Chapter 30: Dividing Goods and Checking the Pulse

Ming Dai was completely unaware of this gossip.

That evening, Liu Laifu arrived, pulling a cart, with Tiedan sitting on it.

Since they didn’t know there was a back entrance to the educated youth quarters, they knocked on the front door.

Fang Mingyang went behind the screen wall to call for someone, only to realize that the door on this side had been locked.

Ming Dai didn’t explain anything. She simply walked around to the back and led Liu Laifu to the rear entrance.

Fang Mingyang followed to take a look, feeling disheartened at the sight of the padlocked back door.

Ming Dai ignored him and called Zhou Sinian over to unload the corn cobs from the cart.

Noticing two extra bags, Ming Dai turned to Liu Laifu.  

Liu Laifu scratched his head and said, “My mother told me to bring you some homegrown vegetables. The other bag is filled with mountain goods. They aren’t worth much, just something for you to try.”

Ming Dai smiled and accepted them without refusal. She then turned and went to the kitchen. Under Zhou Sinian’s reluctant yet resigned gaze, she wrapped four pieces of peach crisps and handed them to Tiedan.

Liu Laifu hurried to stop her, sweating anxiously despite being a grown man.

Ming Dai stuffed the peach crisps into Tiedan’s arms. “Take it. Your aunt is giving it to you, so you can’t refuse. Brother Laifu, I won’t be overly polite with you, so don’t pretend to refuse either. Hurry home.”

(T/N: She called herself “aunt” because she addressed Tiedan’s father as “brother”—she couldn’t mess up the seniority.)

In the end, Laifu couldn’t out-argue Ming Dai and was sent off with just a few words.

Ming Dai found it amusing. How did Captain Liu, who was as shrewd as a beehive coal briquette, end up with such an honest and simple son?

Even Aunt Huang seemed like a sharp person!

Shaking her head, she pushed the thought aside. Right now, she had to deal with the sulking Zhou Sinian.

At the moment, he was glaring at the back door, his expression stormy, as if a tempest was about to break.

Ming Dai met his gaze and spoke. “The peach crisps were bought by me, so they belong to me. I was willing to give them to Tiedan, and I’m willing to give them to you too. You can be angry, but you’re not allowed to hit anyone.”

Zhou Sinian, who had just been planning to go teach that brat a lesson, instantly looked aggrieved and turned his eyes toward Ming Dai in silent protest.

As expected, she knew he wasn’t harboring any good intentions.

Sighing, she took out an emergency lamp from her travel bag, turned it on, and handed the bag to Zhou Sinian. “Carry it,” she said before leading him into his room.

Their rooms were adjacent, separated only by a wooden partition that divided a large kang bed into two sections.

This setup was quite common in countryside homes with many occupants.

Against the wall stood a large kang cabinet, but it was empty, with nothing stored inside.

The kang had already been heated, making it warm and comfortable to sit on.

At the hottest spot near the head of the bed, Zhou Sinian’s military blanket was being dried. It was almost completely dry—just a little more heat, and it would be ready to use.

Right next to it was the bedding Ming Dai had prepared for him. It included a mattress and a quilt, not very thick, but far better than his military blanket.

There was even a pillow. Previously, poor Zhou Sinian didn’t even have one.

Ming Dai placed the lamp on the kang table, instantly brightening the entire room.

“Put it here. Come up and sit down.”

She instructed Zhou Sinian, and only after he sat down did she open her travel bag.

The large travel bag was packed full, containing all sorts of things. She took everything out, forming a small pile.

First, Ming Dai laid out the food.

“This is peach crisps, the same ones I gave to Tiedan. We’ll split them into two portions—you get one, I get one. This is sponge cake—we’ll split it, you get one, I get one. These are biscuits—we’ll split them, you get one, I get one. And this is hawthorn jelly—we’ll split it, you get one, I get one.”

Zhou Sinian looked at his portion, then at Ming Dai’s, and nodded.

After pushing the food aside, she took out the clothes she had bought for him.

“These are all yours. Thermal underwear—wear them under your cotton-padded jacket and pants. These are underpants—wear them under your thermals. These are socks—put them on before wearing shoes. These are slippers—dry your feet after washing and then wear them. You have two sets of thermal underwear; change every three days. There are three sets of underpants and socks—you must change them daily. Wash the used ones on the same day, understood?”

