That vomit was spectacular.
Wei Pei not only threw up everything she had just eaten, but even bile came up.
Her small, already thin face turned even more pale and waxen.
Wei Nan was nearly terrified to death!
Ignoring her sister’s struggling, she scooped her up and ran toward the hospital across the road.
As she ran, she shouted loudly, “Doctor! Doctor! Sister Ling! Sister Ling!”
The factory hospital wasn’t usually very busy.
Her commotion caused all the idle doctors to come running out, with Ling Bailan rushing to the front.
Seeing the child on Wei Nan’s back, Ling Bailan froze for a moment, then immediately understood what had happened.
She walked over, took the child from Wei Nan’s arms, and carried her toward the examination room.
But Wei Pei clutched her sister’s sleeve tightly, refusing to let go.
“Don’t be afraid, Peipei. Sister is with you,” Wei Nan said, slipping her hand into her sister’s palm to comfort her.
Ling Bailan examined Wei Pei, then asked, “What did you give her to eat just now?”
“Beef noodles,” Wei Nan answered honestly.
Ling Bailan glared at her sharply.
“Beef noodles? You gave beef noodles to her stomach that’s never seen meat? How bold can you be! Look at this, you’ve caused acute gastroenteritis.”
Wei Nan froze completely. “Gastroenteritis?”
A nurse helping nearby glanced at Wei Pei and explained, “Your little sister probably hasn’t eaten much meat, maybe not even full meals regularly.
Her stomach and intestines are too weak; giving her something so greasy all at once, she simply couldn’t handle it.”
This was something Wei Nan had never experienced or even heard of before.
Realizing that her good intentions had caused harm, she felt an overwhelming guilt.
She reached out and touched her sister’s icy little face, speaking with self-reproach, “I’m sorry, Peipei. Sister caused this. I’ll be more careful from now on. I won’t let it happen again.”
Wei Pei’s stomach must have hurt badly; she held her small abdomen, and cold sweat beaded on her forehead.
But upon hearing her sister’s words, she shook her head vigorously and gripped Wei Nan’s hand even tighter.
That entire day, Wei Nan didn’t go anywhere. She stayed in the hospital with Wei Pei all night.
She exchanged some meal coupons with Ling Bailan and had the head cook in the cafeteria prepare a small meal for her sister.
“Small meal” was really just a bowl of thin rice porridge with a bit of sugar, sparse and simple.
At that moment, this was all little Pei could eat.
Fortunately, children’s vitality is always strong.
After a few bottles of IV drip, Wei Pei’s stomach stopped hurting, and her complexion improved considerably.
Early the next morning, Wei Qiuxia arrived at the hospital.
Ling Bailan had obviously informed her in advance. She brought several pieces of children’s clothing in fairly good condition.
“These are clothes my Xiao Hu wore when he was younger. Let Peipei wear them first.
No need to rush buying new clothes right now. Later I’ll check the factory warehouse for you. If there’s any fabric with minor flaws, it’s more cost-effective to buy the cloth and make them yourself.”
As she spoke, she handed a set of padded jacket and pants into Wei Nan’s hands.
The clothes clearly showed signs of alteration.
And the pattern, evidently Wei Qiuxia had repurposed some of her own clothing for Wei Pei, just borrowing her son’s name to avoid causing worry.
Looking at the clothes, Wei Pei lowered her head.
She bit her lip, and tears welled up in her eyes.
She suddenly realized that, although there were bad people in this world like Wang Sanhua and Wei Shuangquan, there were far more good people like Sister Wei and Sister Ling.
This place wasn’t as she had once thought, full of malice with no warmth anywhere.
After all, good people were in the majority.
Although Wei Pei’s health had improved somewhat, she still couldn’t be discharged from the hospital.
Meanwhile, Wei Nan’s household registration and food ration matters could no longer be postponed, she had to go to the Educated Youth Office.
After repeatedly promising to return in time to have lunch with her sister, Wei Nan entrusted her to Ling Bailan, hurried home to change into a fresh set of clothes, grabbed her documents, and headed to the Civil Affairs Bureau.
The Educated Youth Office of Jinning City was located inside the Civil Affairs Bureau compound, in a small separate courtyard.
Because this was the peak of the last wave of educated youth returning to the city, the area in front of the office was packed with people, making it very easy to spot.
Wei Nan squeezed into the crowd with her return-to-city certificate and waited in line for a long time before reaching the counter.
Since her paperwork was complete, it didn’t take much effort, and she soon received her household registration certificate.
Holding the certificate, she pushed her way desperately through the crowd, planning to first take it to the police station to complete her household registration.
Actually, she felt a small sense of regret.
She had come today with another purpose, to ask if the Educated Youth Office had any work she could take on, even a temporary job.
Wei Nan truly didn’t know how to cook. If she tried running a restaurant, she was afraid she might accidentally set the house on fire.
