Giving Gifts

"Listen to me!"

Gu Yu grabbed him from behind and pulled him into an embrace. Shen Jianan instantly crashed into his solid chest.

It all happened so suddenly that by the time the youth reacted, he and the person behind him were already pressed tightly together without the slightest gap.

He froze abruptly, his heart pounding like a war drum. "Brother Gu!"

"Mm. Don't go."

The other man answered in a low voice and held him even tighter. The warmth from his arms through their thin clothes was like burning coals, scorching Shen Jianan until his whole body turned hot and red.

He lowered his head to look at the strong arms locked around his chest, then lifted a hand and lightly touched them, as gently as a dragonfly skimming the water.

Gu Yu immediately felt an itch shoot straight into his heart, making him tremble slightly before slowly releasing the person in his arms.

Shen Jianan clenched his fists, turned around with his head lowered, and said, "I-I can stay, but you can't say those things again in the future, otherwise..."

"I promise you all of it."

Gu Yu cut in excitedly, lowering his voice. "As long as you don't leave."

Shen Jianan nodded. Just as he was about to reply, he caught a whiff of a pungent burnt smell and remembered the corn mash still simmering on the stove. He immediately panicked and jumped to his feet. "Our dinner!"

That shout instantly shattered the tender atmosphere between them. Gu Yu rushed into the kitchen and found smoke already rising from the pot. He hurriedly took it off the stove and set it aside.

Shen Jianan followed him in, scooped out the mush quickly with a spatula, and only then added water to wash the pot.

This was experience he had summed up in modern times. Whether it was porridge or anything else, if it merely stuck to the pot, stirring it was no problem. But if it had burned, it absolutely could not be stirred, or else the burnt smell would ruin the flavor of the entire pot and make it even more unpleasant.

After a frantic scramble, the two finally cleaned up the mess. Shen Jianan looked at the sweet potato corn porridge on the table, yellow streaked with black, and could not help laughing. "It's all because you had to provoke me. Now look, the mush really got burned."

"My fault."

Gu Yu scratched his head awkwardly. "I won't make you angry again."

"That's more like it."

Shen Jianan's eyes curved into crescents as he stepped forward to finish cutting the vegetables. "Let's hurry up and stir-fry the dishes so we can eat! I still need to sort the fabric later!"

"Alright!"

Gu Yu squatted beside the stove to add firewood for him. The two worked smoothly together, and Shen Jianan soon finished stir-frying the dishes. After dinner, Gu Yu voluntarily took over the washing-up and told him to get busy. "I'll take food over to the Cattle Shed, then come right back to help you."

"Alright."

The youth answered with a smile and turned to leave the kitchen. Gu Yu watched his retreating figure, a dark glint flashing in his eyes before he continued with his work. Still, he looked far happier than before, no longer as gloomy and pessimistic as he had been in the past.

After entering the room, Shen Jianan immediately found a bedsheet and spread it flat over the kang, covering the bedding before he began sorting the fabric. Those things had been piled up in the factory for so long that they were covered in dust. Putting them directly on the bed would dirty it.

He deftly opened the burlap sack and pulled out a bundle of fabric. Well, well—among it was a piece of yellow Dacron about a foot wide and roughly forty centimeters long. One edge had snagged threads, and there were two thumb-sized holes right in the middle.

Although the fabric was fairly large, the damaged places would need to be mended before it could be used to make clothes. Still, such things were only minor problems for Shen Jianan.

Ever since childhood, his father had not loved him and his mother had not cared for him, but Granny Niu, a neighbor, had helped him greatly. She was widowed, and when she was young, she had not only been an experienced tailor but also exceptionally skilled at embroidery.

Seeing how pitiful Shen Jianan was and fearing the child would have no way out in the future, she passed her skills on to him.

However, Shen Jianan had only studied under her for three or four years before she died of illness. Fortunately, the youth was perceptive and talented. Though he had not learned all of her skills, he had successfully completed his apprenticeship.

