Rebirth in the 1980s: Xiaoxiao's road to becoming a top student

Time passed quickly and it was already the twelfth lunar month. Yin Xiu's belly was already bulging, and her feet were swollen when she came home from school every day.

Yan Guoqing wanted her to ask for leave from school and rest at home.

Yin Xiu thought that she would need to rest for at least a year after giving birth, and she didn't know whether she would resign later. These days might be her last days in school, so she did not agree and still insisted on going to school every day.

When the school was about to go on winter vacation, God finally seemed to be unable to bear the whole winter without snow. One morning, when Yan Xiaoxiao opened her eyes, she saw that it seemed to be brighter outside.

She sat up suddenly, picked up the watch next to the pillow and looked at it. It was four forty, not too late.

I opened the curtains and looked out, and I saw snowflakes outside the window. It turned out that it was snowing.

Yan Xiaoxiao quickly got dressed, putting on her thick cotton coat and trousers. She felt like a bear.

This was made for her by Yin Xiu who stayed up late at night. Even though she was now immune to cold and heat and repeatedly said that she was not cold, she was still forced to wear it.

There is a kind of coldness that your parents feel you are cold.

Yan Xiaoxiao was secretly happy in her heart, because that was made by her mother herself, and she would not have such treatment when she grew up.

Yan Xiaoxiao walked out of the room. There was a honeycomb coal stove in the main room, and a long chimney extended outside over the door frame.

The stove was sealed, and there was a large aluminum kettle on top, which was used to boil water.

At this time, the kettle was filled with water. It had been warmed on the sealed stove all night, and the water in the kettle was a little hot.

She picked it up and poured some into the enamel basin, then added some cold water from the water tank and washed her face. She also added warm water to the toothbrush and brushed her teeth.

I used an iron rod to lift the lid of the stove and took a look. The fire was still there. Sometimes if the stove is not sealed well, the fire will burn out and then you need to relight it and burn the honeycomb coal again.

Yan Xiaoxiao would take a look at it every day, and if it went out, she would light the fire again. This way, Yan Guoqing would not have to spend time lighting a fire when he got up.

When she walked out of the house, there was a thick layer of snow on the road. Yan Xiaoxiao took a deep breath, and the cold air entered her chest, making her feel much more awake.

It was still early, and there was no one on the road. She ran quickly towards the small courtyard of her master's house, leaving a trail of footprints in the snow.

From a distance, Yan Xiaoxiao saw that her master's house was covered with snow. She thought to herself that she would sweep the snow first before starting to practice. But when she opened the gate, she didn't see any trace of snow. After a moment's pause, she realized that it was probably because of the formation.

This formation is very magical. It can create an illusion for people outside and isolate everything inside. It is as if the small courtyard is an independent world. Outsiders cannot see inside, but people inside can see clearly everything happening outside.

Since the master had activated the formation, Yan Xiaoxiao guessed that this person was probably going to make the elixir again.

Every time Yan Qing was refining the elixir, he would activate the formation in advance for fear of being disturbed. Apart from the master and his disciple who knew how to enter and exit, not even a mouse could get in.

Sure enough, Yan Xiaoxiao found her master happily making pills in the pharmacy in the bamboo forest.

"Master, have you been refining medicine all night again?"

Hearing the voice, Yan Qing raised his head and smiled awkwardly, "Hehe, I couldn't sleep at night, so I was a little bored. It's dawn so soon? No, I'm going to lie down for a while, you do the rest! I'm old, I don't have as much energy as you young people!"

After saying that, he left. Yan Xiaoxiao was a little angry and laughed, but she still reminded him, "Master, it's snowing outside! The formation should be turned on. If someone sees that the yard is clean, you will be mistaken for a monster."

"It's snowing?" Yan Qing, who had already walked to the door, was very happy when he heard it, "Then I must go and see it, the first snow of this year!"

When Yan Xiaoxiao walked out of the main house, she saw her master beating his chest and stamping his feet in the yard.

