Chapter 16: The Cane

Early the next morning, Tang Wan was awakened by sunlight streaming through the window onto her body.

She hadn’t slept so comfortably in a long time.

At least now she didn’t have to be woken up by others’ early rising like back at the youth work point.

Looking at the time now, it wasn’t early anymore. After several days of rain, today was a bright sunny day.

Tang Wan sat up and immediately noticed a cane placed beside the bed.

With this cane, moving around would be much easier for her.

She stepped out of the main room and saw Grandma Bai watering the two peach blossom trees in the yard.

Seeing Tang Wan come out, Grandma Bai quickly put down the bucket. “You’re awake! How did you sleep?”

“The bed you made was very comfortable. Did I get up late?” Tang Wan looked at the sun, which was already high in the sky, feeling a little embarrassed.

She hadn’t expected to sleep this long.

“Not at all, it’s still early. Since you’re injured and can’t work, why get up so early? Sleeping more will help you look better,” Grandma Bai said. Today she wore a teal blue Chinese buttoned jacket and loose black trousers — comfortable yet neat.

“You must have served in a wealthy household before, Grandma,” Tang Wan accidentally blurted out what she had been thinking.

As soon as the words came out, she regretted it. Now wasn’t the time for such talk — it wasn’t praise but more like an insult.

Seeing Tang Wan’s flustered expression, Grandma Bai chuckled, “Don’t be nervous, it’s nothing shameful. You’ve got some insight — yes, I did serve in a wealthy household for a while, just as a maid though. But now I’m free, no more serving.”

Though Grandma Bai’s expression was relaxed, Tang Wan sensed she felt otherwise deep down.

Back then, those wealthy families are now targets of criticism, few ended well — better not to mention it.

“Thanks to your cane, Grandma, it really makes moving around easier,” Tang Wan changed the subject and looked at the cane in her hand.

“This was that kid A Zheng’s way of apologizing. He brought it first thing this morning. With your foot injured like this, he can’t just walk away from it,” Grandma Bai said happily when she saw the cane.

Usually when they had killed pigs, they’d return by the second or third night.

Yesterday they even killed two pigs. Normally it’d take two days to come back, but to her surprise, Qin Zheng returned early this morning right after she opened the door. Without saying a word, he just left the cane and left again.

“Well, it’s not fair to blame Comrade Qin Zheng. It was my fault for going too deep inside without paying attention to time…”

“You don’t have to explain. Those two little brats told me everything yesterday. If anything bad happened to you, they wouldn’t get away from it either,” Grandma Bai said as she walked into the kitchen.

“This morning I left you some food — just a simple meal.”

Grandma Bai’s idea of a simple meal was already beyond the standard of most people at this time.

A bowl of rice porridge cooked with rice oil, a small plate of salted vegetables, and one egg.

Not too much, but just right for those with little appetite in the morning.

You wouldn’t find porridge made from pure rice like this anywhere else, especially since rice wasn’t grown here — most families never even ate rice.

“So sumptuous,” Tang Wan said. For now, this was more than just sumptuous.

“It’s just plain porridge and side dishes. We’ll have something better for lunch,” Grandma Bai said as she placed the food in front of Tang Wan.

Tang Wan finished washing up and began breakfast.

Grandma Bai’s cooking skills always made Tang Wan wonder if she had been a professional cook somewhere — even simple rice porridge was just right.

After finishing breakfast, Tang Wan’s mood improved a lot.

“Should I ask the team leader for leave?” Tang Wan remembered the question. It had rained the last few days so there was no work, and she had almost forgotten about it.

“When I went to the youth work point yesterday, I already told the other female youths to explain your situation to the team leader. He should know by now,” Grandma Bai said, clearly well prepared.

“Thank you, Grandma.”

“No need to be so formal. You call me Grandma, so stop thanking me all the time — it sounds too polite,” Grandma Bai pretended to be angry.

Tang Wan quickly soothed her, “My bad, my bad.”

Seeing her make a pleading little girl face, Grandma Bai’s smile deepened. She couldn’t keep pretending to be angry. “You’re such a lively child now.”

“How’s your relationship with the female youth who came to the countryside with you?” Grandma Bai suddenly asked.

“Not bad. We haven’t talked much. Why, Grandma?” Tang Wan immediately realized Grandma Bai was referring to Zhong Ling.

“Nothing much. When I went to get some things for you, she was very helpful, helped me a lot, and asked about your condition — seemed quite enthusiastic,” Grandma Bai said casually.

“…” Tang Wan didn’t know what to say. If it were Zhong Ling caring about her, she wouldn’t believe it for a hundred percent.

If her guess was correct, to Zhong Ling she was just a stumbling block — someone likely competing for Zhao Dong — a barrier to her happiness after rebirth.

She didn’t hope for anything bad to happen but didn’t expect care either.

However, Zhong Ling’s enthusiasm towards Grandma Bai seemed normal — after all, Zhong Ling’s persona was that of a warm, generous, and helpful person.

Her connection to the male lead and later to the boy whose parents worked at the supply and marketing cooperative, as well as later developments, all stemmed from this persona.

“She is very warm-hearted,” Tang Wan said.

Grandma Bai glanced at her, “Warm-hearted people aren’t always good people.”

Surprised by Grandma Bai’s words, Tang Wan watched as Grandma Bai stood up calmly.

“Are the mushrooms you picked yesterday going to be dried?”

“My mushrooms were brought down too?” Tang Wan heard this and lost interest in questioning the meaning behind Grandma Bai’s words. She understood that Grandma Bai mentioning it meant she shouldn’t ask.

“Yes, they brought them down for you yesterday. I saw quite a lot,” Grandma Bai went to the backyard to get Tang Wan’s basket.

Tang Wan’s basket wasn’t big but it was already full.

Tang Wan clearly remembered that when the wild boar came, mushrooms had been scattered everywhere. These were probably picked up again last night by Qin Zheng.

“Didn’t expect these to still be here in the chaos,” Tang Wan murmured.

“Since you worked so hard gathering so many, it’s probably to send back home. Let’s dry them today, shall we?”

“Mm-hmm.” Tang Wan nodded. Her plan was to dry them and send them back to her father by mail.

“I’ll help you with that. The weather is perfect today,” Grandma Bai said as she started working.

“I’ll help you,” Tang Wan sat beside Grandma Bai, learning how to handle the mushrooms.

…

With just this basket of mushrooms, it took them nearly till noon to finish.

“Why did you pick out this little pile?” Tang Wan asked, puzzled, watching Grandma Bai separate a small bunch.

“To prevent you from eating mushrooms that cause miscarriages,” a low voice sounded as Qin Zheng entered the yard.