Still, in his original world, he had never considered pursuing this line of work. After all, it was not an industry a teenager like Shen Jianan could enter just because he wanted to. Besides, he still had school to attend, so he had temporarily given up on it.

Shen Jianan happily set the Dacron aside and continued sorting the fabric. These few yuan had truly been well spent.

The bag of fabric Wang Hong had given him contained quite a lot of good material. In total, he found over twenty proper pieces of fabric in various colors, including several large pieces of denim with only slight flaws.

He was overjoyed, already considering making a denim jacket for himself and another for Gu Yu with this fabric.

Before that, though, he needed to buy several rolls of denim thread, the kind used for sewing leather. Denim was rather thick and stiff, and ordinary thread simply could not handle it.

Just as the youth was calculating things in his head, Gu Yu returned. When he entered and saw fabric covering the entire kang, he was startled. "This much? There's quite a lot of good material here."

"You understand this stuff?" Shen Jianan looked up at him, his eyes full of curiosity.

"A little."

Gu Yu picked up a piece of corduroy, his expression seeming nostalgic. "My family used to be in the fabric business too."

"Oh!"

Shen Jianan tilted his head and bumped his shoulder against the other man's. Gu Yu knew he was trying to comfort him, and a smile rippled through his eyes. He reached out and patted Shen Jianan's head. "I'm fine. Alright, hurry up and sort the fabric!"

"Mm!"

Shen Jianan nodded, his eyes curving. "Help me separate the fabric into piles according to material and size. It'll be much easier to make things later."

"Sure!"

Seeing fabric piled everywhere on the bed and half a sack still on the floor, Gu Yu said, "Tomorrow, when we go to work, I'll ask Cheng Hu to weave you some small lidded baskets for storing the material, so the rats won't get at it."

Hearing that, Shen Jianan thought of the quiet man with the lame leg and was rather surprised. "He can do that too?"

"Mm! And he does it very well."

"I see!"

Shen Jianan rubbed his chin, recalling the plot from the book. Although Cheng Hu's ending had not been mentioned, the reason he had become so miserable had everything to do with the Zhao Household.

Mm... the enemy of my enemy is my friend. Besides, Gu Yu had brought him up of his own accord, which meant the man probably was not bad. Thinking it over, Shen Jianan nodded.

"I wonder if he can weave other shapes. If he can, I could even let him earn some money to support his family."

Gu Yu's gaze flickered slightly as he opened his mouth. "We'll find out if we ask tomorrow."

"Mm."

As they talked, the fabric was soon sorted. Since it was still early, Shen Jianan eagerly took out the needles, thread, and elastic bands he had bought that day. He selected some brightly colored floral cloth, intending to make modern-style hair ties.

Gu Yu watched him nimbly thread the needle and work the fabric. In the end, Shen Jianan even sewed delicate little bows onto several hair ties with cloth in similar colors. They looked unbelievably pretty, and Gu Yu was stunned. "Y-you know how to make these too?"

"What's so hard about it?"

Shen Jianan lifted his eyes. Seeing the confusion in Gu Yu's gaze, his heart skipped a beat, and he cursed himself for showing off. He hurriedly explained, "Needlework isn't that difficult. When I was little, my parents were busy with work and had no time to look after me, so they sent me to my grandmother's home. I followed her around, and naturally learned these skills."

"So that was it."

Gu Yu smiled and nodded without asking further. He knew Shen Jianan had not told the truth, but since the other man did not want to talk about it, there was no need to press him. He merely thought he had not done enough to earn Shen Jianan's complete trust, so he changed the subject. "Now that these hair ties are done, are you planning to sell them or..."

"No, they're gifts."

Shen Jianan turned to look at him, his face mysterious. "You'll find out tomorrow. These hair ties might even bring us an unexpected surprise."

"Alright."

