Chapter 45

With the fruit matter settled, Xu Di had another task for the evening: picking fruit.

To have something to store the fruit in, Xu Di went to a scrap yard in the suburbs and bought a large number of baskets, all woven with willow branches by local villagers.

These items didn’t require tickets, and Xu Di found an excuse to buy a lot of them without anyone questioning it.

With the tools ready, Xu Di entered her space to pick fruit every night before going to sleep.

Besides picking fruit, she also had to tie up roosters and hens.

The time flow in her space was three times faster than the outside world. The first few batches of hens were already old and didn’t lay eggs as often, so they needed to be culled.

Thanks to Jin Weidong helping to sell eggs and roosters, Xu Di’s space, besides a vegetable patch for her own consumption, was divided into two parts: one for raising chickens and the other for planting corn.

This cycle had reached a balance.

The newly hatched chicks and the chickens ready for sale were in a constant flow, achieving equilibrium.

Xu Di worked tirelessly for several nights before finally picking all the fruit in her space.

Lack of sleep caused her to yawn constantly the next morning.

“Second sister, what were you doing last night without sleeping? Those two big dark circles, they’re like a panda!”

“Are they that obvious?”

Xu Di quickly went back to her room and took out her small hand mirror, looking left and right. Sure enough, there were dark circles.

She had been busy for days, she had forgotten. Fortunately, it was done, she wouldn’t have to stay up late anymore.

“Second sister, be careful, you might be surrounded when you go out.”

Xu Jun followed his sister’s room, chattering nonstop.

“You looked pretty good before, but with those dark circles, it’s affecting your beauty…”

Xu Di felt like a duck was quacking incessantly in her ear. Her already sleep-deprived brain was buzzing.

“You’re a boy, why are you like the old ladies downstairs, so talkative. You’ve been chattering since early morning.”

Xu Di turned around and, taking Xu Jun by surprise, pressed him down on the bed and tickled him.

“Haha… Second sister, I was wrong, haha… Spare me, Second sister…”

In the living room, Xu’s father heard Xu Di and Xu Jun’s playful noises and couldn’t help but smile.

“Alright, stop it, go wash your face and eat. Xu Di, you’ll be late for work.

Xu Jun, you’re like a restless kid early in the morning, no wonder your sister is disciplining you.”

Xu’s mother had already prepared the meal, Xu’s sister-in-law was setting the table, Xu’s brother was holding his chubby son, standing at the door watching the fun.

“I’ll spare you this time, see if you’re still talkative.”

Xu Di was afraid of missing the bus and being late for work.

“Oh my, I’m laughing so hard my cheeks hurt. What did my second sister eat to grow up so strong? You pressed me down so hard I couldn’t move at all.”

Xu Jun gasped for breath as he got up and patted Xu Ping’an’s head.

“You’re also watching the show, you’re not helping, our relationship is not good, right?”

“Xu Jun, why don’t you eat quickly, you’re chattering nonstop.”

“I’m coming, Mom, I’m coming.”

Xu Jun ran over quickly, afraid of really angering his mother.

The whole family had a warm and lively breakfast, and they left one after another.

Taking the bus in winter was a real test of one’s willpower.

Xu Di thought, she was suffering a little now, but when she retired at fifty, she would get a pension, several thousand yuan a month, she could live comfortably.

With such a carrot dangling in front of her, even if Xu Di wanted to run home and sleep, she could still persevere.

The New Year was only half a month away, and their department was very busy.

As soon as Xu Di stepped into the office, the team leader started organizing a meeting, they were going to check inventory soon.

Come on, I’m a brick of the revolution, wherever I’m needed, I’ll go.

Xu Di cheered herself up, she had been sleep-deprived for days, and her temples were throbbing.

She was used to going to bed early and getting up early, but after staying up late a few times, her body started to protest.

After a busy day at work, Xu Di pinched her thigh several times. If she didn’t focus during the inventory check, she would easily make mistakes, ruining all her efforts, and she would have to start over.

Finally, she was off work, Xu Di picked up her things and walked out, hurrying home to eat and sleep.

It was good to be young, Xu Di slept for over ten hours last night, and when she woke up early in the morning, she felt refreshed.

Xu Jun took a look at his second sister, her dark circles were gone.

“Second sister, you’ve turned back from a panda into a human.”

“You’re asking for it.”

Xu Di shook her fist, this kid was so annoying, she didn’t know who he took after.

“Beat, beat…”

Xu Ping’an, who loved to watch the show, also waved his hand, cheering for his aunt.

This little commotion completely dispelled the unpleasantness brought by Xu Mei.

Xu Di was busy with work, and she also had to deliver goods to Jin Weidong during her break, she was extremely busy.

However, when she counted her money in her space at night, all the hard work was worth it.

Three or four days before the New Year, Xu Mei came home.

That day, she carried her luggage bag into the family compound, everything felt so familiar yet a little strange.

In 1969, she followed the team of young people going to the countryside with great enthusiasm, and now, almost three years had passed.

“Oh, is this Xu Mei? You’re just back from Yunnan?”

“Grandma Wang, it’s me, I’m back to visit my family.”

“Oh, you’ve suffered. Go home quickly, your mother seems to be at home.”

Grandma Wang’s grandson also went to the countryside, he went to the Northeast.

“Goodbye, Grandma Wang, I’ll go home first.”

Xu Mei carried her luggage upstairs, when she reached her doorstep, she was a little afraid to knock.

She stood at the door for a long time, hesitating, then the door opened.

“Xu Mei, it’s really you, why didn’t you come in when you got back, what are you doing standing at the door?”

Xu’s mother felt someone at the door, she opened the door and saw that it was really Xu Mei.

These days, everyone in the family had been looking forward to her return, they said she would be back before the New Year.

“Mom, are you okay?”

“I’m good, very good, come in quickly.”

Xu’s mother took the luggage bag from Xu Mei’s hand and pulled her inside.

“Why didn’t you call before getting on the train? If we knew when you were arriving, we could have gone to the station to pick you up.”

“Why pick me up, I’m not a hero. I’m a disobedient daughter who made my parents sad.”

Xu Mei couldn’t hold back her tears.

“You child, you still know you’re a disobedient daughter.

We told you not to go, but you wouldn’t listen, you were thousands of miles apart, north and south, how worried your father and I were, do you know?”

Xu’s mother patted Xu Mei, her tears also couldn’t stop flowing.

The mother and daughter hugged each other and cried, crying out all the worries and helplessness of these years.

After crying for a while, Xu’s mother suddenly remembered.

“Xu Mei, have you eaten? Mom will go make you some food, what do you want to eat?”

“Mom, I want to eat the fried sauce noodles you make.”

Xu Mei had been craving her mother’s fried sauce noodles while she was in Yunnan.

Yunnan wasn’t short of rice, but wheat flour was rare.

“Okay, go take a bath, I’ll go buy some meat and come back to make you fried sauce noodles.”

Xu’s mother went to the bathroom to wash her face and took her basket out.

Xu Mei stood up and looked around, feeling that there had been no changes in the house.

She pushed open the door, her room with Xu Di, her bed was still there, the quilts were neatly placed at the head of the bed.

Looking at the bed that belonged to her, Xu Mei’s tears welled up again.

She wiped away her tears, took her toiletries and the bath ticket her mother found, and went out to the bathhouse.

After sitting on the train for several days, everyone had a smell, she really missed the bathhouses in the north, she would soak for a while.