Chapter 3 : The Lu Brothers and Sisters

Following the sound, the door of the ward was pushed open, and a man and a woman walked in.

The man was tall, with long legs, estimated to be 185 cm or above, wearing a green military uniform. He had a strong aura and was very handsome. His features were clean and sharp, with starry eyes, a high nose bridge, and sharp eyebrows. He was the type of person who might not be particularly stunning at first glance, but you would never forget him after just one look.

The woman was about 170 cm tall, wearing a plaid shirt with black pants and two pigtails, a very popular outfit at that time. She had thick eyebrows and big eyes, looking quite heroic, which fit the aesthetics of that era.

“Hey, Su Zhiqing, are you awake?” Lu Xiaolan entered and saw Su Mo sitting on the hospital bed. She quickly walked over and helped her lean back.

“How do you feel? Are you hungry? I brought you some rice porridge. It’s delicious. Have some later.”

Su Mo smiled gratefully at Lu Xiaolan. “Thank you. I’m sorry to bother you these past two days.”

Although she hadn’t fully woken up, she was somewhat conscious and knew that a girl had been taking care of her for the past two days.

“You’re welcome. We’re all revolutionary comrades. My name is Lu Xiaolan, my father is the brigade secretary, and this is my brother, Lu Changzheng. He’s the one who rescued you from the river.”

“Thank you, Comrade Lu.” Su Mo hurriedly expressed her gratitude. This was a life-saving favor.

“You’re welcome.” Lu Changzheng nodded slightly, put the lunch box in his hand on the table, and then left again.

“You’ve had a fever for two days and haven’t woken up yet. The doctors at the health center are worried. If you don’t wake up soon, they’ll probably send you to the county hospital,” Lu Xiaolan said quickly.

“I’m sorry to trouble you all.”

Wasn’t that just causing trouble? The team had been busy with the autumn harvest, and there was no one to take care of her, so they left her to her third brother, and in the end, he had to take leave to look after her.

Although she thought this in her heart, Lu Xiaolan spoke with warm words.

“The autumn harvest is very tiring. It’s normal that you can’t adjust right away, since you just arrived. If you’re too tired next time, you can tell the team leader to assign you a lighter job. Otherwise, you’ll get sick from overwork, which will cost you money and delay your work points.”

As Lu Xiaolan spoke, she opened the lunch box, picked up the bowl on the table, and scooped half a bowl of porridge.

The aroma of rice wafted through the air, and Su Mo’s stomach, which had been empty for two days, immediately started to growl.

Su Mo blushed slightly in embarrassment.

Lu Xiaolan handed the porridge to Su Mo and smiled. “Eat quickly. You haven’t eaten in two days, you must be starving.”

Su Mo had just taken two bites when she heard footsteps at the door. Lu Changzheng had come back with the doctor, and Su Mo had to put the porridge down again.

The doctor took her temperature and, after confirming that her fever had subsided, told her to pack up and be discharged from the hospital.

In those days, farmers’ incomes were not high, and when they got sick, they usually relied on folk remedies. Only when those didn’t work would they visit the health center for some medicine. Very few people were hospitalized, so the beds at the commune health center were often empty. Now, during the autumn harvest, it was even more empty.

The doctor was a smart person. It wasn’t easy for people to save money in those times, so if someone could be discharged, they wouldn’t keep them in the hospital.

After the doctor left, Su Mo drank the porridge in two or three mouthfuls. When she was about to get up, she suddenly realized that she was still wearing a loose hospital gown. Fortunately, the original owner didn’t have big breasts, or it would have been embarrassing.

“Xiaolan, do you know where my clothes are?” Su Mo asked awkwardly, holding her chest slightly.

Lu Xiaolan handed her a cloth bag. “Here it is. I washed them for you. Let’s go out first, you can change quickly.”

After saying that, she left with Lu Changzheng.

