Rebirth begins with an arranged marriage

Chapter 26 Coins Again

In other words, Tang Huaiyi's mindset is very different now. Looking back at those hardships and getting to know classmates like Guan Xiaolin and Song Siyuan, he can now face them with equanimity.

If he were still that poor student who could only rely on his family for money and food, with no other options and no long-term vision, he would probably keep his distance from classmates like Guan Xiaolin and Song Siyuan, afraid that they would see his meager meals. He might not even talk to Song Siyuan about what Song Siyuan's parents said.

Without sufficient vision and determination, poverty can easily lead to a loss of ambition, causing one to become timid and hesitant, trapped only in one's own immediate world.

His family's decision to make him drop out of school and get married early seems incomprehensible from a later perspective, but in the era when "levies and public grain" still existed, how many people dropped out of school for various reasons in the vast rural areas?

Rural people are diverse, and not everyone is a visionary warrior. Some of them are worn down by their monotonous lives to the point of losing hope and even daring not to hope for a change in their fate.

Tang Huaiyi's naturalness quickly overshadowed Song Siyuan's initial surprise, causing him to stop paying attention to Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan's meals.

The pickled vegetables from Song Siyuan's family were indeed delicious. Perhaps because they sold vegetables, the peppers, cucumbers, and radishes all looked exceptionally fresh and crisp. They weren't pickled in soy sauce for too long, and the taste was completely different from the bitter and salty flavor of traditional farm-style pickled vegetables.

Tang Huaiyi's teacup was filled with pickled vegetables. After tasting them and finding them quite delicious, he let Li Xiujuan have some as well.

Song Siyuan was standing nearby, and Li Xiujuan felt embarrassed to refuse, so she lowered her head, picked up the smallest piece with her chopsticks, and stopped eating.

"Your pickled vegetables are really good."

Tang Huaiyi praised it.

Song Siyuan was delighted to hear this: "I'll bring more next week, and I'll give you a bigger share then."

"That won't do. Your family's vegetable business isn't easy to run, how can I interfere with your business like that?" Tang Huaiyi immediately disagreed.

"It's alright, I'm counting on you to teach me. I'll tell my parents, and they'll definitely be happy to." After saying that, Song Siyuan picked up his bowl of noodle soup and slurped it up. "Hey, tell me, is it He Genbao or Ma Laixi who complained?"

"I'm not familiar with either of them, so it's hard to say."

As Tang Huaiyi was speaking, Guan Xiaolin walked over from the tap, wiping her wet hands with a white handkerchief, her steps light and graceful.

Her ten fingers were slender and fair, and after being wet, they had a moistness that ordinary students could not see.

"What are you talking about?" she asked, quite interested.

"They didn't say anything, just chatted over dinner," Tang Huaiyi said. "Did Squad Leader Guan clean the soup bucket thoroughly?"

"Um."

"You've worked hard."

"What's so hard about it? Being the class monitor means taking responsibility. Come to think of it, you're the one who helped me out."

Guan Xiaolin watched them eat and chatted with Tang Huaiyi.

"By the way, Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan, besides going to school, what are you two good at?"

Tang Huaiyi smiled and said, "What are we good at? Because of school, we can't even do farm work very well, and we can't learn any hobbies in the countryside. Besides burying ourselves in school and trying to get good grades, we can't do anything else."

"Why do you say that about yourself? How can you succeed without confidence?" Guan Xiaolin was a little surprised. "Everyone should have something they like and are good at, right?"

Tang Huaiyi found her words rather naive and endearing.

What hobbies do rural students who excel at exams have besides studying?

Do you want to reminisce about childhood games like playing with eggs, hitting hoops, rolling iron hoops, and swimming in ponds?

"What does Squad Leader Guan like? What is he good at?"

"I quite enjoy reading and listening to music, but I'm not good at singing, and I'd say I'm barely at the beginner level when it comes to calligraphy and painting."

"Are you being modest?" Tang Huaiyi asked.

"No, this is just the beginning," Guan Xiaolin said with a smile.

As for whether she's just starting out or has become an expert, we'll only know when she has the opportunity to demonstrate.

"What am I good at..." Tang Huaiyi smiled, "I really don't have any particular strengths. I did pretty well in my second year of high school, ranking in the top ten of my class. Would that count as a strength?"

"Your grades are pretty good. How about you help me with some problems sometime? My grades are only average."

Guan Xiaolin's eyes lit up, and she said with a smile.

"Okay, Li Xiujuan is also in the top ten of the class. We'll go over the questions with you then," Tang Huaiyi said.

"That's great!"

Guan Xiaolin smiled and said, "I'll be relying on you all from now on!"

After speaking, she didn't rush to offer to help them or treat them to a meal. Instead, she called out to them before heading back to the classroom. She remembered what her father had said: once they had more contact and become friends, it wouldn't be too late to help them later.

After Guan Xiaolin left, Song Siyuan and Tang Huaiyi discussed whether it was He Genbao or Ma Laixi who complained to the teacher.

This matter is only discussed verbally; we haven't actually witnessed someone complaining. Even if we had, there's nothing we can do; at most, we can only mutter about it.

The pickled vegetables at Song Siyuan's house were indeed delicious, but Tang Huaiyi found the meal a bit dry.

The pickled vegetables in the teacup weren't finished yet; they were to be saved for lunch. But he couldn't drink water to swallow the cornbread, which made him feel a bit unwell.

Just as she was thinking about how to clear her throat after the meal, Li Xiujuan lowered her head and silently pushed her teacup in front of Tang Huaiyi.

"Have some water, it's quite dry, and you're eating pickled vegetables."

Tang Huaiyi thanked her and took a sip of water from her teacup.

Seeing the two of them sharing a teacup, Song Siyuan's expression involuntarily turned strange. He wanted to say something but forcibly held back.

Could they actually be married already?

After breakfast, it was time for morning classes.

At lunchtime, Song Siyuan ate with Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan again. He was serving stir-fried shredded potatoes and two steamed buns. Seeing that they were still eating cornbread, he seemed to want to say something but held back, clearly unable to resist.

After finishing their meal, Song Siyuan whispered to Tang Huaiyi, "How about I lend you some money next week? It's too hard to keep eating like this."

"Don't worry, I have a plan," Tang Huaiyi said. "I'll change the meals in the next day or the day after."

They continued attending classes and studying in the afternoon and evening.

After evening self-study, Guan Xiaolin still left school first with her classmates Wang Man and Zhao Weimin.

Tang Huaiyi and Li Xiujuan went to the classroom, pulled the power switch, and left the classroom.

Afterwards, Li Xiujuan returned to the girls' dormitory first, while Tang Huaiyi caught two crows in the empty campus.

This time, the crows will place two discs in his hands, one on each side.

Tang Huaiyi was immediately delighted, for both were coins.

One was heavy, similar to a silver dollar, while the other had a square hole in the middle and appeared to be a copper coin.

Tang Huaiyi could finally relax and improve his meals.

Even though the two coins weren't very valuable this time, the crows proved their intelligence and understanding; they could indeed help him find valuable items based on the characteristics, and they actually did find them.

In this way, Tang Huaiyi only needs to persevere for a period of time, and it will be inevitable that he will be able to change his current predicament.