Chapter 52 of 100
Chapter 52
17 min read4,262 words
The desk fan on the table hummed, its cool breeze ruffling Liu Xinmei's long hair and causing goosebumps to rise on her fair arms.
She sat by the window, wearing only a small strapless vest and shorts, reading the newspaper.
She was the only daughter in the family, pampered by her parents since childhood, and had hardly ever done any farm work.
Now that her college entrance exam scores were out, she was treated like a treasure by the whole family.
In the past, she would help with cooking, but now her mother wouldn't even let her help with that, nor with any household chores. All she had to do was stay at home, watch TV, and read books.
The newspaper was brought home by her father from the village committee office.
The Xili Village Committee subscribed to three newspapers: the H Province Daily, the X City Daily, and the People's Daily. Liu Zhenhai would bring home a stack of newspapers every so often. They were mostly new and unread, and could be saved to sell as scrap or used for wrapping things.
After the college entrance exam, Liu Xinmei asked her father to bring home the latest newspapers every day for her to read.
A few days ago, she suddenly saw an article signed "Xiao Fei" in the H Province Daily.
The article was published in the Dahan Supplement section.
It was a short essay of about a thousand words.
The title was "The Sun Ages Time."
Just the title made her heart skip a beat.
At first, Liu Xinmei thought it might be someone else with the same name, but when she read the content, it seemed to describe the scenes of Xili Village.
The writing was simple but the descriptions were very precise, depicting fragmented scenes of rural life, such as people basking in the sun in winter, cursing the sun in summer, and hoping for the sun during the wheat harvest.
It was a pleasure to read, and she found herself following the author's pen without realizing it. By the end, the article left a lasting impression and touched her heart.
This was the first time Liu Xinmei had read Xiao Fei's articles so seriously.
She had never thought that such a beautiful article could be written without using ornate language. It seemed that Xiao Fei's writing skills were far superior to hers.
Liu Xinmei went through all the recent H Province Dailies her father had brought home and found that Xiao Fei had published three articles in the H Province Daily in quick succession.
If she had been skeptical about Xiao Fei's column in the Z City Evening News and hadn't felt too deeply about it, seeing him publish three articles in the H Province Daily in such a short time was truly shocking.
That was the H Province Daily!
Which unit in the province didn't subscribe to this newspaper?
Its influence was evident to all!
That was why Liu Xinmei had waited at the village entrance that night and said those suggestive words to Xiao Fei. The three articles in the daily newspaper had shown her Xiao Fei's potential.
She wanted to win his heart.
Although, in the short term, Xiao Fei was not as good as her: she was about to become a student at the only key university in the province, while he might have to retake the exam for another year.
But looking at it from a long-term perspective?
Although Xiao Fei's scores this year were lower than hers, he had still passed the junior college line and was only three points away from the bachelor's degree line. His chances of getting into a key university after retaking the exam were very high.
Liu Xinmei increasingly felt that if she were to find a boyfriend, Xiao Fei would be the most suitable.
However, there were still risks.
She couldn't take the risk.
So, giving him a clear hint and making him understand that she cared for him was enough, right?
She wondered if he could understand her intentions.
Liu Xinmei sighed, flipping through the newspaper listlessly, feeling lazy. She thought about the girl who had visited Xiao Fei's house.
She was very beautiful.
But she was still a bit inferior to herself.
However, how could this girl be so shameless? A girl running to a boy's house, wasn't that embarrassing?
Liu Xinmei felt that this girl was a threat.
But she believed that Xiao Fei would surely weigh the options and choose the better one. She, a soon-to-be key university student, had given him such a clear hint; he couldn't ignore it, right?
Wouldn't he make the right choice?
Moreover, she and Xiao Fei had grown up together since childhood, classmates since elementary school, and were very close. Wasn't this her greatest advantage?
Liu Xinmei's thoughts wandered as she flipped through the People's Daily, making a rustling sound.
At this moment, she turned to the "Dadi Supplement" section, her eyes fixed on the articles. This section featured many works by famous writers.
Many well-known writers considered it an honor to have their works published in the People's Daily supplement.
Liu Xinmei remembered that her Chinese teacher had once published a small piece in the "Readers' Letters" section of the People's Daily and had talked about it to the students repeatedly.
He even showed the newspaper with the small piece.
The Chinese teacher was widely recognized as the most talented person in the entire Heyang No. 1 High School because of that small piece.
After all, the number of people in Heyang who had published articles in the People's Daily since the founding of the country could be counted on one hand.
If my article could be published in the People's Daily, I could definitely outshine Xiao Fei, Liu Xinmei thought.
She was a girl with a strong sense of ambition.
Always striving to advance.
As she looked at the articles in the Dadi Supplement, her eyes suddenly jumped. She thought she was seeing things, but after rubbing her eyes, she saw clearly.
At the bottom right of the page, under the title of a thousand-word essay, the name "Xiao Fei" was prominently printed.
Her heart couldn't help but race.
Is it Xiao Fei?
Or someone else?
"The Cursed Desert Village" was the title of the article, and its style was very similar to the articles in the H Province Daily.
The name Xili Village appeared in the article, along with familiar images like the Loess Ridge, the Sand Pit, and the wind blowing the yellow sand wildly. These images were presented in the clear, flowing text, feeling so close and real.
This article must have been written by Xiao Fei.
She couldn't believe that his article had been published in the People's Daily, and it even had an editor's note recommending it and explaining the author's identity.
Liu Xinmei's heart felt sour.
She had only fantasized about publishing an article in the People's Daily.
Xiao Fei had quietly achieved it.
Being able to publish such a large piece in the People's Daily, Xiao Fei's future was already quite clear, lacking only the title of a university student.
He might really become a true writer.
This was Liu Xinmei's current thought.
A writer! In the late 1990s, for ordinary people, writers were still mysterious and high-status figures!
Should she revise her plan? It would be much better to warm up the cold stove now, before he becomes famous, rather than adding flowers to the brocade when he has already achieved success?
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