Chapter 42 : Sister, I, I’m still alive?

At this moment, Zhou Tingyue entered the room carrying a basin. When he heard Zhou Cheng’s words, he turned his head slightly to glance at him.  

Zhou Cheng’s face instantly turned red. He quickly lowered his head, awkwardly grasping the edge of his shirt.  

“I-I’ll go get breakfast!”  

After saying that, he turned around and walked out hastily, as if extremely embarrassed.  

Seeing this, Song Shiwei curled her lips into a happy smile.  

She was probably not imagining things just now, he had really called her “Mom…”  

Zhou Tingyue had also heard it. He placed the basin under the bed and sat down beside her, smiling.  

He reached out and touched her forehead, finding that her fever had almost completely subsided.  

“After what happened this time, the child should understand.”  

Song Shiwei nodded. No matter whether he had fully figured things out yet, at least he had accepted her.  

As for whether he would grow up to be rebellious in the future, she couldn’t guarantee it. She would still need to guide him and teach him well.  

Xiao Cui also reached out to check her brother’s forehead.  

“Xiaojun’s fever has gone down too!”  

Only then did Song Shiwei have time to properly look at the siblings beside her.  

The two seemed to have a very strong bond. Although Xiao Cui’s skin was slightly dark from being out in the sun, it was clear that she had delicate features.  

She was a pretty little beauty.  

Noticing Song Shiwei’s gaze, Xiao Cui blushed slightly.  

She quickly stood up and bowed slightly to her.  

“Thank you for saving my brother!”  

Song Shiwei quickly motioned for her to rise.  

“It’s only natural. I think anyone who saw that would have done the same.”  

But Xiao Cui knew that in such terrible weather as yesterday, not everyone would have risked their own life to save another. A single mistake could have cost both their lives. She was truly grateful to Song Shiwei from the bottom of her heart.  

“My brother and I have depended on each other since we were young. If anything had happened to him, I wouldn’t have been able to go on alone, and my grandparents definitely wouldn’t have been able to bear such a loss. You are the lifesaver of our entire family!”  

Looking at the girl in front of her, only two or three years older than Zhou Cheng, Song Shiwei couldn’t help but feel emotional.  

This pair of siblings had suffered a lot too.  

“No need to be so formal,” she said gently. “My name is Song Shiwei. You’re only a few years older than Zhou Cheng. If you don’t mind, you can call me Aunt Song.”  

Xiao Cui grinned.  

“But you don’t look that much older than me. Calling you ‘Aunt’ makes you sound old. I’ll just call you Sister Weiwei!”  

It was just a title, so Song Shiwei didn’t insist. Besides, given their ages, “Aunt” did seem a bit awkward.  

She was only about seven years older than Zhou Cheng, and Xiao Cui was two or three years older than him. That meant she was only four or five years older than Xiao Cui.  

“Sister” sounded more natural.  

But when Zhou Cheng returned with the breakfast and heard Xiao Cui calling her “Sister Weiwei,” he suddenly frowned, a strange look in his eyes.  

He didn’t want to call her “Aunt” either!  

Seeing that Xiao Cui and her brother were there too, he had brought an extra portion of rice.  

He handed the food to her. “Sister Xiao Cui, this is yours.”  

Hearing him call her “Sister” while she was calling Song Shiwei “Sister,” Xiao Cui couldn’t help but laugh.  

The way their titles were all mixed up, it was truly a mess!

Of course, she didn’t mean to take advantage of him. It was just a title, and he could call her whatever he wanted.  

Besides, he was kind enough to bring them food. Xiao Cui actually felt a little embarrassed. She quickly reached into her pockets, but the clothes she was wearing had been lent to her by the head nurse. Her original clothes had been soaked, and even if she had them, she didn’t have much money or ration tickets to give him in return.  

Feeling awkward, she hesitantly took only two plain white buns from the lunchbox.  

“My brother and I… we’ll just eat this.”  

“I… I don’t have any money with me right now, so I’ll just borrow it for now. I’ll pay you back when I get back…”  

Before she could finish speaking, Zhou Cheng stuffed the entire lunchbox into her hands.  

“I won’t let you pay it back!”  

Xiao Cui felt even more embarrassed. The lunchbox in her hands felt like a hot potato. She didn’t want to owe such a big favor, especially one that involved money and food.  

She was about to place it on Song Shiwei’s table when she was stopped.  

“Hurry up and eat!” Song Shiwei said firmly. “It’s just a meal, and your brother is still weak. He’ll wake up soon, so you need to eat. Besides, you need strength to take care of him. If you don’t eat, how can you take care of your brother, your grandparents, and yourself?”  

Hearing this, Xiao Cui lowered her head and stayed silent.  

Zhou Cheng glanced at her, pursed his lips, and said casually, “You’re so thin. If you don’t eat more, you’ll disappear.”  

Xiao Cui’s eyes suddenly turned red. She held the lunchbox tightly and bowed deeply to Song Shiwei and the others.  

“Thank you. I’ll accept this meal for now, but I’ll definitely find a way to return it!”  

Song Shiwei didn’t care about her insistence on paying it back. It was just a meal or two she had never intended to ask for anything in return.  

The cafeteria food was actually pretty good. Since coming here, she had always cooked at home, but now she realized the cafeteria meals weren’t bad at all.  

This morning’s breakfast included big steamed buns, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, pickled cabbage, braised eggplant, and some pickles.  

The soup was a simple rice porridge with batter.  

In this era, this was considered an excellent meal.  

Zhou Tingyue placed the food on the table one by one.  

“Eat quickly. Aren’t you starving?”  

He had heard that she barely ate yesterday because she had been searching for Zhou Cheng. On top of that, she had exhausted herself in the sea and had a fever all night.  

Right now, she urgently needed to replenish her strength.  

Song Shiwei was indeed very hungry, but she didn’t rush to eat. Instead, she picked up the warm rice porridge and took several sips in one go.  

Only when her stomach started to feel better did she begin eating the vegetables.  

Zhou Tingyue and Zhou Cheng also ate alongside her.  

Originally, Zhou Tingyue had wanted Zhou Cheng to go home to take care of his younger siblings, but he refused. He said that Zhou Lin was at home and knew how to take the younger ones to the cafeteria for meals.  

Sometimes, when they went to the cafeteria without bringing money, they would write down Zhou Tingyue’s name, and at the end of the month, he would settle the bill.  

Just as Xiao Cui was placing her food on the table, she noticed Xiaojun slowly waking up in bed.  

The delicious smell of food had stirred him from his sleep.  

When he saw his sister sitting beside him, he felt like he was in a dream.  

“Sister…”  

As soon as he spoke, his throat felt dry and hoarse.  

Seeing this, Xiao Cui quickly grabbed the enamel cup next to her and helped him take a sip of water.  

Xiaojun drank some water and looked around in confusion.  

“Sister, I… I’m still alive?”