When Mi Duoduo returned to the room, Mi Laidi had already poured warm water and handed her a half-damp towel. "Wipe your face."
She took it, wiped her face, and handed the towel back. Mi Laidi also wiped her face, then added some hot water from the thermos to the basin and called out, "Let's soak our feet."
Although sharing a basin with her older sister to soak their feet felt a bit awkward, in the original host's memory, this was the nightly routine—this enamel basin printed with red flowers was exclusively for the two sisters, while another one with green flowers was shared by their parents, eldest brother, and younger brother.
These two basins served multiple purposes: washing faces, washing hair, washing clothes, and washing feet all relied on them.
While soaking her feet, Mi Laidi picked up the socks Mi Duoduo had taken off and scrubbed them in the water. After washing and wringing them dry, she walked to the backyard, hung them on the clothesline, and secured them with wooden clothespins before returning.
Around eight in the evening, Li Xiuqin came home from work, exhausted. She first went to check on Mi Duoduo, and seeing her in good spirits, she breathed a sigh of relief. Sitting by the bed, she chatted for a while about things at the factory before urging the two sisters to sleep.
The lights in the eldest brother and younger brother's room soon went out as well, leaving only the light in their parents' room still on, with faint murmurs of conversation drifting out.
Early the next morning, just as dawn was breaking, Li Xiuqin got up to make breakfast.
Before seven, the whole family gathered around the table to eat. The eldest brother had to rush off to work after finishing his meal, as their shift started promptly at seven.
Normally at this time, Mi Duoduo and Xiao Sheng would also be shouldering their school bags and heading to school. But now that she was injured and Xiao Sheng was taking care of her, they stayed home.
The eldest sister was on the night shift today and left around the same time as their parents.
Their parents were always the last to leave, tidying up the house before heading to work.
If there was anyone in the family who worked the hardest, it was Li Xiuqin. Whether on day or night shifts, she worked twelve hours, and after returning home, she still had to manage the clothing and food for the entire family.
Although there was a sewing machine at home, making clothes and stitching shoe soles still took up most of her free time.
Fortunately, neighbors without jobs often exchanged stitched shoe soles for cloth ration coupons or brought defective fabric to trade, saving her the effort of stitching soles and speeding up shoe-making considerably. Yet, she still rarely had any downtime.
During breakfast, Li Xiuqin fished two boiled eggs out of the pot and stuffed them into Mi Duoduo's hands. "Eat them quickly, to build up your strength."
Mi Duoduo wanted to share one with Xiao Sheng, but Li Xiuqin glared at her and stopped her. "Your younger brother is strong and healthy; he doesn't need it. You're injured."
Mi Duoduo had no choice but to eat one first and tuck the other into her pocket. "I'll save this for when I'm hungry later."
Li Xiuqin shot her a glare but didn't press the matter. After clearing the dishes, she hurried off to work.
Once everyone had left, Mi Duoduo immediately handed the egg to Xiao Sheng. "Eat it quickly, before Mom sees."
Xiao Sheng couldn't refuse and finally took the egg, nibbling on it in small bites, his eyes shining like stars.
"Second Sister, when are we going to Dawang Village?" Xiao Sheng asked between bites of the egg.
Mi Duoduo thought for a moment. In the original host's memory, when she went to Dawang Village with her mother, it was usually in the summer, around four or five in the morning. If they went now, the villagers would likely already be at work.
"Let's wait until eleven. We'll go when they finish their midday shift."
The two ate lunch early—another meal of dough drop soup with white flour. Mi Duoduo deliberately cracked an egg into the pot.
"So delicious!" Xiao Sheng slurped it up, finishing a large bowl and still wanting more.
Mi Duoduo also found it delicious. After two consecutive meals of corn porridge, the dough drop soup tasted exceptionally good.
After packing up, Mi Duoduo put on Zhang Xiaolian's silk scarf, picked up two cloth bags containing the half-pack of crumbled peach shortbread, and took Xiao Sheng with her to Dawang Village.
The four or five li journey took them over half an hour of slow walking to complete.
