Chapter 80: Chen Mingchuan Didn’t Come Back for Dinner

Chen Mingchuan put down the sugar and went to find a bowl.

“I borrowed it. We’ll have sugar tickets next month, and I’ll send some back to pay it back then.”

Oh?

Sugar tickets next month?

Hearing this, Li Xinyue was quite curious: “How much can we get a month?”

“Three taels for me, one and a half taels for you, and one tael for Yi’er.”

Li Xinyue: “…”

The whole family only gets five and a half taels of sugar a month…

I thought we’d get at least two pounds!

Only five and a half taels!

Was my expectation too high?

For Li Xinyue, who loves sweets, this amount of sugar was far too little!

But what could she do?

It was the national regulation!

The country was currently in a difficult period, and being able to get this much was already good.

Rural people didn’t even get five and a half taels a month!

“What about meat tickets? How much do we get a month?”

“The same.”

Li Xinyue: “…”

I knew you were just talking out of your hat this morning!

“But during the New Year, we get three pounds of meat each.”

Alright, then let’s just look forward to the New Year.

As a carnivore, she had already experienced the hardship of living without meat: It was unbearable! She was starved for it!

Should I raise a pig when I get to the army?

Thinking about the pig manure, Li Xinyue abandoned the idea: Raising a pig wouldn’t guarantee meat every day! Better to raise chickens and ducks!

They’re all meat anyway!

She was feeling very unwell, and her head was dizzy. The effect of the sugar was wearing off.

Li Xinyue immediately brewed half a tael of brown sugar water and drank it.

She sat on the stool and rested for a while, feeling much better. Li Xinyue prepared to go and sun the herbs before resting again.

Just as she went out, she saw Chen Mingchuan holding a wooden bucket and a knife, ready to go out.

Li Xinyue opened her mouth, “Where are you going?”

“I’m going out for a walk. You don’t have to wait for me to eat dinner when we eat at my uncle’s later.”

He refused to say, and Li Xinyue didn’t ask further. She wasn’t feeling well either.

“Okay, come back early.”

“Yeah. Have Sanhu wash the herbs, you don’t have to worry about it, they’ll be dried for you.”

Alright.

After drinking the sugar water and resting for a while, Li Xinyue felt much better.

Seeing that it was getting late, she went to her uncle’s for dinner.

At dinner, Chen Mingchuan was still not back.

Wang Cuimiao, not knowing where her nephew had gone, instructed: “Xinyue, you take a bowl of rice over later. I’ve put the vegetables and rice in one bowl.”

Li Xinyue knew what Chen Mingchuan was like.

Maybe he didn’t love her, but he had a sense of responsibility.

She couldn’t let him go hungry after eating her fill.

“Okay.”

It was almost the end of the month, and the night sky only had stars.

Holding a bowl of rice, Li Xinyue led Chen Yiheng  back to the Chen family.

“Mom, where did Dad go?”

“I don’t know, he didn’t say. Yiheng , Mom will give you a bath.”

These days, Chen Yiheng  had been going to the river to bathe with his father, and his father had even taught him to swim. Unfortunately, his father wasn’t there today.

“Okay, Mom, I can just wash with cold water.”

Li Xinyue knew he had been washing in the river these days, but the water at home was well water, which was colder.

“Mom will add a little hot water, I promise it won’t be hot.”

“Okay.”

Entering the kitchen, Li Xinyue shook her head at the dirty stove and pot.

There wasn’t even any hot water left in the back pot, so she had to wash the pot and boil some water.

Just as she was about to go give Chen Yiheng  a bath, she suddenly heard a child’s cry of “Wah!” “Give it back to me! Give it back to me!”

“You can’t have it! You little donkey, why should you eat candy?”

“Get lost!”

“Give it back to him!”

Li Xinyue looked coldly at Chen Fugui. Perhaps her gaze was too cold, because he involuntarily took out the candy…

Chen Fugui glared at them angrily and ran away.

“Yi’er, if you don’t want to be bullied, you have to become strong.”

“And, when dealing with those who are unkind, tears are useless! A man speaks with his fists.”

Mom is so amazing!

Once again, Chen Yiheng was filled with admiration: “Mom, I remember!”

The mother and son took a bath and went inside, quickly getting into bed.

Li Xinyue told Chen Yiheng the stories of “The Little Horse Crossing the River” and “Sima Guang Smashing the Jar.” The little guy fell asleep.

“Open the door.”

Just as Li Xinyue was drifting off to sleep, Chen Mingchuan’s voice came from outside the door. She immediately got up and opened the door.

“Where did you go?”

In the darkness, Li Xinyue saw Chen Mingchuan carrying a bag in one hand and a bucket in the other. She asked him.

Chen Mingchuan entered the house, put down the things, and said, “I went up the mountain and dug out a nest of honey.”

What?

Honey?

Finally, Li Xinyue noticed Chen Mingchuan’s face: “You… you…”

Looking at the large bumps on Chen Mingchuan’s face, forehead, and neck, she opened her mouth to say “you” but couldn’t get the word out.

“It’s nothing, just got stung by a few bees.”

“This time I was lucky, I found an old beehive, there’s a lot of honey, enough for you to eat for a while.”

He went out of his way to dig honey for her?

Her eyes welled up in an instant… Her chest tightened, and her breathing became heavy…

“You…”

Chen Mingchuan had already put down his things. Seeing Li Xinyue staring at him, he said, “What’s with that expression?”

“It’s just a bee sting, it’s really nothing.”

“Who hasn’t been stung by bees a few times? Go get a bowl and try it, see if this honey is sweet.”

“I tell you, this hive is very old.”

“It was here before I joined the army. Back then, I was so hungry that I would go and get some honey to fill my stomach.”

Chen Mingchuan, what kind of person are you?

You can abandon Li Xinyue for five years without a word, you can be cold and ruthless to those who are not good to you.

But you are so meticulous and caring towards me.

Don’t be so nice to me, I’m not Li Xinyue. You owe her, and you’re doing this to me, it’s going to be very difficult for me!

Li Xinyue found Chen Mingchuan’s flashlight and rushed out.

“Dinner is on the table, I’ll go find a few herbs and come back.”

Find herbs?

Chen Mingchuan immediately chased after her: “No need, come back quickly.”

How can I not?

Bee venom is very poisonous, tomorrow, with this face, how can I go out?

Li Xinyue ran out. It was pitch black outside, how could Chen Mingchuan let her go out alone?

He closed the door and immediately chased after her.

Fortunately, the herbs for treating bee stings are common, and she quickly found a large bunch.

She washed them clean, returned home, and pounded them into juice. Then, she made a basin of soapy water.

Going inside, she found a sewing needle, heated it over the fire, and called to Chen Mingchuan, who had just put down his bowl of rice.

“Come here, I’ll help you remove the bee stings.”

After a bee stings a person, the stinger will remain in the muscle.

Seeing her preparations, Chen Mingchuan was a little amused.

“It’s nothing, a few bee stings, it’s like being bitten by an ant, don’t make a fuss.”

What kind of person is he!

Are bees and ants the same thing?

Li Xinyue’s face darkened: “Come here!”

She’s angry now?

Chen Mingchuan rubbed his nose and went over… Women, they just love to make a fuss! How can this be considered an injury?