Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

Chapter 16 The Couple

Nutrition?

For the Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan families, it was a rather luxurious word.

There were enough green vegetables and whole grains, but oil and protein were truly scarce—the chicken we ate at Li Xiujuan's house was a feast we hadn't had in a long time.

After Guan Xiaolin left, Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan didn't linger in the cafeteria. Instead, they put the steamed bun basket back in its place and went to a deserted corner of the campus to eat cornbread with plain water and pickled vegetables.

After all, the other students had already eaten, and the cafeteria staff had started washing the dishes. The two of them standing there blankly in front of the cafeteria, eating cornbread, only drew more attention.

The coarse grain steamed buns had a noticeably rough texture, completely different from the soft and slightly sweet wheat steamed buns. These coarse grain steamed buns had a peculiar smell, like the smell of a stable. The more Tang Huaiyi ate, the more he felt like a beast of burden standing in a stable, with the sensation of cattle and horses gnawing on him.

I picked up the teacup; the boiled water was a little hot, but it was just right to eat with the coarse grain buns.

After swallowing a mouthful of plain water, Li Xiujuan tore off a small piece of pickled vegetable from the pickled vegetable dumpling and handed it to him.

Tang Huaiyi didn't stand on ceremony and ate the leftover cornbread with the pickled vegetables.

The pickled vegetables were really salty, but the cornbread was also really filling. Surprisingly, the combination of these two ingredients created a rather strange and flavorful dish.

This made Tang Huaiyi marvel at the human body's adaptability.

"Li Xiujuan, why didn't you cut the pickled vegetables into shreds before bringing them?" Tang Huaiyi asked, chewing on a steamed bun with pickled vegetables.

Li Xiujuan kept her head down, taking small bites of her cornbread, her mind still on Guan Xiaolin, the female class monitor.

After listening to Tang Huaiyi's words, Li Xiujuan swallowed her cornbread and explained, "It's still a bit hot, and the pickled vegetables might get spoiled by flies. If we cut them into shreds, they'll all get dirty if the flies touch them."

"Even if there are dirty or bad parts, once you cut them off from the outside, the inside and other parts will still be fine."

Tang Huaiyi suddenly realized, then estimated the time: "There are still two hours until afternoon classes start. Li Xiujuan, what are you going to do next?"

"Go back to the dorm and pack up."

At this point, Li Xiujuan unconsciously lowered her voice: "Have you finished packing up there? Or should I come help you..."

"How can you get into the boys' dormitory to help me? Besides, I still need to go to Teacher Chen's to get my bedding," Tang Huaiyi said. "But I can't go too early either. I have to wait until Teacher Chen has eaten at his house, otherwise he'll definitely make me eat with him."

"Okay, I'll go with you after we finish eating," Li Xiujuan said.

Tang Huaiyi nodded, looking at Li Xiujuan's thin and frail appearance, and said, "I can still manage, but with your physique, I'm afraid you might not be able to handle eating cornbread anymore. In a while, if we have a little more money, we'll have to improve our lives."

Li Xiujuan looked at him with suspicion, thinking that it was already good enough that her family was willing to provide food for her to go to school, how could she improve her life?

Could Tang Huaiyi really earn enough to cover his tuition and room and board?

But since Tang Huaiyi had said that, she couldn't ask any more questions and could only nod and believe him.

After they finished their meal and drank all the plain water, their stomachs were full.

Li Xiujuan carefully wrapped up the pickled vegetable dumplings and followed Tang Huaiyi through rows of red brick buildings—the canteen, teachers' offices, the principal's office, and the small flower bed in front of the offices—before turning a corner to reach another row of red brick buildings.

Some teachers were assigned to housing from the school, and they lived here; it was considered a family compound.

Teacher Chen Dahe lives in the third household of the red brick residential compound.

Tang Huaiyi stepped forward and gently knocked on the door. A woman in her early thirties smiled and invited him in: "Huaiyi, you're here. We're having dinner right now, so here's an extra pair of chopsticks for you."

As she spoke, she turned and walked towards the cupboard, reaching out to take out the steamed buns and vegetables that had already been placed there.

This person has clearly already eaten and is specifically getting food for themselves.

Tang Huaiyi was deeply moved and quickly called out to his teacher's wife, "Teacher's wife, don't trouble yourself. I just finished eating and came over! Is my teacher here?"

Chen Dahe poked his head out from the inner room: "Tang Huaiyi is here?"

"Come, sit down. Let me tell you why you can't relax in your senior year of high school; it's a crucial time for you to get into university or college..."

Looking up, he saw Li Xiujuan following behind Tang Huaiyi and was somewhat surprised: "Li Xiujuan, you're here too. Come in and sit down."

Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan entered the room and sat down. Chen Dahe asked, "What brings you two here together?"

"I didn't come here for anything else. I just came to get my bedding and to see my teacher and his wife," Tang Huaiyi said.

Chen Dahe nodded and then looked at Li Xiujuan.

Tang Huaiyi came because of this matter. What is your reason for coming?

"Are you having any difficulties in your life, Li Xiujuan?"

Li Xiujuan shook her head and said in a low voice, "I came with him to see if there's anything I can do to help."

"Um?"

Chen Dahe paused for a moment, his expression gradually becoming serious as he looked at the young man and woman in front of him.

Why is Li Xiujuan following behind Tang Huaiyi?

"You two, you're not dating, are you?"

Tang Huaiyi immediately shook his head: "No."

Li Xiujuan's face turned bright red, and she shook her head, saying, "We didn't talk about it."

"So what's going on with you two? Why do you come to school together, and now too?" Chen Dahe asked, frowning. "Tang Huaiyi, I have to remind you, your opportunity to study is hard-won, and neither of you comes from a well-off family."

"Although you are all young people of eighteen or nineteen, and sometimes you may have feelings that you can't help, you have to restrain yourself before you get into university. Otherwise, you will waste this precious opportunity to study, go home to farm and have children, and regret it for the rest of your life."

"Working hard in the fields, seeing the same path from beginning to end, even until your death—is this the life you should have earned after more than ten years of schooling?"

Tang Huaiyi earnestly explained to Chen Dahe, "Teacher, I really didn't date her, you have to believe me."

"We've gotten quite close lately, and the story is actually a bit complicated."

"There's still plenty of time before afternoon classes start. You should be able to explain even the most convoluted story to me." Chen Dahe said, handing Tang Huaiyi a glass of water. "Tell me, I need to know what really happened."

Tang Huaiyi smiled and said, "Okay, then I'll talk to the teacher about it."

Li Xiujuan, standing to the side, lowered her head, feeling secretly frustrated: It's all my fault for coming along. If I hadn't come, Tang Huaiyi wouldn't have been scolded by Teacher Chen.

I wish I hadn't come along.

Tang Huaiyi briefly explained to Chen Dahe and his wife that his family wouldn't let him go to school and wanted to arrange a marriage between his family and Li Xiujuan's family. He then added, "Teacher, that's why I didn't come to school yesterday. My dad dragged me to their house for a blind date."

"Later, Li Xiujuan and I discussed it and decided that we should definitely not agree, so I came back to school."

After a moment of surprise, Chen Dahe suddenly realized, "Oh, I see. I was wondering about you two—"

The teacher's wife, however, smiled kindly at the two of them and said, "So, you two are considered a couple then?"