Chapter 38 The contrast was too great, and she lost her temper and cursed.
She comes from a privileged 21st-century lifestyle, and her breakfasts are usually delicate milk cereal, sandwiches, or xiaolongbao (soup dumplings).
The bowl of grayish-green porridge in front of her, with its earthy and bitter taste, was not only hard to swallow for her, but also a way of remembering her past life.
The intense sense of loss caused her to break down instantly, and she blurted out incoherently.
This further solidified her resolve to marry Lu Yanchen.
The dinner table was deathly silent.
All eyes were on Yao Xueru.
I don't understand, how did Yao Xueru change like this? She used to eat normally, and she wasn't so delicate like this now.
don't know.
The former educated youth stopped what they were doing, their faces expressionless, but their eyes darkened.
The newly arrived educated youth lowered their heads awkwardly, not daring to breathe.
Shen Qingyang put down his chopsticks and looked at Yao Xueru with a cold gaze.
Liu Chundi peeked out from the kitchen doorway, her face pale. Her lips moved, but she didn't say anything in the end. She just silently wiped her hands. After all, she wasn't a good cook; as long as she could cook it, that was enough.
But at that very moment, Yao Xueru had only taken a few bites when she suddenly erupted.
"It tastes awful," she muttered.
It's really puzzling. She used to be able to eat it without much trouble. Although she didn't particularly like the food, she never complained.
What's going on today? Why are you suddenly being so picky?
Xu Zhili watched the scene before her quietly, and images of bloody conflicts erupting in the apocalypse over a bite of moldy food flashed through her mind.
She lowered her eyes, her fingers unconsciously stroking the rough rim of the bowl.
This bowl of bitter porridge, which they don't know is something they can complain about eating bad food here, but in another world, it is the hope for survival.
The overwhelming sense of absurdity and the coldness of reality left her feeling utterly silent.
Seeing this, Liu Fang forced a helpless, bitter smile, her voice soft and gentle, as if afraid of further provoking the other party.
“Yao Zhiqing, sigh… We’re not in the city anymore. In the Great Northern Wilderness, being able to fill our stomachs is a blessing. Look, oil, salt, soy sauce, and vinegar are all precious. Even a skilled cook can’t make a meal without rice, can he? It’s not easy for Liu Zhiqing to be able to cook this little bit of food so that everyone can have a hot meal.”
She leaned forward slightly, pleading, "Just think of it as taking medicine, at least have a couple of bites? If you're really hungry later, you won't be able to handle the job!"
Her eyes held genuine worry, as well as the resignation of someone who had been through it all.
Crack! Bang!
Yao Xueru not only ignored the advice, but also slammed the wooden chopsticks in her hand hard on the rough table and pushed the rough pottery bowl in front of her.
The bottom of the bowl scraped against the table with a harsh screech, and the grayish-green paste inside sloshed violently, splashing a few drops onto the table like ugly tear stains.
Her voice rose, trembling with tears, filled with accusation and grievance: "Egg custard? Is this even fit for human consumption? It's bitter and astringent, with a muddy taste. When I was at home, my mom would steam egg custard for me in the morning, so smooth and tender, sprinkled with sesame oil and scallions... That's what a meal is! What is this? Hey..."
She ultimately didn't say the exact word, but the meaning couldn't be clearer.
Tears welled up in her red-rimmed eyes, threatening to spill over, which, combined with her beautiful face, made her look quite pitiful.
But this pitiful state seemed particularly glaring and ungrateful to the old educated youth at this moment.
Niu Aiguo, a dark-skinned, stocky male educated youth sitting opposite, couldn't bear to watch any longer.
His brows furrowed, and he put down his nearly empty bowl. His voice was rough and hoarse, tinged with anger, but also with the "experience" of someone who had been there before.
“Yao Zhiqing! There’s no point in saying that. Who isn’t their parents’ darling at home? But what are we here for? We’re here to support construction, to endure hardship. Look at everyone here.”
His thick fingers swept over the silent educated youth eating at the table. “Who doesn’t swallow it down like this, bite by bite? Over time, your stomach will adapt. You need to tone down your pampering. Try again, close your eyes and gulp it down. You’ll get used to it.”
His tone was more like a command, carrying an unquestionable "for your own good."
However, this well-intentioned advice only added fuel to the fire.
"Habit?"
Yao Xueru suddenly stood up, the chair legs scraping sharply on the ground.
The pitiful look on her face was instantly replaced by an expression that mixed anger, contempt, and despair.
It was clear that Yao Xueru had not yet woken up from the illusion of the past and was still immersed in her longing for the luxurious life of the future.
As soon as she woke up, she found herself reborn in the situation after she was sent to the countryside.
The thought that it would be at least ten years, or even more than a decade, before the good days brought by reform and opening up could arrive filled me with a sense of loss.
She couldn't stand it for even a second longer.
She picked up the bowl of barely touched porridge, her movements carrying a resolute disdain: "I can't get used to it! You can eat whatever you want if you want! I'd rather go hungry!"
Before she finished speaking, instead of walking to the side, she angrily and almost venting her frustration, poured the bowl of porridge into the broken chicken feeder in the corner.
The thick paste splattered on the mottled earthen wall, leaving an unsightly stain.
The action was so sudden and insulting that the dinner table fell silent instantly.
Even Lu Yanchen was stunned, his mouth agape, unable to utter a word.
Liu Pandi stood at the kitchen doorway, her face ashen, her fingers gripping the edge of her apron tightly.
Is this because they dislike her cooking?
Yao Xueru didn't even look at the crowd. She slammed the empty bowl down on the table with a loud thud, then turned and ran back to her dormitory.
She slammed the door shut with a loud bang, causing dust to fall from the door frame.
She collapsed onto the cold kang (a heated brick bed), burying her face in the musty-smelling bedding, her shoulders trembling violently.
What churns in my mind isn't "delicious food," but rather my mother's warm embrace, the exquisite dishes on the family table, and the pervasive aroma of food...
The contrast between the earthy, bitter porridge, the rough bowls, the simple tables and chairs, and the numb or accusing gazes of the people before him was like hell.
It's hard to go from extravagance to frugality? This is hardly frugality!
This is clearly a wild and untamed world!
The stomachs and souls pampered in the 21st century felt a bone-chilling cold and suffocation on this black soil.
After a brief silence, Shen Qingyang coldly glanced at the stains in the corner and the empty bowl on the table, his voice completely flat.
"Let her be. She can rest today. She won't die from missing a meal."
The indifference in his tone was more chilling than any reproach.
The former educated youth withdrew their gaze, fell silent, and simply quickened their pace of eating, as if the farce they had just witnessed was merely an insignificant breeze.
After the meal, the former educated youth silently cleared away the dishes, picked up their farm tools, and walked out of the courtyard in twos and threes, disappearing into the gray morning mist outside, leaving behind an empty dining table and a glaring grime in the corner of the wall.
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