Knowing that his family was full of sick people, Chen Jianguo rushed back early to help them. When he returned, he saw several people sitting in the shade under the eaves, enjoying the cool air.
"You guys are all alright?"
Several people nodded haphazardly.
"Much better, it should be nothing serious."
"It's okay, you'll feel better after a good night's sleep."
Upon hearing this, Chen Jianguo breathed a sigh of relief. He had been quite worried about his friend, with whom he had played for so long.
"That's good."
Upon seeing him return, the group stopped chatting.
"Let's eat, let's eat. After you eat, you can rest for a while. Are you going to work this afternoon?"
"Go!"
Chen Jianguo only realized what was happening after he finished speaking.
"You've all cooked? I was wondering why, I thought I smelled egg sauce. I thought it was someone else's house."
Several people quickly set the table and arranged the bowls.
“We’re all fine now. Cooking isn’t tiring. There are so many of us, one person can just add a handful of firewood and it’ll be done.”
Oh, by the way, I've prepared some cooled mung bean water for you. Remember to fill your water bottle this afternoon; it's getting hotter and hotter.
"good."
It's hot, and my appetite is already poor. Working makes it even worse.
It just so happened that Lin Zhengde had brought some flour this time, and Liu Weimin brought back a small bag for Li Yan. Li Yan didn't hesitate, and drooled as she looked at it.
"How about we have noodles for lunch?"
Her face was still pale, yet she was already thinking about food. The others were speechless and simply laughed.
"I have no objection. I came here intending to freeload a meal. If you're going to make noodles, you need to add a sauce. I have some eggs. I'll go back and get a few. I remember Tan Zhiqing's egg sauce was especially fragrant."
The educated youths also raised chicks, but it was only for a short time and they hadn't reached the egg-laying stage yet. They usually couldn't bear to exchange them for eggs, so they didn't have any on hand.
“Li, the educated youth, provides the flour, and Jian, the educated youth, provides the eggs. So Lin and I can only contribute our skills, otherwise we would feel bad eating for free.”
"Hi," Li Yan waved casually, without saying anything more.
"We've been eyeing your taste for a while now."
"Exactly, I couldn't do it myself."
When Chen Jianguo returned, the dough had already risen and been cut, and the egg sauce had been prepared, all waiting for him to come back and cook it.
Looking at the white noodles in the bowl, Chen Jianguo fell silent, a rare occurrence.
"You patients are eating patient meals, isn't it inappropriate for me to be included?"
This is too extravagant, with both refined grains and eggs.
Li Yan had no patience to argue with him, so she simply scooped a spoonful of egg sauce into his bowl.
"Stop talking nonsense. What kind of relationship do we have? Why are you making such a big deal out of it? You can't even shut us up when we're eating."
Chen Jianguo was stunned for a moment.
"Yes, I was wrong, I was wrong, I was wrong."
"Eat up, it smells delicious! It's going to be noisy when they get back."
That was the truth, and the group didn't say much, just focused on eating.
After a while, the new educated youth returned, hungry and ravenous. The aroma of egg sauce still lingering in the yard made them swallow hard. They had just been reprimanded yesterday, and even Wang Hongmei didn't dare to say a word. They all went back to their rooms listlessly and prepared a simple lunch of soup and water.
Li Yan and the others were already lying on the kang (a heated brick bed) preparing for their afternoon nap, as their physical weakness was genuine.
After eating, she strolled back home. She planned to stay home and relax for the next few days, taking the time to tidy up her private plot in the backyard.
After leaving the educated youth compound, I bumped into Lin Dongfang, who had just returned. I didn't have any particular feelings about him, and we had never met before. I just nodded and was about to walk past him.
Just as they were about to part, Lin Dongfang blurted out something as if possessed.
"Jian Zhiqing, can I borrow your big dog for an afternoon?"
"ah?"
He paused for a moment, stunned, and stood still.
"What did you say?"
Wang Hongmei came out of the courtyard to get some water. Seeing two people standing at the door, her eyes lit up. She was about to call out something when she met a pair of icy eyes, and a chill ran down her spine. Then came a simple, cold voice…
"Lin Zhiqing, you should hurry up and eat and rest. You still have to work this afternoon. If you want to go hunting, you can wait two months. After the autumn harvest, you can do whatever you want."
"No, that's not it,"
Before he could even utter a rebuttal, Jian Dan had already walked several meters away. Lin Dongfang scratched his head in frustration, sighed, and looked at Wang Hongmei, who had interrupted their friendly exchange, with even more displeasure, glaring at her relentlessly.
Wang Hongmei, who had just breathed a sigh of relief after leaving, felt like she was being targeted by prey again. She didn't dare to have any other thoughts, and after dumping the pot, she ran into the house with the basin.
Dejected, Lin Dongfang returned to his room and sighed again as he looked at the few remaining items in his closet.
It's really a case of having money but not knowing where to spend it. He can't cook; at most, he can roast some game. When he goes to the commune to buy food, he doesn't dare to buy too much because it's too hot. What he buys today might spoil tomorrow. So, although he goes to the commune often these days, he doesn't actually buy much food.
He ruffled his hair, stood on the ground for a long time, and finally made up his mind to walk outside.
Outside, three female educated youths, Wang Hongmei, and two male educated youths, Li Jianye and Wang Jiancheng, were having lunch. Lin Dongfang glanced at them and saw that it was just thin cornmeal porridge, dry cornmeal, and pickled vegetable strips. The girls were eating with smacking mouths and seemed to enjoy it. Lin Dongfang, however, was hungry and had no appetite.
When he came out, several female educated youths looked up, but he ignored them and went straight to Chen Jianguo's room. When he knocked on the door, Chen Jianguo was sitting on a small stool, tidying up the wild vegetables he had dug up the day before.
Yesterday, Li Yan was distracted when she went up the mountain. After returning, she had no interest in making canned food. She washed the strawberries she picked and shared them with the others.
But he had completely forgotten about the wild vegetables. Since he had nothing else to do, he helped pick them, wash them, and hang them to dry. Otherwise, they would get stale, and all the vegetables from yesterday would have been wasted.
When I heard the knocking, I thought I misheard. After all, those patients said they would go back to their rooms and sleep. Who else would come to the hospital, especially in the middle of the day?
"Lin Zhiqing?"
To be honest, I was surprised.
Although she had a decent impression of Lin Dongfang, she only nodded and greeted him when they met. She wanted to ask if he needed anything, but then she caught a glimpse of several people eating nearby, bowls in hand, peeking in. Her face immediately darkened, clearly showing her displeasure. She casually opened the door.
"Come in and talk!"
Chen Jianguo didn't stand on ceremony. He closed the door, sat back down on the small stool, and continued what he had been doing.
"Lin Zhiqing, what's wrong? Is something the matter?"
Lin Dongfang wasn't oblivious to the situation. He glanced around the room, pulled over a small stool from the wall, sat down opposite Chen Jianguo, and casually picked up a handful of wild vegetables, looking quite professional.
Once he was sure the man wasn't a troublemaker, Chen Jianguo didn't stop him. Wasn't it good that he was helping him with his work?
"Chen, I'd like to join you guys in your meals, is that okay?"
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