Gu Yu did not ask more. He got up and helped move the unused fabric to the corner of the kang and onto the table for the time being. Only after Shen Jianan had finished making the hair ties did he go wash up with him.

Early the next morning, Shen Jianan tucked the hair ties into his pocket and went to work with Gu Yu.

On the way, they happened to run into Lu Xiaoyue and the other female educated youths. Taking advantage of Jiang Hongmei and Huang Qimei not being around, Shen Jianan took out the hair ties and gave each of them one.

They were all stunned. Looking at the delicate, unique hair ties, they asked, "Shen, these must be expensive, right?"

"Not really."

Shen Jianan said as if it were nothing, "In Hai City, the small ones with bow decorations sell for sixty cents each, while the large ones are eighty cents to a yuan. It mainly depends on the material. Plain ones cost thirty cents each."

"So expensive!? Then we can't take them."

Lu Xiaoyue was startled and hurriedly held the hair tie back out to him. Even though she liked it very much, Li Jiaojiao and Wang Wenwen also shook their heads repeatedly, wanting to return theirs. As for Chen Li and Qian Xiaojuan, their eyes were full of struggle.

But how could Shen Jianan possibly take back a gift once it had been given? Besides, he had his own purpose. So he put on an unhappy face and said, "Keep them! Didn't we agree before that we'd all be friends from now on? If that's the case, what's wrong with giving you a few little things?

If you won't accept them, then you don't consider Brother Gu and me friends. You look down on us. If that's how it is, then we shouldn't associate with each other anymore."

"That's right."

Gu Yu had seen through his little scheme by then and hurriedly chimed in. "Lu, just accept them. Jianan has been telling me that after all this time since we came to Red Flag Commune, we've finally made friends. He's really happy about it."

He pointed at the hair ties in their hands and smiled faintly. "Jianan prepared every one of these hair ties with great care.

He noticed that the elastic bands you use pull at your hair and aren't very sturdy, so he wanted to make some better ones for everyone. If you refuse them, wouldn't you be letting down all his good intentions?"

Hearing this, the girls were deeply touched. They felt Shen Jianan was both kind and considerate. Otherwise, how could he have noticed such a small thing?

"Thank you, Shen."

Lu Xiaoyue clutched the hair tie and looked at Shen Jianan with eyes full of gratitude. "In that case, I'll accept the gift."

The others also thanked him one after another. The youth smiled and waved a hand. "Don't mention it. We're all friends!"

After saying that, he pulled Gu Yu away at a run. The girls thought he was embarrassed and all laughed. A while later, they carefully put away their hair ties, slipping them into the pockets inside their clothes. Each of them was already thinking that after washing her hair tomorrow, she would use it to tie her hair. It would definitely look beautiful.

When the two arrived at the fields, they saw Zhao Gang and Zhao Hongjun talking beneath a tree. Shen Jianan had Gu Yu go start work first while he gave the two men the hair ties he had prepared in advance.

"What's this?"

Zhao Gang shook the thing in his hand. Looking at the smiling child before him, he found it somewhat amusing. "It's all flashy and gaudy. Why are you giving it to me?"

Zhao Hongjun tugged at the hair tie and found it quite elastic. Somewhat uncertain, he asked, "It's for tying hair, right?"

"That's right."

Shen Jianan nodded with smiling eyes. "Let your two little sisters wear them for fun. They're cute, and their braids will definitely look pretty tied with these."

After saying that, he ran off quickly without giving them the chance to refuse. The two men were left standing there, staring at each other wide-eyed. Only after a long while did they helplessly put the items away, but their impression of Shen Jianan improved even further.

Finally, there was one dark red satin scrunchie and one yellow-green hair tie with a bow left. Taking advantage of Zhao Jianguo and Zhao Qiancheng being away, Shen Jianan gave them directly to Qin Fengying. "Director Qin, these are for you and Sister Xiufen.

