The top button of the man's military uniform was undone, revealing his bronze skin, and his Adam's apple bobbed up and down.
His wet, tousled hair clung to his forehead, water droplets rolled down his cheeks, and his eyes were dark and deep; clearly, he was washing up.
Ruan Xianxian put on her signature obedient smile and said in a soft, sweet voice, "Go find Aunt Zhong to exchange some bean sprouts. Are you home? When did you get back? I didn't hear a sound."
She's a habitual chatterbox.
The geese that followed were unbearable to look at. During their mating season, the females in their group like to chatter loudly to attract the attention of their mates!
She had thought that Feng Bai, who responded to every word, would invite her in, or at least call out to Aunt Zhong for her. Instead, the man slammed the courtyard gate shut.
The voice, as cold as ice crystals in the twelfth lunar month, left behind the words: "Wait at the door."
Ruan Xianxian tilted her head.
Soon, Aunt Zhong, whose black hair was simply tied back with a cloth strip, came out carrying a bowl of soybean sprouts. Ruan Xianxian's smile returned.
"It doesn't need to be this much, Auntie."
"Take it! It's delicious when you add some soy sauce and sesame oil to make a cold salad. The ten cents you gave me yesterday can buy several bowls of bean sprouts. Come back anytime if you need more."
Aunt Zhong had already said this when I came to buy corn on the cob and dried chili peppers yesterday.
Ruan Xianxian smiled and said, "Okay! I'll bring you a basin later."
Back at the educated youth settlement, she started cooking and getting busy. The three of them, including Mu Xia, who were eating grass, looked resentful as they smelled the aroma of food wafting from the kitchen.
Wu Xueliang rummaged through the rice bowl, "Old Chu! Why aren't you cooking today?"
Chu Li slowly chewed a leaf of vegetable, her voice calm: "Comrade Mu said that the food I cook is not good for her weight loss."
"Can you lose weight by eating grass? Why don't cows lose weight?" Wu Xueliang asked sincerely, not understanding the question.
Ruan Xianxian carried a large bowl of boiled fish, a plate of stir-fried eggs with bean sprouts and tofu, and took out a portion of lamb offal bought in Beijing and placed it on the kang table.
She doesn't like eating raw soybean sprouts because she finds them unpleasant to eat.
Turn on the radio, fill your glass with a little wine, play a short opera program, and take a bite of spicy fish slice and a sip of wine, Ruan Xianxian lets out a satisfied sigh!
"This is what it means to be alive!"
Thinking back on my miserable two previous lives... what kind of lives did I live?
A heartless grandfather, an adulterous mother, a wicked cousin, and her crushed by a truck!
Thinking of that family, is there still a letter from the capital that she hasn't read?
Ruan Xianxian put down her chopsticks, bent down, and pulled out a letter with complicated folds to support the table legs. That's how it is in the mud houses in the countryside; there are uneven places where table legs are needed.
Upon opening the letter, one is immediately struck by Ruan Baozhu's handwriting, which is filled with resentment.
—Dear cousin, how are you doing in the countryside? I'm not doing so well!
Ruan Xianxian was relieved to see that they were not doing well!
Ruan Baozhu wrote a scathing letter, accusing her of causing her eldest aunt to divorce and her younger aunt to be fired, and of secretly signing her up to go to the countryside, which made her grandfather's condition worse.
The letter also said that it was no use registering her, as her grandfather had designated her aunt's illegitimate child with another man to go to the countryside in her place, and Tian Tian probably would never be able to come back in this lifetime!
Ruan Xianxian clicked her tongue when she saw this. She remembered her sisters at home. Ruan Baozhu had the best relationship with Tian Tian, the daughter of her eldest aunt, since childhood. The two were birds of a feather and took pleasure in bullying her and making fun of her.
Now that it's been revealed he's not his biological son, he's already calling him an illegitimate child?
At the end of the letter, the author deliberately asked her if even if she had money, she couldn't afford good food in the countryside. He asked if she was currently eating dry biscuits and drinking cold water.
Ruan Xianxian looked at the three dishes and one drink on the table, which included fish and meat... and couldn't help but laugh!
This letter must have been sent while she was still on the train. Considering Ruan Baozhu's experience of drinking urine... she must have fallen ill by now, right?
...
In the capital city, the Ruan family's red brick house.
The laughter and joy of the past were gone. The red brick houses seemed to have lost their color. Ruan Kangri, with a sallow complexion and one side of his cheek numb and without feeling, sat in the study.
Outside the door, you could hear the eldest daughter crying and the younger daughter throwing things around.
The large clock in the study glowed with light, its hands ticking away.
The old man loved this antique clock very much. Of course, it would have been even better if his granddaughter hadn't given it to him as a gift on her birthday!
Just as he was wondering if he could advance further with his current physical condition, a heavy object suddenly fell to the ground outside the door with a loud thud, followed by screams from the women...
“Precious Pearl…”
"Baozhu, what's wrong? Don't scare your mother!"
Ruan Kangri was anxious. He suddenly stood up but felt dizzy. Without thinking, he leaned on his cane and left the study, only to see his most beloved granddaughter lying limply on the ground.
The third son's family member grabbed the person and shook them violently.
The eldest and youngest daughters spoke anxiously, but their eyes were filled with amusement.
He caught a glimpse of his eldest daughter's fleeting pleasure and schadenfreude.
He knew that his eldest daughter still harbored resentment because he had sent her child to the countryside to replace Baozhu.
But... but he was born out of wedlock!
The eldest daughter is still young. Wouldn't it be better for her to remarry and have another child with a legitimate identity?
"Dad! Dad! Baozhu has fainted! Baozhu suddenly fainted! What should we do?"
The wailing from the third son's family brought Ruan Kangri back to his senses. He was so anxious that he was trembling all over. "What should we do? Do I need to tell you how to get them to the hospital?"
Capital Military Region Hospital—!
The middle-aged male doctor handed the test report to the family and said: "After examination, the patient has been diagnosed with hepatitis A."
Has she recently experienced fatigue, loss of appetite, or lethargy?
Baozhu's mother nodded repeatedly, "My daughter hasn't been feeling well lately, doctor, doctor! Could there be some mistake?"
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