Chen Shuning, who hadn't felt family affection for a long time, was happy, but this warmth was about to be put on hold today, and she was truly saddened.
If the history of this world is indeed the same as her original world, then barring any unforeseen circumstances, she will experience nearly ten years of rural life.
The college entrance examination was not reinstated until September 1977, which means that many of these educated youth sent to the countryside did not have the opportunity to return to the city until that year.
As for other ways to return to the city, even if there were opportunities, she has an older sister and a younger brother, so it would be impossible for her, who is stuck in the middle, to get a chance.
It's not that my parents are biased; it's just the way things are. Besides, the conditions in the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps where my older sister went were even harsher than in Heilongjiang Province where she went.
If possible, the older sister should come back first. Besides, it's rare to find parents who can treat all their children equally and are good to all of them.
You could tell from the large bags and small packages her parents bought for her, as well as the two hundred yuan and the thick stack of ration coupons.
Despite saying she would pack less, Chen's mother still packed four large bags of luggage for her. This was after Chen Shuning repeatedly reduced the amount of luggage; otherwise, even two more large bags wouldn't have been enough.
Neither the original owner nor Chen Shuning were good at expressing themselves, so it was always Chen's mother who did all the talking, Chen Shuning who listened, and Chen's younger brother who would occasionally chime in.
The mother and her two children were talking inside when their aunt, who was holding an umbrella in one hand and carrying a cloth bag in the other, entered the house.
"Second sister-in-law, Shuning is leaving today. I don't have much to prepare, so I just boiled a few eggs and salted duck eggs for the child to take on the train."
Upon hearing the voices, Chen Shuning and Chen Jiandang greeted the newcomer politely as "Auntie".
Chen Jiandang even handed the small stool he was sitting on to Li Guilan, saying, "Auntie, please sit down."
Qin Yalan also quickly stood up. She didn't stand on ceremony with Li Guilan and took the cloth bag with a smile, saying, "I was just thinking of cooking for her. It's perfect that you brought it over, sister-in-law. It saves me the trouble. By the way, sister-in-law, what day is Shuzhu's train ticket?"
I bought a lot of flawed fabric at the supply and marketing cooperative yesterday. I saved a piece for Shuzhu, enough to make a dress. My sister-in-law will take it back to Shuzhu when she goes home later.
Li Guilan looked worried when talking about her daughter. She took the small stool from Chen Jiandang and sat down before speaking in a low voice: "It's early the day after tomorrow. She'll be discharged from the hospital tomorrow, just in time to catch the train the day after tomorrow."
Their eldest son's family was large and poor. Although they knew life was tough in the Northwest, they simply couldn't afford to send their youngest daughter to a better place, so they had no choice but to make her suffer.
The original owner had been close friends with this cousin since childhood, and perhaps because of the original owner's feelings, Chen Shuning felt bad listening to Li Guilan's words.
She got up and went back into the house. She took out a bag of fruit from the bag that Chen Ma had prepared for her and secretly replaced the apples and pears with fruit produced by her space.
Chen Shuning always picks the kind of fruit that isn't fully ripe yet, otherwise the top-quality fruit produced in the space would immediately give him away. Of course, even the less ripe fruit from the space tastes better than the fruit from outside.
Divide the fruit into two portions, set aside one portion for his younger brother, and then hand the remaining portion to Li Guilan.
“Aunt, I was so busy with my trip to the countryside yesterday that I didn’t have time to visit Sister Shuzhu. Could you please take these fruits to Sister Shuzhu for me?”
Upon seeing that it was such precious fruit, Li Guilan was unwilling to accept it and hurriedly tried to refuse, saying, "Oh dear, this won't do. This fruit is a good thing. Shuning, listen to your aunt and keep it for yourself."
When Chen's mother saw the fruit Chen Shuning brought out, she felt a pang of heartache. It wasn't that she was stingy, but fruit was really hard to buy at this time of year. She had to ask around to get that small bag of fruit, and this girl just took it out and gave it away.
However, since the gifts had already been taken out, she couldn't say anything. Considering her sister-in-law's family's circumstances, giving Shuning five eggs and five salted duck eggs was quite a favor.
Seeing that the girl hadn't taken out all the fruit, I took the opportunity to persuade her, "Sister-in-law, you should take it. As Shuzhu's aunt, I should go and visit her in the hospital, but you know how quickly this batch of rural cadres came about, and I've been busy with Shuning's affairs."
As she spoke, Qin Yalan took out five yuan from her pocket and stuffed it into Li Guilan's hands along with the fruit in Chen Shuning's hand: "It's good that you came today, so I don't have to make another trip. Use this money to buy Shuzhu some good food and tell her that her aunt will go to see her when she gets home."
After the two sisters-in-law argued for a while, Li Guilan finally packed up the things. Although the Chen family had separated, they still lived in the same courtyard.
Unlike the eldest son's family, who lived in the second courtyard, the third and fourth sons' families both lived in the third courtyard. They all knew that Chen Shuning was taking the train early this morning, but only Li Guilan came over with some things to see him off.
For this reason alone, Qin Yalan accepted the favor. She would have been willing to give even the most expensive things, let alone a bag of fruit.
Knowing that Chen Shuning was taking the train early this morning, Li Guilan didn't stay long and went home after sitting for a while.
Parting is always sad. No matter how reluctant you are, you have to leave. Chen Shuning's train was at 6:30 in the morning. Calculating the distance between the Chen family home and the train station, the family left home around 5:30.
Because her younger brother, Chen Jiandang, still had to go to school, he didn't go to the station to see her off. Instead, Chen's parents each rode a bicycle with her and her luggage to the train station. The Chen family only had one bicycle; the other one was borrowed by Chen's father in advance.
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