Quick Wear: Cousin, Come to the Bowl Quickly

Taking her eyes off the can of malted milk, Lin Xi rubbed her swollen head, calmed herself down, and was ready to go out to take a look. But before she took two steps, the door of the house was suddenly pushed open from the outside.

With a "creak", a girl in a light blue top rushed in, and there was still some mud on the soles of her army green rubber shoes.

She looked up and saw Lin Xi a few steps away. She was stunned at first, and then a look of surprise appeared on her face, "Lin Xi, you're awake!"

The girl hurried a few steps and came to Lin Xi's side. She took her hand and looked her up and down. Then she spoke again in disbelief, "Thank God, that medicine actually worked! You have no idea, you really scared us to death last night."

Lin Xi obediently let her pull her around to look at her. After hearing what she said, she blushed and said sheepishly, "Thank you, Sister Chen Lan. Thank you for taking care of me these days."

Her voice was soft and thin, with the hoarseness of someone who had just recovered from a serious illness. Chen Lan couldn't help but think of her younger sister at home. Her heart softened, and she shook her head gently, helping Lin Xi to sit down by the bed. "What's the big deal? We all went to the countryside together and live in the same house. It's only natural that we take care of each other."

As she spoke, she poured a glass of water from the kettle and handed it to Lin Xi. "Besides, if we really talk about it, you helped us more. Last time I had a fever, didn't you stay with me all night?"

Lin Xi held the warm enamel cup in her hand, the steam blurring her vision. She thanked Chen Lan a few more times before asking curiously, "Sister Chen Lan, I was delirious with a fever last night and don't know what happened. You mentioned medicine just now, what kind of medicine?"

"Right, right, right. Speaking of which, your recovery this time is thanks to Song Zhiqing." Chen Lan's eyes suddenly lit up, and her tone became excited. "I don't know where he got a bowl of herbs for you, and that bottle of malted milk was also given to you by him."

As she spoke, she pointed to the empty bowl and malted milk on the table and said with emotion, "Before, you said you two were cousins, but I didn't believe it. Now it seems that Song Zhiqing is just quiet, but he has a warm heart. Not to mention the herbal medicine that saved your life, I'm afraid a lot of thought went into that bottle of malted milk alone."

Hearing this, Lin Xi looked down the direction of his hand towards the malted milk on the table. A hint of surprise appeared on her face. She then nodded and said hesitantly, "Cousin, he is indeed a very nice person."

Chen Lan didn't notice Lin Xi's expression. She said a few more words to her before she stood up and said, "Okay, I reported to the captain today and came back to see you half an hour early. I also have to cook for them now."

"Then let me help you." Upon hearing this, Lin Xi also made a move to stand up.

"No, no, no. You just recovered from a serious illness. Don't go out and get blown by the wind again. Have a good rest. I'll bring the meal to you when it's ready." Seeing this, Chen Lan hurriedly reached out and held her down, saying anxiously.

"But..." Lin Xi wanted to fight for it again, but was interrupted by Chen Lan before she could finish her words.

"Don't worry," Chen Lan waved her hand. "Cooking doesn't take much effort. First, take care of yourself and come work in the fields with us to make up for the work points you've owed."

Her expression suddenly grew serious. "Otherwise, without work points to exchange for food in the fall and winter, it would be very difficult."

They came during the autumn harvest season last year. Before they had even adapted to life in the countryside, they were forced to rush to harvest.

How could these urban-raised educated youth have ever done such farm work? They didn't even know how to use the sickle, and when they bent down to cut the rice, they were clumsy, either failing to cut through the rice stalks or nearly injuring themselves.

The old farmers in the village shook their heads and a few young men laughed openly.

The sun was scorching, and sweat soaked the coarse clothes of the educated youth. Blisters soon formed on the palms of their hands, causing burning pain.

But even if they worked so hard, they only earned half the work points of the villagers at the end of the day. When it was time to distribute food in late autumn, the educated youth watched the villagers happily transporting food home, while they could only carry a few pounds of brown rice back home.

Fortunately, before I went to the countryside, my family had prepared some money and food for me. Therefore, although the winter was difficult, thanks to these subsidies, I was not completely penniless.

However, the days of counting the rice grains as they were put into the pot, fearing that they would have no food to eat after the previous one, left a deep impression on every educated youth. So after the Chinese New Year, when spring planting began, the educated youth who were originally a bit lazy all became much more diligent.

Lin Xi knew that she was doing this for her own good, so she stopped insisting and nodded, saying, "Then if you need my help, just call me."

"That's right, that's good. Have some rest. I'll call you when the meal is ready." Chen Lan reached out and touched Lin Xi's face, then turned around and went out, closing the door considerately.

After talking with people for a while, Lin Xi was indeed a little tired, but when she thought that the educated youths at the educated youth site would be back from work soon, she couldn't sleep for long, so she forced herself to stay awake and walked to the large cabinet against the wall.

The paint on the cabinet had peeled off a lot. She stood on tiptoe and carefully took out a small maroon wooden box from the top layer.

There was a copper lock hanging on the wooden box. Lin Xi took out a small key from his pocket and gently turned the lock cylinder. With a light "click", the lid of the box opened.

Various bills were neatly stacked in the box, and each one was carefully wrapped in cloth. These were all collected by Lin's parents from relatives and friends using all their connections since the day the notice from the Youth League Office was issued.

Lin Xi counted them carefully. Apart from spending a lot of money on medicine and medical treatment these days, she had hardly used the tickets. Now there were still 40 kilograms of food tickets, 10 feet of cloth tickets, 3 kilograms of oil tickets, 2 kilograms of meat tickets, and even one rare cigarette ticket and one rare wine ticket in the box.

Decades later, these may seem like daily necessities that can be easily bought in a supermarket, but in this era of material scarcity, they are precious treasures that require careful budgeting, frugality, and saving for months or even years to accumulate.

Thinking of this, Lin Xi took a deep breath, rewrapped the counted bills and put them back into the box. She then took out a stack of letter paper from the bottom of the box and spread it flat on the table.

"Dear Mom and Dad, hello, I'm Xixi. I'm well now, please don't worry..."

……

In the room, Lin Xi was busy writing a letter. Outside the room, the educated youth who had worked hard all day came back in groups of three or four, dragging their tired bodies.