Shi Zhen woke up suddenly the next morning.
He dreamed again of the day Guan Baiyu died.
There are some things he doesn't want to think about, but they always come to mind.
Lying in bed, Shi Zhen took a few deep breaths, pressed the light switch he had connected to the bedside table, turned on the light, and went to look at the alarm clock next to him.
Four o'clock in the morning.
He went to bed at 11 p.m. last night, but couldn't fall asleep at first. After falling asleep, he woke up again not long after.
Shi Xinghuo was still fast asleep, snoring loudly.
Shi Zhen quietly got out of bed, opened the door to the inner room, and felt a little better when he saw Guan Baiyu lying on the bed.
But... this person has died once.
Shi Zhen did not go back to bed, but went out and sat on a stone in front of Guan Baiyu's house.
It was still dark, but people would occasionally pass by on the road in front of their house.
Most of them are people who carry or shoulder their own homegrown vegetables and go to town early in the morning to sell them.
The birds in the trees chirped and chattered, and occasionally a grasshopper would hop out of the grass.
Shi Zhen sat for a long time. When the sun rose from the horizon, the door creaked open and Shi Xinghuo came out of the room.
Shi Xinghuo usually goes to bed very early. When Shi Zhen came back last night, he was already asleep. Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu were washing up at the door, without disturbing him at all.
He goes to bed early and naturally gets up early too. When he saw Shi Zhen, Shi Xinghuo said, "Zhen, you're up really early today!"
"Hmm." Shi Zhen stood up, got his toothbrush and toothpaste, picked up a bowl, and prepared to brush his teeth.
Shi Zhen didn't plan to live in Guan Baiyu's house forever; he would buy a house sooner or later, so he didn't make any major renovations to it.
However, to make it easier to do business, he had previously installed a water tap at his doorstep and even set up a small shed there.
These days, they usually wash up here.
Shi Zhen filled a bowl with water, squeezed out some toothpaste, and said to Shi Xinghuo, "Brother, brush your teeth."
Shi Xinghuo grumbled, not too happy, but still followed Shi Zhen and brushed his teeth.
They lived in the mountains before, and nobody brushed their teeth.
In his previous life, Shi Zhen had cultivated these hygiene habits under Guan Baiyu's supervision. In this life, however, it was his turn to supervise Guan Baiyu and Shi Xinghuo, making them brush their teeth diligently.
Before he arrived, Guan Baiyu hadn't brushed his teeth... Shi Zhen pondered that Guan Baiyu must have gone to high school and lived in a dormitory in his previous life before he learned that he needed to brush his teeth.
Guan Baiyu is very clean. He didn't brush his teeth before mainly because he didn't have the means. But ever since Shi Zhen bought him toothpaste and a toothbrush, Guan Baiyu has been brushing his teeth every day. However, Shi Xinghuo doesn't like to brush his teeth. If Shi Zhen doesn't tell him to, he will hide and not brush his teeth.
After brushing his teeth, Shi Zhen washed the bowl he had used to brush his teeth and planned to put it back in the cupboard.
Just then, he heard a loud voice: "Master!"
Qian Qiqi rode his bicycle past their house, saw them, and stopped to greet them.
Qian Qi now goes to town every morning around 5 a.m. to buy pig heads, pork, and vegetables. After buying them, he goes home to make all sorts of preparations, and then goes back to town to sell them at noon.
He had to walk along the road in front of Guan Baiyu's house to get to town, and they would run into each other from time to time.
Shi Zhen greeted him and asked a few questions about his business.
Shi Xinghuo also joined in and started talking to Qian Qi.
Qian Qilai sometimes teases Shi Xinghuo, but Shi Xinghuo likes Qian Qilai quite a bit, and their names are also very similar.
One is "Arise, ye who refuse to be slaves!" and the other is "A single spark can start a prairie fire."
Their village once considered changing its name to "Spark Village," but because other villages had already taken it, they couldn't use such a good name.
His uncle had longed for this name for many years, and when his first son was born, he named him Shi Xinghuo without hesitation.
Actually, he almost got named "Zhenhua" or "Zhenguo" back then, but his mother thought there were too many names with "Guo" and "Hua" in them, so she didn't agree and he was named "Shizhen".
