Chapter 12

As an outstanding soldier, Gu Xiangqian had a keen sense that went beyond the ordinary.

While he was removing his bandages, he caught Su Ye repeatedly sneaking glances at him. He didn’t say anything, remaining silent as he applied the medication.

Su Ye didn’t understand why her eyes kept wandering over to him. At first, it was out of concern for Gu Xiangqian’s injuries. But as she kept looking, she found herself drawn in.

The muscles honed from years of tough training were smooth and well-defined. His abs were neatly arranged across his stomach, hidden beneath the white bandages. Each muscle looked like a masterpiece, as if carved by Michelangelo—natural and beautiful.

The bandages, which were awkwardly wrapped, seemed almost unnecessary, and Su Ye found herself wanting to help Gu Xiangqian remove them.

His long legs, wrapped in a pine-needle green military uniform, were slightly bent, as if there was no place to put them in the room. During dinner, because the table was too low, his long legs were also awkwardly bent in that position.

Gu Xiangqian coughed lightly, clearly uncomfortable. “Do you want to help me apply the medicine?”

Su Ye took another sip of water, swallowing hard. Was he really trying to tempt her like this?

She glared at him and asked, “I’ve told you I’m lazy. Do I look like someone who wants to help you with your medicine?”

Gu Xiangqian didn’t respond. After applying the medicine, he deftly wrapped the bandages around himself with one hand. Then, he used a slightly damp towel to wipe his body. By the time he finished, a thin layer of sweat covered his forehead, but he didn’t make a sound throughout the process.

Su Ye looked at Gu Xiangqian’s injuries, and they seemed quite serious. His back, arms, ribs, abdomen, and legs were badly scraped, bleeding and bruised, wrapped up like a rice dumpling.

It was hard to imagine doing anything that might go against socialist norms tonight, let alone even rolling over in bed. Su Ye decided to stop worrying for now.

She then touched her conscience and said, “I have a bad sleeping posture, I toss and turn at night. You can have the bed, I’ll sleep on the floor tonight.”

Su Ye opened the wardrobe to find a blanket, but she was stunned to realize that there was no second blanket in the house. How could a regiment commander be so poor that he didn’t even have an extra blanket?

Gu Xiangqian had already lain down on the bed, his tired eyes closed, falling asleep almost immediately. He slept very still, lying straight as a board. After a while, he softly said, “It’s fine. I sleep well. I never turn over.”

“…”

—

The next morning.

Gu Xiangqian woke up early, and so did Su Ye, who got up to wash and freshen up.

Gu Xiangqian’s superiors came to visit him, and they couldn’t show up empty-handed when visiting a patient, right?

Although Gu Xiangqian politely declined the food, he couldn’t resist the overwhelming kindness of his leaders. They insisted on stuffing the food into Su Ye’s hands, smiling as they said:

“You don’t eat it, but surely your partner will, right?”

Only then did Gu Xiangqian stay silent.

In order to prepare for unexpected guests, Su Ye had already locked away the bag of premium flour and fine silk rice she had earned, placing them in the cupboard. Since Gu Xiangqian had returned earlier than expected, she naturally couldn’t take out the fine grain.

In just one morning, the floor was covered with a pile of meat, vegetables, eggs, and fine grains. The poor house had never been so abundant. Su Ye didn’t eat her own grain, but with these care packages, she could comfortably get through the New Year.

Gu Xiangqian was injured and had a doctor’s prescription for nutritional supplements. With this prescription, Su Ye could go to the military canteen every day and exchange it for a pound of bone marrow bones.

The bone marrow bones weren’t very popular in this era because they didn’t have much meat. But at this time, when finding a piece of meat was as hard as climbing to the sky, being able to eat marrow bones was something everyone envied.

This was the true meaning of Gu Xiangqian’s early return.

Su Ye took the prescription to the canteen and exchanged it for a pound of marrow bones. She cleaned them, added red dates, mushrooms, and ginger, and simmered them for hours.

Gu Xiangqian had originally planned to take Su Ye out to buy some things that morning, but when he saw her happily cooking the bone soup like a joyful little hamster, he decided not to rush to buy anything.

After three hours of simmering, the clear broth had turned milky white. The surface was covered with tender yellow ginger shreds, and the red dates and mushrooms had swollen up as if they had absorbed all the water.

Su Ye sprinkled some flour into the pot and made bone soup noodles. When she finished and served the noodles, the entire house was filled with the delicious aroma.

Before he got married, Gu Xiangqian always ate in the canteen. His home was clean, spotless, and neat, with even the bed sheets free of any wrinkles.

The last time he happened to see Su Ye moving a coal stove into the house, he couldn’t even imagine what it would be like for the house to smell like cooking oil.

Now, in the middle of winter, drinking a bowl of hot soup… Gu Xiangqian thought it was better to have a stove at home. Moreover, the walls had already been carefully lined with white rice paper by Su Ye.

The soup noodles in his bowl were rich and flavorful, the marrow in the bones so fatty that it oozed out with a light suck. The noodles had absorbed the soup and were soft and smooth. Perhaps it was due to his mood, but Gu Xiangqian thought this bowl of soup was even better than the one made in the hospital.

No wonder married men didn’t like eating in the canteen. With a small stove at home, they could always have a bowl of hot food, which was far better than constantly rushing to the canteen.

