Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 70 - 068 Prelude, second update

Chapter 70: 068 Prelude, second update

Li Xianglu compassionately took two melons from the front basket of her bike and handed them over with a smile, saying, "For the kid to eat."

The woman, initially intending to refuse, couldn’t utter her refusal upon seeing her son’s eager gaze and accepted them, quickly stuffing something into Li Xianglu’s hands.

Li Xianglu knew it was genuine with a fumble, nodded, and said, "Be careful on the road."

Just as the woman was about to leave, she couldn’t help but ask, "I still have some at home, I don’t know..."

Li Xianglu’s eyes brightened, yet she dared not say much, only asking, "Where do you live? I’ll visit when I’m free."

The woman immediately reported her address, too distracted to care about anything else. Her husband worked at an oil refinery and had been incapacitated from the waist down after being injured by machinery six months ago, unable to work, living off a small subsidy from Weibo, herself without a formal job, with two children to care for; one ten and the other only three years old. A few days earlier, her three-year-old daughter had fallen into a pit while collecting coal debris with her son, and after the fright, she fell ill with fever and a cold, not improving for several days. Today, though slightly better, she persisted in her craving for plain flour fish, but where could such flour come from? The household supplies had all been replaced with cornmeal, otherwise, there wouldn’t be enough to eat.

Thus, taking a risk, she had taken out the gold her father had left her, intending to exchange it for something to eat for her daughter, and unexpectedly encountered a kind soul. Such a big bag of white flour, and so much dried noodles, she was so grateful that she forgot to be cautious.

Li Xianglu, clutching the small yellow fish, was extremely joyful, her feet dancing on the pedals of her bike, shivering continuously.

By the time she reached Mr. Lan’s house it was already noon, and after a hearty lunch, they set out with the grains.

As they approached the west side of the middle school, she saw a tall figure pushing a bike, exuding an impressive demeanor. Li Xianglu swallowed her saliva, thinking even in her past life he was a handsome fellow.

Quickly pedaling ahead, Qin Xi hurriedly parked his bike upon seeing them, helping to unload the grains from her vehicle and placed them on his, then dusting his hands off as he was about to leave, but then a porcelain jar of hot wonton soup appeared before him.

His eyes warmed as he took it from the beaming girl and moved to a shady spot to eagerly begin eating.

Li Xianglu looked on with a warm smile.

After finishing their meal and packing up the food jar, they both rode their bikes back.

The road was rough; it took them a full two hours to reach the Li Family Village brigade. Their home was on a mountain ridge, and they had to push their bikes up the slope, attracting many curious children. The entire brigade only had one family with a bicycle — Li Sanwang’s, who had two sons serving in the military, hence their ownership of bicycles.

Now, seeing two bicycles being pushed caused quite a stir in the entire production brigade.

When the bicycles reached home, Qin Zhen excitedly scampered around, unloading the things from the bicycle before rushing off with it, a swarm of children chasing after him like bees.

Li Xianglu shook her head and started sorting out the grains with Mr. Li.

Qin Xi also brought back a small bag of twenty kilograms of rice – particularly clean, albeit slightly broken.

Li Xianglu didn’t ask much. Qin Xi had brought rice back more than once, and she knew Qin Xi had her own ways, but why was it always rice and never flour? Was it because she loved eating rice?

Li Xianglu shook her head somewhat narcissistically, then sorted the food. In the evening, she cooked a noodle soup, while Qin Zhen returned home at nightfall, pushing his grimy bicycle, his face sunburned red.

Qin Xi scolded helplessly before wiping the bicycle clean and locking it in the cave dwelling.

Li Xianglu’s bicycle had long been locked as soon as she moved it. Qin Zhen looked around, said "stingy," and went in for dinner.

Li Erfu was sent to the commune to dig canals; he was an appointed worker. Though the work was tiring, the state provided a good amount of food—each person received six taels of white flour every day, and lunch included slices of fatty meat; three meals a day. As for himself, he was driving mules to transport mud out and unload it, which was considered a relatively easy job.

At home, Ge Sanmei felt a sudden breath of relief. It was evening now, and with no laborers urgently needed for harvesting or canal digging, they reverted to eating two meals a day.

In the kitchen, Ge Sanmei busily made a bowl of egg noodles. As her grandson suddenly returned home, she thought it was a good opportunity to nourish him well. An Cuicui came in, saw the large bowl of egg noodles, swallowed her saliva, and pursed her lips; seeing this, Ge Sanmei scornfully rolled her eyes and walked out with the bowl.

An Cuicui quickly checked the pot; there was some noodle soup left. She hurriedly ladled it out and started eating straight from the ladle.

After returning, Ge Sanmei saw An Cuicui still in the kitchen, by the stove, and scornfully said, "What are you doing? Don’t you have kids to look after? Why are you here!"

An Cuicui licked the spoon and giggled, "Mom, can we steam an egg for Gangzi? The child is weaned and has nothing to eat, he’s gotten terribly thin."

Hearing it was for her great-grandson, Ge Sanmei’s face darkened, but then sighed, added more fire to the stove, and started steaming the egg.

An Cuicui, sitting cautiously on a stool nearby, said, "Mom, did you know? Xiang bought herself a bicycle."

Ge Sanmei nearly dropped the pot lid she was holding, incredulously asking, "She really bought a bicycle?"

An Cuicui smirked, "Yes, the whole brigade knows. It’s brand new, some Feige brand, they say it costs over 200 yuan. Money aside, she even got a bicycle ticket; not everyone can get those."

Ge Sanmei’s face turned very ugly, instantly feeling ire rise within her, "What do we care what she does? A mere girl, no matter how capable, is still meant to be married off!"

Heartened by the ranting, An Cuicui eagerly added, "Mom, oh, we’re at such a loss. You don’t know, we were tricked! Gave our girl away for merely six hundred yuan, and this Li Huai Ren might have savings of tens of thousands!"

Ge Sanmei was stupefied, "What? Tens of thousands of yuan?"

Quick to intervene, An Cuicui added, "Mom, after all, we’ve raised Xiang, and just adopted her out for six hundred yuan. It’s too unfair. When it comes to the dowry and such later, all will go to Li Huai Ren. We’re bound to lose out big. We should ask for more."

Ge Sanmei’s expression grew increasingly grim. She wasn’t foolish and disliked An Cuicui’s reckless talk, yet deep down she felt that six hundred yuan was indeed a loss—especially since she only received two hundred yuan, which the second son took and has yet to find any decent work!

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