The 1970s: Married First, Fell in Love Later-Chapter 70 - 69: Submission

Xue Yue had gone to bed late last night. She was vaguely aware of He Lang returning in the middle of the night, but she was too drowsy to wake up. When she opened her eyes in the morning, He Lang was already gone.

She picked up her watch and looked at the time. It was almost ten o’clock.

She got up and went to the kitchen, only to find the meal He Lang had left for her had long since grown cold. Xue Yue heated it up.

She’d arranged with Sister Gaihua yesterday to go up the mountain this morning. She wondered if Sister Gaihua had come by to get her, but she had been sleeping so soundly she wouldn’t have heard a thing anyway.

Instead of going up the mountain, Xue Yue went next door.

When Li Gaihua saw it was Xue Yue, she quickly invited her in.

"I just went to your house to look for you. I knocked a few times but didn’t hear a response, so I thought you’d gone out."

Xue Yue said sheepishly, "Sister Gaihua, I went to bed late last night and overslept. I didn’t hear you knock. I was worried you might have come by, so I wanted to come over and let you know."

Li Gaihua smiled radiantly. "Oh, don’t worry about that! It’s no reason for you to make a special trip. We can just go some other time."

Xue Yue glanced around. "Are Brother Daqiang and Tie Dan not home?"

"Da Qiang went up the mountain to chop firewood, and who knows where Tie Dan ran off to play. Kids can’t stay still at home."

Xue Yue surveyed the courtyard. The house and its walls were made of packed earth, and the stove was also set up outside. The yard was swept very clean.

Li Gaihua warmly ushered Xue Yue into the house.

Xue Yue stayed at Li Gaihua’s until noon. They agreed that Xue Yue would come back in the afternoon to teach her how to pickle cucumbers.

Since Xue Yue had eaten breakfast late, she wasn’t hungry and decided to skip lunch. She grabbed a basket and headed to her family’s private plot.

She picked a basket of cucumbers and a few tomatoes.

After washing all the cucumbers, she set them aside to dry and started munching on a tomato.

Meanwhile, over at the transportation team, He Lang had the work matter Wang Hai mentioned last night on his mind. After lunch, he hurried over to the police station to see if there was any news. There wasn’t, so he hurried back.

Zhang Bin, having just finished his lunch, saw He Lang returning and waved him over. "He Lang, come here for a second."

He Lang followed him to Zhang Bin’s office.

"Captain Zhang, you needed me?"

Zhang Bin motioned for him to sit down before saying, "Go get ready. You’re taking a trip to Andong City, leaving tonight. You’ll be leading the team. Take Li Dawei, Liu Yuan, and Guo Jun. You’ll have two trucks. I was in a meeting this morning, and word from above is that the roads have been a little dicey lately. Be careful out there. The sooner you get going, the sooner you’ll be back."

He Lang nodded. "Understood, Captain Zhang."

He Lang left the office and went to inform the other three men.

Li Dawei spoke first. "Why the rush this time? Usually we get at least a day’s notice."

"Exactly. What did Captain Zhang mean when he said the roads are unsafe? Surely there aren’t robbers out there?" Liu Yuan asked.

He Lang pondered for a few seconds. "All of you, go home and tell your families. Assemble back at the depot at six this evening. Bring some hardware for the trucks, just in case. If we run into any trouble on the road, don’t make any sudden moves. We observe the situation first before we act."

"Yes."

"Got it."

He Lang left the depot and went straight to Xue Xingzhou’s place.

"Brother, the police station hasn’t sent out the notice yet. I have to go on a run tonight, to Andong City. I’m worried about Yue’er being home by herself. Can you go stay with her for a few days? You’re going to town tomorrow, right? Swing by the depot and get the bicycle; it’ll make getting around easier for you. I’ll tell the gate guard to expect you."

"No problem."

Xue Xingzhou packed a few changes of clothes and left with He Lang.

When the two of them got home, Xue Yue was in the yard pickling cucumbers with Li Gaihua.

Xue Yue asked, "He Lang, why are you two back at this hour?"

"I have a run tonight. I asked Big Brother to come stay with you for a few days."

Xue Yue was taken aback; it all felt a little sudden.

Sensing the moment, Li Gaihua said to Xue Yue, "I’ve walked you through all the steps, and it’s quite simple. I’ll head home now. If you’re not sure about anything, just come and ask."

Xue Yue nodded. "Alright. Thank you, Sister Gaihua."

After Li Gaihua left, Xue Yue went into the house to pack clothes for He Lang. "About how long will you be gone?"

He Lang shook his head. "I don’t know. It’s my first time going there, and I don’t know what the roads will be like. Pack a few extra changes of clothes."

Once she finished packing his clothes, Xue Yue went to the kitchen to prepare some food for his journey.

There wasn’t time to make steamed buns, so she had to settle for making some flatbreads.

A little after four in the afternoon, He Lang had a bite to eat, then left on his bicycle.

Xue Yue stood at the gate, watching his retreating figure. A sense of wistfulness washed over her; she seemed to have already grown used to this pattern of He Lang being away from home so often.

When Xue Yue went back into the house, she saw her brother sitting on the kang, holding two sheets of paper.

The moment Xue Yue saw them, she strode over, trying to snatch the papers from her brother’s hand. Flustered, she said, "Brother, are you snooping?"

Xue Xingzhou pulled the papers out of her reach, raising an eyebrow at her. "You wrote these little stories?"

Xue Yue looked a little awkward before nodding. "I did. Why?"

He glanced down at the pages again. "These are actually pretty good," he told her. "With a few small revisions, you could submit them somewhere."

"Submit them?" Xue Yue was surprised. She’d just scribbled these down on a whim last night when she couldn’t sleep and inspiration struck. She had never considered trying to get them published in a newspaper or magazine.

"If you weren’t planning to submit them, why did you write them?" Xue Xingzhou asked.

Xue Yue sighed. "I just had some ideas and was messing around."

Xue Xingzhou laughed. "It seems you have a real talent for this. This is very good for a first attempt. I think you should try submitting it. The worst that can happen is they send it back, so there’s no loss. By the way, what are all these doodles down here?" He held it up, looking closely, but for the life of him, he couldn’t figure out what the blob-like drawing was supposed to be.

Xue Yue’s face instantly turned red. She snatched it away. "It’s nothing."

’I have to admit I don’t seem to have any talent for drawing,’ Xue Yue thought. ’Writing a short story had come easily, but when she saw the vivid illustrations in the magazines, she’d tried her hand at it, with disastrous results. No wonder my brother couldn’t make it out.’

Xue Xingzhou asked, "So are you going to submit it or not?"

"I’ll do it," Xue Yue said firmly. "You’re right. I have nothing to lose."

Xue Xingzhou nodded, beckoned Xue Yue over, and pointed out the places that needed some minor revisions.

Xue Xingzhou had read countless stories in his previous life. When he was in school, he’d loved wuxia novels—so much that he’d sneak them in to read during class, losing count of how many his teachers confiscated. After he started working, however, he no longer had time for such things.

"Copy it over neatly again tonight," he said. "I’m going to town tomorrow, and I can mail it for you then."

The newspapers He Lang had brought back had the addresses of various publishing houses.

Xue Yue had copied them all onto a sheet of paper.

Since Xue Yue wrote short children’s stories, she planned to submit them to the *Children’s Story Magazine*.

’But I can’t draw. I guess I’ll just send it in like this for now.’

The next day, Xue Xingzhou headed into town.

’It was only then that Xue Yue belatedly realized she’d forgotten to ask her brother why he was going to town.’