I've suffered quite a bit these past few days, and I can't help but whisper, "Heavy snow presses down on the green pine, yet the green pine stands tall and straight. To know the pine's nobility, wait until the snow melts."

As if trying to bolster her own spirits, she felt her life force waning. She thought to herself, "Yunxiang, where are you? Are you alright? Can you feel my love for you? Love is for you. I fear nothing, not even death. Even though some people are forcing me, I won't allow anyone to taint me. I will die pure and innocent, belonging only to you. When faced with this choice, I knew clearly that I wasn't afraid of death, only of loving you too little! If I don't live to see the end, my soul will pray for you, pray that you will be happy forever!..." With a sudden darkness, she completely fainted, developing a high fever.

When she was thrown into the yard, Wang Fang was covered in injuries and unconscious.

Hearing the commotion, everyone came out and saw Wang Fang's clothes were tattered, her hair was unkempt like a dog's, with bald patches, bloodstains, and her face covered in wounds. Wang Dong went up and carried her back. Wang Hong cried as she went to boil water. Qi Zhifang came over, changed her clothes, and carefully washed her, cursing through her tears, "These inhuman beasts, how could they be so cruel? Don't they have any sisters or children?"

Wang Dong snorted coldly, "None of their sisters or children are involved in extramarital affairs." He then turned and left. Wang Hong stamped her feet anxiously, "Brother, my sister is already like this, what nonsense are you spouting? Are you trying to drive her to her death?!"

Mother Qi sighed, thought for a moment, and then turned and went to the side room. Little Cui was leaning against the headboard reading a book. Seeing Mother Qi come in, he smiled, put the book aside, and stood up, saying, "Mom! Are you looking for Zhijun? He hasn't gotten off work yet."

Mother Qi nodded and said, "I know, you..." Xiao Cui crossed his arms, not in a hurry, just looking at Mother Qi with a half-smile. Mother Qi hesitated for a moment, then turned and left. Just as Xiao Cui was about to go back, Mother Qi came back in, looking at him with a bitter, resentful expression, and after much deliberation, said, "Xiao Cui, could you lend me some egg coupons or meat coupons? If not, could you lend me two jin of grain coupons? I'll give you a dollar..."

Xiao Cui raised an eyebrow and said with a smile, "Mom? Is there no food at home? I checked the grain cabinet today and there are still about twenty catties of cornmeal and four heads of cabbage. That should last us until the end of the month! We also have quite a few pickled vegetables!" Then, he suddenly realized and said, "Oh! You want to eat eggs and meat? Mom, that won't do. These days, who doesn't eat stewed meat every three to five months? Saving up ration coupons to exchange for grain? We can't indulge in our cravings! Exchanging ration coupons for eggs and meat is just wasteful!"

She gently pushed Qi's mother around and shooed her outside. Once outside, she raised her voice, "Mom, please hang in there! When we get our salaries at the beginning of the month, we'll buy you meat and eggs. We'll make sure you have something to eat! Let's just bear with it for now; there are only ten days left in this month!"

Qi Zhijun pushed his bicycle in and saw Xiao Cui talking to Qi's mother with a big smile, while Qi's mother looked unhappy.

Qi Zhijun parked the car and came over. "What's wrong?"

Xiao Cui looked at Qi's mother with a helpless expression, as if she were talking to an unreasonable child, and said, "Mom wants to eat eggs and meat, she really wants them. If we don't have them, we have to use food coupons to get them. Sigh! I know we're really short of food. I promised Mom that when you get your salary at the beginning of the month, you'll go buy some meat and make dumplings for her to satisfy her craving!"

After Qi Zhifang finished cleaning and treating Wang Fang's wounds, she quickly came out and glared at Xiao Cui, "Sister-in-law, why do you have to ask questions you already know the answer to, making things difficult for Mom! Does Mom want to eat?"

Xiao Cui looked innocently at Qi Zhijun and said, "If it's not that Mom wants to eat, then what should Mom say?" Then she covered her mouth and looked at Qi's mother, "Mom? It's not that you're going to..." She then looked at Qi Zhijun and said, "You can think of it yourself!"

Qi Zhifang glared at her and said to Qi Zhijun, "Brother, can you lend me some tickets? Fangfang is back, she..."

When Qi Zhijun heard that Wang Fang had returned, his feelings were complicated. Looking at his mother, he understood what was going on. He said to Xiao Cui, "Do you have any tickets at home? If so, give some to Fangzi."

Xiao Cui shook his head sincerely and said, "I really don't have any more. I exchanged some gas coupons with my colleagues at work. The New Year is in about ten days, so even if there's not much meat, we need to make sure there's enough oil!" Then he turned to Qi Zhifang and said gently, "Fangzi, where are your coupons? This is your own daughter! At a time like this, you don't even care about her and take out the coupons to use and help her get some nourishment. You're too heartless!"

Qi Zhifang was speechless. She had already exchanged her tickets for clothes and the meat dishes she had prepared for Li Maocai. She had no money left, let alone tickets.

Qi's mother sighed, her face stubborn, and said slowly, "Zhijun, even if you don't have tickets, could you please have some compassion and buy Fangfang a bowl of wontons and a meat pie? At least she'll have some strength to hold on!"

Looking at the stubborn eyes of the mother and daughter, Qi Zhijun felt as if he owed them something in a past life. He sighed, turned around, and went out. He spent two ounces of grain coupons and three mao (0.3 yuan) to buy a large bowl of meat wontons and two meat pies! After buying these, he had no money left. When he got back, Wang Fang was already feverish. He gave her brown sugar ginger water, a fever reducer, and covered her with three blankets. It wasn't until three hours later that she opened her eyes. After a moment of confusion, Qi's mother asked softly, "Are you hungry? Do you want something to eat?"

Wang Fang nodded, and Wang Hong quickly took the hot wontons from the stove, brought them to the bedside, and cried as she fed Wang Fang the hot wonton soup. Everyone except Xiao Cui was there watching.

In a daze, Wang Fang ate a large bowl of wontons, but couldn't eat any more meat pies. She sweated a lot, felt a little better, took another pill, and went to sleep.

After tidying himself up in the house, Xiao Cui knew he wouldn't get breakfast today, so he took his money and coupons and prepared to go to the state-run restaurant at the entrance of the alley to get something to eat.

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