"When I came to Red Flag Commune, I didn't understand anything and was always getting into trouble. If you and the secretary hadn't looked after me, who knows what would have become of me?"

He scratched his head somewhat sheepishly. "So I wanted to give you something as thanks."

Qin Fengying was both startled and delighted. She had never expected him to give her a gift, much less something so nice. Others might not understand, but she was no fool.

Forget the town—even the county town did not sell hair ties like these. They had to come from a department store in the city. But he had no chance to go there, which left only one possibility: his family had mailed them to him from Hai City. Qin Fengying's heart immediately burned hot. Shen Jianan really knew how things worked.

Seeing the wolfish gleam in her eyes, Shen Jianan knew she had recognized the hair ties' value, so he continued laying on the praise. "Director Qin, you're just like a city woman—so stylish-looking. And your hair is so thick and black. You'll definitely look beautiful wearing this dark red satin one."

"Really?"

The youth's words instantly made Qin Fengying beam. After all, what woman did not enjoy being praised? She gripped the hair tie, her mouth nearly splitting to the back of her head. "Shen, thank you!"

"Tch!"

Shen Jianan clicked his tongue unhappily. "Why are you thanking me?"

With that, he turned and left in a huff, still muttering nonstop, "Aren't you treating me like an outsider? It's just a hair tie worth a few cents!"

Hearing that, Qin Fengying's heart grew even warmer. She felt that this child was good in every way. The villagers had previously said he caused too much trouble, but they must have been jealous of his good family background and how outstanding he was, so they deliberately spread rumors. Mm! That had to be it.

Seeing her mind wandering off into the clouds, Zhao Xiufen could not help waving a hand in front of her. "Mom!"

Her daughter's call instantly pulled Qin Fengying back to herself. She could not help turning to glare at her. "What?"

Zhao Xiufen was not angry at all. With a cheeky grin, she reached out to snatch the hair tie from her mother's hand. "The one with the bow is mine."

Seeing how covetous her daughter was, Qin Fengying smiled and tossed the hair tie into her arms. "Take it, take it. It's not like anyone's trying to steal it from you!"

"Hehe! Thanks, Mom."

Zhao Xiufen caught the hair tie and held it against her braid to compare. Then she carefully tied it in her hair, and Qin Fengying's eyes immediately lit up.

Her daughter had been pretty to begin with. Her skin was not as fair as a city girl's, but it was not bad either. Shen Jianan had given her a large yellow-green satin hair tie with a big bow in the same color.

Once tied into her hair, it instantly made the girl look bright and spirited, as though her whole person had come alive. Qin Fengying could not help sighing. "Xiufen, you look so pretty wearing it."

"Really?"

Hearing that, Zhao Xiufen happily reached up to touch it. Then, after thinking it over, she untied it again. "I'll save it to wear when I go into town, so it doesn't get dirty or damaged."

"Yes, yes, hurry and put it away. This thing is expensive."

Qin Fengying agreed as she tucked her own hair tie into her bag. Only then did she feel at ease enough to continue working with her daughter.

After Shen Jianan finished giving out the gifts and returned to the field he and Gu Yu were responsible for, he saw Jiang Hongmei standing on the upper ridge. She was weeding while staring at Gu Yu as he worked.

That look in her eyes, tangled with love and hate, made Shen Jianan feel compelled to admire her. If she were in modern times and became an actress in movies, she would definitely win awards.

Unfortunately, Gu Yu did not give her so much as a glance from beginning to end. He treated her as air. Shen Jianan found it rather amusing and walked straight to Gu Yu's side, joking, "Jiang Hongmei's stare is about to poke holes through you."

"It's fine. As long as she doesn't provoke us for now, let her be."

Gu Yu handed him a farming tool from beside him. "I just told Cheng Hu that we'll go to his house after work."

"Alright."

Shen Jianan said nothing more. Carrying his hoe, he went to one side and began working.