In those days, his mother, who had sought refuge in the mountains, dared not give him an unusual name; she only wanted to avoid making a mistake.
Qian got up, paused briefly, and left. Shi Zhen went back into the house, rinsed the rice, and cooked porridge.
To make cooking easier, Shi Zhen bought a gas stove a few days ago, and he used it to stir-fry some vegetables and eggs.
Ever since he gave the women in the village money to embroider sweaters, they have become increasingly enthusiastic towards him. Whenever they see him, they love to give him vegetables or directly ask him to pick whatever vegetables he wants from their fields.
Guan Baiyu's adoptive mother would make him go to their family's field to pick vegetables to eat every day.
Shi Zhen did not refuse.
This is not their village in the mountains. They can't even find land to farm there, but the land here is very fertile, and the vegetables grow quickly. Most people have more vegetables than they can eat from the small plots they grow in front of their houses.
Therefore, Shi Zhen usually doesn't buy vegetables, only meat.
As for eggs, he used to buy them from wholesale egg vendors when he was in business, but now he buys them from an old woman in the village who raises chickens. This old woman raises chickens free-range and feeds them millet from time to time. Her eggs are small, but they are healthy to eat.
Shi Zhen stir-fried some greens and eggs, divided them into three portions, and also stir-fried some pickled vegetables in oil. He then placed a large bowl of the mixture in the middle.
He always divides the vegetables properly. If he doesn't, Shi Xinghuo will definitely scramble to eat the eggs and won't touch any of the vegetables.
It's important to maintain a balanced diet.
While Shi Zhen was cooking, Guan Baiyu also got up. After washing up, he started washing the clothes that he and Shi Zhen had changed out of the night before.
It takes a while to cook the porridge, but it will be ready to eat by the time he's washed.
Shi Zhen didn't really have an appetite; he didn't want to eat anything at the moment.
But he still had a lot to do and couldn't skip meals, so Shi Zhen eventually finished a large bowl of porridge.
He made extra today. Looking at the remaining porridge in the pot, Shi Zhen boiled it again, added two preserved eggs, sliced a piece of lean pork that he had taken out of the freezer, added shredded pork, seasoned it, and finally sprinkled it with chopped green onions to make a preserved egg and lean pork porridge.
He planned to visit Zhao Meiyun and bring her some food along the way.
Century egg and lean pork congee is pretty good; he remembers that Zhao Meiyun really likes century eggs.
Shi Zhen took out two large enamel cups from his home, washed them, filled them with preserved egg and lean pork porridge, and rode his tricycle with Shi Xinghuo and Guan Baiyu to town.
He told Shi Xinghuo about Zhao Meiyun breaking her leg. Shi Xinghuo was a little worried and didn't know what he could do, so he listened to Shi Zhen.
Shi Zhen gave him twenty yuan, and after arriving in town, he found a small shop and bought him a pack of biscuits and a box of Wahaha milk, which he then carried to Zhao Meiyun.
According to their local customs, he and Zhao Meiyun were family, so he didn't need to bring anything when visiting her in the hospital. However, relatives like Shi Xinghuo were expected to bring some money and gifts when visiting her.
Back in their hometown, they would usually give a few yuan, but here, Shi Xinghuo, representing his uncle's family, insisted on giving twenty yuan.
In the future, if his uncle or aunt has health problems and is hospitalized, his family members will also have to bring money and gifts to visit him.
Of course, Shi Zhen didn't forget to prepare a similar set for Guan Baiyu.
He went outside and said that Guan Baiyu was his cousin. Since they were relatives, Guan Baiyu couldn't come to visit without bringing something.
Of course, once you've taken it, you don't need to take it again.
When Shi Zhen and his group arrived at the hospital, it was only seven o'clock in the morning.
Zhao Qiujuan went home last night, while Shi Dalin slept at the hospital all night. Because he went to bed late last night, he had just gotten up and was discussing with Zhao Meiyun what to have for breakfast: "How about I go to Qiujuan's and get two rice balls?"
Zhao Meiyun agreed: "Tell her to put in more peanuts for me."
Shi Zhen arrived at this moment and said, "The rice ball is made of glutinous rice, which is not easy to digest. Aunt Zhao, why don't you have some porridge?"
