A meal cost one yuan, four ounces of grain coupons, and one pound of meat coupons—that was definitely a big spender.
But seeing that Cuixiang was eating with satisfaction, Huangfu Biao was happy too.
"I'm leaving tomorrow, and it'll be another month before I come back. I'll bring you more food next time I come."
"Since your sister has a bed available, why don't you go stay there? Staying in the dormitory is really inconvenient."
What can Cuixiang say?
You can't exactly say that your second sister is wary of her half-male, half-female sister, can you?
I feel that having her around would be very inconvenient for her, and I'd rather look at other women than her.
Little did they know that Tang Cuixiang was already immune to it. What other women have, she has too.
When I first came, I might have been excited, but after so many years, I've seen so many, just like a gynecologist, that I've long since become bored.
"I'm currently living in a four-person room. Apart from the inconvenience of cooking, it's fine. My sister occasionally cooks something delicious and calls me to cook it."
"Then I'll bring you more seafood next time I come. It's getting cold, so it can be stored better."
Tang Cuixiang instinctively refused: "No way, Brother Biao, even if we're friends, you don't have to go this far. How am I supposed to repay you?"
Huangfu Biao didn't say much about her resistance, but he did say something to her before leaving.
"Next year I will try to run the special line from Qingdao to Luoyang. If I have the opportunity, I will transfer here. Cuixiang, I've decided on you."
Huangfu Biao dropped her off at the entrance of her workplace and left. He put his hands in his pockets and was about to find gloves to put on when he pulled out several tens of yuan in cash and a stack of various tickets and certificates.
This man! He's put a lot of effort into her, but unfortunately, she can't reciprocate his feelings at all.
Back in the dorm, I saw the bag he brought yesterday. I opened it and there was a brand new pair of leather cotton boots inside. The collars even covered the ankles, and the inside was furry, waterproof, and also warm and windproof.
There was no shoebox; the shiny black leather boots were covered only by a piece of paper.
She tried them on, and they weren't quite right anymore. They were bought according to her shoe size. How did this person know her shoe size?
Besides shoes, there are also Shandong Province's unique specialties such as flower-shaped steamed buns, sesame seed cakes, honey-glazed fried dough twists, sorghum candy, fried dough twists, wedding cakes, glutinous rice strips, and pancakes.
He was a chef, and in his previous life he spent his free time traveling to various places to eat delicious food, so he knew all about the specialties of Shandong Province.
No wonder this bag is so heavy; no wonder women are so vain when faced with gifts from men.
Seeing these things, she was vain too. Who wouldn't want to eat something they've never seen before?
Apart from honey-glazed fried dough sticks and glutinous rice strips, which are found locally, the others are not commonly seen.
It's cold, but it can be stored for a while. It should be enough for her to eat for ten days to half a month without any problem.
Those leather cotton boots are really nice, but one shouldn't accept something for nothing. If she accepts all these things, wouldn't she be accepting gifts from others?
If we don't eat it, wouldn't it be a waste if the food went bad?
Shoes can be stored here, but food doesn't last long!
After some thought, Cuixiang decided to put the food away and leave her leather boots at her sister's house over the weekend, fearing they might get stolen.
When Huangfu Biao comes next time, return the leather boots and replace the rest with something of equal value.
"I heard your boyfriend came looking for you these past few days?"
When her roommate saw her holding the leather boots and lost in thought, she asked a question. Cui Xiang then realized who they were referring to.
She shook her head. "It was an older brother I met in college, but he wasn't suitable as a boyfriend."
The roommates hadn't seen her before and were about to ask her a few more questions when Cuixiang put the shoes in the wardrobe, locked the door, and left.
——
Tang Cuiju found it strange that she hadn't seen Ye Zhen at work for several days. She went to their department to inquire and learned that Ye Zhen had taken three days off.
Although Ye Zhen was two years younger than her, when she first came to the unit, they helped her a lot and rarely saw her ask for leave. They felt something was wrong, so they stopped going to evening self-study and went directly to the post office's staff quarters.
There was no response to the knocking. The neighbor across the street opened the door and asked, "Who are you?"
"Hello, ma'am, I'm Ye Zhen's colleague. I saw that she took leave, so I wanted to come and see what was going on."
The elderly neighbor looked at her, seemingly wanting to say something but hesitating. Cuiju found it strange and quickly approached, asking, "Has something happened?"
"Her parents are both hospitalized; they're at the People's Hospital now."
"Oh? No wonder you took so many days off. Okay, thank you!"
Regardless of whether it's suitable to see patients at night, she's busy all day long and didn't have evening self-study tonight, so this time can't be wasted.
Cuiju carefully rode her bicycle slowly along a cleared path, and finally arrived at the hospital safely.
The hospital had a supply and marketing cooperative, so I bought canned food and malted milk powder to visit the patients, and asked around all the way to the internal medicine department.
After knocking and entering, she discovered it was a double room, and only Ye Zhen was there to watch over her. She saw her approach.
Ye's parents bowed slightly in greeting. Seeing that they were in poor spirits, Cuiju asked them a few words of concern before leaving the ward with a tired-looking Ye Zhen and sitting on a bench in the corridor.
"Are you alright? How come your aunt and uncle are both in the hospital?"
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