed. My mother got worried and said she'd cut them for me.”

“I trusted her, but she rushed and ended up ruining my bangs.”

“I cried, saying, ‘How can I go to school like this? I can’t go!’ I blamed her.”

“I begged her to give me a leave of absence. I refused to go to school.”

“She told me, ‘You don’t understand. This is the trendy ‘dog-bite bangs.’ Just go as you are.’”

“I insisted, ‘Dog-bite bangs? You’re lying to me.’”

When Lin Miaomiao said “dog-bite bangs,” Li Yanhé couldn’t help but burst out laughing.

Seeing him laugh, she joined in.

“And you know what? It really did become popular later.”

Li Yanhé nodded, amused.

“I had no choice but to go to school.”

“When I arrived, my classmates mocked my bangs.”

“I got annoyed and told them, ‘You don’t get it. This is the latest dog-bite bangs trend.’”

“It was so embarrassing!” Lin Miaomiao glanced at Li Yanhé. “I even had a crush on a boy who teased me.”

“Because he mocked me, I stopped liking him. Later I found out he was a scoundrel.”

Li Yanhé raised an eyebrow. “You liked him? A scoundrel?”

Lin Miaomiao shrugged. “Well, I was young and just thought he was handsome.”

She quickly added, waving her hand, “Of course, he wasn’t as good-looking as you, but compared to the boys in my class, he was pretty decent.”

Li Yanhé laughed out loud. “So the boys in your class really were...”

Lin Miaomiao laughed too. “They were short, had acne, and only a few were good-looking.”