Cannon Fodder Husband Ch.123-124

Chapter 123 – News Brought by Chen Er

Many young men in the village envied Chen Er for winning the heart of a female educated youth. Despite Zhuang Hongmei’s unpleasant personality, being a female educated youth from the city certainly made her more desirable than the local girls. It was a mystery why she chose Chen Er.

Lu Xia and the others didn’t understand the reason, but within a few days, they heard that the two of them were planning to get married. The Chen family had prepared a substantial dowry for Zhuang Hongmei.

One day, while Lu Xia was at the educated youth spot, she saw Zhuang Hongmei full of joy, and when she noticed Lu Xia, she raised her chin and cast a disdainful look as if she were about to marry some wealthy and handsome man…

Lu Xia was speechless and pretended not to see it.

Before their wedding, Chen Er specifically approached Lu Xia to inform her about the event. Lu Xia didn’t refuse since they were both educated youths, and outsiders didn’t know how well they got along. But if she didn’t attend, people would criticize her.

“I wish you a happy wedding in advance. I’ll definitely come to the wedding,” Lu Xia said.

“Hehe, thank you, Comrade Lu,” Chen Er replied with a happy smile.

Then, he brought up another matter, “I heard that Shi Chunyan will be going to the village elementary school as a teacher.”

Lu Xia was surprised. She had indeed heard about Shi Chunyan’s plan to teach at the town’s elementary school. However, after Jiang Junmo’s incident of falling into the river, Shi Chunyan stayed at home and never became a teacher. She thought that the matter was forgotten, but apparently, it wasn’t.

As Chen Er explained, although the village leadership had tried to prevent the news from spreading, everyone had relatives, so the information leaked out. As a result, the town’s school didn’t want her to work there, fearing it would create a negative impact. So Shi Chunyan’s efforts to secure the position were in vain. Although she was angry, there was nothing she could do. The school had already hired someone else, and she had to accept the situation.

However, in recent days, one of the school’s teachers became pregnant. Although it was early in the pregnancy, her health deteriorated, and she couldn’t continue teaching until the end of the semester. They needed to find a temporary replacement.

The news hadn’t spread widely yet, but Shi Chunyan’s father, who was the accountant, recommended her daughter. The village cadre considered her as one of the most educated villagers, so they agreed. In a few days, Shi Chunyan would start working at the village elementary school.

Upon hearing this, Lu Xia felt a chill in her heart. If Shi Chunyan, with her qualifications, was considered the most educated in the village, what were they, the educated youths, doing?

Previously, they were told that they would be treated as villagers, but now they were being excluded again. It was infuriating just to hear about it.

So, Lu Xia said to Chen Er, “I appreciate you telling me this. Thank you.”

Chen Er felt a little embarrassed by her earnest thanks and said, “It’s nothing. Even if I didn’t tell you, you would have known soon enough.”

But Lu Xia knew that by that time, Shi Chunyan might have been officially appointed to the position.

Nevertheless, she nodded and didn’t say anything further.

After seeing Chen Er off, Lu Xia entered the house with a displeased expression.

Seeing her like this, Jiang Junmo became worried and asked, “What’s wrong?”

Sighing, Lu Xia told him about what Chen Er had said.

“These villagers… They talk nicely, but when it comes to their own interests, they conveniently forget about everything,” Jiang Junmo remarked, his expression turning sour. He didn’t have a favorable impression of Shi Chunyan either.

“This matter… We should inform the others first. We might not care about being teachers, but others might,” he suggested.

Lu Xia nodded, “You’re right. We should tell the others and discuss what to do.”

Saying that, she couldn’t stand staying at home any longer. After getting dressed, she and Jiang Junmo went to the educated youth spot.

*

Chapter 124 – Notifying the Educated Youths

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The weather had become increasingly colder. Even Su Man rarely went out these days. At this moment, with Cheng Yujiao gone, Zhuang Hongmei packing her things, and Su Man studying, the older educated youths gathered together to stick matchboxes.

When Lu Xia arrived, Sun Shengnan smiled and asked, “Why did you come out on such a freezing day?”

Lu Xia smiled and didn’t beat around the bush, “I heard some news, so I hurried over to tell you all!”

“Oh? What news?” Sun Shengnan asked curiously.

Lu Xia didn’t keep it a secret and directly said, “I just heard that the village elementary school needs to find a new teacher as the current one is pregnant and unable to work. They have decided on Shi Chunyan.”

As soon as she finished speaking, everyone turned their attention to her, and even Su Man put down her book.

Zhuang Hongmei, who was packing her things, widened her eyes in surprise. “She’s qualified to be a teacher?”

She had thought that she was about to marry into the village, and good opportunities like this would fall on her. However, before she got married, the excellent job was given to Shi Chunyan.

Lu Xia didn’t bother looking at Zhuang Hongmei and continued, “According to the village, Shi Chunyan currently has the highest education level among the villagers, so they chose her.”

Upon hearing this, everyone’s expressions turned gloomy. There were so many educated youths in the village, and except for the young ones like Shen Qingqing, everyone else had completed high school. Compared to them, Shi Chunyan’s qualifications, not to mention her character, were far from impressive. Why did she get such a good job?

Seeing their reactions, Lu Xia sighed, “I won’t hide it from you all. Both Jiang and I really dislike Comrade Shi. We can’t accept her getting such a good job. Why should she get it? Last time, the village said they would treat us educated youths fairly, but now they are excluding us again. Isn’t this breaking their promise?”

Sun Shengnan understood what Lu Xia meant. Lu Xia was honest about her feelings. Although she told everyone the news to mobilize them, the matter indeed involved their interests, and they couldn’t just let it go.

“Don’t worry; I’ll go talk to the male educated youths now. We can’t let this matter end like this,” Sun Shengnan declared.

Lu Xia nodded, “Educated Youth Jiang has already gone ahead. The male educated youths probably know about it by now. Let’s discuss it and see if we can change the village’s decision.”

“Okay.”

They went to the male educated youths’ residence together and found that they were already discussing the matter.

To Lu Xia’s surprise, Gu Xiangnan had returned.

Seeing her, Gu Xiangnan nodded in greeting, and then they discussed the issue with everyone.

After the discussion, they couldn’t afford to wait any longer and headed to the village committee office together.

On the way, Lu Xia quietly asked Jiang Junmo about Gu Xiangnan’s return.

Jiang Junmo glanced at her and explained helplessly, “I heard that Educated Youth Cheng wanted to change her clothes but didn’t bring enough, so she asked Educated Youth Gu to come pick it up and also bring some food as she couldn’t get used to the food there.”

Lu Xia was speechless. She felt that Gu Xiangnan was really unlucky to get involved with her.

She also looked at Su Man, who had completely ignored Gu Xiangnan. She kept her distance from him and left before he could approach.

Lu Xia felt awkward for both of them.

However, it wasn’t Su Man’s fault. Gu Xiangnan’s actions to help Cheng Yujiao were too ambiguous; anyone would find it hard to accept.

But he couldn’t just abandon Cheng Yujiao, so he could only handle things this way. It was quite helpless.

But all of that didn’t concern her. She would just watch from the sidelines like a spectator.

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