Chapter 46 : I heard that your grandfather’s condition has become serious again these days?

Song Shiwei was startled, thinking he was really feeling unwell. She was about to push him away and get up, but he grabbed her hand.  

“It’s because… it’s uncomfortable…”  

His voice was hoarse and low, and the warmth of his touch made Song Shiwei’s face flush instantly.  

—  

The next morning, Song Shiwei felt sore all over, as if she had been taken apart and put back together.  

When she got up, breakfast was already prepared and kept warm in the pot, and the children had all run outside to play.  

It was obvious that someone was trying to make amends for last night!  

He had even sent the kids out so she could sleep in.  

Fine, she would forgive him for now.  

There were steamed buns and a plate of scrambled eggs with cucumbers on the steamer, and below it, a thick rice porridge was simmering over low heat.  

Song Shiwei took the food out, it was still warm!  

She planned to visit Xiao Cui’s house today, so she quickly ate breakfast, tidied up a little, took a bag of salted duck eggs she had pickled, and set off.  

Xiao Cui’s home was in Jiabei Village, about three or four miles west of the military base. Since there were no vehicles available, people usually traveled on foot. By the time Song Shiwei arrived, it was nearly noon.  

Several villagers were gathered under a large locust tree at the village entrance, enjoying the shade.  

Song Shiwei approached them and asked for directions to Xiao Cui’s house.  

The villagers looked a bit surprised when they heard she was looking for Xiao Cui, but two middle-aged men in the group recognized her, they had been among the villagers who helped during the rescue that day.  

“You… are you the military wife who saved Xiaojun that day?”  

Song Shiwei smiled and nodded. “Yes, that was me. I came to visit Xiaojun and his grandparents.”  

Upon hearing this, an elderly woman was overjoyed. She couldn’t hold back her excitement.  

“Oh! So it’s you! Thank you so much for saving Xiaojun! If it weren’t for you, that child wouldn’t have survived! Come, come, I’ll take you to their house!”  

Song Shiwei hadn’t expected the villagers to be so warm and welcoming. She smiled and followed the elderly woman into the village.  

As she walked, she realized the village was even poorer than she had imagined.  

Due to the country’s planned economy, fishermen who once earned a living by fishing and selling seafood could now only work in the fields. But how much food could this saline-alkali land produce?  

Every year, there wasn’t enough food to go around. Families had to gather wild vegetables in the mountains or scavenge for seafood to survive.  

During bad weather or winter, when they couldn’t go to sea and the wild vegetables had withered, many people even starved to death.  

Looking at the stone houses ahead, Song Shiwei felt a pang of sadness. Some houses had missing roof tiles, but without money to replace them, families could only patch them up with straw.  

When they finally arrived at Xiao Cui’s house, Song Shiwei frowned at the sight before her.  

The house was made of stones, the yard was overgrown with weeds, and a few broken baskets were scattered around. A couple of patched-up clothes hung from a simple clothesline.  

At that moment, smoke was rising from the kitchen someone was cooking.  

The elderly woman knocked on the shaky, worn-out wooden door.  

“Xiao Cui, Xiaojun, are you home? Someone’s here to see you!”  

Xiao Cui’s voice rang out from inside.  

“Yes, Auntie! I’m home!”  

As she spoke, she ran out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron.  

The fence around the yard was very low, and she spotted Song Shiwei standing outside at a glance.

For a moment, she felt a little embarrassed.  

“Sister Weiwei, why are you here?”  

Song Shiwei smiled and said, “I’m here to see Xiaojun and your grandparents!”  

Xiao Cui quickly opened the wooden door.  

The elderly woman didn’t forget to ask, “Xiao Cui, how are your grandparents doing? I heard your grandfather’s condition has worsened in the past two days.”  

Hearing this, Xiao Cui’s eyes turned red.  

She lowered her head and bit her lip.  

“Yes… but it’s okay. Grandpa just hasn’t been eating well these past two days and has been sleeping more than usual. Maybe he’ll feel better once the weather cools down!”  

The elderly woman nodded.  

“Even though autumn has begun, the days are still hot and humid. It might cool down after the next rain!”  

After reminding her to take good care of her grandparents, she turned and left.  

Song Shiwei handed Xiao Cui the bag of salted duck eggs in her hand.  

“It’s nothing special. I just brought some salted duck eggs that I pickled myself. When you don’t feel like cooking, you can just boil them and eat them with rice!”  

Xiao Cui looked at the duck eggs and shook her head frantically.  

“No, Sister Weiwei, this is too expensive! I can’t accept it!”  

In their village, who could afford to eat chicken or duck eggs? Those were considered luxuries. In her mind, only the village chief’s family could eat such things.  

That day at the hospital, they had scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and they already felt guilty, thinking they were taking advantage of someone’s kindness. Now, accepting duck eggs felt even more impossible.  

Song Shiwei knew what she was thinking and stuffed the bag of duck eggs into her hands.  

“Don’t worry, I didn’t buy these. I picked them from the reeds! So take them!”  

A few days ago, she had Zhou Cheng and Zhou Lin gather the eggs from the spots she had marked.  

They had collected about forty or fifty eggs, which she then pickled.  

Although pickling used up some salt, the duck eggs could be preserved for a long time.  

Xiao Cui was surprised.  

“Really? Sister Weiwei, you picked up all these yourself?”  

Song Shiwei smiled and nodded. “Of course! Would I lie to you?”  

Xiao Cui finally accepted the duck eggs with a happy expression and invited her inside.  

Hearing the commotion, Xiaojun also came out.  

However, since he had been submerged in the water for much longer than Song Shiwei, and his family had little to properly nourish him, he was still weak.  

Even so, when he saw Song Shiwei, a bright smile appeared on his pale little face.  

“Sister Weiwei, you’re here!”  

Song Shiwei noticed that he seemed even thinner than the last time she saw him, and her heart filled with unease and frustration.  

It was clear he wasn’t being properly taken care of, not because his family didn’t want to but because they simply couldn’t.  

She glanced inside the house and caught sight of a pot of freshly made wild vegetable soup.  

A pang of sadness pricked at her heart.  

Xiao Cui followed her gaze and saw the pot of wild vegetable soup. Her expression became momentarily stiff and unnatural.  

“Sister Weiwei, I’ll go make some more food! Will you stay for lunch?”  

Song Shiwei quickly grabbed her hand.  

“What are you doing? Isn’t this already ready?”  

At this point, even Xiaojun looked embarrassed.  

“Sister Weiwei, how can we let you eat wild vegetable soup when you came all this way…”  

“That’s right, Sister Weiwei, you saved our family! How can we treat you so poorly?”  

Song Shiwei waved her hand dismissively.  

“If you all can eat it, why can’t I? Today, we’re having wild vegetable soup together!”  

Just then, an old voice came from inside the house.  

“Cui, who’s here?”