The sky had completely darkened, and only a dim light bulb was left in the yard, emitting a faint glow.
The dishes that Lin Jianxue brought were placed steaming hot on the small table. Dong Yulan was hesitant, but she quickly fried two home-cooked side dishes - one was pickled cabbage, and the other was scrambled eggs with green onions. She also specially steamed a pot of fragrant rice.
In the seventies, fine grains were a precious commodity, especially in the rural areas of northern Xinjiang where food and clothing were scarce. Unless entertaining distinguished guests, no family would be willing to eat this for every meal.
Dong Yulan carefully packed the food into an old aluminum lunch box. Seeing that she only put white rice and two vegetarian dishes, Lin Jianxue hurriedly stopped her and without saying a word, put three greasy big meat buns into the lunch box, and scooped up half a bowl of stewed pork feet with soybeans and a spoonful of stewed vermicelli with Wuxi meat.
"Aunt Dong, you and Uncle have worked hard on the farm. Bring some more meat to replenish your bodies." Lin Jianxue said in a gentle voice, "These are originally meant for everyone to eat."
Dong Yulan looked at the meat and vegetables piled high in the lunch box, and her eyes felt slightly hot. She didn't refuse anymore, but patted the back of Lin Jianxue's hand and said, "Good boy, Auntie won't be polite with you, your uncle likes this. You guys should eat quickly, don't wait for us."
She gave Fu Zhawei a few more instructions, asking him to take good care of her sister and the guests, then hurried off, carrying her heavy lunch box, towards the farm. Her frail figure quickly disappeared at the end of the dirt road in the night.
There were only three young men left in the yard.
After seeing Dong Yulan off, Fu Zhewei turned around and when his eyes fell on Lin Jianxue, he seemed to still have some lingering awkwardness, but he quickly suppressed it. He walked to the table and said to Lin Jianxue and Fu Qingqing, who was staring at the food eagerly, "Let's eat."
There was so much food on the table.
Especially the pot of shiny red stewed pig's trotters, which exuded a rich aroma of sauce and meat, making Fu Qingqing so greedy that her eyes were almost glued to the wall.
"Wow, wow, wow..." She sniffed exaggeratedly, looking like she was about to cry, "My dear stewed pig's feet! I feel like I haven't eaten you for a century!"
Lin Jianxue was amused by her and curled up the corners of her mouth.
Fu Zhewei glanced at her calmly and said, "Didn't we just eat it this month?"
"That happened in February!" Fu Qingqing immediately retorted, confidently, "It's been almost two months! Besides, I had a fever at the time and was completely confused. I had no taste in my mouth and everything I ate tasted like wax. I don't even remember if I ate anything!"
Fu Zhawei's face was expressionless: "You ate it. You almost finished the whole pig's trotter. Mom and I just drank some soybean soup."
"..." Fu Qingqing was suddenly speechless, her face flushed, and she muttered, "Brother! You make me look like the reincarnation of Zhu Bajie..."
Listening to the back-and-forth between the siblings, Lin Jianxue couldn't help but chuckle. She looked at Fu Qingqing and asked softly, "Qingqing, did you have a fever last month? Was it serious? Are you okay now?"
At this mention, Fu Zhawei's previously calm eyes suddenly became tinged with complex emotions. He paused, chopsticks in his hand, nodded muffledly, and his voice deepened. "It's quite serious. The village barefoot doctor saw him for several days, but the fever wouldn't go away, so they took him to the town clinic."
"She had a recurring fever for a few days, she was delirious and talking nonsense. My mother was terrified and stayed by her side day and night. In just a few days, her hair turned a lot white with worry..."
"Oh, brother! Stop, stop, stop!" Fu Qingqing interrupted him when she heard him reminiscing about the good old days again, a look of embarrassment on her face. "Please don't make it sound so scary! I'm alive and kicking! You make it sound like I'm dying. Sister Xiaoxue is frightened by you!"
Fu Zhawei raised his eyes and glanced at her calmly. He did not continue to talk about the thrilling incident at that time. He just said in a deep tone:
"If it wasn't for... Jianxue sending the money and the ticket, do you think you could have recovered so quickly?"
"At that time, our family couldn't even afford to buy better antipyretic medicine from the health clinic in Dongzhen."
As soon as these words were spoken, Fu Qingqing, who was still acting a bit spoiled and naughty, suddenly became quiet.
Those days were arguably the most difficult time for the Fu family since their demotion to this bitterly cold northern border. In January, the snow and ice hadn't melted, the ground was frozen solid, and the farm team had virtually halted all outdoor farm work. With the exception of father Fu Jianguo, who still managed to earn a meager share of work points, the family's food was practically unavailable. Tightening their belts on a daily basis was fine, but the biggest fear was the danger of illness.
Fu Qingqing had been weak since childhood. Perhaps it was because she was not used to the climate or that winter was particularly harsh, she caught a cold and developed a high fever.
At first she just had a cough and a low fever. Dong Yulan used some folk remedies to treat her, but her condition did not improve. Instead, her fever became more and more severe. Her little face was as red as a branding iron, and she felt drowsy.
The little money Dong Yulan had to pay for the barefoot doctor was temporarily borrowed from a neighbor by humbly asking for help. But the barefoot doctor was helpless and said that she should be sent to the town health center immediately, where she might need some medicine to suppress the pain.
Good medicine? Where would the money come from? The meager work points Fu Jianguo earned on the farm were barely enough to cover his daily expenses, let alone the medical bills, which were a fortune for the Fu family at the time.
Just when they were almost in despair, Lin Jianxue sent them a registered letter.
This silly girl Fu Qingqing is really trying hard.
After taking the antipyretic medicine, the high fever subsided that night.
But the illness came like a mountain falling, and the illness was relentless. After the fever subsided, I felt very weak and lay listlessly on the earthen kang for half a month before I slowly recovered.
Now, seeing her lively and energetic, with an appetite so good that she could swallow a cow, Fu Zhawei felt a little complicated.
Fu Qingqing sniffed, turned around abruptly, hugged Lin Jianxue's arm, and rubbed her head affectionately:
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