Zhao Huaian fiddled around for half the night. Until he fell asleep, he still hadn’t found where the storage space was. The next morning, the doctor came for rounds, checked his condition, and confirmed that he was basically fine. He told Zhao Huaian to handle discharge procedures and, in a rather earnest tone, lectured him: young people should either find a job or go down to the countryside—don’t wander around like a delinquent and get into fights all day. He wasn’t the only one who had been admitted for fighting last night.
Of course, Zhao Huaian just nodded along. Besides not understanding anything about this era, the main reason was that this hospital belonged to the affiliated hospital of his factory. He had stayed the night for free, used medication, and they had only recorded his parents’ names—no payment was required at all.
After the doctor left, he rummaged through his pockets and found only 30 cents left. With just 30 cents and no grain coupons, there wasn’t much he could do. But at this moment, he truly understood why the planned economy was so deeply rooted in people’s minds and considered good by most.
With a note from the doctor, he went to the cafeteria to collect a patient meal—and it was actually free! When an industrial worker got sick, even registration and treatment were completely free, and patient meals, as an extension of medical care, were also included in the free services. However, Zhao Huaian wasn’t a real factory employee, so he couldn’t get fine grain or eggs—only the most basic options.
A plain pancake with a small side dish—that was all he could get. Zhao Huaian didn’t mind at all. No wonder some people pretended to be sick; the benefits were actually pretty good. The Zhao family’s food was even worse anyway—after all, they had five brothers in the family. Even though the second brother had already gone to the countryside, so many mouths still made life very difficult.
It was a pity he could only enjoy this one meal; he was about to be discharged soon.
He returned to the hospital bed and picked up his small shoulder bag. It didn’t contain anything valuable, but it was the entirety of the original owner’s belongings.
At that moment, he suddenly heard a system notification.
System: One box of anti-inflammatory medicine has been retrieved.
Zhao Huaian?
What the hell?
He didn’t even see any anti-inflammatory medicine—retrieved? Where was it retrieved to? Into his stomach?
Soon, another notification came.
System: One box of anti-inflammatory medicine has been stored.
Zhao Huaian: Heh. Is this system an AI idiot? Is it bugged?
Then—
System: One comb has been stored.
Zhao Huaian was instantly horrified.
What the hell? Retrieved and stored, and now a comb? Where is the comb? He touched his crew-cut hair—he clearly didn’t need that thing. And where exactly was this storage space interface?
He left the hospital carrying his small bag. He suspected something was wrong with the check-in location—or maybe the timing was off.
Most importantly, he couldn’t accept that his golden finger was a useless piece of junk.
After leaving the hospital, he went around to several places the original owner often visited, familiarizing himself with the area. Then he decided to go to a state-owned restaurant. That place would definitely give him something good from the check-in system!
Meanwhile, as He Qiutang rode the bus toward the inner city, she was also messing around with the few interface panels she had. She tried placing her hand into her small bag and using her thoughts to control items—and it worked. Things could appear inside her bag, making it perfect for hiding things from others.
Just as she was about to close the interface, the system suddenly refreshed and showed ten meat buns. At the same time, the bus conductor shouted from the front door:
“State-owned restaurant coming up! Passengers getting off, prepare to disembark!”
He Qiutang couldn’t quite understand the connection, but she felt that the state-owned restaurant must be an important location, so she decided to get off early.
When she stepped off the bus, she heard someone asking what time it was. The answer was: almost 10:30.
She discreetly reached into her cloth bag again and took out the steamed buns from her storage space. They were white, soft, and wrapped in oily paper. People nearby had sharp noses—someone even smelled it and said:
“Oh? Did the state-owned restaurant start serving so early today?”
Panicked, she quickly put the buns back into the storage space.
At the state-owned restaurant, Zhao Huaian froze again.
Good news: he had successfully checked in and received ten meat buns.
Bad news: he had no idea where the buns were.
Even worse news: just after receiving them, the system notified him that one of the ten buns had already been taken.
“Ah!!!”
“There’s a thief! There’s a thief!”
Someone stole his meat bun!
Although it quickly returned, Zhao Huaian still felt extremely unsafe.
He cursed inwardly, but there was nothing he could do. If he told anyone, they would probably think he was insane.
A breeze blew past, and he shivered. Somehow, the pain in the bump on the back of his head felt worse again.
Sigh… he really was a poor little cabbage.
Then, as he turned around, the “little cabbage” saw his “begonia flower.”
He Qiutang looked at him in disbelief and raised her hand in greeting. She was sure the original owner had never met this man before. If he responded, then it would mean…
Zhao Huaian felt as if the entire gray-toned 1970s world suddenly lit up. He raised his arm and waved back at the girl by the bus stop, then immediately ran toward her.
This was an unexpected joy. He had thought he was alone in this unfamiliar decade, but unexpectedly, the person he cared about was also here. Suddenly, the 1970s didn’t feel so difficult anymore—they had each other to rely on.
To anyone watching, this looked exactly like a young couple secretly meeting on a date. The boy waiting outside the state-owned restaurant while the girl arrived by bus to meet her lover.
They were about to catch up, but quickly realized that such intimacy in public wasn’t appropriate in this era.
“Let’s go. There’s a small park behind the state-owned restaurant. We can go there.”
Zhao Huaian had just come from that direction, so he knew the way well.
They walked side by side. He Qiutang suddenly heard a rumbling sound.
“Was that your stomach? Don’t tell me you haven’t eaten since morning?”
“I did eat, but not enough. And I’ve been walking around all morning,” Zhao Huaian said, rubbing his stomach. This body never seemed to get full no matter how much it ate.
“Let’s find a hidden place. I’ve got something good for you to eat.”
The timing couldn’t have been better.
Autumn in the north was already covered in fallen leaves, but the trees still provided enough cover. When He Qiutang took out the oil-paper-wrapped buns from her bag, Zhao Huaian’s eyes lit up like a hungry wolf.
“Eat slowly. I still have more, but I didn’t bring a water bottle—don’t choke,” she said, patting his back worriedly. She was almost heartbroken seeing him like this: poorly fitted clothes and a bandage wrapped around the back of his head.
“Where did you get this from?”
He Qiutang didn’t hide it from him and quietly told him about the golden finger.
Zhao Huaian: ???
Storage space?
Fixed-location refresh?
Wife—no, wait—that’s the check-in system! So the items I checked in are with you?!
“Do you also have a box of anti-inflammatory medicine and a comb?”
He Qiutang was shocked. “Ah? How do you know?”
Zhao Huaian swallowed the last bite of his bun and began explaining to her how everything worked.