Chapter 92: Chapter 91: Heavy Snow

Ling Chengyan smiled, took the schoolbag off her shoulder, and walked outside together: “There’s no stove in the classroom, aren’t you cold?”

Xiao Yu shook her head with a smile: “There are many people, so it’s not that cold.”

In fact, it was cold. After two classes, her feet were numb from the cold.

But Xiao Yu was already very content. From a wandering orphan, a person who had sought death in the river, to now having a sister, a home, being able to eat and dress warmly, and even go back to school, what was there to not be satisfied with?

However, Ling Chengyan didn’t believe it. She reached out and held Xiao Yu’s hand, and feeling how icy it was, shook her head disapprovingly: “Tomorrow, wear another pair of velvet pants and your new thick socks… you don’t want to get frostbite, it’ll come back every year otherwise.”

Xiao Yu giggled with agreement, wrapping her arm around Ling Chengyan’s and chatting about funny stories involving teachers and classmates.

After listening quietly for a while, as they were nearing home, Ling Chengyan asked her if her schoolwork was tiring, if she could keep up: “Will you be able to take the high school entrance exam next year?”

Xiao Yu’s smile paused, then she brought up a more brilliant smile: “Sis, I think the teachers at night school are good enough, I can just go there…”

Next summer, Shi Tou would only be a year and a half old. If she got into high school, who would look after Shi Tou?

Night school was just right, as in the evening, her sister… and now a brother-in-law, too, would be home from work, one of them could look after Shi Tou.

Ling Chengyan understood her worries well, and with a smile, patted her shoulder: “Don’t worry about Shi Tou, I’ve already checked, children can be sent to daycare at one year old, and he’ll be nearly two years old after next summer, so daycare is fine.”

Even if daycare wasn’t an option, Ling Chengyan wouldn’t let Xiao Yu give up her education because of childcare. Xiao Yu had already started schooling much later than most kids and couldn’t afford further delays.

Most importantly, Ling Chengyan could see that Xiao Yu really liked studying and cherished the hard-won opportunity, with the light in her room staying on for a long time each day…

People who know to strive for progress are worthy of respect.

The journey home was uneventful.

Ling Chengyan advised Xiao Yu not to stay up too late, to wash up, and go to bed.

A big bed, previously used for her and little Shi Tou. Now, there’s one more adult, so with two adults and a child, it was a bit crowded.

One side of the bed was against the wall. Ling Chengyan placed little Shi Tou on the inside, curling up with him to sleep.

Wang Liansheng watched his wife and child fall asleep silently, and carefully lifted the quilt on the outer side, lying down to sleep.

The coal stove was hard to keep burning; it went out late at night. The fire wall cooled down gradually.

Holding little Shi Tou felt like hugging a small stove, warm and comfortable, as long as the little stove stayed calm and didn’t punch her face with his little fists.

Again woken up by a little kick, Ling Chengyan simply picked up the little guy and stepped down to get him to pee.

Wang Liansheng also woke up, draped a cotton coat over her, waited for her to finish with little Shi Tou, and softly said: “Give him to me, I’ll sleep with him.”

Ling Chengyan, without being polite, handed over the still-asleep little Shi Tou to him, lay back down, wrapped herself in the blanket and was soon asleep again.

In the morning, when Ling Chengyan opened her eyes, the only one snoring was little Shi Tou next to her.

She got up, moved the little guy to the inner side of the bed, blocked the outside with two pillows, and then went out to wash up.

On the outer room’s coal stove, there was a stainless steel pot, steaming with the scent of rice filling the whole room.

Ling Chengyan washed up with water as Wang Liansheng came in with some fried dough sticks and pastries: “Fresh out of the pot, eat while it’s hot.”

Xiao Yu came in from the kitchen with a bowl of steamed eggs and some side dishes, put down the dishes in her hands, and helped take over what Wang Liansheng was carrying.

Ling Chengyan didn’t mind this, went into the inner room to get Xiao Xing out of bed.

By the time Xiao Xing was dressed and came out to wash up, Ling Chengyan had already eaten two fried dough sticks and a pastry, and had had a bowl of rice porridge, putting down her utensils: “I’m leaving for the provincial capital today, won’t be back for dinner.”

Leaving a word, Ling Chengyan put on her coat and headed out.

Two nights later, Wang Liansheng handed Ling Chengyan a big envelope.

Without looking at it, she had a good guess at its contents.

“Back pay,” said Wang Liansheng, pausing before continuing, “I asked about it today, the work has basically been arranged in the district, the position isn’t determined yet, but the pay grade has increased by two levels.”

Ling Chengyan’s eyebrows slightly raised, a trace of a faint smile at the corners of her mouth: Was this compensation after correcting a miscarriage of justice?

She didn’t rush to look at what was inside the envelope, but instead looked at Wang Liansheng, asking with a light smile: “I’m more curious about how the persons responsible were dealt with.”

Wang Liansheng immediately smiled and said: “Qian Weidong and Hou Zhengfeng have been arrested, with their crimes, even if not executed, it’s almost the same. A few other cronies, minions were also caught, the least of whom have it about the same as me.”

Ling Chengyan narrowed her eyes slightly, a cold sneer: “That was over a dozen lives!”

The smile faded from Wang Liansheng’s face, replaced by full desolation and self-reproach: “Those people were indeed wronged…”

Before he finished, Ling Chengyan had already left, leaving the stunned Wang Liansheng standing there.

Returning later with two soldiers and a single bed.

After watching the bed being carried into the room, she declined the assistance of the two with assembly, sending them off.

That night, Wang Liansheng slept in the small outer room.

Under a thin quilt, he was shivering and had to get up several times at night to add more coal to keep warm. Early the next morning, he told Ling Chengyan, while she was having breakfast, that he wanted to return to Fucheng County.

With her eyes down, Ling Chengyan mumbled a response but never looked at him.

The sky was gloomy, but there was no wind, and it wasn’t very cold.

Ma Dajun loaded the rain tarp and steel cable into the vehicle, rubbed his hands while stomping his feet, and climbed into the driver’s seat: “Sister Ling, if we leave now, there might be snow on the way…”

Ling Chengyan hummed in assent: “You brought the snow chains, right?”

Ma Dajun nodded quickly: “Yes, yes, I watched as Zhang Wanxiang and Zhao Dahu installed them.”

This mission was heavy, with three vehicles dispatched at once.

Ling Chengyan gave a brief response and focused on steering, leaving the military compound and headed north, out of the city.

After more than three hours, leaving Huicheng District, they crossed the provincial border into Zhili Province.

Even though close to the capital, Zhili’s counties and districts were quite poor, with road conditions not as good as Huicheng. The roads were narrow, full of potholes, making it impossible to speed up, taking another two hours to reach a county town.

The weather had gotten colder, so they dared not stop the vehicle for too long. Finding a restaurant, they got out to have hot water and meals, slurping them down quickly before continuing their drive.

Pushing on, they managed to reach their destination before night fell.

Once Ling Chengyan’s vehicle was parked, she took the paperwork inside for handover, using the remaining daylight to load the vehicle, cover it with the tarp, and securely tie it with ropes before dragging her tired body into the guesthouse.

After a day of travel, at least they got to have hot soup and a meal at night.

After dinner, they all returned to their rooms to sleep early.

In the middle of the night, the sound of branches snapping woke Ling Chengyan up. She threw on her coat and jumped out of bed, heading to the window to look outside, seeing snow already piled thick under the only remaining streetlight.

The snow weighed down the branches, breaking the brittle limbs.

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep