Chapter 7: Home

Hao Li hadn’t expected such a coincidence. He was about to leave that morning when Wang Changjiang stopped him to tell him about this.

Wang Changjiang had contacted the train station the previous night and only told Hao Li this morning that he could help take someone to the station.

If he hadn’t told him earlier, Hao Li would have gotten an extra breakfast portion from the cafeteria.

Now he could only split his own portion in half.

Hua Yuanyuan didn’t stand on ceremony, thanked him, and ate a steamed bun plain.

The whole journey was quiet; no one spoke.

By the time they reached the train station, it was already bright.

The day was nice; the crimson sun rising in the east brought a hint of warmth to the cold weather.

Their breath plumed white with each word.

Hua Yuanyuan got out of the car, stomped her feet to loosen her stiff legs, and looked around without any hurry.

Her train was in the evening; she had to spend a whole day at the station.

The car had driven a short distance when Hao Li saw the woman still standing motionless in the rearview mirror.

He pulled over and ran back.

The train station before the Lunar New Year was crowded and chaotic. A woman carrying so much money might attract attention…

This woman looked rather naive.

Hua Yuanyuan, with a face that hadn’t been washed for days, looked dirty and dazed as she followed Hao Li.

After getting her ticket, she was taken by the station staff to a designated waiting area.

Even after everything was done, Hao Li didn’t leave.

Hua Yuanyuan looked at him inquiringly, as if asking if there was anything else.

“Ahem, that, don’t wander around, just stay here.”

“Okay.”

“There are staff members here, and their office is right behind. If you need anything, just shout for help. I’ve already spoken to them.”

“Okay.”

“Also, don’t talk to strangers on the train, and don’t let your food and drinks out of your sight. Don’t eat anything given to you by others.”

“Mm.”

“Keep your belongings safe, and go straight home after getting off the train.”

“Mm.”

Hao Li didn’t know what he was saying, he just wanted to give her some advice, afraid he might miss something.

Hua Yuanyuan watched Hao Li’s conspicuous military overcoat gradually disappear into the distance, her eyes blurred, unable to see clearly.

Tears fell one by one, pitter-patter…

She cried silently.

The kindness from a stranger left her at a loss.

She didn’t know why she was crying; the tears just came.

She had been holding back, only murmuring “Mm,” afraid that she would cry if she spoke.

After crying for a while, she felt much better.

She had put all the money in her spatial storage, leaving only a few coins on her.

Her bag only contained the dirty clothes she had changed out of last night.

Last night, she finally remembered that the original owner had brought a set of spare clothes, so she washed and bathed in her spatial storage.

She only washed her body, not her face or hair. Washing her face in the cold weather without applying anything would have made her skin crack.

Hua Yuanyuan only looked bad on the outside; she was clean and not cold.

When she got hungry, she bought some food from a street vendor outside the station and also bought a water bottle from a station shop.

She spent the whole day at the train station without any desire to go out or move.

Her train ticket was for a sleeper berth, a lower bunk.

The train swayed along, finally arriving at Luocheng the next day at noon.

She first took a bus from the city to the county, then another bus to the town, and finally walked to her village.

After all this traveling, Hua Yuanyuan didn’t arrive home until nightfall.

Standing in front of her door, she suddenly lost the courage to enter.

In just a few days, she had been separated from her family by death.

If she hadn’t come…

Pushing open the fence, she had just taken a few steps when she heard a coughing sound from inside the house.

Three low, earthen houses, with thick snow on the roof, and a path swept in the yard.

Luocheng was northeast of Beijing, colder and snowier the further north you went.

Hua Yuanyuan entered the house, shivering as she pushed open the door to the inner room, and saw the little old man sitting on the kang, coughing violently under the covers.

Hua Fangfang, on the side, was helping her father pull up his cotton-padded jacket and patting his back.

Her face was filled with anxiety, but she had no other way to help.

The creaking sound of the door opening made the boy raise his head.

His face instantly lit up, “Dad, Dad, Sister’s back!”

The scene became chaotic.

Hua Youcai saw his daughter and tried to get off the kang, coughing.

His excitement made him cough even more violently, causing a heart-stopping sound.

Hua Yuanyuan, with blurred eyes, came to the kang and, seeing Hua Youcai like this, began to wail.

Tears flowed profusely, her cries loud and clear.

“Dad, Dad…”

Cough—

“Daugh—ter, daughter—, cough, don’t cry, it’s all father’s fault.”

Hua Youcai held his wailing daughter, his own tears uncontrollable; it was all his fault.

When his daughter said she was going to marry that scoundrel, he had initially disagreed.

If he had firmly opposed it, his daughter wouldn’t have suffered like this.

It was all his fault.

His daughter was young and naive, unable to discern good people from bad.

It was all his fault as a father; he knew the Wang family was no good but still agreed to the marriage, it was all his fault.

“Daughter, it’s all—father’s fault. Cough, daughter, blame—hate father, cough—it’s fine. We have to—live well, if anything happens to you, how will father live?”

…

Hua Yuanyuan opened her mouth, making sounds like “ah, ah, ah,” crying with her eyes closed…

Cry, cry your heart out, let it all out.

Let the past be the past.

Forget it all, and live happily and joyfully from now on, not for anyone else, but only for yourself.

——

After Hua Yuanyuan finished crying, she shyly lowered her head, sniffing.

Hua Fangfang was also crying; his father was coughing badly, and he couldn’t help, and his sister was bullied, and he couldn’t help…

“Xiao  Fang, did Dad take his medicine? Why is he coughing so badly?”

Hua Yuanyuan busied herself, talking to her brother, and quickly stopped Hua Youcai when he tried to speak.

He shouldn’t talk with such a bad cough.

“Sister, he took it, but he’s not getting better. I also boiled radish water for Dad to drink.”

She took a blanket and placed it against the wall for Hua Youcai to lean on, making him more comfortable.

She also adjusted the quilt to make him more comfortable.

“Mm. Dad, I’ll go wash up and change my clothes, and then I’ll talk to you.”

“Sister, your room isn’t heated; it’s too cold. I’ll go heat the kang first.”

“It’s okay, heat it later. Go make me some food first.”

“Mm-mm, Sister, what do you want to eat?”

“Make some dumpling soup. Dad, just stay on the kang and don’t move; call us if you need anything.”

Hua Youcai nodded with a smile.

His daughter had cried, and her spirits were visibly better.

Hua Yuanyuan returned to the west room, locked the door, and entered her spatial storage.

System, you’re amazing, I’m going to work.

She took off her clothes and yelled, “Do you have any tools?”

“Yes, they’re in the tool shed.”

The mechanical voice was unpleasant.

“Where’s the tool shed?”

“Behind the machine.”

Hua Yuanyuan looked at the room full of tools, found a small shovel, and started working.

The tool shed was next to the small wooden house, behind the machine, in a row of small houses.

The first one was the tool shed.

She had to work for an hour to get a drop of water.

After working for a while, her legs ached; she couldn’t squat for long.

She changed to a long hoe, so she didn’t have to squat.

She started from the edge, planting a small area to test.

The area was approximately three meters by three meters. After digging the holes, she went to the seed room next to the tool shed to choose seeds.

She planted tomatoes first, scattering the seeds, covering them with soil, and watering them. It was done.

There were buckets in the tool shed, so she went to the pond to get water, using a scoop to water each hole.

With Hua Yuanyuan’s limited knowledge of farming, it was basically the same routine.

As for whether it was right or wrong, she didn’t know.

She would wait for time to tell; if it was right, the seeds would sprout and grow.