1979: Reopening Wenhao Road from the Village

"Don't worry about the money, I'll handle it. Just focus on getting better."

Chen Weidong comforted Su Man and left the ward, his brows furrowing. If this were decades later, this amount of money wouldn't even be enough to buy a pack of Zhonghua cigarettes, but right now it was a huge sum of money for him.

We only have eight yuan in total at home, and we're still short twenty-eight yuan.

His parents live too far away; the hospital definitely won't be able to wait that long.

"Wei Dong".

He Yan brought Fu Xiao over; they had come to pick up Chen Weidong and Su Man to take them back to the village.

Fu Xiao nodded to Chen Weidong and went straight into the delivery room.

"Brother Yan, there's something I need to trouble you with."

Seeing He Yan approach, Chen Weidong had an idea in mind and, after a moment's thought, said...

"What's wrong?"

"Um... do you have any money on hand right now? Could you lend me twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents? I'll pay you back in a while."

"No problem, it's already prepared for you. Here's thirty yuan, take it. But ten yuan of it is for Fu Xiao."

Upon hearing this, He Yan immediately took out a blue handkerchief from his chest pocket. Inside were denominations of five mao, one yuan, and two yuan, as well as a few cents in coins and two large unity bills, totaling thirty yuan.

"I don't need that much, Brother Yan. I only need twenty-seven yuan and fifty cents or twenty-eight yuan."

"Just take it. It's a loan, not a gift. Both children and Suman need nutrition, and that will cost money."

He Yan put all the money directly into Chen Weidong's hands.

Chen Weidong felt a warmth in his heart. Although everyone was poor at this time, they were poor in spirit.

He knew that this money was probably what He Yan had saved up over several years.

Compared to Chen Weidong, who has two children, He Yan is currently single and has no family to worry about. In good years, he can even save money.

Without further hesitation, Chen Weidong kept this sentiment in his heart.

After paying the fee, with the help of He Yan and Fu Xiao, the group boarded a carriage and headed towards Yangjiatun.

Fortunately, the weather was good today; the wind wasn't strong and there was no snow, making the road easier to travel. We returned to the village in just four hours.

The house feels cold and empty after a few days of no one staying there.

Chen Weidong did not let Su Man and her son return directly to the house, but instead settled them in Fu Xiao's room.

He went to collect some dry firewood by himself, then filled a large basket halfway with sheep droppings, picked some weeds, and returned to the house to boil water to warm the home.

Once the house had warmed up, Chen Weidong went to Fu Xiao's room again.

"Daddy~ Fold~"

When Chen Xiaosui saw Chen Weidong enter, she immediately swayed over, her face full of joy.

"Sui Sui, do you miss your dad?"

Having not seen Chen Xiaosui for several days, Chen Weidong missed her terribly. He picked her up, gave her a close hug, and kissed her on the cheek.

"Cool~"

"No……"

However, Chen Xiaohui was quite uncooperative. Her previous enthusiasm vanished instantly, and she even pushed Chen Weidong's face hard with her hand.

Chen Weidong's face was still cold from coming in from outside, which made Chen Xiaosui feel a little uncomfortable.

"Ha ha……"

He Yan chuckled and reached out to Chen Xiaosui, saying, "Come here, let grandpa hug you."

Chen Xiaosui wasn't shy at all and immediately turned around and leaned over.

Chen Weidong was also worried that Chen Xiaosui would get cold, so he placed her in He Yan's hands.

Su Man smiled slightly, and even Fu Xiao's lips curled up slightly.

"Comrade Fu Xiao, thank you. I will return your money to you as soon as possible."

Chen Weidong thanked Fu Xiao. He had expected He Yan to lend him money, but he hadn't expected Fu Xiao to do the same.

"I'm only doing this for Su Man and Sui Sui's sake. You can use the money first, and I'll give it to you when I have it."

Fu Xiao maintained her aloof attitude.

Su Man, who was standing to the side, also realized that Fu Xiao had borrowed money, and she shook Fu Xiao's hand and thanked her.

"Let's go back first, it's warm at home now."

Chen Weidong didn't care about Fu Xiao's attitude. After all, she had always looked down on him and thought that Su Man marrying him was like a beautiful flower stuck in cow dung.

Chen Weidong carried Chen Xiaoan, and He Yan carried Chen Xiaosui, and they went back into the house together.

"Weidong, I'll go return the car first."

The carriage was important public property, and Yang Shulin and the others had to agree to use it every time.

"Thank you for your help, Brother Yan."

Chen Xiaoan burst into tears as soon as He Yan left.

"What's wrong?"

"I guess they're hungry."

Su Man picked up Chen Xiaoan and started feeding her. Chen Xiaosui, who was standing next to her, also started clamoring for milk, which made Su Man look a little embarrassed.

"What's wrong?"

Chen Weidong glanced at her chest with some suspicion; it was quite white!

This earned Su Man rolling her eyes.

"I...don't have enough breast milk."

The last few words became a buzzing sound. Although she had been married for two or three years, Su Man was still very thin-skinned, let alone in front of the children.

Chen Weidong understood that with the current living conditions, probably eight or nine out of ten new mothers wouldn't have much breast milk.

He picked up Chen Xiaosui and carried her to the stove: "Suisui, Daddy's going to cook you something..."

He opened the two bags and found only five or six potatoes and a small bag of cornmeal, nothing else.

This……

Even a skilled cook can't cook without rice!

Moreover, he hardly ever cooked in his previous life. It was only after his living conditions improved that he started using an electric cooker to cook instant noodles, porridge, and steamed buns.

At other times, we would just eat at restaurants or other people's homes and never cooked on a stove.

There are a few steamed buns under that big bowl; you can heat them up.

Su Man immediately saw Chen Weidong's predicament and pointed to it, saying...

Chen Weidong looked over and saw a large, rough porcelain bowl with a white body and blue rim in the corner of the stove. He lifted it up and saw five steamed buns inside.

This is a type of steamed bun made from a mixture of sweet potato flour and cornmeal. It has a rougher texture but can fill you up. It was a staple food in rural areas during difficult times.

He frowned. He could eat this on his own, but Sui Sui might not be able to, let alone Su Man, who was in labor.

I added some more water to the pot, scooped half a bowl of cornmeal into the pot, and then added another half bowl, feeling it wasn't enough.

Then place the wooden steamer on the pot, and put the steamed buns in the steamer to heat them.

He planned to make some corn porridge, which would taste better with cornbread.

……

Lifting the lid, I saw a thick corn paste, even thicker than the paste used during Chinese New Year.

Seeing that Chen Weidong was not moving, Su Man put the sleeping Chen Xiaoan on the kang (a heated brick bed), walked over and looked at her, and chuckled softly.

She was just wondering when Chen Weidong learned to cook?

After being married for so long, Chen Weidong has only ever cooked a meal. Is he hiding something deep inside?

It seems she was overthinking things.

Hearing Su Man's laughter, Chen Weidong gave an awkward smile and gave himself a way out: "Well... it's my first time cooking, I can understand. But it's edible. You can get on the kang first, and I'll serve the rice."

Haha~

Su Man felt a bit of a stomachache from laughing, so she covered her stomach and got back onto the kang (heated brick bed), but she was still in a very good mood.

She had witnessed Chen Weidong's changes over the past few days. As his wife, others might not know, but how could she not know about her man's transformation?

Ever since he was kicked by the horse, Chen Weidong has become a different person. Although he is still clumsy, at least he knows how to care for others and has learned to take responsibility.

Suman wasn't sure if this was a side effect, but she hoped it would continue.

……