He gave the porridge he brought to Shi Dalin and Zhao Meiyun, enough for one cup each.
Neither Shi Dalin nor Zhao Meiyun had ever seen the world before, nor had they ever eaten preserved egg and lean pork congee. Shi Dalin looked at the congee and asked, "What is this?"
"Century egg and lean pork congee," Shi Zhen said.
With both preserved eggs and meat... Shi Dalin took a bite and immediately fell in love with it.
Zhao Meiyun was the same, saying "delicious" as she ate.
"Mom, what's delicious?" Shi Ting rushed in from outside and went over to take a look.
After looking at the porridge in Zhao Meiyun's cup, she looked at Shi Dalin's cup and then said to Shi Dalin in a coquettish tone, "Dad, I want to eat too."
Shi Dalin never competes with the children for food; he simply gave his cup to Shi Ting.
Shi Ting said, "I can't eat that much, Dad. I'll try a little, and you can have the rest."
After Shi Ting finished speaking, she didn't mind that her father had already eaten and started eating herself. She didn't forget to take out a rice ball from her pocket and give it to Shi Dalin: "Dad, this is what my eldest sister asked me to bring for you."
Shi Dalin then went to eat rice balls.
Zhao Dongjuan came with Shi Ting, holding a cup in her hand. She glanced at Shi Ting, who was taking food from Shi Dalin, and said with a hint of displeasure, "You're all eating now! I came all this way to bring you food!"
She sat down next to me, opened her own cup, and started eating the wontons inside.
Zhao Dongjuan was in a bad mood. She had argued with Zhao Meiyun yesterday and went out. She didn't return home until almost dinnertime, only to find that no one was home and no one had left her any food.
These people are ostracizing her!
She was unhappy, so she went outside and bought a sesame seed cake to eat. After eating, she waited at home, but Zhao Qiujuan and Shi Ting didn't return until very late.
She was asleep when they woke her up. She was in a bad mood and said a few words. As a result, her sister started arguing with her, saying that it was all because of her that her mother fell.
What does her mother's fall have to do with her?
She had already gone out by then!
Zhao Dongjuan was angry all night, and this morning she came to bring food to Zhao Meiyun, but the latter had already eaten and didn't care about her kindness... so she simply ate it herself.
Shi Ting was a little confused when she saw it: "Second sister, that's what eldest sister bought for Mom." Although her mother was already drinking porridge, porridge wasn't enough to fill her up, and she could easily eat a few more wontons.
Take her for example, she got some rice balls from her sister and she can still drink porridge now.
Her second sister was the same; she had already eaten rice balls, but now she could still eat wontons.
Zhao Dongjuan said, "If you can drink porridge, can't I eat a few wontons?"
Shi Ting fell silent.
Zhao Dongjuan then said to Shi Zhen, "The stairs in this rented house are too steep and too narrow. My mother even fell down the stairs!"
Shi Zhen: "..."
Even Zhao Meiyun was stunned; her fall had absolutely nothing to do with Shi Zhen.
If there's any connection, it's Zhao Dongjuan. She was in such a hurry to catch up with her daughter that she lost her footing and fell.
Zhao Meiyun immediately said, "Dongjuan, what nonsense are you talking about!"
Shi Zhen knew his family members' personalities well and also knew that Zhao Dongjuan would get more and more excited the more he talked, so he said directly, "I'm leaving first. I have things to do over there, and Xinghuo has to go to work too."
"Hey, you guys go quickly... Dongjuan is just someone who can't keep her mouth shut. This time it was my own carelessness, sigh..." Zhao Meiyun was a little at a loss.
Shi Zhen smiled at her, then left, taking Shi Ting with him as he went.
With school starting soon, he wanted Guan Baiyu to give Shi Ting another round of tutoring.
Seeing that Shi Zhen and the others had left, Zhao Meiyun felt extremely guilty and silently shed tears while hugging her quilt.
Shi Dalin was also a little unhappy and said to Zhao Dongjuan, "Where did you go yesterday? Why didn't you come to see your mother?"
"Nobody came looking for me! I didn't even know she fell!" Zhao Dongjuan was even more upset. She had no idea her mother had fallen! Why did her sister scold her as soon as she got home yesterday, and why was her father scolding her today?!
