Su Yun walked in from outside, carrying a load of firewood on her shoulder pole.
Some grass and tree leaves were still tangled among the wood.
Wu Jiangtao quickly stood up. "This… this must be… sister-in-law?"
He limped toward Su Yun, intending to help her unload the firewood from her shoulders.
Su Yun didn’t need his help.
She carried the firewood directly outside the kitchen door and leaned it against the wall.
"Who’s this?"
She looked at Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan explained, "Old Wu, from the first team."
"Oh."
Su Yun gave a slight nod, reached up to rub her shoulder, then turned and went into the kitchen.
With her sharp eyes, she caught sight of the half bag of coarse rice on the cupboard and realized that Old Wu must have come to bring Xiao Yuan some grain.
Su Yun washed her hands, first stoked the fire, cleaned the pot, added a small half-bowl of coarse rice, and covered it with the lid.
Then she picked out three sweet potatoes, washed them, cut them into chunks, and set them aside.
They’d have sweet potato porridge in the morning, and again in the evening.
After finishing these tasks, she left the kitchen. Wu Jiangtao was no longer in the yard.
She didn’t ask Xiao Yuan about him.
She took the medicinal herbs that had been placed on top of the firewood and went to wash them clean by the old well.
Xiao Yuan had been sent to live in this dilapidated courtyard. The house was run-down, but fortunately, there was an old well.
This was pretty much the only thing that could be considered satisfactory.
Su Yun drew water to wash the herbs.
The well water was icy cold, but she washed them directly with it.
Xiao Yuan watched from the side. Seeing her hands turn bright red from the cold water, he finally spoke up, "B-boil some hot water to wash them."
"No need."
Su Yun meticulously washed all the herbs clean and set them aside to dry.
"Do you have an earthenware pot? For boiling medicine."
Su Yun asked Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan leaned on his crutch and moved to the corner to get it for her.
"I’ll get it."
Su Yun bent down and picked up the earthenware pot.
She took it outside, scrubbed and rinsed it clean, then put some of the herbs she’d brought back inside, added water, and began boiling them.
"The herbal medicine you gave me to drink this morning—who prescribed it for you?" she asked Xiao Yuan as she worked.
Xiao Yuan replied, "Old Wu had the barefoot doctor prescribe it before."
"Oh."
Su Yun nodded slightly. The coarse rice in the pot was already bubbling; she stirred it with a spatula to prevent it from sticking.
Once the coarse rice and sweet potato porridge was ready, Su Yun placed the earthenware pot on the stove to boil the medicine.
Soon, the small kitchen was filled with the scent of Chinese herbal medicine.
Outside, the sky had grown completely dark.
There was no electric light or oil lamp in the house. They sat at the table, eating their coarse rice and sweet potato porridge by the light of the fire in the earthen stove.
"I want to go to the commune tomorrow. Do you need anything?"
She asked Xiao Yuan.
Xiao Yuan shook his head.
Su Yun didn’t press further.
Knowing that Xiao Yuan was a man of few words, she wouldn’t initiate conversation with him unless necessary.
By the time they finished the porridge, the medicine was ready.
Su Yun washed the bowls clean and poured the medicine from the earthenware pot into two bowls.
One for herself, and one for Xiao Yuan.
The firelight from the earthen stove reflected on Xiao Yuan’s gaunt face. A flicker of confusion passed through his deep-set eyes.
"Do I need to drink it too?"
"Drink it. It might not cure your injury and discharge, but it can strengthen your body a bit and help prevent colds."
As she spoke, Su Yun blew on her medicine to cool it slightly.
She took a small sip.
Bitter.
Extremely, extremely bitter.
She frowned slightly, took a deep breath, then raised the bowl and drank the entire contents in one go.
In the darkness, Xiao Yuan's eyes once again revealed a look of astonishment.
"Isn't it bitter?"
He had just tasted it; the medicine was extremely bitter.
He thought Su Yun would take a long time to finish drinking it.
