“Smack!”
The skin on Leng Hui’s hand quickly turned red.
In an instant, the cramped, unremarkable room in the corridor-style apartment building was filled with a chilling atmosphere entirely different from before.
Leng Hui’s gaze was like a poisoned blade, fixed intently on Sun Xiaojuan’s hand holding the chopsticks.
To be precise, it was a hand she wished she could chop into pieces.
Sun Xiaojuan unconsciously tightened her grip on the chopsticks, her knuckles turning white from the force. Her eyes were locked onto the low-pressure aura surrounding Leng Hui, as if afraid she might suddenly erupt into violence, ready to counterattack at any moment.
Yet her mouth refused to admit defeat as she argued defiantly, “I only steamed ten sweet potatoes at noon, and you took four or five all by yourself. What are your sister Xiaomei and I supposed to eat?”
Leng Mei, hearing her name called, seemed to sense a malicious gaze. She instinctively lifted her eyes from the reddened hand and looked toward Leng Hui.
Only to find Leng Hui picking up a sweet potato, a nasty, mocking smile curling at the corner of her lips. “What you eat is none of my damn business. All I know is that the ten sweet potatoes are to be divided between the two branches of the family. Your second branch gets five, and our eldest branch gets five. Half and half, fair and square. If you think it’s unfair, are you saying our eldest branch’s two jobs don’t deserve half?”
Bringing up the two jobs again—Leng Mei nearly gritted her teeth in fury. What’s so great about having more jobs? Always flaunting it, have you no shame?
This is just bullying.
Sun Xiaojuan was also seething inside. If there was one thing that pained Leng Yongkang the most, it was undoubtedly not having a son. No son meant no heir, an unspoken agony for him.
And Sun Xiaojuan’s pain was having no job. Precisely because she had no job, she was always one step below her sister-in-law Tang Lin in her in-laws’ home.
When Tang Lin went to work dressed neatly in clothes without patches, Sun Xiaojuan had to stay home, disheveled and managing household chores.
When Tang Lin returned home and comfortably sat in her partitioned space teaching Leng Hui homework, Sun Xiaojuan had to rush around in patched clothes preparing meals for the whole family.
After dinner, when Tang Lin finished cleaning up and took her husband and daughter out for a walk, Sun Xiaojuan was locked in a battle of wits with several mischievous children, leaving her physically and mentally exhausted.
No matter how much she seethed inside, Sun Xiaojuan didn’t dare to truly break ties with the eldest branch, because Leng Yongxing’s meager salary alone couldn’t support their family of five.
Swallowing all her resentment and hatred, Sun Xiaojuan’s stiff face twitched a few times as she forced what she thought was her kindest smile. “It’s just a few sweet potatoes. Why are you making it about conflict between the two branches?”
“Your grandmother went to your aunt’s house today. I didn’t know you’d be back, so I only steamed ten small sweet potatoes, just enough for Xiaomei and me. If I’d known you were coming, I would’ve steamed more or made sweet potato porridge, which would’ve been tastier.”
Leng Hui scoffed. She had seen Sun Xiaojuan’s greedy, calculating face clearly that morning. Now that she knew she couldn’t snatch the jobs for the time being, was she just biding her time again?
“I don’t care about any of that. All I know is that every meal in this house includes a share for our eldest branch. Since you only steamed ten, I’m entitled to five.”
Sun Xiaojuan: “…”
She felt like vomiting blood!
Stubborn and unyielding!
Leng Hui couldn’t care less whether Sun Xiaojuan was fuming with rage. Knowing full well there was a patient at home, she deliberately steamed dry food instead of preparing porridge—wasn’t this just to prevent Tang Lin from having her wish fulfilled?
These people never stopped to consider how much Tang Lin had contributed to this family over the years.
Tang Lin earned the highest salary in the entire Leng Family. If three breadwinners had given their all to support the household, Tang Lin’s share of the credit accounted for at least half.
With ten mouths to feed in the Leng Family, four or five of them essentially depended on her wages to survive.
Now that Tang Lin was lying in a hospital bed, only Old Woman Leng and Leng Yongkang had visited initially, while the second branch hadn’t even bothered to show their faces.
Such ungrateful, heartless family members deserved no kindness in return.
In the apocalyptic wasteland, when a team went out on missions, supplies were distributed based on contribution. Those who contributed more naturally received more, while those who tried to idle or freeload were only given basic provisions out of their teammates’ mercy.
Five sweet potatoes the size of two fingers could barely stave off hunger—there was no way they could fill anyone up.
After finishing the sweet potatoes, Leng Hui picked up the basin of dirty clothes and headed to the washroom. Once she had washed and hung the laundry, she returned directly to the hospital.
The hospital cafeteria was already past serving hours, and the kitchen staff were cleaning the utensils.
At the nutrition porridge window, Leng Hui learned that it had sold out for the day.
Leaving the cafeteria, she slipped into the restroom and took a can of powdered milk from her space while no one was around.
Entering the ward, she noticed the family member of the patient near the door feeding water to their relative, who merely glanced up as she walked in.
Tang Lin lay flat on the hospital bed, staring blankly at the IV drip. Only when footsteps approached did she slowly turn her eyes toward the newcomer.
Leng Hui noticed her gaze lingering on her hands. “I went home to change clothes and stopped by the supply and marketing cooperative to buy you some powdered milk.”
Placing the milk powder on the bedside cabinet, she poured water into an enamel cup and explained, “I wanted to save where we could, but when I got home, Sun Xiaojuan had only steamed a few sweet potatoes. I thought I’d come back to the hospital cafeteria to get you some nutrition porridge, but they’d already sold out. So, you’ll have to make do with milk powder for lunch today.”
The family member of the neighboring patient, a middle-aged woman, sniffed the milky scent in the air and remarked sourly, “If drinking milk powder is ‘making do,’ then I’d gladly suffer that hardship anytime. I love milk powder—it’s so nutritious, much more than that hospital porridge.”
Leng Hui was taken aback; she hadn’t expected anyone else to chime in.
Tang Lin rolled her eyes at Leng Hui, as if to say, “Stop showing off. If you’ve got something good, keep it to yourself instead of flaunting it like you’re so capable.”
After helping Tang Lin drink half a cup of milk, Leng Hui refilled it with water, swirled it around, and drank the faintly milky water herself.
Two pairs of eyes from the neighboring bed—the patient and their family member—were fixed on them the entire time.
“Comrade, is the milk powder tasty? If you don’t like it, we could trade it for nutrition porridge tonight.”
The hospital cafeteria’s nutrition porridge was only for patients, required no food stamps, and cost just two cents per serving for those hospitalized.
Leng Hui sighed inwardly. “I only said that to cheer up my mom. Please don’t take it seriously.”
In this era of scarcity, only a fool would complain about milk powder.
The middle-aged woman forced an awkward smile. “You girl, can’t you speak properly? I almost took you seriously.”
Leng Hui chuckled softly, then bent down to retrieve an enamel basin from under the bed. She fetched half a basin of warm water and helped Tang Lin wipe her body. Although the temperature wasn’t high this season, lying still all day made daily sponge baths necessary for more comfortable rest.
In the evening, Leng Hui didn’t return home for dinner. She bought a portion of nutrient-rich congee from the hospital cafeteria. Tang Lin drank some rice broth while Leng Hui finished all the remaining solid portions.
Only half-full, Leng Hui couldn’t be bothered to go home and directly stayed overnight at the hospital.