"No one's home. Why don't you ask the neighbors?" Shi Dalin frowned. "No one notified Azhen either; he arrived even earlier than me."
Zhao Dongjuan wasn't home yesterday, and they couldn't find anyone to contact her, but when she got home in the evening and no one was there, she could just ask the neighbors and find out.
Teacher Fei wasn't the only one who knew about Zhao Meiyun's fall. Qiu Juan came to him yesterday, and he went home to put down his stall before coming here. He had told the people around him about Zhao Meiyun's hospitalization.
Zhao Dongjuan's face fell. What she disliked most was people comparing her to Shi Zhen, as if Shi Zhen were so much better.
Seeing that she didn't speak, Shi Dalin didn't press her further.
Being a stepfather or stepmother is not easy. For example, if you cook a dish at home and your own child doesn't like it, you can slap them to force them to eat it. No one else will say anything, and the child won't hold a grudge.
But if it's not a blood relative, that child has a lot more thoughts... Let alone slapping someone to force them to eat, as soon as you put the food on the table, they'll think you're malicious, that you're deliberately trying to prevent them from eating, so you made food they don't like.
Shi Dalin had figured out Zhao Dongjuan's personality over the years; if he tried to manage her, she would hate him to death, so he simply stopped interfering.
As for Zhao Qiujuan, it's no problem. Whenever he asks Zhao Qiujuan to do something, she does it efficiently. Even when Zhao Qiujuan said that her fiancé wasn't good, he told her that the fiancé listened to her.
There are also things like rice balls; he can ask Zhao Qiujuan for them whenever he wants, without worrying that she'll think he's taking advantage of her.
Shi Dalin added, "Now that you're here, I'm going home."
Shi Dalin rushed to the hospital yesterday after setting up his stall only halfway through.
It's hot now, and some materials have been sitting overnight and are probably spoiled. He needs to go back and deal with them.
He needs to buy some more materials for today so he can set up a stall in the afternoon.
Zhao Meiyun is staying in the hospital, and the daily cost of IV drips alone is quite high. If she doesn't earn money, she'll starve.
After Shi Dalin left, Zhao Dongjuan said to Zhao Meiyun, "Look, no one cares about you anymore. They're all in a hurry to go back and do business."
Zhao Meiyun, who was already in tears, burst into tears upon hearing this: "If they don't go into business, are you going to support me?"
“If you take care of me, I won’t abandon you,” Zhao Dongjuan said.
Zhao Meiyun didn't know where she had neglected her youngest daughter. She had argued with Zhao Dongjuan before and tried to reason with her, but she could never win against her youngest daughter, so she stopped talking and could only cry.
Breaking her leg really terrified her; she was afraid she would become crippled and unable to do anything in the future.
She didn't dare say that she fell while chasing her youngest daughter... She injured her leg, and the treatment alone would cost a lot of money, not to mention that according to the doctor, she would need at least six months to recover from the injury, and her bones were prone to problems, so she wouldn't be able to do heavy work in the future.
What if the Shi family dislikes her?
However, given the current situation, the Shi family doesn't look down on her, but they really can't count on her youngest daughter.
Zhao Meiyun felt a chill in her heart as she watched her youngest daughter eating the wontons her eldest daughter had bought for her.
She used to never have wontons, but now that she's sick, her eldest daughter bought them for her, and her youngest daughter ate them all without offering her a single one.
Shi Zhen returned to Guan Baiyu's house and asked Guan Baiyu to teach Shi Ting English, while he began to busy himself with the wool sweater.
Shi Ting's math, chemistry, and physics grades are beyond saving, but fortunately, her English, Chinese, and politics are all okay.
Shi Zhen simply encouraged her to learn more English, so that in the future, not all the teachers would dislike her.
Around nine o'clock in the morning, another truckload of wool sweaters was delivered. The women in the village also made sure to come at the right time to deliver the embroidered sweaters and take the unembroidered ones.
By the time Shi Zhen finished his work, it was already past eleven o'clock.
Guan Baiyu had already prepared lunch. He even bought an old hen from the villagers to stew. Then he asked Shi Zhen, "Brother, should we go see Aunt Zhao again? We can bring her some chicken soup too."