Each time she handed him an item, Zhou Sinian would pinch it with his fingers.

When it came to the slippers, he carefully examined the black cotton fabric on top, looking somewhat displeased.

He still remembered the floral patchwork slippers on Ming Dai’s feet.

Ming Dai sighed inwardly. I’d love to find a pair like that for you, but my storage space doesn’t have slippers in such a large women’s size.

“Just make do for now. I’ll make you a pair later.”

Only then did Zhou Sinian withdraw his gaze. He stretched out his long legs, slipped on the slippers to try them, then pulled out the socks and tested those as well. Walking a few circles on the kang with the new feel underfoot, he spun around in satisfaction, clearly enjoying the comfort.

Ming Dai watched with a smile, waiting for him to finish enjoying himself. Once he sat down, she took out another item.

“This is a razor. From now on, use this to shave, understand? Stop using your dagger.”

The first time she saw him shaving, Ming Dai had nearly fainted from shock. He had been standing in front of a water bucket, wildly swinging a military dagger across his face. Just watching had nearly stopped her heart.

She carefully explained how to use the razor and shaving cream, making sure he understood that he needed to shave before washing his face in the morning. Only after confirming that he remembered did she feel relieved.

Once everything was divided, she packed her own share neatly and helped Zhou Sinian store the rest in his kang cabinet.

“Keep your things here, and mice won’t chew on them. The small upper compartment is for food, and the larger lower one is for clothes. Remember that.”

Zhou Sinian nodded. After thinking for a moment, he pulled out a few candy wrappers and a small cloth pouch from his jacket pocket and carefully placed them in the small drawer.

Ming Dai noticed that the cloth pouch had been washed clean, and it carried the scent of the laundry powder she had used to clean his shoes.

He’s got great adaptability, she thought, growing even more curious about where he had served before.

The two of them sat down again, and Zhou Sinian pushed his own bundle toward her.

Ming Dai glanced at it. “You want to share with me?”

Zhou Sinian nodded.

She took out a small knife and carefully opened the package, revealing its contents.

There weren’t many things inside—just three items.

A bag of rice, which looked to be about five jin (approximately 2.5 kg).

Four cans of food—two of luncheon meat and two of braised pork.

And lastly, a military overcoat, which was the reason the bundle had seemed so large.

This was pretty good. Ming Dai could get one for herself later. She remembered that Qi Zhijun had been wearing a military overcoat when he arrived.

Zhou Sinian touched each item one by one but didn’t move them, waiting for Ming Dai to distribute them.

Ming Dai was curious. Although she had subtly hinted at sharing and provided some psychological reassurance, she hadn’t expected Zhou Sinian to trust her so completely.

“I’ll put the rice in the kitchen. We’ll both eat from it when I cook. The canned food too—I’ll store it in the cupboard, and we’ll have it when we stir-fry dishes.

The military coat is for you to wear. It’s too big for me.”

Zhou Sinian nodded in agreement. He stood up and draped the coat over his shoulders.

He was too thin, and the coat only stayed up because of his frame, but it was clear that he was in a good mood today.

After he finished washing up and sat down again, Ming Dai took out two White Rabbit milk candies and handed them to him.

“Have some candy. Stretch out your wrist so I can take a look, okay?”

Zhou Sinian glanced at his hand, then obediently extended his wrist.

Ming Dai waited until he had fed himself one of the candies with his free hand before rolling up his sleeve. She gently placed her fingers on his wrist to check his pulse.

Just as she had expected, his body was severely depleted—not only was his brain injury serious, but his organs had also begun to deteriorate.

Especially his stomach—if he didn’t take care of it, he was a prime candidate for stomach cancer.

Considering his brain injury, he might not even last that long before meeting his end.

He needed proper care.

Ming Dai recalled the book’s timeline—Zhou Sinian had died in the mountains the same year the female lead was sent to the countryside. That meant he had about two years left.

There was still time. He could be nursed back to health.

She didn’t want to lose her human shield, her strong laborer, and most importantly, her highly probable future golden ticket.

With that decision made, she began planning how to treat and nurse him back to health.

She couldn’t open a portal and leave, but she had transferred everything from her spacious apartment into her storage space, including the medical equipment and herbs she had inherited from both sides of her family.

With these resources, she was confident she could restore Zhou Sinian’s health.