"Why do I have to refine the medicine yesterday? Snow scene, I want to see the snow scene! This formation-breaking method even blocks the snowflakes, it must be improved!"

While Yan Xiaoxiao was speechless, Yan Qing called for a long time before entering the house.

She began to practice on her own and had become accustomed to her master's occasional tantrums.

Not long after, Yan Qing came out wearing a military coat, a fur hat, a scarf, and leaning on a cane.

Yan Xiaoxiao stared at him intently. As if sensing her confusion, Yan Qing explained, "Girl, you continue practicing. I'll go out to enjoy the snow and learn from the ancients to walk in the snow to look for plum blossoms. Hehe! Wonderful!"

Yan Xiaoxiao: …

After she finished making breakfast, she still hadn't waited for her master to come back.

Yan Xiaoxiao covered the rice in the pot, left a note for her master on the kitchen table, and hurried to school. Today was the final exam, and she couldn't be late.

When I arrived at school, the students were already in the classroom. The original plan to carry the stools to the playground for the exam was disrupted by the snow, so I changed to sitting in the classroom. However, the two classes were sitting alternately.

They are in grade six, and the students sitting next to them are in grade five. Even their test papers are different, so there is no possibility of them looking at other people's test papers.

Yan Xiaoxiao handed in her paper in advance for every exam. She was taking the exam at her own expense, so her results were not recorded in her file.

After the exam, the school asked the students to carry their stools home. They returned to school three days later to get their results and then officially went on holiday.

When Yan Xiaoxiao carried the stool back home, Yan Guoqing had placed a large iron pot in the yard with a fire burning underneath. The pot was filled with sifted fine sand mixed with peanuts, which were being stir-fried.

Yin Xiu sat on the stool beside him, sifting a pot of fried peanuts. The sieve shook, and fine sand fell down, leaving only plump, white peanuts.

My younger brother also sat on a small stool and peeled and ate the fried peanuts.

Yan Xiaoxiao put the stool in place and walked over. She grabbed a handful of peanuts from the sifted peanuts. They were a little hot. She peeled one and put it in her mouth, which was filled with fragrance.

"Xiaoxiao, go to your master's place this afternoon and bring some to him!" Yan Guoqing wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"Okay, bring more for him, Master likes it!" Yan Xiaoxiao wanted to try stir-frying, but was rejected by her father.

When frying peanuts, you need to stir-fry them constantly, otherwise they will easily become mushy. Add to that the sand, and it will be very difficult to stir-fry.

Yin Xiu stuffed a handful of peanuts into her mouth and sent her away, fearing that the peanuts might not be fried well and burn her. The pot would have to be as tall as Yan Xiaoxiao.

In the afternoon, Yan Xiaoxiao brought a big bag for her master.

Yan Qing liked it very much and even took out the wine he hadn't drunk for a long time and drank it with the peeled peanuts. But Yan Xiaoxiao couldn't stand it and went to the kitchen to prepare two side dishes for him.

Yan Qing is an excellent cook, but he just doesn’t like cooking. If it weren’t for Yan Xiaoxiao’s health, he wouldn’t have prepared such a sumptuous breakfast.

Yan Xiaoxiao thought her master was a food lover at first, but later she realized that he really loved cooking, but he just didn't like cooking. In his words, he would feel full just by smelling the cooking fumes, so how could he have an appetite?

But he never married and didn't even have someone to do his laundry and cooking, so he had to do everything himself on a daily basis.

Yan Xiaoxiao guessed that her master was a man of many talents and good looks, so he must have a story. Either he had lost his love or missed his true love, or the girl's parents broke up the couple, or it was the old-fashioned story of "I love you, but you love him but not me".

She had already filled her mind with countless stories of love, hate and vengeance, but she did not dare to ask her master a single word. She had a premonition that she would be punished.

Just like this morning, when the master talked about walking in the snow to look for plum blossoms, she didn't believe it.

She had long seen the deep sorrow and longing hidden in her master's eyes. It must be because the snow reminded her of someone.

Although she is a child, she is not so easy to fool.