This chicken was stewed by Guan Baiyu for Zhao Meiyun.
Zhao Meiyun and Shi Zhen weren't exactly close, but they were very polite to each other, and she treated Shi Zhen well.
Previously, she and Zhao Qiujuan would come over every noon to pick up their wool sweaters, and they would bring a bowl of meat dishes they had cooked at home for them.
Shi Zhen agreed.
When he was at the hospital in the morning, he wanted to ask the doctor about Zhao Meiyun's condition, but the doctor hadn't started work yet, so he couldn't find her.
It would be good to go and take a look at it at noon.
Because Zhao Meiyun was injured, he was restless and couldn't calm down.
At lunchtime, Shi Zhen still had little appetite; he didn't even feel hungry, and his heart felt heavy.
After finishing the meal, he took the chicken and chicken soup and rode his tricycle to the hospital with Shi Ting and Guan Baiyu.
In the hospital ward.
Zhao Qiujuan was worried about her mother, so she packed up her stall early this morning and rushed to the hospital to find Zhao Meiyun a little after nine o'clock.
As soon as Zhao Qiujuan arrived, Zhao Dongjuan left. Without Zhao Dongjuan, Zhao Meiyun felt much better and started complaining to her eldest daughter about her youngest daughter.
She would confide in her eldest daughter.
Upon hearing this, Zhao Qiujuan said, "Mom, don't worry about her, let her be."
Zhao Meiyun said, "I'm not going to bother with her anymore. She's just here to collect a debt."
Zhao Qiujuan didn't take her mother's assurance seriously.
That's just how people are. Some people gamble away their entire fortune and end up with a mountain of debt, yet their parents still cry and pay it off. Her sister hasn't reached that point yet; her mother is always too attached to it.
She was also angry that her sister, despite her behavior, always seemed to have the upper hand.
When it was time for lunch, Zhao Qiujuan said, "I've been to Dad's place and brought him some rice balls. I'll have rice balls for myself too... Mom, what would you like to eat for lunch? I'll go buy you some."
"I'll just eat rice balls; I won't waste that money." Zhao Meiyun was reluctant to spend money.
Zhao Qiujuan said, "Azhen said you need to eat well so that your injury can heal properly."
"Isn't the rice ball good enough?" Zhao Meiyun muttered.
Ignoring Zhao Meiyun's objections, Zhao Qiujuan went to the hospital cafeteria and bought Zhao Meiyun a meal: a stew of soybeans and pig's trotters, and a scrambled egg with tomatoes.
The portions weren't large, but Zhao Meiyun was reluctant to eat them all. She ate half of each dish and asked Zhao Qiujuan to give the rest to Shi Dalin.
Zhao Qiujuan disagreed, so Zhao Meiyun said, "Then I'll save it for dinner. You can cook some food at home tonight and bring it to me."
Zhao Qiujuan agreed to this, as buying food would be too expensive, and her mother wouldn't have to keep an eye on things all the time. She planned to cook dinner when she got home that evening.
Just as they finished eating, Shi Zhen arrived with Guan Baiyu. Shi Zhen brought a quarter of a chicken leg and gave it to Zhao Meiyun along with the chicken soup, and asked about Zhao Meiyun's condition.
Zhao Meiyun was surprised and delighted that Shi Zhen had come to see her again at noon after coming in the morning, and kept saying that she was fine.
Shi Zhen asked the nurse, who said that Zhao Meiyun was fine.
Only then did he feel relieved enough to leave.
After Shi Zhen left, Zhao Meiyun looked at the things he had brought and said happily to her daughter, "Qiujuan, your brother is the best. He brought me chicken legs. I haven't eaten chicken legs in decades."
After she grew up, she saved these for her children to eat and never ate them herself.
It's not just her; Shi Dalin and other people her age all stop eating chicken legs once they grow up.
Zhao Qiujuan also thought Shi Zhen was a good person.
The doctors here either speak the local dialect or Mandarin, and you have to travel to different places to get tests done. If it weren't for Shi Zhen yesterday, she really wouldn't know how to do anything.
This was just the beginning. In the following days, Shi Zhen would come to see Zhao Meiyun every morning and noon, bringing her some food.
