"Hurry, come inside and warm up. Don’t freeze out there." Seeing the three return, Bai Jiu and Aunt Peng immediately stepped forward to help them take the firewood off their backs.
It was snowing lightly outside, and quite a few snowflakes clung to their clothes.
"Thank you, Mom."
After going inside, Bai Jiu helped Xiuxiu and Zhengyang take off their coats and dressed them in fresh clothes. Aunt Peng had just brought these over today. Bai Jiu hadn’t expected her to finish sewing the children’s padded cotton clothes and pants in just two days. She truly had skillful hands.
"Aiguo, just stay by the fire and don’t move. Careful not to catch a cold. We don’t have any clothes that would fit you here." She herself was still wearing the same down jacket she had from the beginning. The house truly lacked adult clothes—there wasn’t even a single item belonging to Gao Zhijun. It was obvious how little time he spent at home.
"It’s fine, Auntie. I’ll just warm up by the fire," Aiguo said somewhat sheepishly. Although he was still a child, he was around ten years old—long past the age of ignorance—and knew how to feel shy.
"Alright, don’t fuss over him. He’ll be fine roasting by the fire. If we don’t eat these dumplings soon, they’ll turn to mush. Let’s eat," Aunt Peng said. Of course, she was also worried about Aiguo, but he was wearing thick layers underneath, and having taken off his outer coat while sitting by the fire, he would be alright. He had a strong constitution. Besides, nothing warmed the body faster than a hot bowl of dumplings.
"Oh, right, I was so busy I forgot! Let’s get them out of the pot, or they really will turn to mush."
The mother and her two children, along with Aunt Peng and her grandson, shared a whole pot of dumplings between the five of them.
"Mom, delicious! So yummy!" Xiuxiu and Zhengyang had probably run themselves ragged playing outside and were starving. After the first bite, they both cried out in surprise.
"Mom isn’t delicious, the dumplings are delicious. Slow down, careful not to burn yourselves." Bai Jiu couldn’t help but feel that the children’s phrasing sounded a bit odd.
"Haha, you." Aunt Peng hadn’t realized it at first, but upon hearing Bai Jiu’s retort, she chuckled.
A smile also crept onto Aiguo’s lips.
When Aunt Peng and Aiguo headed back, Bai Jiu packed twenty more dumplings for them to take home. Aunt Peng tried to refuse, but Bai Jiu simply shoved the dumplings into Aiguo’s arms and shut her door right after handing them over. Helpless, the grandmother and grandson had no choice but to take the dumplings home.
Meanwhile, the savory aroma of the dumplings stirred up the appetites of the four people in the dilapidated hut not far next door.
"Old Wu, let’s ask that girl to buy some grain for us too." They really couldn’t go on living like this.
Mr. Zhang sniffed vigorously toward the door. That smell was just too overpowering.
"Enough, get back in here. Aren’t you afraid of freezing?" Seeing her old man acting like that, Zhou Lan exasperatedly pulled him back inside.
Despite getting pulled by the ear, Mr. Zhang wasn’t angry; he was just craving some food.
"Brother Wu, what do you think? Can that girl be trusted?" Mr. Zhang asked, gulping down saliva.
He called him "Brother Wu" when he needed something, and "Old Wu" when he didn’t.
Elder Wu rolled his eyes at him. "I’ll ask her next time she comes by." They couldn’t just go knocking on her door. If anyone saw them, it would bring her trouble. She had already helped them so much. They were all wearing the clothes she brought last night. It was incredibly warm. Now they were no longer afraid of stepping outside.
Late that night.
Bai Jiu knocked on the door next door with fifty dumplings in hand. She had already boiled them, so they just needed to be heated up to eat. If she let them boil it themselves, the smell might attract attention and cause a huge disaster.
"Who is it?"
"It’s me."
Bai Jiu quickly slipped into the dilapidated hut.
"I made some dumplings today. It wasn’t convenient to bring them over during the day, so you should get up and heat them now." Since they had to go out and work during the day, they couldn’t eat them then. Once they ate, their breath would smell like food, and if someone noticed while they were working, it would be a disaster.
"Thank you, girl." The four were surprised, but they had accumulated so many debts of gratitude that they didn’t even know how to thank her anymore. They only hoped they would have the chance to repay her in the future.
"No need to thank me. I can’t do much for you anyway." Bai Jiu wasn’t scheming to get anything out of them; she merely wanted to preserve a few talented individuals for the country. With her clear understanding of history, she knew just how important these exiled elders would be to the nation’s future.
After accepting the dumplings, Elder Wu stopped Bai Jiu.
"Girl, we don’t know how to thank you either. Take this. If you get the chance, help us buy some grain." Elder Wu pulled a tattered bundle of cloth from the straw underneath him and handed it all over to Bai Jiu.
Confused, Bai Jiu opened it to take a look.
"I can’t accept this." Inside, aside from money, there were also many ration coupons. Adding up all this cash, it had to be at least a few hundred. She absolutely could not take it.
"Take it. We can’t use these things here anyway. But don’t worry, this all came from legitimate sources. My grandson mailed it to me," Elder Wu explained immediately, fearing she might be concerned about where the money came from.
"It’s not that, Elder Wu. This is just too much money." She had nothing to worry about. She just felt there was too much money inside.
"It’s not much, not much." Elder Wu waved his hand. "You know our status. Even if we had more money in our hands, we’d be powerless. We can’t leave the village, let alone buy anything."
If that hadn’t been the case, the people before them wouldn’t have starved or frozen to death.
Bai Jiu sighed. "Alright then. I’ll try my best to get you some food, and I’ll buy two more winter quilts." She could only help a little.
"No need, no need. Just buying grain is fine. Two quilts are enough for us, and you’ve brought quite a few clothes. We have enough." Elder Wu knew this girl was kind-hearted, but they couldn’t let her kindness bring her harm. These things were already enough.
"If you have the chance, it would be best if you could get us some medicine. If not, then forget it."
None of them were young anymore, and their biggest fear was getting sick. Having some medicine on hand for emergencies was better than nothing.
"Okay," Bai Jiu said, not standing on ceremony, and accepted the items.
Speaking of medicine, she looked at Old Li. "Has Grandpa Li’s illness improved?" A few days had passed. If he still wasn’t better, she would have to give them more.
Li Gao Yi smiled and patted his chest. "I’m all better. I’m not coughing anymore. Thank you so much, girl." That medicine was truly miraculous. After he took it the first night, he did cough, and it was a bit uncomfortable. But after drinking it for two consecutive days, he felt entirely cured. Not only did he stop coughing, but even the heaviness he used to feel had disappeared.
Although Bai Jiu didn’t know what illness he had, seeing him now, it was probably just a normal cold and cough; otherwise, that medicine wouldn’t have been so effective.
"It’s good that you’re cured. But you still need to finish the medicine. Once it’s gone, that’s it." She hadn’t given him much. It was only a few days’ worth. Three days had already passed, so in at most two more days, the medicine would be gone.
"Alright, I’ll listen to you."
Zhou Lan was observant and knew that the girl in front of her was not simple, so she asked, "If you need to go out for errands in the future, just leave the children with us. It’s getting colder now, so we don’t have to go to the wasteland every day anymore."
Especially when it snowed heavily, the production team captain wouldn’t call them out to work.
"That would be great! I’ll have to trouble you all then." Bai Jiu wasn’t polite with them. Besides, she had always intended for her children to learn a thing or two from them. Even if it wasn’t for long, over the course of two years, the children would still be able to learn a lot.