CHAPTER 842: CHAPTER 841: WHAT STORY COULD THOSE TWO HAVE?

Unexpectedly, Wen Lan returned to Ten Miles Team.

Li Dahe looked bewildered and asked her, "Why aren’t you staying home during your break? What are you doing here?"

Wen Lan slurped down the handmade noodles Aunt Li just cooked and said, "My mom arranged twelve blind dates for me in a week; I met three in one day at most! If I don’t go, she beats me, and I have to run five miles a day to escape at home."

"I can’t stay, it’s impossible to stay."

Wen Lan rubbed her arms, looking extremely aggrieved.

Aunt Li laughed and placed a peeled egg in her bowl, saying, "At your age, you should be considering these things. Even Shumei and Miss Lin, who are younger than you two, are already engaged."

It was only then that Wen Lan remembered to ask, "Aunt Li, where are they? Why aren’t they at the Educated Youth Corps?"

"Shumei is at home helping her sister-in-law with the kids, and Nianhe and Xiao Su went to the provincial city because Shanshan has a competition, and she went to watch."

"Ah, so what should I do?" Wen Lan blinked, looking confused.

Li Dahe looked at her and asked, "Bored?"

Wen Lan nodded repeatedly like a pecking chicken.

"Since you’re free, and the village school is on break, why not help me organize a soccer team?"

"Huh? What’s the point of that?"

"Don’t want to do it?"

"No."

"Then should I have your aunt call the matchmaker?"

"..."

Wen Lan was pondering whether to help her sister-in-law with the kids or to go to the provincial city to find Lin Nianhe when Feng Wei suddenly ran in.

He was coming back from the fields, with dust on his clothes and sweat on his face, yet he couldn’t stop smiling when he saw Wen Lan.

"You’re back." Feng Wei looked at Wen Lan and frowned after a while, "Why have you gotten thinner?"

"My mom beat me," Wen Lan replied. Seeing Feng Wei, she suddenly thought of something she could do, "Are you busy? If not, let’s go hunting rabbits on the mountain this afternoon."

Feng Wei agreed immediately, "I’m free! We’ll go as soon as you finish eating!"

"Great!"

Wen Lan quickly finished her meal, washed the dishes, and headed to the mountains with Feng Wei.

Li Dahe sat on the kang and cursed, "These two little brats, at their age, all they know is playing—tomorrow I’ll call the matchmaker, and they, along with Hongqi and Wang Xue, can start looking for partners!"

Aunt Li slapped him, her eyes particularly bright, "Forget about Hongqi and Xiao Xue; I think these little ones don’t need a matchmaker."

"Hmm?"

Li Dahe craned his neck to look.

He just happened to see Feng Wei say something that annoyed Wen Lan, and she kicked him into a ditch.

Li Dahe withdrew his gaze and looked at Aunt Li with a complicated expression.

His eyes seemed to say: The two of them? What kind of story could they have?

But Aunt Li had already picked up her needle and thread, ending the conversation unilaterally.

...

Lin Nianhe still didn’t know that Wen Lan had returned.

She and Su Yuncheng snuggled for a while but didn’t spark anything more.

"You go rest, I need to get to work."

Student Xiao Lin gave the eviction notice.

Su Yuncheng didn’t want to leave and asked, "You’re not resting? Or should I accompany you for a stroll?"

"I’m not tired," said Lin Nianhe, "I’ve got to earn money, pay taxes, and build cannons."

Su Yuncheng burst into laughter.

He sat across from Lin Nianhe and asked her, "What are you planning to do this time?"

"A thought I had a long time ago." Lin Nianhe took out paper and pen, "But if I want to do it well, I’ll need to audit some chemistry classes next semester..."

The white paper became filled with sketches and numbers. Just a moment ago, they were lovers whispering sweet words, and now they were stubborn over a piece of data.

The moon silently climbed to the treetops.

The lights flickered.

Some people slept.

Some stayed awake for them.

...

