Chronicle of the 70s
Chapter 74 - 071 Dream becomes the second watch of the night

Chapter 74: 071 Dream becomes the second watch of the night

Old Mrs. Wu’s illness came quickly but lingered on, the fever lasting several days, her delirious mutterings unceasing. Li Dafu was beside himself with worry. Without any carts available in the team as they were all at the river working, he had no choice but to borrow a bicycle from Li Sanwang’s family and take her to the commune health center for an IV drip. After several consecutive days of treatment, there was slight improvement, though her spirit was still weak.

Li Xianglu felt very conflicted when she found out. It was for her sake that the old lady had fallen ill with anger, and regardless of anything else, she felt obliged to visit; to not go would be utterly heartless.

In the evening, Li Xianglu informed her grandfather before allowing Qin Xi to take her to Erdaoliang, where she then entered Li Dafu’s courtyard on her own.

By this time, those who had been working at Li Dafu’s house had returned, and due to the day’s heavy labor, a simple stewed noodle dish had been prepared for dinner. Li Xiangwei’s two brothers, each with a large bowl in hand, were squatting in the courtyard, slurping away their meal. Spotting Li Xianglu arriving with her basket, they were momentarily taken aback before hurriedly shouting towards the house: "Mom, Xiang is here."

Liu Aidang, busy wiping her grandson’s face inside, first responded to the call and then quickly realized who had come. She hurriedly put the child into the brick bed and went out to welcome the visitor.

Li Xianglu, with her basket, had already reached the middle of the courtyard. Smiling, she said, "You’re here." She was unsure how to address her.

Li Xianglu replied with a smile: "Auntie, are you busy? I’ve come to see Grandma."

Liu Aidang blinked, smiled, and said, "Good, she’s in the west room. Xiangwei is right there taking care of her meal."

Saying this, she walked over to the west room, lifted the curtain, and let her in.

Old Mrs. Wu had been sick for several days, her eyes sunken in, her spirit particularly weak.

Upon seeing her, Li Xianglu’s heart skipped a beat with worry that the old lady might not make it. She quickly brought out a large porcelain jar full of pig trotters stewed with peanuts. The milky white soup looked very appetizing.

Liu Aidang’s eyes lit up, and she quickly helped to place it on the brick bed’s table.

Li Xianglu continued to take out from the basket a black, old cloth bag containing seven or eight pounds of white flour, extending it towards Liu Aidang: "Auntie, keep this flour to make Grandma some noodle soup or something, to change up the flavors."

Seeing this, Liu Aidang’s eyes squinted happily, and she was overjoyed. Without refusing, she promptly took the flour bag and left, saying "Yes."

It was important to give it back; now cloth was scarce in every household, and so were bags made from old clothes. It wouldn’t do to keep the bag when someone brought over gifts.

Old Mrs. Wu looked at her granddaughter and said, "There was no need for this. Now you’re Huai Ren’s granddaughter, and you should be devoted to his family. How can you take their food and bring it here?"

Upon hearing this, Li Xianglu laughed out loud: "Look at you, Grandma, why are you so exact about these things? Why don’t you think about how you got so angry over me that you fell ill? How are we supposed to count that? Besides, Grandpa always tells me that one should repay kindness. What does this bit of food amount to? As long as you’re healthy, that’s better than anything."

The old lady listening to these warm words felt a sudden heat in her heart, and her mood instantly improved: "Good, you are a good one. It’s just that... that..." She sighed and fell silent.

After having just a small piece of fatty pig trotter, the old lady had her great-granddaughter take it away. Li Xianglu then went forward to help wipe her face and hands, advising, "Your body is your own. Life is much better now, why can’t you see it?" With that, she took out ten yuan from her pocket and secretly stuffed it into the old lady’s hand, whispering, "Keep this, and buy yourself something delicious next time you go to the commune."

Old Mrs. Wu didn’t refuse, and after carefully stashing the money away with a smile, she said, "Huai Ren didn’t mention you continuing your schooling?"

At Elder Wu’s household, the family status wasn’t great, but she was a person of insight. She knew about the scholar, farmer, worker, and merchant classes, and although farmers and workers held high status now, when times settled, it would still be more useful to be an official or receive education. Hence, her two sons had completed elementary school, and Li Dafu even finished middle school, which was a first in the village at that time.

Li Xianglu earnestly said, "It’s inconvenient for a girl like me to go to school in the county, Grandpa has borrowed all the books for me, and I plan to study at home. I’ll just go take the exam when it’s time."

Hearing this, Old Mrs. Wu nodded satisfactorily and said, "No matter what time, never give up on yourself. We women already have a tough life to begin with. If you think less of yourself or can’t stand up for yourself, then this life is as good as over."

Li Xianglu replied with a smile, "Granny, that’s well put. If you were a bit younger, you would be the women’s director of our village."

This flattery got Old Mrs. Wu to laugh heartily, continuously praising Li Xianglu for her sweet talk.

After the conversation, Li Xianglu quickly took her leave. As she went outside, she looked around, saw no one, and began to climb up Erdaoliang. But as soon as she got up, she saw a dark figure, which startled her and she almost cried out, only to hear a familiar voice say, "It’s me."

Annoyed, Li Xianglu extended her hand, and Qin Xi, laughing, pulled her up, saying, "Aren’t you supposed to be daring? Why are you scared now?"

Li Xianglu slapped the person next to her playfully and retorted, "Who’s daring? You’re the brave one, hiding here and scaring people."

Hiding in the darkness, Qin Xi pursed his lips and said with a hint of grievance, "I wasn’t trying to scare you. I was waiting here for you, okay? Who knew you’d go in and not come out, I nearly became a mosquito meal."

Hearing that magnetic voice tinged with a thread of grievance, Li Xianglu’s heart thumped loudly, and her face flushed red; that guy was actually acting coquettishly with her, shameless.

After returning home that night, having washed up clean, Li Xianglu changed into a strappy nightgown and went to bed.

In the darkness, she came to the coast again, where she and a broad shouldered silhouette were on a raft, struggling to paddle, but then a big wave crashed over, and she fell into the water.

Then the man on the raft turned and leapt into the sea after her.

That man was Qin Xi, with a distinct and angular face.

This dream made Li Xianglu exceedingly embarrassed. How could it be? Why would she dream of Qin Xi of all people in that dream?

Indeed, Li Xianglu knew she had forgotten many things from her past life, such as how she came to be here, whether she had really died, where her storage ring had come from, and why she had prepared so many provisions in the storage ring in advance. She had once calculated that these supplies could last a person living alone for five or six years. Was she in the middle of fleeing? Planning to hide?

Li Xianglu could not make sense of any of these thoughts. She could only rely on her dreams to gradually piece together her memories. But why would the man in her dreams who never turned around turn into Qin Xi? At the dining table, Li Xianglu rubbed her cheek, somewhat shyly and annoyed.

Meanwhile, Qin Xi, seeing the person next to him grimacing, thought she might be sick and couldn’t help but place his hand on her forehead to feel for a fever, then checked his own, finding no fever at all.

This action only made Li Xianglu’s nose wrinkle in annoyance.