Song Zigan ate heartily, occasionally picking up some pickled vegetables. But his eating manners did not appear rude.

Zhang Hongmei waited until the steamed buns were no longer too hot, then picked one up and ate it slowly with both hands.

Song Zigan ate three, while Zhang Hongmei had just finished one and then watched with a smile as Song Zigan ate his fourth.

Song Zigan was embarrassed by what he saw.

Zhang Hongmei quickly looked away. "Eat more, the rest is all yours. If you can't finish it, take it home." After saying that, she picked up a sweet potato, peeled it, and started eating. The sweet potatoes from the drought year were especially sweet, and Zhang Hongmei became happier and happier as she ate.

After finishing the fourth dried sweet potato, he stopped eating. Seeing Zhang Hongmei's expression of great enjoyment as she ate the sweet potato, he picked one up as well.

"So sweet, so delicious! Even better than pastries!"

"Isn't it delicious? I love eating sweet potatoes right now. Last year was already dry, so the sweet potatoes were quite sweet when they were harvested, and they've been stored in the cellar for so long that they're even sweeter."

After finishing her sweet potato, Zhang Hongmei stopped eating. Seeing that Song Zigan had finished, she handed him another potato, saying, "This potato isn't sweet, but it's very sandy. Try it."

Song Zigan didn't stand on ceremony, peeled it, and took a bite. Although it had no flavor, it was sandy and mealy in his mouth. The texture was particularly good.

Seeing that Song Zigan had stopped eating, Zhang Hongmei didn't offer him any more. She told him to pack his food in a little while so he wouldn't eat too much at once and upset his stomach.

Song Zigan slumped onto the bench, rubbing his stomach. "Hongmei, your cooking is so delicious! You're so skillful!"

"Thank you for the compliment! Let's rest for a while before going to the bookstore; I bet everyone's already having lunch by now."

"Yes, I can't even walk anymore."

“You sit down, I’ll clear the table, and I’ll find a cloth bag to take these back for the two elders to try.”

"Thank you so much, Hongmei! Then I won't be polite."

After Zhang Hongmei tidied up the table, she came back and saw five jin of grain coupons on it, which were valid nationwide.

Song Zigan cleared his throat. "Hongmei, I know this isn't right, but food is so precious right now, you can't refuse."

"Then I won't stand on ceremony. Let's go for a walk in the yard to digest our food, or we'll feel unwell later."

The two strolled around the yard a few times before Song Zigan felt a little better. "Hongmei, when the soil thaws, I'll help you dig and turn over the furrows."

"No need, there's not much land, and besides, we might have to take extra classes in our second year of high school."

"That's true, your studies are too demanding. We can talk about it later. Do you want to buy any books at the bookstore? If not, you don't need to come with me. You should go and study. I've already taken up a lot of your time."

"It's alright. I'll go see if they have any books I need."

"Let's go then!" The two arrived at the bookstore by bicycle half an hour later.

There weren't many books inside, but there were quite a few comic books. Zhang Hongmei picked out a few, then bought a constitution book, a map, and a dictionary, and stopped looking for more.

Song Zigan also bought a few comic books, but they were different from the ones Zhang Hongmei bought. "We'll take turns reading them in the future."

"Hehe. These are for the children in the village. It's not realistic for me to exchange them with you."

Song Zigan was a little embarrassed. The two paid the bill, said goodbye, and went home.

Zhang Hongmei had nothing much to do when she got home, so she steamed another pot of vegetable buns. She planned to go check on Liu Jianguo later.

Instead of sweet potatoes, I gave him dried sweet potatoes, which are easier to store and can be chewed on a couple of times when he's hungry.

I put six vegetable buns in a small bowl, wrapped them in a piece of cloth, tied them up, and hung them on the handlebars. I also tied a small half-bag of dried sweet potatoes to the back seat.

When they arrived at the cotton mill, some workers had already left for the day. But after standing there for a while without seeing Liu Jianguo, they had to go to the gatekeeper to look for him.

Upon hearing that someone had come looking for him, Liu Jianguo guessed it was Zhang Hongmei.

"Hongmei, you've come to the city again?"

"Yes, I'm in high school now."

"Really? My sister is amazing."

"Brother Jianguo, these are some vegetable buns I made. They're still warm. Would you like some now?"

"Eat? I'm starving. I haven't had a moment's rest all day. I only ate two cornbread buns made from a mixture of wheat, water, and cornmeal for lunch."

Liu Jianguo ate all six of the vegetable buns, making Zhang Hongmei's mouth water.

"Brother Jianguo, here's some dried sweet potato. Put it in your pocket and chew on a couple when you're hungry. I'm heading back now."

"Zhong, ride slowly."

When Zhang Hongmei got home, she didn't want to eat vegetable buns anymore. She took out a bag of bread and a bag of pure milk and ate a simple dinner.

There was a lot of fire burning today, so the kang (heated brick bed) is warm and comfortable to lie on.

He got up to fetch water again the next day, and then spent the whole day reading the newspaper.

Zhang Hongmei isn't a selfish person. Should we ask the teacher tomorrow if we need to bring these to school so everyone can borrow them?

I got up early on Monday and had sweet potatoes for lunch; I was tired of eating cornmeal every day.

The teacher even specifically praised Zhang Hongmei in class, encouraging everyone to learn from her selfless spirit and willingness to share good learning materials. This made Zhang Hongmei quite embarrassed.

Moreover, a radio was finally installed, which made the first-year high school students very envious.

It was Saturday again. Zhang Hongmei fetched water, ate a bowl of noodles, went to the post office to get the newspaper from Huang Ying, and then went to the bus stop to wait for the bus.

They arrived in the county after a leisurely ride, and Er Ya and Zhu Zi got on the bus. The three of them were quite excited to see each other on the bus.

"Hongmei, how are you doing in the city?"

"It's alright, it's just a bit troublesome to fetch water. We have early morning study sessions, so we can't make it in time to fetch water. We usually only fetch water once a week, but it's not too difficult for me."

Are you going home this time too?

"Yeah, you're coming back because of Jingze, right?"

"Yes, I came back to visit." Zhang Hongmei was embarrassed. Actually, she had forgotten about it. She just felt that she should go home, but she couldn't remember why.

"Hongmei, how's your studying? Are you tired?"

"It's alright. Everyone is very enthusiastic about learning and is too embarrassed to slack off."

Zhu Zi scratched his head. "You're so smart, you'll definitely be fine."

"By the way, Sister Erya, I went to see Brother Jianguo last week. They were so busy."

“I knew it, otherwise he wouldn’t have stayed away for the New Year. He won’t be able to come back for spring planting this year either.”

"It doesn't matter whether he comes back or not. We're all working together now. One more person won't make a difference, and one less person won't make a difference either." Zhu Zi rolled his eyes.

"Yes, if you work, you get grain; if you don't work, you don't. I'm just worried that he'll work in the factory and still not have any grain to eat."

"Don't worry, there's food, you definitely won't go hungry." Zhang Hongmei didn't know what else to say.

"Sister Er Ya, you have spring planting leave, but we don't."

"It's good that you don't have any leave. Look at Jingze, he doesn't come back for years, but you're back after only two weeks. You should spend more time reading books."