The next day, Zheng Lirong noticed the slightly dark circles under the eyes of the two and was puzzled: "What happened? Was there a thief in the hostel last night?"

"No, we were discussing matters." Lin Nianhe rubbed her eyes, then looked at the yet-to-sleep Zheng Shan, pinched her small face, "How about it, Shanshan? Nervous?"

Zheng Shan seemed to have no concept of nerves; hearing this, she yawned and shook her head.

"No matter whether you win or not, make sure you don’t get hurt," Lin Nianhe gently advised.

"Okay." Zheng Shan nodded hard, "No injuries, won’t lose."

Lin Nianhe couldn’t help but smile.

She had never seen it before, that Zheng Shan had such a competitive spirit.

But it’s a good thing—at least for her potential career as a professional athlete, it’s a very good thing.

Half an hour before the competition began, Zheng Shan fell asleep again in Zheng Lirong’s arms.

The little girl slept soundly, utterly disregarding the outside noise, as if nothing could wake her.

The audience for the final was fewer than yesterday, after all, it was a weekday, and this was just a non-professional match; no one would take a day off to watch a game unrelated to themselves.

The people attending the match today had pretty much all shown up yesterday. Spotting each other, there was a hint of apprehension in their eyes.

Zheng Shan’s opponent was a high school student, and while Zheng Shan was known for her offensive style, he was best at defense—exceedingly so.

According to Zhou Laosi’s younger brother, all his matches lasted over fifty minutes, and the longest one even dragged on for an hour and a half. Initially, he might fall behind, but as the competition went late and opponents fatigued, that’s when he would make his move.

Facing such an opponent, everyone was worried for Zheng Shan.

Once Zheng Shan fell asleep, Zheng Lirong no longer hid her worries, her brow furrowed, fearing that Zheng Shan might be discouraged by a defeat.

Lin Nianhe softly said, "Actually, if Shanshan loses this match, it may not be a bad thing."

Zheng Lirong looked puzzled, staring at Lin Nianhe.

Lin Nianhe lowered her eyes, a small smile tugging at her lips.

"Someone once told me, to learn how to win, you must first learn how to lose. Only after knowing what it feels like to lose can you continue winning."

A fleeting sadness crossed her eyes, as if she remembered someone she once held dear.

Zheng Lirong did not notice the change in Lin Nianhe’s expression. She pondered on Lin Nianhe’s words, agreeing they made sense, but...

At Zheng Shan’s young age, can she really handle failure?

Twenty minutes later, Zheng Shan woke up.

As always, she wiped her face, drank some water, and warmed up.

Lin Nianhe glanced at her, then at Zheng Lirong’s worried eyes.

She asked, "Shanshan, do you remember the idiom I taught you before?"

"Hmm?"

"Self-contradiction—do you still remember the origin of this idiom?"

Zheng Shan thought for a moment and nodded, "I remember."

Lin Nianhe smiled gently, took a sip of water, and said, "You are the sharpest spear, and he is the toughest shield. How do you plan to confront him?"

Zheng Shan replied without hesitation, "Forcefully, pierce through him."

Lin Nianhe shook her head.

"Then what should I do?" Zheng Shan asked.

Lin Nianhe casually picked up Bai Xiaojun’s comic book and said, "Come, now use your hand to touch my mouth; I’ll defend with the book."

Zheng Shan, not understanding, still reached out to touch Lin Nianhe’s mouth.

No matter how fast she moved, Lin Nianhe was always able to block with the book.

Zheng Shan frowned slightly, feeling confused, and even a bit frustrated.

Lin Nianhe handed her the book, "Come on, now you defend."

Zheng Shan took the book and was equally able to block Lin Nianhe’s fingers well.

The little girl started to think—could it be that Sister He wants to tell her that she can’t break through?

Just then, she saw Lin Nianhe’s finger suddenly jab toward her left side.

She instinctively moved the book to block—

Then Lin Nianhe quickly withdrew her hand and touched her lips.

"Do you understand?"

Lin Nianhe looked at her, smiling softly.