Chapter 257 Reunion
The village where the tobacco station was located had only one sales outlet, a small shop that sold only daily necessities such as salt, soy sauce, low-quality bulk liquor, and tobacco.
After visiting the sales point, Song Lubai felt utterly disheartened.
Living in this village, you can forget about entertainment and getting any other good food.
Sure enough, we had vegetable soup and steamed buns for dinner.
The nights in the village are much cooler than those in the city. When you open the window, a gentle breeze rushes in, bringing coolness to the whole room. It's so cool that you need to cover yourself with a blanket.
Song Lubai was already in bed, but Zhang Cui was still sitting there sewing pants by candlelight.
"Mom, I'm going back to the city with Xu Yunru tomorrow. I'm worried that Wei Yang won't be able to find the place when he comes. I'll come with him when he arrives."
Zhang Cui hummed in agreement and asked, "How far is his place from here?"
Song Lubai said vaguely, "I don't know either. I heard that the place is quite remote. The area here is large, and the distance between the two farms is comparable to the distance between the two county towns in my hometown."
Zhang Cui's face was half in the candlelight and half in shadow, and she remained silent for a long time.
Song Lubai glanced at it and said, "We'll write to you when we get there. Just tell us if you need anything. It's too remote over there, much more remote than this. Staying here will definitely be much better than coming with us."
Song Lubai felt she had done everything she could, and she didn't care what her mother thought. She had a clear conscience, and she would just let things be as they were from now on.
After a moment, Zhang Cui said, "I think it's alright. So far, the people in the hospital seem to be easy to get along with. You can go with Xiao Wei without worry."
The next morning, after finishing their cornbread, Song Lubai and Xu Yunru rode their bicycles to set off.
"Are you two planning to go back to the city?"
Uncle Sun walked up and said, "Don't cause trouble. Wait two more days. When Old Cao goes back to the city to buy things, you can go back with him. It's only a few dozen kilometers. It's just the two of you girls. You're not afraid, but we are."
Xu Yunru couldn't wait to start working at the supply and marketing department, but she had never ridden a bicycle back to the city by herself before.
Hearing what Lao Sun said, Zhang Cui chimed in, "That's right, it's not safe for you two girls on the road. Wait and go back with others."
On the way here yesterday, many places were deserted and there wasn't a soul in sight within a mile. If something bad happened, there would be no one to help.
Although both of them wanted to leave, the road was indeed unsafe, so they had to give up.
Song Lubai didn't want to go to the field and get her clothes dirty, so she sat listlessly under the shed, staring blankly at the doorway.
The twins went out for a while, and when they came back, each of them was carrying a big watermelon.
The two excitedly went into the kitchen to get a knife. Aunt Fan, who was tidying up in the kitchen, saw them and raised her eyebrows, asking, "Where did you two pick these?"
The twins gestured excitedly, "There's a small ditch over there with lots of grass and lots of big watermelons in it. Auntie, the wild watermelons here are really big."
Aunt Fan clutched her chest and said, "Oh dear, are they ripe yet? You two pick them!"
Zhang Heping patted his chest and assured him, "We picked the biggest ones, they're definitely ripe!"
Aunt Fan wanted to kill the two brats. "Those aren't wild watermelons. We planted them there secretly. We didn't dare plant too many. They're not noticeable because they grow in the grass. Don't go around talking nonsense. Don't tell anyone there are watermelons here!"
Aunt Fan tapped the two melons; based on past experience, these two large melons were still unripe.
With a pang of heartache, she took a knife and cut it open. Sure enough, of all the large melons, only the center was red.
Aunt Fan's face turned pale with anger. "Get out, get out! You two get out of here! You're wasting two big watermelons."
The two brothers knew they had made a mistake, so they stood there with their heads down, not daring to utter a sound.
When Song Lubai got closer, she said, "Auntie, don't hold it against them. Next time I come here, I'll bring some melons with me."
Aunt Fan said, "It's not about the melons. From now on, those two can't mess with the things around them. There are still some vegetables in the field, and there are still fruits on the trees over there. I'm warning you two, if you dare to mess with anything in the future, you won't get to eat anything!"
Song Lubai said fiercely to the two of them, "Don't be so impulsive in the future. If you dare to mess things up again, you'll get beaten up. Even if no one else beats you, Mom will!"
The two brothers dared not utter a sound, like quails.
Before she could finish scolding the two brothers, Aunt Fan handed over the sliced melon. "Eat the red flesh in the middle. I'll cut off the white flesh to feed the chickens later. We can also use the rind to make a stir-fry this afternoon. Don't waste it."
Is anyone there?
The voice coming from the doorway sounded familiar. Song Lubai peeked out with a melon in her hand and saw Wei Yang dressed in a black shirt and green military pants.
Song Lubai was pleasantly surprised: "How did you find this place?"
Wei Yang waved to the old man at the door, and the old man drove away on his donkey cart.
Wei Yang handed the things he was carrying to the two brothers who ran over excitedly and asked, "Is there any water?"
Song Lubai led him to the well.
Wei Yang scooped up a ladle of water and gulped it down in one go.
He wiped the sweat from his brow and said, "I'm dying of thirst."
"Shengjian, distribute some of the things to the aunties."
Lin Jianshe opened the package and his eyes lit up when he saw the dried apricots and brown dates inside.
Aunt Fan and the others crowded around, asking as they ate, "Little Song, is this your husband?"
Although Song Lubai had said "her man" in front of everyone, she felt a little embarrassed when she heard someone mention it like that in front of Wei Yang.
"He is my husband."
Wei Yang glanced at her, a slight smile on his face.
Song Lubai casually took the package and said to the aunties, "Go back and get your bowls, I'll give each of you a share."
Aunt Fan, who had been angry about the melon, immediately said, "How could I? These dates are very sweet. You can keep them and eat them slowly."
Sweet treats are hard to come by, so dates this sweet must be expensive.
Song Lubai laughed and said, "What's the big deal? Everyone should try good things."
Wei Yang brought a lot, and the family shared more than half a bowl of it. There were also more than two kilograms of it in the package.
After talking for a while, Song Lubai led Wei Yang into the house, with the twins following closely behind.
The aunties' scrutinizing gazes didn't leave until everyone had entered the house.
"After receiving your telegram, it took me nearly four days to get back to Shicheng."
Not to mention the twins were surprised, even Song Lubai was shocked by the distance between the northern and southern Xinjiang regions.
"It's so far, we're almost at the border, aren't we?"
Wei Yang shook his head. "No, the road is bad, the car travels slowly, and it's not easy to get a ride. It takes a long time to get on the road."
We changed vehicles along the way – donkey cart, freight truck, and open-top truck – before finally arriving here.
Zhang Heping exclaimed in shock, "Then we'll have to travel for several days to find you?"
He thought the distance was the distance from the city to his aunt's house in the county town.
But in reality, it takes three or four days by car to reach the destination.
The brothers' good mood vanished instantly upon arriving in Xinjiang.
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