Chronicle of the 70s-Chapter 399 - 374: Lost Weight

In the evening at the household where everyone was staying, each person contributed two yuan to enjoy a home-cooked rural meal. The village chief’s home conditions were quite decent; there was corn broth porridge, large pancakes, a big plate of cured meat stir-fried with garlic shoots made for the New Year, scallion and egg, as well as a bowl of cold vermicelli and dried long beans. Everyone felt much more settled after the meal.

Li Xianglu and the group of women stayed at the village chief’s eldest son’s house, the western room, which had a large heated brick bed that was aired out before bedtime.

Li Xianglu washed her feet and climbed onto the bed. However, there weren’t enough blankets, so two people had to share one. Chairman Xu’s spouse weighed over 180 pounds, quite plump; sharing a blanket with her wasn’t realistic. Thus, she ended up sharing with Chou Xue.

Just as they lay down, Chou Xue whispered, "Oh no, my stomach hurts. I need to use the restroom. Who’s going out with me?"

Li Xianglu didn’t want to go, shaking her head, "I went before bedtime."

Everyone had already gone, and hearing this, Chou Xue became visibly upset: "Come on, go with me. It’s dark outside; I’m scared!"

Han Xuemei’s child, who had been scared and cried his eyes out that afternoon, quickly clung to his mother’s arm upon hearing this, clearly unwilling. Therefore, Han Xuemei helplessly told Chou Xue, "My daughter is very timid, you see..."

Chairman Xu’s spouse, who preferred to wear little during sleep, stripped down to just an undershirt and lay down, so Li Xianglu had no choice but to get up, put on a jacket, and accompanied Chou Xue out.

The courtyard of the village chief’s son’s house was newly built, and the toilet hadn’t yet been completed. Previously, everyone had been using the back yard. Now, the lights in the back yard were off, so Chou Xue headed toward the opposite woods.

It was strange for Chou Xue to keep walking farther away after entering to find a spot, heading deeper into the woods.

Li Xianglu followed her for twenty or thirty meters and then stopped, watching as she disappeared.

Just when Li Xianglu was hesitating whether to shout, suddenly a cry of pain came from the woods.

Li Xianglu quickly asked, "Chou Xue, what happened to you?"

Under the vacant night sky, Li Xianglu’s voice was unusually clear, even with echoes coming from afar, which was somewhat frightening.

Li Xianglu thought for a moment, then took out an electric baton from the Storage Ring, turned on the power, and started walking into the woods while calling Chou Xue’s name.

After walking about fifty meters, she suddenly heard a cry close by. Li Xianglu turned around warily and looked around against the trees.

At that moment, the rustling sound of a group of people running approached. Just as Li Xianglu was about to shout out, she heard a familiar voice: "Baobao, it’s me!"

Qin Xi! Li Xianglu felt relieved and quickly walked toward the direction of the voice.

At this point, the flashlight’s beam and a burst of noisy clamor passed, and suddenly the night was quiet again as if everything had been an illusion.

Qin Xi then pulled Li Xianglu toward the side of the road, and soon two people emerged from the woods.

The four of them talked for a while, and then Li Xianglu and Chou Xue returned to their room.

Upon entry, they heard Han Xuemei ask, "You’re back?" Then, no one spoke again.

That night, Li Xianglu slept very heavily.

Early the next day, Li Xianglu barely awake, heard people talking and rubbed her eyes to sit up.

She was the only one left under the blanket. The others were standing by the bed. Han Xuemei and her daughter were washing up, Chou Xue was combing her hair in front of the mirror, and Chairman Xu’s spouse was putting on her shoes.

Li Xianglu apologetically said, "How come no one woke me up?" As she spoke, she climbed out from under the covers and first pulled on her trousers, then promptly folded the blanket.

But then she heard Han Xuemei’s daughter exclaim in surprise, "Sister Xue, how did you get so skinny?"

Chou Xue smiled and said, "Not at all, I’m still the same, maybe I just didn’t sleep well and look a bit off."

Hearing her daughter’s comment, Han Xuemei also looked towards Chou Xue and laughed, "It really does seem like it, how come I feel like your chin has gotten sharper?"

Chou Xue gave a smile, didn’t speak, and continued to brush her hair, not into her usual ponytail but into two braids.

Li Xianglu glanced at Chou Xue, looked her up and down, then got off the kang to put on her shoes and get washed.

When they were all ready, the village chief’s youngest son came to call them, saying that breakfast was ready.

For breakfast, there was thick millet porridge, and the village chief was especially enthusiastic, giving Qin Xi particularly eager looks, evidently aware of his status.

Chairman Xu’s wife sat down and puzzledly asked, "Where’s Gao Kang? Why isn’t he here?"

Chairman Xu replied, "He was anxious about his car, left before dawn this morning."

Li Xianglu glanced at Qin Xi, who was head-down eating porridge, and continued eating without saying a word.

After everyone finished eating, the village chief offered to have everyone taken to the town using the village tractor.

Everyone was pleased to hear this; finally, they could go home.

Though the tractor was slow, it was much faster than walking, and they reached the town in a little over an hour.

Everyone got off the tractor by the roadside, and Qin Xi had a brief chat with the village chief’s son before signaling him to leave.

Everyone was heading in different directions, Chairman Xu and his wife left first, then Han Xuemei and Li Xianglu went one way.

Li Xianglu said to Chou Xue, "Chou Xue, it’s Sunday today, you have nothing to do when you go back, why not come sit at my house for a bit, and then head back in the afternoon."

Chou Xue smiled and nodded in agreement.

So, they all walked towards home, and halfway there split off from Han Xuemei, leaving just the three of them walking towards the yard.

No one spoke along the way, and it wasn’t until they reached the yard that Xu Wu came to open the door; seeing him didn’t surprise Li Xianglu, she nodded and ushered Chou Xue in.

Old Master and Su Yan were waiting in the living room and both sighed in relief seeing the two return safely, they then looked Chou Xue up and down.

As Xu Wu and Qin Xi were about to leave, they also took Chou Xue with them.

Back home, Li Xianglu felt a weight finally lift off her chest. Her two children and Gu Niannian were playing house; Ba Yibao was the mom, Gu Niannian was the dad, and Ba’er was the baby, while Ba Yibao and Gu Niannian were cooking for the baby.

The ’meal’ was a bowl of sand, which Ba’er took and pretended to eat with a spoon, happily saying to Ba Yibao, "Mom, this is delicious!"

Li Xianglu watched from the side with a twitching corner of her mouth, thinking if this was really her son; it felt a bit like having a daughter.

Su Yan and Old Master had long been used to these antics, as the three had been playing this way for some time now; sometimes, Gu Niannian would play the teacher role, and Ba Yibao and Ba’er would be the students.