Once the two of them left, Su Mo took clothes from the bag. They were washed and neatly folded, still faintly smelling of soap.

Su Mo picked up the white shirt and found a bra underneath. In this era, there were no bras available for sale in China. The original owner had bought this bra at the Hai City Friendship Store using overseas remittance coupons. It was imported and very expensive, costing more than ten yuan each.

Su Mo quickly changed into the white shirt, black pants, and a gray Lenin jacket.

By the end of September, the temperature in Heijiang Province had already become quite cool. For a southerner like the original owner, who came from Hai City, this kind of clothing was very suitable, but it didn’t look like someone who was doing farm work.

While still in the pocket of the Lenin suit, Su Mo found the eight yuan and fifty cents that the original owner had left that day. It had been dried, folded, and placed in the pocket.

The original owner had gone out that day, taken a large unity coupon and a few tickets, spent a few cents on medicine, and then bought a couple of big meat buns from a state-owned restaurant. She had put the rest of the money and tickets in her pocket. The medicine and meat buns were gone, and she had no hope of recovering the rest of the money, but she hadn’t expected to find it still there.

It could be seen that the Lu siblings were truly good people.

Su Mo had a good impression of the first two people she met in this era, and it made her more confident about living here.

After changing her clothes, Su Mo went with the Lu siblings to the cashier’s office to settle the hospitalization fee. The total for the two days of hospitalization came to 13.43 yuan, mainly because Su Mo had been in a coma for two days and had received saline and glucose. In this era, the cost of infusions wasn’t low.

Su Mo looked at the Lu siblings awkwardly. “Um, can you lend me 5 yuan? I’ll pay you back when I get back.”

The original owner had brought a lot of money with her when she went to the countryside. Not to mention the two passbooks her father had stuffed into her pocket, she had more than a thousand yuan in cash. She had sold her work for eight hundred yuan, plus the two hundred yuan she had left, and brought it all with her.

Lu Changzheng took 5 yuan from his military uniform pocket and handed it to Su Mo. At that time, 5 yuan was in the form of steelworker coins.

Only then did Su Mo notice that Lu Changzheng’s military uniform had four pockets. Thinking of the characteristics of the era, Su Mo raised her eyebrows slightly. It seemed that he was still an officer.

After expressing her gratitude, Su Mo took the money and paid the hospital bill.

After leaving the clinic, Lu Xiaolan pointed proudly at the clinic behind her. “Isn’t our commune’s clinic magnificent? It’s not much worse than the county hospital, and it’s the best in the surrounding area. In other communes, the clinics are just two adobe houses. If the illness is serious, you have to go to the county hospital.”

Su Mo looked at the blue brick and white wall hospital behind her and nodded. “It is indeed magnificent.”

Su’s father had put a lot of thought into arranging for her to go to the countryside. If the Red Flag Commune wasn’t a good place, she wouldn’t have come here.

“Okay, I’m going home. You can go back to the team with my third brother,” Lu Xiaolan waved and prepared to leave.

“Ah? You’re not going back to the team?” Su Mo asked in surprise.

“No.” Lu Xiaolan waved her hand. “I’m already married, and my husband’s family is here in the commune.”

Lu Xiaolan was 20 years old this year. She had gotten married at the beginning of the year. Her husband was the commune secretary, and she worked in the commune supply and marketing cooperative. Her husband’s house was also near the commune. She usually only went back to the brigade to visit her parents during her rest time.

“Ah? That’s really too much trouble for you,” Su Mo didn’t expect that Lu Xiaolan, who was already married, would still come to take care of her.

“Oh, don’t be so polite. We are all revolutionary comrades. I’m just a few steps away. I work at the supply and marketing cooperative. You can come find me when you have time.” Lu Xiaolan waved her hand and walked away.

Only Su Mo and Lu Changzheng were left, and the atmosphere became suddenly silent.

“Let’s go.” Lu Changzheng said, walking toward the 28-inch bicycle parked nearby.