Although Zhao Dongjuan said some sarcastic things in the ward the morning before, the people in the same ward as Zhao Meiyun didn't really hear her clearly. They could only look on with envy at the many people coming and going in Zhao Meiyun's room these past few days.
"Sister, you have many children, and they are very filial. They bring you delicious food every day."
"Yes, your daughter always brings you meat, and your son brings you delicious food too."
"You've been in the hospital for a few days, but instead of losing weight, you've gained weight. You're so lucky."
...
Zhao Meiyun felt even better after hearing this, and she praised Zhao Qiujuan and Shi Zhen to everyone, and even praised Shi Ting again and again.
Shi Ting visits her more often than Shi Zhen does, and she comes over for a chat after dinner. Of course, she also makes sure to try the Wahaha drinks and biscuits that Shi Xinghuo and Guan Baiyu bring.
She was reluctant to open these things, but Shi Ting opened them because she wanted to eat them. She ate quite a lot herself and also gave some to Zhao Qiujuan. They were quite happy together.
During this period, her youngest daughter was throwing a tantrum and not coming to the hospital to see her, which made her feel much more relaxed.
Five days later, Zhao Meiyun was discharged from the hospital.
Shi Zhen, along with Shi Dalin, completed her discharge procedures at the hospital and told her to go home and recuperate. The next day, he took Guan Baiyu to Changxi City to complete her school enrollment procedures.
Shi Zhen felt much relieved to see that Zhao Meiyun was alright. When he saw the gate of the No. 1 Middle School, he had a genuine smile on his face.
Shi Zhen was worried that Guan Baiyu would be looked down upon at school, so he bought Guan Baiyu all sorts of good daily necessities.
However, at that time, there was relatively little competition or comparison in high school, so he bought affordable products to ensure that Guan Baiyu was similar to most students.
The student dormitories in 1994 weren't as good as they are now. Guan Baiyu's school dormitories weren't big. There were four iron-framed bunk beds on each side, and eight people had to sleep in one room. There were no desks in the room.
The names were already written on the beds, and Guan Baiyu was assigned the upper bunk, which both Shi Zhen and Guan Baiyu were quite satisfied with.
Although climbing up and down is a bit of a hassle, the upper bunk is quiet and less likely to be disturbed.
Shi Zhen helped Guan Baiyu make the bed, took out the mosquito net from the bedding package he bought from the school and hung it up, then looked around the cafeteria and the water stall with Guan Baiyu before leaving.
As a result, when Shi Zhen arrived at the school gate, he actually saw Liang Qinxuan.
Shi Zhen was stunned.
Liang Qinxuan didn't like to talk about his youth, but as far as he knew, Liang Qinxuan didn't have a high school diploma, only a junior high school diploma.
However... when Liang Qinxuan dragged him to learn English, he did learn it quite well, much better than him.
This person... used to be a student at the city's No. 1 High School?
Shi Zhen was somewhat surprised, especially since he noticed that Liang Qinxuan's current state was completely different from when he met him during the summer vacation.
Back then, Liang Qinxuan seemed carefree, but now he resembles an angry lion, ready to pounce and hurt people at any moment.
Shi Zhen seemed to be in a good mood today, and Guan Baiyu was quite happy; even the unpleasantness brought about by the separation had lessened considerably.
But now that Shi Zhen is paying attention to other people, he's a little unhappy and asks Shi Zhen, "Brother, who are you looking at?"
Shi Zhen said, "Looking at the gold necklace I met during the summer vacation, I didn't expect that he was also a student at No. 1 Middle School."
Guan Baiyu also saw Liang Qinxuan at this moment.
He disliked people like Liang Qinxuan, who reminded him of Yan Jiangtao.
But his brother was very interested in this gold necklace...
It's not so much that they were very interested in the gold necklace itself, but rather in the person's gold necklace.
Why doesn't he have a gold necklace?
Guan Baiyu felt a little disappointed, but then something else suddenly occurred to him.
His brother once said that knowing more people would lead to more ways to make money.
Judging from his appearance, he must be very wealthy. Maybe I should try to get in touch with him?
If he can earn money, he can buy his brother a gold necklace!
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