“Eat up, and after you’re done, just stay home,” Su Ye said.

Gu Xiangqian asked, “Where are you going?”

Su Ye unlocked the cabinet, put on her backpack, and replied, “I’m going to school to tutor some students. I’ll be back in the evening.”

Gu Xiangqian had learned from a telegram sent by Li Maogang that Su Ye had secured a teaching position at the high school, but he didn’t realize she was so passionate about this job, that even during the winter break, she still went out to tutor students.

—

Su Ye wasn’t actually tutoring students. She had a full bag of grain with her and was heading to the black market to ‘destroy evidence’.

Although it wasn’t yet the time of the Cultural Revolution, and buying and selling wasn’t strictly prohibited, due to the famine, the price of grain on the black market had been artificially inflated. In order to maintain market order, trading grain was illegal.

Su Ye remained cautious, wearing her hat so low it nearly covered her face. After spending the entire morning wandering around, she finally managed to sell the flour and leftover rice.

After selling the grain, Su Ye went to the supply and marketing cooperative to take a look. There was still a long line, and as New Year approached, the line seemed to get longer.

In the bustling crowd, Su Ye’s sharp eyes caught sight of one of her students.

A thin, shivering girl was standing in the cold wind, asking one person after another, “Uncle, would you like me to help you stand in line? Just one dime, and I’ll help you all day. When it’s your turn, I’ll send my brother to call you to come pay.”

She turned to ask another person, “Auntie, it’s so cold, it must be hard to wait in line…”

No one wanted her help. Most of the factories and businesses in the city had already closed for the holidays, so the citizens had free time to patiently wait at the supply and marketing cooperative. The girl asked for a long time before someone finally paid her to stand in line for them.

What a girl with business sense! If this had been before, Su Ye would have definitely given her a thumbs-up. But, to protect her student’s dignity, Su Ye should have pretended not to see her and quietly walked away.

However, in the cold wind, the girl was dressed too thinly, shivering uncontrollably. Her face, pale and pinched like a bitter melon, looked as if it had no color at all.

Su Ye couldn’t bear to watch anymore. She reached into her bag and pulled out a steamed bun, handing it to the student.

“Yang Xue, do you want some? It’s really delicious, made with sourdough!”

“Teacher…” Yang Xue mumbled softly, then suddenly stumbled and fell to the ground, dizzy.

“You see, you can’t even stand up straight. Have you not eaten for days?” Su Ye scolded her with a tone full of frustration, tapping her on the head.

Su Ye was worried that the young girl might be too proud to accept food from others, but her concern was unnecessary. No one who was hungry could resist the temptation of food. Moreover, it was a warm, fluffy white bun.

This was refined grain.

Yang Xue struggled for a long time, her little mouth twitching as she nibbled on the bun. At first, she ate slowly, but then she started to ‘wolf’ it down, finishing the whole bun in two or three bites. Suddenly, she stopped, her eyes rolled back in her head as she began to choke, just like Su Ye had on her first day, when she nearly choked while eating hastily.

Su Ye, experienced in such matters, gently pressed on Yang Xue’s throat in the same manner that He Meimei had done for her.

Afterward, Yang Xue thanked Su Ye. Su Ye casually asked about her family situation.

Yang Xue gratefully replied, “I’ll definitely go to school and learn from Teacher Su how to repair watches, light bulbs, and bicycles.” She hesitated for a moment, then said sadly, “Teacher Su, you’re such a good teacher. I really want to continue learning from you, but my family can’t afford to send me to school anymore.”

Su Ye felt a sudden pang in her heart when she heard this. For her, losing one student meant losing a few pounds of pork belly and a few pounds of refined grain. If all her students left, would she have to rely on the wind to survive?

No, no, that’s wrong. Losing a student means losing one less pillar for the construction of the nation.

For a family to send a child to school until the second year of junior high is no easy feat. Yang Xue was only one year away from earning her junior high diploma. Su Ye had personally experienced the pain of educational discrimination, so how could she let this little girl give up now?

Su Ye had just made a windfall in the black market. She patted her bulging wallet and, after some deep thought, said:

“Where do you live? I’ll come visit tomorrow. The school has a subsidy program for poor students. I can talk to your parents about the situation. If your family meets the requirements, you might even be able to continue taking my classes.”

Yang Xue’s eyes instantly lit up, and she asked in disbelief, “Really? I don’t remember hearing about that!”

Yang Xue looked confused. She had only ever heard about subsidies for students who got into college or vocational schools, but never for junior high students who were struggling financially.

Su Ye put on a serious face, lowered her voice, and leaned in close to her ear, saying firmly, “This is a new policy! If it were anyone else, I wouldn’t have told them. But you’re the class monitor, and you’ve been diligent in your studies. You’re definitely first in line for this subsidy.”

Yang Xue’s hope, which she had given up on, reignited. She cried with a mixture of joy and sadness. “This is so great! Thank you, teacher! You can come to No. 12 Hongkou Alley, Renmin Road tomorrow. My parents are on holiday, and they’ll be home!”

Su Ye patted her head and, feeling content, returned to the military compound.

Although there were no rewards dropped in the live stream this time, Su Ye’s heart felt warm.