The latch fell to the ground, and the moment the door was opened, Zhou Jingyun saw the woman lying on the bed, frail and delicate, her once beautiful face now deathly pale, which immediately broke his heart.
Stepping forward, Zhou Jingyun asked with a worried tone:
"Ruan Zhiqing, where do you feel unwell?"
"I've started my period, and my stomach is hurting terribly. Could you please boil some water for me?"
Ruan Miaomiao stared weakly at Zhou Jingyun.
Zhou Jingyun didn't understand what menstruation was at first, but when she realized it, her cheeks instantly turned red, all the way to the roots of her ears.
He was so embarrassed that he couldn't speak, and turned around to go to the kitchen to start a fire.
The man was quick and efficient, and in no time he had boiled the water.
Taking advantage of the opportunity, Ruan Miaomiao pulled out a glass bottle she had just taken out of her spatial storage from under the covers and asked Zhou Jingyun to fill it for her.
The man immediately recognized that these were IV bottles used in the county hospital; many people with connections would take one or two, fill them with hot water, and use them to warm their beds.
After filling the bottle with hot water and putting on the rubber cap, he carefully wrapped the bottle in a towel before handing it to Ruan Miaomiao.
As soon as the scalding hot water bottle touched her lower abdomen, Ruan Miaomiao felt a warm current spreading from there, as if the cold air that had accumulated before was slowly dissipating...
Ruan Miaomiao personally verified that hot water really does help with menstrual cramps.
Where there is pain, there is blockage; where there is free flow, there is no pain!
Clutching the thermos, Ruan Miaomiao shamelessly asked Zhou Jingyun to make her some brown sugar water, which she then used to take her painkillers.
After more than ten minutes, Ruan Miaomiao's lower abdominal pain gradually subsided, and she felt more relaxed.
Once she felt better, Ruan Miaomiao noticed that Zhou Jingyun's eyes were almost overflowing with heartache as he looked at her.
Instantly, a question arose in my mind: What is this man so distressed about?
I don't know him well, so it can't be that he's just feeling sorry for me, right?
oh!
He must be heartbroken over the prey he caught.
After all, he was feeling unwell, so the other man probably thought he couldn't handle the prey, and that would mean he wouldn't make any money off him.
Although the man's business deal had a hint of coercion, after all, he didn't even ask if I wanted it, and just dumped it at my house.
However, considering that it's not easy to get meat these days, and that the man had just helped her, Ruan Miaomiao decided to accept the prey that Zhou Jingyun brought.
When Zhou Jingyun heard the woman start asking what kind of wild game he had brought, he felt that she must be feeling much better and was even in the mood to care about the food. His worries eased considerably, and his brows and eyes relaxed.
As soon as Ruan Miaomiao saw that the man's tightly furrowed brows relaxed as soon as she spoke, she became even more certain that the man in front of her was worried that the prey would not be sold!
******
"Ruan Zhiqing, is it really possible to exchange prickly pears for rock sugar here?"
To avoid the misery of having no hot water during her period cramps like last night, Ruan Miaomiao got up early in the morning and started boiling water on the stove. She planned to fill the thermos and then fill several more bottles to put in her space.
Just as I was busy working, a sound came from outside the courtyard gate.
Ruan Miaomiao opened the courtyard gate and was met with Er Ya's expectant eyes.
Er Ya went home yesterday and told her family about it. The elders all said that Ruan Miaomiao was just teasing the little girl.
Prickly pears are something that anyone can pick with their hands if they are diligent and go deep into the mountains. Is it worth exchanging rock sugar for them?
Er Ya, who was excitedly planning to get more and exchange it for more rock candy to sweeten the mouths of her younger siblings, was greatly disappointed and ran over after feeding the chickens in the morning.
Ruan Miaomiao understood something from Er Ya's anxious eyes, and said with a gentle smile:
"Of course it's true. One pound of seedless and thornless prickly pears can be exchanged for one ounce of rock sugar."
This price would be considered unscrupulous by later generations.
However, in the 1970s, it was incredibly fair.
After all, sugar coupons were hard to come by, and sugar was in high demand.
If I give too much, won't the villagers think I'm being taken advantage of?
However, this price alone made Er Ya extremely happy, and she immediately ran home as fast as she could.
A little while later, Er Ya led the girls from that day to Ruan Miaomiao's courtyard. Each of them carried a small basket filled with cleaned prickly pears.
Instantly, in addition to the elegant fragrance of osmanthus, the courtyard was filled with the refreshing scent of prickly pear.
Ruan Miaomiao kept her promise and borrowed a scale from the brigade's granary, exchanging it for rock sugar for each of the girls.
Some got two or three ounces, while others exchanged for two or three pieces. Everyone's face was beaming with smiles, and they went up the mountain in groups to look for prickly pears and wild chrysanthemums.
When we were changing the prickly pear, Ruan Miaomiao said that wild chrysanthemums could also be used instead.
Ruan Miaomiao wasn't lying; she really did plan to dry some and send it back to the Ruan family in Haicheng.
After all, even family members need to give and take for the relationship to last.
Having harvested a lot of prickly pears, Ruan Miaomiao went to Zhou the bamboo craftsman in the village and spent three yuan and fifty cents to exchange for two winnowing baskets, one large and one small, plus a larger hand basket.
The large winnowing baskets are about 1.3 meters in diameter, while the small ones are over 70 centimeters in diameter.
Most people in the village have some kind of skill, and they are good at mending things even when they are broken, so they rarely sell their belongings.
Zhou the bamboo craftsman was pleased to have sold three yuan and fifty cents' worth of goods, and he also gave Ruan Miaomiao a small bamboo basket for washing vegetables.
Carrying her things home, Ruan Miaomiao took advantage of the sun to spread all the prickly pears out of a winnowing basket and dry them in the sun...
******
While Ruan Miaomiao was living a prosperous life, Shen Qingming and Zhao Xiuyun were having a much harder time.
Fearing that his trickery of the village girls out of eggs and other things would be discovered, Shen Qingming borrowed twenty yuan from the village committee and bought some things at the supply and marketing cooperative.
In this way, if you get something from a girl in the village, you can pretend that you bought it yourself.
Feeling a little more at ease, Shen Qingming dared to secretly give Zhao Xiuyun one or two eggs.
Zhao Xiuyun felt a surge of joy as she ate the eggs her sweetheart had given her.
However, I still feel that it can't compare to the real good stuff like malted milk powder and pork belly that Ruan Miaomiao gave me in my previous life.
During the few days that Zhao Xiuyun followed the educated youth to pick wild vegetables and fruits, she kept a close eye on Ruan Miaomiao. Seeing that there was nothing unusual about her, she couldn't help but wonder: Could it be that Er Laizi didn't fall for Ruan Miaomiao?
That shouldn't be the case.
Ruan Miaomiao is good-looking, has money and possessions, and lives alone. She should be a hot commodity in Er Laizi's eyes, right?
So, determined to ruin Ruan Miaomiao's reputation, Zhao Xiuyun deliberately circled around to Er Laizi's house when she returned from digging wild vegetables on the mountain. With an envious tone, she counted the things Ruan Miaomiao was carrying.
Malted milk powder, pork, brown sugar, fruit candy, rock sugar, pork belly, watch, large meat bun...
Erlaizi, who was sleeping in the house, heard this and his eyes lit up: Wife, I'll come and pamper you tonight!
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