Old Mo groped his way to the door in the dark, moved the wooden block that was wedged against it, opened the shed door, and let Song Hao in.
“Xiao Song, it’s so late—do you need something?”
Song Hao knew the two old men’s situation. Once inside, he lit the candle he had brought, said nothing, and directly picked up the two bowls the old men usually used for eating. Then he poured the congee he’d brought into the bowls—more than half a bowl each.
He gestured for them not to speak—there were people next door. What he brought wasn’t enough to share. A couple lived next door. They usually didn’t interact, and that couple gave off a strange vibe. He had no intention of getting close to them.
Song Hao handed the bowls to the two old men and motioned for them to eat.
The two elders were at a loss. Two bowls of meat congee were an incredibly rare treat in their current situation—something money couldn’t buy. Given their current identities, they weren’t even considered eligible to eat such food.
“This—”
Song Hao waved his hand and said in a very low voice, “Hurry up and eat. I’ve got more over there. Also, here are some pastries. Keep them. Eat a piece if you’re too hungry to bear it.”With that, he turned around and left quickly, without looking at their expressions.
The shed door closed again. The room was still brightly lit—not only by the candle currently burning but also another spare candle placed nearby, along with half a box of matches.
Old Qi and Old Mo exchanged a look but didn’t speak. They silently picked up their bowls and started drinking the congee spoonful by spoonful.
Perhaps life had been too hard, and it had been far too long since they had eaten such rich congee. Both felt it was the most fragrant and delicious porridge they’d ever had in their lives.
With more than half a bowl in their stomachs, the gnawing emptiness was gone, and even the fatigue in their bodies seemed much relieved. Their entire beings felt lighter.
Old Qi even felt the pain in his leg ease up—though he wasn’t sure if it was just psychological.
The two old men had a rare good night’s sleep.
Someone else who slept well was Song Yun. Ever since she transmigrated here and found out about her father’s situation, she hadn’t had a restful sleep. Now that she had finally seen them, though the situation was not ideal, at least they were alive. She could finally be at ease. With her here, things would only get better.
Song Yun was woken up at 6 a.m. by her alarm clock. She had bought a Golden Rooster brand mechanical twin-bell alarm clock at Beijing Department Store for 28 yuan. As someone from the modern world, an alarm clock was a daily necessity—no matter how expensive, she would’ve bought it.
(Just like the one we used back in the ’90s at my house.)
After waking up, there was no time to wash up. She first lit the fire in the outdoor stove, poured all the remaining water from the thermos into a ceramic pot, and took out a handful of noodles.
Song Ziyi came out rubbing his eyes. When Song Yun saw he was awake, she handed him both thermoses.
“Ziyi, do you still remember the way to Uncle Liu’s house?”
Ziyi nodded, “I remember.”
“Then hurry over and return the green thermos to them. The red one is ours. Also, fill it with water from their place.”
There was a well in the yard, but it was abandoned. She’d have to talk to Captain Liu later and ask him to help find someone to dig a new well. The village’s communal well was too far and very inconvenient. It would be best if they had their own.
And drawing water required buckets and a water jar. She had none of that—only enamel basins and thermoses.
Ziyi was happy to help his sister. He took the thermos and ran off. A route that usually took 10 minutes, he covered in 8, and even filled a pot of water at Liu’s place.
“You’re pretty fast!” Song Yun smiled as she took the thermos and pinched his cute chubby cheek.“Go brush your teeth and wash your face. The noodles will be ready soon.”
The noodles cooked quickly. There were no eggs, ham, or vegetables—just plain noodle soup. Fortunately, Song Yun had bought some seasonings earlier. With a bit of salt and sesame oil, it was still quite tasty.
After washing up, the siblings quickly finished the noodles. Then Song Yun boiled the freshly fetched well water in the ceramic pot and poured it into two green 65-style military water bottles. One had been issued by the Youth Office, and the other she had bought for 7 yuan in Beijing. She didn’t know they’d be given one at the time, so she bought two. There was still one more stored in her system inventory.
(We still have one of those old army water bottles at home—extremely durable.)
In a rush, they made it to the grain-drying field at exactly 7 a.m. The early arrivals had already picked up their tools and headed to work. Though she just barely made it, she wasn’t the last among the educated youths. Those who had arrived yesterday hadn’t shown up at all. Even some of the veteran youths were absent. The villagers seemed used to it.
When Captain Liu saw Song Yun and her younger brother, he immediately waved her over.“Educated Youth Song, come here!”
Song Yun pulled Ziyi along and walked over. Before she even reached him, Captain Liu raised his voice and said, “Didn’t you say you weren’t fully recovered yet? Go collect pigweed with Fangfang today.”
Song Yun quickly replied, “Okay, thank you, Captain.”
Liu Fangfang had been waiting. As soon as her father finished speaking, she ran over, grabbed Song Yun’s hand, and said, “Come on, I’ll take you to get the baskets and sickles.”
All the tools were kept in the team’s tool shed. Liu Fangfang expertly picked out two good sickles and two suitable baskets for their backs. She even picked out a small basket for Ziyi to carry and play with.
It was Ziyi’s first time carrying a woven bamboo basket. He found it very novel and happily followed his sister to collect pigweed.
Song Yun could recognize all the herbs growing in the wild but didn’t know which were pigweed or cow grass. Fortunately, she had a great teacher in Liu Fangfang, who taught her all the types of grass that pigs could eat—collectively called pigweed—one by one.
Ziyi followed along and mimicked her, learning to recognize all the pigweed too.
Afterward, Song Yun suggested they split up so they could finish the task earlier.
Fangfang naturally agreed. She gave a few reminders and went her own way, leaving the siblings to go together.
Song Yun led Ziyi along the mountain edge to collect pigweed. Once she confirmed no one was around, she slipped with him deeper into the mountains.
There was pigweed in the forest too. Seeing Ziyi excitedly cutting grass and not paying attention to her, she started her own “side project.”
The mountains were lush and full of diverse plants. As long as she didn’t overharvest in one spot, no one would notice a few missing trees.
With her previous experience, she only scanned mature trees that had flowers or fruit. The results were very rewarding—one camphor tree with fruit yielded 500 system coins, while others gave 100 to 300 each. She didn’t dare take too many at once and stopped after earning 1,200 coins.
Then she resumed cutting pigweed while also searching for herbs to treat severe pneumonia.
According to the ancient medical techniques she had studied, Qingxia’s symptoms were extremely critical. Herbs could only serve as a supplement. The real effective treatment would be her acupuncture and ancient massage therapy.
But she lacked the tools for acupuncture. In Beijing, she had searched everywhere but couldn’t find silver needles. A skilled woman can’t cook without ingredients—no matter how advanced her techniques were, she couldn’t apply them.
As for ancient massage, it required internal vital energy to truly demonstrate its essence. Given her current body condition, she needed time to build that back up.
So for now, she could only rely on herbal treatment to stabilize the condition. As long as it didn’t worsen, she would have time to keep looking for silver needles. In rural areas, there might be barefoot doctors who practiced acupuncture or hidden traditional doctors. She might be able to get silver needles from them.