I Became a Vicious Supporting Role in the '70s
Chapter 40: A Good Opportunity to Show Attentiveness

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: A Good Opportunity to Show Attentiveness

Even though Shen Meng was scared, she couldn’t show her fear at this moment, especially since she had her child tightly clinging to her leg. If she were to get scared and run away by herself, it would frighten the soul out of the child.

"There’s nothing to worry about, Xiao Kai, there are no ghosts in this world. Let’s pretend we didn’t see anything and go home; we’ll be home soon." She bent down to pick up Lu Ming Kai in her arms, suppressing the urge to run, and quickly walked towards home.

Lu Ming Kai was still young and clung to his mother’s shoulder, closing his eyes out of fear, yet he couldn’t help but open them to look towards that place. Suddenly, something moved there, and he tightened his grip around Shen Meng’s neck.

"Mom, the ghost moved, it really is a ghost, wuwu, Xiao Kai is scared."

Shen Meng herself was frightened, and with Lu Ming Kai’s crying, fear mixed with heartache suddenly turned into anger. She gritted her teeth, turned around, and walked towards the "ghost". She wanted to see what it was that dared to scare her lovely child.

Seeing his mother walking towards the "ghost," Lu Ming Kai’s heart sank. He thought his mother’s soul had been hooked away. He used a trick learned from an old lady he saw before, stretching out his little hand and fiercely pinched Shen Meng’s philtrum.

???

Shen Meng: "Hiss! What are you doing, Xiao Kai? That hurts mom so much."

"Mom, you’ve just had your soul hooked away, that’s not the direction to our house, you went the wrong way, Xiao Kai saved you."

Shen Meng: "...."

I thank you, really!!!

Shen Meng’s half of the face twitched with pain. She also didn’t expect that such a big child could have such strength.

It was only when the mother and son approached that they realized it was a person lying on the ground, still occasionally moving. Shen Meng got closer to the person, and before she could see who it was, Lu Ming Kai slid down.

"Mom, it’s Ah Man."

"What?" Shen Meng’s heart was moved; she remembered that in the book there was such a section, where a sick person lay by the roadside and was found by the female protagonist Zhou Jiaojiao, who gave the man some bun hidden in her basin. Later, after the man went to Shangjing, he recognized Zhou Jiaojiao and secretly helped her a lot.

The man called Ah Man, seeing someone coming, quickly struggled to get up. The early autumn weather, although a bit cold at night, was not enough to make one shiver.

Shen Meng had a plan in mind. Having the opportunity to help the female protagonist was something she was ecstatic about, almost leaping with joy. She reached out and felt the man’s forehead; it was indeed burning hot.

"You have a fever, don’t be afraid, I’m not a bad person, nor am I radical, I won’t do anything to you. My man is a soldier, and coincidentally I have some medicine here, you should take it first."

Shen Meng took out a piece of antipyretic and anti-inflammatory medicine from her pocket and stuffed it into the man’s mouth without waiting for Ah Man to say anything.

The bitter taste spread in the mouth, Ah Man struggled with his neck stiff, taking a lot of effort to swallow it down, his face almost wrinkling into the peel of an orange.

"I, thank you, I’m leaving now, I’ll be on my way."

How could Shen Meng let go of such a great chance to offer help? She quickly extended her hand to support Ah Man. Seeing his mother helping Ah Man, Lu Ming Kai giggled inside, also wanting to help. He reached out to pick up the empty basket on the ground.

"Hmm?" The little guy tried several times but couldn’t pick it up, so he couldn’t help but want to lift the cloth to have a look.

Shen Meng was quick to react and took it over, "Look at you, child, there’s still something your mom put inside here, you can’t manage to lift it, hehe."

After helping him up, she took out a shepherd’s purse steamed bun from the basket, which she had bought in the store during the time she lived in the countryside. Made with tender spring shepherd’s purse, it was quite expensive.

"Hungry, right? This is a steamed bun made with dried shepherd’s purse from home, you eat one." Shen Meng handed Ah Man a warm steamed bun.

Ah Man is now a sixteen-year-old kid, who had been "sent down" to Lu Family Village with his grandfather for six years already.

He fell ill today because his grandfather was old and frail. To strengthen his body, he ran to the mountains hoping to find some game, only to spend a whole day without finding anything to eat. In the afternoon, he felt dizzy, and at night went to the river trying to catch a fish, to no avail, and ended up getting sick. At one point, he felt it might be better off dead, living a life as miserable as a dog’s—what was the point!

Trembling all over, he gripped the warm vegetable bun in his hand and did not put it in his mouth. He recognized the woman in front of him—the only military family in Lu Family Village—who used to look down on people with her nose up in the air. It was said that after being hit by a cow, her mind suddenly cleared up.

But he had never imagined that she would still show him kindness.

"Eat, if you don’t take care of yourself, what will your grandfather do? At his old age, if something happens to you, wouldn’t it be the death of him?"

Thinking of his grandfather, Ah Man’s nose tingled, and without overthinking, he quickly gobbled up the steamed bun in his hand. Just when he was about to say something, a water bottle was handed to him.

Ah Man: "..."

How could someone be out late at night and still be so well-prepared, with both food and water!

"Have some water. Xiao Kai and I were originally going to see Daqing’s mother, and it just so happened that we ran into you. There’s still some food in the basket, you take it back for your grandfather to eat, it’s nothing valuable."

Lu Ming Kai opened his mouth wide, glancing between his mother and Ah Man, and then at the basket. This was beyond the scope of his little brain.

He strained on tiptoes, wanting to see what was inside the basket his mother was holding out. Why was it different from what he had seen before? He was utterly puzzled, and what about his mother mentioning going to see Daqing’s mother—hadn’t they just visited her?

Lu Ming Kai pinched the philtrum sharply, wondering if his soul had been hooked away.

"Ouch!"

"What happened, Ming Kai? Don’t feel reluctant to give it up, your Brother Ah Man is hungry. We have more at home; mom will get you some later. Ah Man, you better hurry back while it’s still dark. I will have Mingyang and the other kids come find you tonight, and they can bring the basket back home. We’re heading back now."

Shen Meng didn’t wait for him to refuse and quickly scooped up Lu Ming Kai, running towards their home with him in her arms.

Due to the fever, Ah Man’s reactions were a bit slow, his movements sluggish. Under the faint moonlight, he lifted the cloth over the basket and saw that, in addition to the steamed buns, there seemed to be a couple of vegetable buns with a fragrance that suggested the presence of meat.

He hurried to cover the basket back up and, turning, clutched it and stumbled towards the cowshed, rushing as if he was afraid someone would find and rob him. Even at night, there would be militia on patrol by the roadside, and if they found him, they would not easily let him go.

Shen Meng jogged all the way back home and, before she could enter the courtyard, she heard the stern voice of Xie Jinghao.

"Second sister-in-law, you better leave quickly before the elder sister-in-law comes back; otherwise, when she arrives, you’ll have no peace."

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