Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 78 - 076 Development

Chapter 78: 076 Development

Li Xianglu handed over a handkerchief, and Mr. Li’s mood had also eased a lot at this time. Holding the photographs that he had regained, his emotions were incredibly complex. It had been ten years, and he had thought these photos were lost forever, yet he could still see her appearance and hear her voice during his lifetime, which was truly the mercy of God.

Li Xianglu then handed over the golden key and the map that had been cast aside earlier.

Mr. Li reached out to take them but returned the golden key back to Li Xianglu, saying, "This item came to you by chance; you keep it."

Li Xianglu raised an eyebrow?

Mr. Li explained, "This map on the hide and this photograph are left to me by an old friend, but the key is not."

Ah, so it really is related to Grandpa after all.

Li Xianglu wasn’t disappointed about losing the treasure map; instead, it ignited an intense curiosity within her.

Looking at his granddaughter with sparkling eyes in front of him, Mr. Li couldn’t become sentimental and just shook his head, somewhat amused: "These four chests were given to me by an old friend. Two of them were her own, and two were bought by her for me to store things in. She even hinted that there was something inside the chests, but I searched for years and never found it. Who knew that it would be you who found them? Ah, it’s all destiny."

Listening to the vague explanation, Li Xianglu, dissatisfied, asked: "Grandpa, who is the woman in the photograph?"

Grandpa Li suddenly became somewhat embarrassed and widened his eyes in anger: "What do you need to know this for? Go to sleep quickly, and remember to keep this key safe; it must not be discovered by anyone."

Li Xianglu pouted. She despised Grandpa’s abrupt behavior of sending her away, but she obediently poured out the water and closed the door before leaving.

Li Huai Ren saw the door close, and his whole body relaxed, leaning against the pillow on the kang bed. He lifted the photograph in his hand and carefully began to feel it, wondering how you are faring in the distance?

And that child, too, not knowing whether he is still there.

The next morning, when Li Xianglu got up, she noticed that the door to the east cave dwelling was still closed. Mr. Li had not yet come out, and she was somewhat concerned about going to check on him. But then she heard rustling noises inside, so she stopped, worried that he had gone to bed late the night before and was just getting dressed. Therefore, she washed her hands and went to cook.

She boiled cornmeal porridge, heated some vegetable rolls, and took out a cucumber, peeled it, and stir-fried it with minced garlic. By this time, Mr. Li was already practicing boxing in the courtyard.

It was mid-September, and frost had already fallen. The morning chill was heavy, so Li Xianglu poured out hot water from a thermos that had been kept warm overnight into a basin, mixed in a bit of cold water, and set it on the stone table outside.

Mr. Li had just wiped his face when he saw Qin Xi and his younger brother Qin Zhen arriving.

He quickly wiped his face and helped the two brothers pour some hot water. After they washed up, they hurried to eat.

During the meal, Qin Xi said, "This morning, the team is slaughtering a sheep. Qin Zhen and I have to go to the fields. Grandpa Li, please help us bring back the mutton."

Grandpa Li nodded and said, "Alright, I was also thinking of buying some myself, I’ll see if the team is willing to sell some."

Li Xianglu happily drank a bowl of sweet porridge with added sugar and said with a smile, "Then are we stewing mutton this afternoon?"

Qin Xi smiled and responded, "Yes, let’s stew it. I heard before the New Year, we will slaughter a few more. Let’s eat this first, and we’ll talk about the rest later."

Li Xianglu immediately squinted her eyes in delight. They would have mutton tonight. The weather was getting cold, and eating some mutton would warm her up.

Qin Xi glanced at Li Xianglu, whose eyes were squinted into slits, and couldn’t help but curl the corners of her mouth.

No sooner had the Qin brothers left than Li Jianqing arrived with a sickle in hand. Li Xianglu hurriedly let him in.

Now Li Jianqing and Li Erfu were living in a cave dwelling at the head of the village, no longer associating with Ge Sanmei.

Li Jianqing had a sip of piping hot porridge, and his eyes immediately reddened. It took him a moment to speak, "Now that I’ve moved out with Daddy, things are indeed better; much quieter."

Li Xianglu picked up a roll and stuffed it over, saying, "No matter what, you must study hard. You’re graduating from junior high in April next year. If you want to go to high school, keep studying. There’s always a way out."

Li Jianqing felt a bit embarrassed as he bit into the roll—a spicy two-mixed flour roll, extremely delicious. It instantly made his mouth water, and he hurriedly swallowed and took another bite before he felt better.

Li Xianglu shook her head and took out a plate of pickles from the cupboard and placed it on the table, saying, "The stir-fried cucumbers from the morning are gone. Make do with some pickles."

Li Jianqing said somewhat awkwardly, "Daddy asked me to check if the vegetables in your family’s private plot have all been harvested. He asked me to help with the harvesting."

Li Xianglu asked with confusion, "Don’t you have your own work to do?"

Li Jianqing was about to shake his head and said, "Originally, the private plot was to be split half and half for each family, but Mom didn’t want to. She said it was all planted by her, so Daddy didn’t let me go and asked me to help both your family and Uncle’s with the harvesting."

Li Xianglu shook her head. Ge Sanmei was truly determined this time. "Didn’t Uncle say he would give you a share of the private plot?"

Li Jianqing swallowed the last bite of the roll and then said, "He did, but the private plots are allocated by household. Right now, Daddy’s household registration is still with Mom and my brothers, so we can’t get our own plot unless the household registrations are separated."

Li Xianglu shook her head, unable to say anything. Li Jianqing finished three rolls and a large bowl of porridge, and even the pickles were all gone. He said somewhat embarrassedly, "Xianglu, if I keep coming over for meals like this, won’t Grandpa Li have something to say about you?"

Li Xianglu smiled and shook her head, "You don’t eat that much. Not as much as Qin Xiaopang does. He ate four of these rolls this morning, and if it weren’t for Brother Qin stopping him, he would probably have eaten two more."

Upon hearing about Qin Zhen, who became the butt of the joke, Li Jianqing instantly felt better. He was truly worried that his fondness for food would make it hard for his sister with Grandpa Li.

Now that the family had split, there was no grain at home. Grandma had asked Uncle to lend some, which he had brought with him. Normally, they would go to Uncle’s house to eat. Once they divided the grain, they would cook for themselves.

But he simply couldn’t bring himself to eat. This morning, Auntie had made cornmeal porridge and two-mixed flour cabbage rolls, and he hadn’t had the heart to eat more than one. But now, seeing the spicy rolls made by his sister, he felt hungry all of a sudden.

Before leaving, Li Xianglu reminded him, "Come over tonight; we’re making lamb."

Li Jianqin shook his head hastily, "No, I won’t go; Uncle’s family is also stewing meat."

Li Xianglu, unoffended, said, "If you’re told to come, then come. Take the opportunity to test how well you’ve been studying recently."

Li Jianqing scratched his head, reluctantly agreeing, "All right then, but don’t wait for me to eat, I won’t have dinner. We have food at home."

Having said that, he ran out.

Li Xianglu behind him shook her head. Ge San was just too stubborn. Now was the time when he needed to grow, and without eating well, how could he?

Thinking this, Li Xianglu couldn’t help but bend over slightly; her chest was seriously hurting. Due to the better food over the past half a year, her body had started to develop, and she had suddenly grown three centimeters taller, but her chest was also beginning to develop and hurt a lot. She guessed that her menstruation was probably going to start soon.

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