CHAPTER 660: CHAPTER 659: TIME AND SUGAR

After a while, Wang Xiaomei was no longer crying, coaxed by her classmates. Then the young man finally came to his senses, his face red as he shuffled over.

"Um, little sister, I’m sorry."

His face was beet red, his head hanging low, awkwardly handing Wang Xiaomei a dime.

Wang Xiaomei was a bit afraid of him and hid behind Lin Nianhe, not wanting to come out.

Lin Nianhe held Wang Xiaomei, and without taking the money, said, "I understand that you are upset, but taking it out on a stranger, especially an innocent child, is not a good choice."

"I’m sorry, I’m sorry," the young man scratched his head, his voice a bit shaky.

"But this shuttlecock is a gift from Xiaomei to your sister, you should accept it," Lin Nianhe changed her tone and smiled as if the sharpness just now was just the young man’s misperception, "and if you have a chance in the future, bring your sister to visit Ten Miles Team."

The young man felt the shuttlecock burning his hands; he still wanted Wang Xiaomei to take the money.

Finally, Wang Xiaomei peered out and said, "Brother, I’m sorry, I really didn’t know... this is a gift for your sister, my mom said once given, a gift shouldn’t be taken back, please keep it."

Although she had no money, she had many classmates willing to share with her, and she was no longer sad.

But the sister in the clinic must still be very sad.

She wanted to make her feel a bit happier too.

The young man’s face turned even redder, looking at Lin Nianhe, "Um, comrade, are you their teacher? Maybe this money should..."

"I respect my student’s decision," Lin Nianhe said with a smile, "Happy New Year, I wish your sister a speedy recovery."

"This, this..."

The young man, holding the shuttlecock, regretted it so much he almost wanted to smack himself.

His hands really owed it...

Lin Nianhe didn’t say anything more to him. After the children sold all the shuttlecocks, she organized everyone to head home.

They were at the new factory gate of a textile factory near the village, and on the way back, the children were not tired at all, each more excited than the last, running and jumping, without any of the uneasiness they had while selling.

Wang Xiaomei held Lin Nianhe’s hand, leaning close to her, seemingly still pondering the earlier incident.

"Xiaomei." Lin Nianhe suddenly called her.

"Teacher Lin," Wang Xiaomei replied.

"What are you thinking about?" asked Lin Nianhe.

"I was wondering if that brother’s sister likes playing shuttlecock." Wang Xiaomei looked up at Lin Nianhe, "Teacher Lin, did I do something wrong?"

"Where do you think you went wrong?"

"Should I not have approached that brother?"

"Did you know his sister was hurt at the time?"

"I didn’t."

"Those who don’t know aren’t at fault, so you did nothing wrong," Lin Nianhe said with a smile, "and you’ve done your best to make amends, right?"

Wang Xiaomei thought for a moment, then nodded vigorously, "Yes!"

Lin Nianhe patted her head gently, saying softly, "Everyone has their bad days, and if we happen to encounter someone on theirs, we should try to help them, while keeping ourselves safe."

Wang Xiaomei nodded, then after a silent moment, said softly, "Teacher Lin, actually, I don’t like that brother."

"Why is that?"

"Because..." Wang Xiaomei furrowed her brows, seeming troubled not knowing how to describe it, pondered for a long time before saying, "He seems like the kind of bad person who would hit someone when drunk."

Lin Nianhe couldn’t help but smile wryly.

She stopped and called back the children who had run ahead. After settling them down, she said, "If you have 1440 candies and you lost 10 by accident, would you feel so sad about losing those ten that you’d throw away the remaining 1430 candies?"

The children were silent for a moment, then they chimed in:

"No, I still have so many candies left, losing ten is regretful, but I shouldn’t throw away more!"

"Exactly, that would be an even bigger loss!"

"That’s just silly..."

Lin Nianhe looked at them and smiled, saying, "An hour has sixty minutes, a day has twenty-four hours, and our day happens to have 1440 minutes. So remember what you just said, do not throw away the remaining 1430 minutes because of 10 minutes of unhappiness."

"Each minute is a candy, they are equally sweet."

The children licked their lips, contemplating the comparison between candy and time.

Lin Nianhe didn’t expect the children to grasp the concept deeply; many adults can’t even understand it. She just wanted to discuss it with them. Even if they only remember it once in the distant future, it would be worthwhile.

Suddenly, Bai Xiajun tugged at Niuwa’s sleeve and asked quietly, "Brother Niuwa, can you calculate how many candies my mom should have given me by now?"

Niuwa: "..."

He looked at Lin Nianhe as if asking: What to do?

Lin Nianhe: How about a spanking?

Lin Nianhe gave each of them a White Rabbit candy, and the children became even happier.

Niuwa lagged behind a few steps, came next to Lin Nianhe, and gave her a fruit candy, "Sister Hehe, this is what I earned, for you to eat."

"Thank you." Lin Nianhe took it and put it in her mouth, smiling, "It’s really sweet."

Niuwa beamed with joy, his eyes crinkling, and said to Lin Nianhe, "Sister Hehe, I understand what you mean."

"Hmm?"

"It means not to let past sorrows interfere with the future, right?"

"Right."

...

The village school’s first social practice was a complete success, with 99% of the shuttlecocks sold, and the ten cents earned by the children were not taken back by their parents after repeated admonishments.

These days, the children were riding high, brandishing the considerable sum they had braved the cold and embarrassment to earn, boasting about their prowess to everyone.

Interestingly, they were not in a rush to spend this hard-earned money; it seemed everyone was carefully considering how to allocate it.

Of course, there were exceptions, like Bai Xiaojun, who exchanged all his money for fruit candies without hesitation.

However, this child was generous. After buying the candies, he distributed them to Principal Wu, Lin Nianhe, Uncle Guan, Wu Genmao, Cao Shijian, Niuwa, and Wang Xiaomei, and even kept two for his mother and sister.

In the end, only one was left for himself.

Bai Xiaojun played the role of the sugar distributor, then Laosi took him to the provincial city to celebrate New Year.

Bai Xiaojun’s departure seemed like a signal, and others from the Educated Youth Corps began to leave.

The first to leave was Wen Lan; her home was far, and not a single day of her one-month home leave could be delayed.

Sister Lan was somewhat worried before leaving and wanted to take Lin Nianhe to her home for the New Year.

"Hezi, come with me, seeing you might stop my mom from wanting to hit me."

Lin Nianhe: "Thank you... give my regards to your parents, I’d rather not go looking for a beating."

After sending Wen Lan off the next day, several male educated youths also left one after another.

In these continuous farewells, they were unexpectedly greeted by someone returning home.