So opening a small eatery was definitely out of the question.
But if she didn’t run a restaurant, how would she and her sister make a living?
At this point, in her heart, she already considered Wei Pei her responsibility.
Thinking about what the nurse had said yesterday, and remembering all the suffering her sister had endured at the Wei family, she wanted to treat this little sister twice as well.
So finding work was an urgent priority.
But seeing how crowded it was, and how busy the staff were with no time to even look up, Wei Nan knew she wouldn’t have a chance to ask today.
“Wei Nan! Wei Nan!”
Just as she lowered her head, a bit disappointed, and started to walk out, a voice called from behind.
Startled, she turned around and saw a girl about her age waving at her from a distance.
Seeing Wei Nan look back, the girl smiled, then worked her way more determinedly through the crowd toward her.
Looking at the girl, Wei Nan’s mind suddenly flashed with a name, Xu Qiaoqiao.
She remembered, this was the original owner’s best friend when she had been sent to the countryside.
The two of them had lived together in a local family’s house, sharing a room for several years.
Xu Qiaoqiao’s family, however, was better off. Her parents had already arranged for her to return to the city to take over the family business in the early 1980s.
Finally, Xu Qiaoqiao pushed through the crowd and reached Wei Nan.
She grabbed Wei Nan’s arm, bouncing with excitement, her face radiating genuine joy.
“When did you get back? Why didn’t you say a word? Do you even still think of me as your sister? Seriously, at least tell me when you come back!”
Wei Nan felt her joy and couldn’t help but curve her lips into a smile.
She waved the documents in her hand and explained, “I only got back yesterday. As soon as I walked in, a pile of things came up, I didn’t have time to contact you.”
Xu Qiaoqiao’s gaze fell on the most prominent document among them, the household registration certificate, and she suddenly froze.
Her smile stiffened on her face.
Then, she pressed her lips together tightly, grabbed Wei Nan’s hand, and started walking toward the outside.
Wei Nan was a bit baffled by the sudden change in expression.
“What’s wrong?” she asked, puzzled.
Xu Qiaoqiao glanced at her, her eyes carrying a trace of exasperated frustration, as if scolding her for being stubborn.
Wei Nan was even more confused.
The two of them walked out of the Educated Youth Office and reached a corner.
Once she was sure no one was around, Xu Qiaoqiao let go of Wei Nan’s hand.
She poked the household registration certificate with her finger and ground her teeth, asking, “Why are you registering your household here? Why didn’t you go to Beijing?!”
Wei Nan was even more bewildered.
“Where else would I register it? My home is here!”
Beijing? What a joke!
According to her memory, not a single person in the old Wei family for hundreds of generations had any connection to Beijing.
Hearing her say that, Xu Qiaoqiao became even angrier!
She jabbed her finger hard against Wei Nan’s forehead in frustration.
“Home? What’s there to cling to in your broken home? You think about them, but does a single one of them think about you?
If even one of them considered you family, would they have sent you to such a remote place to work as an educated youth?
At fourteen, weren’t they afraid you’d die out there?
All these years, who cared about you? Who ever asked about you? Who ever sent you a single cent?
Wei Nan, are you really that stubborn? Have you forgotten everything I told you before?!”
Wei Nan lowered her head, saying nothing.
She really had forgotten everything.
Although she had taken over the original owner’s body, Wei Nan knew she hadn’t received all of the original owner’s memories.
Many things, many people, only appeared in her mind when she encountered them.
For example, seeing Xu Qiaoqiao, she could recognize her and remember the times they had spent together.
But other fragments from her time as an educated youth remained like a thick fog, completely unclear.
Yet, looking at the girl’s furious, exasperated face, she was certain that this person genuinely considered the original owner a friend and truly cared for her.
Seeing Wei Nan lower her head and avoid eye contact, Xu Qiaoqiao thought she was still the same as before—
timid, obedient, resigned.
It made Xu Qiaoqiao so angry that she had to take a deep breath to calm herself!
After steadying herself and suppressing her temper, she finally asked, “What about Jiang Sirui? You registered your household back here, did he agree?”
Jiang Sirui?
Hearing that name come from Xu Qiaoqiao’s mouth, Wei Nan’s head suddenly throbbed as if it were about to explode!
It felt like something she didn’t want to face had been ripped out and laid bare in front of her.
It made her feel ashamed, uneasy, panicked…
Instinctively, she tried to avoid it.
Wei Nan couldn’t control herself and stepped back.
Seeing this, Xu Qiaoqiao grew even angrier!
She grabbed Wei Nan and pulled her back, scolding, “You’re doing this again! What are you running from? That’s your husband, your man, not some monster. Do you really need to be so scared?!
You’re already married, it’s one family now. When you returned to the city, why didn’t you follow him to transfer your household registration to Beijing? Why go back to your parents’ place instead?!
What does Jiang Sirui think about this? He didn’t stop you?!”