At the clinic, Doctor Wang lifted the gauze to examine the wound and nodded. "It's healing well. Avoid strenuous activity. Come back in three days for another dressing change, and it should be nearly healed."
The dressing change cost ten cents, significantly cheaper than at the hospital.
Leaving the clinic, Xiao Sheng whispered, "Second Sister is still the smart one. A dressing change at the hospital would cost fifty cents."
Mi Duoduo led him toward the home of the distant relative Li Xiuqin often visited, calling out as soon as they entered the gate, "Great-Aunt!"
An elderly woman busy in the courtyard came out to greet them. She was only fifty, still robust, having just returned from the fields with her two daughters-in-law to prepare a meal.
"Oh, it's Duoduo! Why aren't you in school? Didn't your mom come? Just the two of you?"
"Mom is busy at work, so we came." Mi Duoduo pointed to Xiao Sheng beside her. "This is my younger brother, Xiao Sheng."
Xiao Sheng quickly greeted her, "Hello, Great-Aunt."
Mi Duoduo didn't beat around the bush and directly stated her purpose. "Great-Aunt, I'd like to exchange for some eggs. If you have chickens, I'd also like to exchange for one."
"What a coincidence. We keep five chickens, and two of them have stopped laying eggs regularly. You can pick one." The old woman pointed toward the chicken coop as she spoke.
Mi Duoduo stepped forward to support her arm, walking with her toward the chicken coop while silently communicating with Xiao Fu in her mind. "Xiao Fu, exchange two Duplication Points using Integral Points. Check how many chickens and eggs Great-Aunt's family has."
"Understood, host. Two Duplication Points have been exchanged. Current remaining Duplication Points: 3, Integral Points: 19. Today's Duplication Points have been credited."
As soon as Xiao Fu's voice faded, it reported the data. "Host, Great-Aunt's household has eight live chickens and 67 eggs. Proceed with duplication?"
"Duplicate."
"Ding! Duplication successful. Eight live chickens and 67 eggs have been stored in the System Space. Time is static within the System Space, but living creatures entering will die instantly. Host has completed two duplications. Reward: 14 Integral Points. Current remaining Duplication Points: 1, Integral Points: 33."
Mi Duoduo selected the plumpest old hen and also exchanged for thirty eggs, spending a total of six yuan and thirty cents.
Seeing she had brought crumbled peach shortbread, the old woman insisted on stuffing a cloth bag of vegetables into her hands. "Freshly picked from the field! Eggplants, peppers, loofahs, cucumbers, and sweet potato leaves—take them all."
She also added, "Next time you come, if you have any flawed fabric, bring a bit for your Great-Aunt. I won't shortchange you."
Mi Duoduo agreed and declined the offer to stay for a meal—in these times, no household had much grain to spare, and it wouldn't be right to eat at someone else's home.
On the way back, Xiao Sheng insisted on carrying the old hen and the vegetables. Mi Duoduo only carried the cloth bag of eggs. Even so, both were thoroughly exhausted by the time they reached home.
Fortunately, no one was around in the staff residential compound at noon—people were either at work or taking their midday rest—so no one saw them bringing back so many things.
After tying up the old hen in the storage room and putting away the eggs and vegetables, they washed their faces and lay down on the bed to rest.
Remembering the bag of vegetables, Mi Duoduo asked the Duplication System, "Xiao Fu, if I want to duplicate that bag of vegetables, do I duplicate just one type or the whole bag?"
"Of course, duplicate the entire bag along with the bag itself," Xiao Fu replied. "Does the host wish to duplicate?"
"Yes, duplicate."
"Ding! Duplication successful. One bag of vegetables has been stored in the System Space. Reward: 6 Integral Points. Current remaining Duplication Points: 0, Integral Points: 39."
"Xiao Fu, if I take out the duplicated vegetables, can I duplicate them again?"
"No, host. Items duplicated by the host cannot be duplicated again. However, the original items that have been duplicated cannot be duplicated twice temporarily. Once the System upgrades, perhaps it will be possible to duplicate them twice."
Mi Duoduo clenched her fist. "Then we must work hard and upgrade as soon as possible!"