That was why he was so shocked when she downed it in one gulp.
The corners of Su Yun's lips lifted slightly. "It's bitter, but it can save lives."
Between surviving and enduring bitterness, even a fool knows which to choose.
After finishing the medicine, Su Yun asked for hot water to wash up.
Having spent the whole day toiling in the mountains, she felt sticky all over and terribly uncomfortable.
Thinking of washing up reminded her that the only two sets of spare clothes the original owner had brought from her parents' home yesterday were still at the Qin family's house next door.
She stood up, ready to go out.
Xiao Yuan called out to her.
"It's… so late… where… are you going?"
Su Yun turned back, glancing at Xiao Yuan with a faint smile. "Worried about me?"
Xiao Yuan pressed his lips together and fell silent.
Su Yun said, "I'm going next door to get my clothes."
With that, she walked out the door.
Not far away, she arrived at the Qin family's house next door.
The Qin family's brick-and-tile house, even the outer walls were made of brick and tile, with a painted courtyard gate—it looked wealthy indeed.
Su Yun smiled and knocked on the door.
"Who is it?"
Xu Dongmei's voice came from inside.
Su Yun curved her lips. "It's me."
As soon as her words fell, Qin Aiguo's wary voice immediately sounded from inside. "Su Yun? What are you doing here?"
Clearly, this family was not fond of her.
Su Yun didn't want to waste time with them either. "Last night, your son carried me to Brother Xiao's yard and forgot to bring my clothes over."
After she finished speaking, a few murmurs came from inside. Soon, the tightly shut door slowly opened a crack.
Xu Dongmei handed her the tattered bundle she had brought yesterday over the threshold.
Su Yun confirmed it was her belongings, took it, and left.
"Hey, wait a moment."
Xu Dongmei's voice came from behind.
Su Yun stopped and turned to look at Xu Dongmei.
Xu Dongmei nervously glanced inside the house a few times, quickly reached out, pulled two mao from her pocket, and handed them to Su Yun.
"I don't have much to give you. This is some private money I secretly saved. You and A Yuan should live well together."
Su Yun looked at the crumpled two mao in her hand.
And at Xu Dongmei's sincere yet troubled expression.
She couldn't help but feel like laughing.
If she hadn't read the original text of the book and known that Qin Aiguo was very fond of Xu Dongmei, often giving her money to spend, she might have been moved by the Xu Dongmei before her.
Two mao…
And secretly saved at that.
Su Yun sneered. "Thank you, but Brother Yuan said that his mother passed away when his father died."
"So, thank you, Auntie. I won't accept your kind offer."
She emphasized the words "kind offer."
With that, she turned and left.
As for how Xu Dongmei, left standing there, would react?
That had nothing to do with her.
Qin Aiguo was bad, Qin Xiao was an abusive scumbag, but this Xu Dongmei was definitely no good person either.
If she were truly good, she wouldn't have allowed her son from her previous marriage to be bullied and humiliated like this.
Su Yun carried her tattered bundle back home.
A pot full of hot water was heating in the kitchen.
An empty wooden bucket was placed nearby.
Xiao Yuan wasn't there.
But the wooden bucket and the water in the pot had been added by him.
Though not good with words, he seemed quite kind-hearted.
Su Yun closed the kitchen door and fetched water to wash up.
In a home with such conditions, having a bathroom was naturally out of the question, so washing up in the kitchen was perfectly normal.
She bathed first, then prepared to wash her hair.
Looking at her waist-length hair, Su Yun initially thought about cutting it off with a knife, but suddenly remembered her grandmother once saying that at times like these, one could sell hair at the commune.
This long hair of hers might even fetch a few yuan?
Thinking this, she dismissed the idea of cutting her hair. After carefully washing it, she dried it by the earthen stove until it was almost dry before finally leaving the kitchen and returning to the room opposite.
The courtyard had only one habitable room and a kitchen.
Without a doubt, for a long time to come, she would have to share a room with Xiao Yuan.