CH 22.1

t took nearly three and a half hours to reach the small mountain village in an ox cart. It was already five in the evening when they reached. In summer, the sky got dark faster, so at that moment, the glow of sunset had already begun and it dyed the area between the sky and the ground orange.

Yisheng got off the ox cart, her hands and feet sore. The six women had been seated on the ox cart with their limbs curled together. Along with the bumps along the way, they were all numb and sore.

A nurse could not help but complain, “We’ll have to suffer for these ten days.”

When the village head heard that, he felt a little awkward and said apologetically, “Our village is surrounded by mountains so transport has always been a little inconvenient. I’m sorry.”

Seeing that the village head’s expression was already not very good, that nurse was too embarrassed to complain again so she muttered, changing the topic, “Where will we stay?”

“We’ve helped to find places for you to stay in already. Follow me,” The village head was a simple and honest man. He blushed and scratched his head, a little embarrassed, “But the conditions aren’t very good compared to what you’re used to. However, it’s already considered good among the people in the village.”

The nurses did not speak. Obviously, they were unsurprised. Perhaps they already knew how the village was like. When the village head brought them to the place that they would live for more than ten days, their expressions turned a little bad.

Mud floor, furniture made out of rotten wood, dark house. As soon as one went in, you could smell a rotting smell. Although the sheets were relatively clean, the living conditions were quite bad.

Yisheng was assigned to a family of four. There was nothing much to say about the furnishings. It was a poor place, and she did not expect much. Thankfully, the woman who welcomed Yisheng was very warm and nice. Coincidentally, the male owner of this family was the villager who led the way to the village. He was probably leading the doctors back to the village at that moment.

There were two children in the house as well, a twelve-year-old girl and a seven-year-old boy. It was quite strange, they were already poor, but they still had two children? Perhaps it was because they preferred male children here. The female owner of the house had the surname Jiang, so Yisheng called her Sister Jiang.

Yisheng had arrived just in time for dinner. When she sat with the two children and saw that they were looking at her with two pairs of bright and pure eyes, she could not help but ask, “Why are the two of you looking at me like this?”

“Older sister’s skin is so white,” The girl spoke first and the little boy nodded in agreement.

Yisheng’s skin was actually not very white, but her skin was smooth and soft. However, compared to Song Anchen, her skin was a lot worse. As to why the two children noticed her skin, it was because they were comparing her skin to others. Sister Jiang was a typical farmer’s wife who worked on the farm. She was exposed to the sun for extended periods and her skin was very dark. The two children probably also worked on the farm, and would usually not stay at home to play, so their skin was quite tanned.

Yisheng laughed awkwardly. At that moment, Sister Jiang served dinner, it was a plate of green onion mixed with tofu and a large sesame seed pancake. Seeing the two children staring at the pancake with shiny eyes, it seemed like they had a great desire for the pancake.

Sister Jiang filled a large bowl of white rice for Yisheng. The rice was heaped much higher than the bowl and Yisheng had never eaten so much rice before. Sister Jiang said generously, “Nurse Ye, is this enough? If it isn’t enough, there’s more in the pot.”

“Enough…” She had already broken out in cold sweat. There was a lot of rice and she was going to be stuffed. Sister Jiang scooped out two big bowls of rice for uber two children and Yisheng saw that as soon as the two children took the bowls, they buried their heads and started to eat, not eating much from the dishes and mainly eating rice.

Yisheng found it strange that although the two kids seemed to really want to eat the sesame seed pancake just now, they were not touching it at all now.

“Nurse Ye, try this egg and minced meat pancake.”

Yisheng smiled and ate two mouthfuls, finding that it tasted very good. She placed the plate in front of the two children, “Take some too.”

However, the two children shook their heads. Sister Jiang said, “They don’t like to eat such things.”

How was it possible? Yisheng had clearly seen their gazes when they were looking at the pancake. The eyes of children could not lie. However, after thinking for a while, Yisheng understood. This was for the guest to eat and had been specially added to the meal.

She smiled, finally understanding. Then, she told the children, “I can’t eat that much by myself, help me eat a little, otherwise, it’ll be wasted.”

The children looked at each other. Then, they looked at Sister Jiang with questioning eyes. Sister Jiang nodded with a slight bitterness in her eyes before the children carefully tore a small piece and ate it slowly.

Yisheng had always thought that she was very pitiful, even having to earn her own money to study. In the six years that she had been out on her own, she would often get so tired that she would hide in her bed and cry, complaining about how miserable her life was. But faced with this sort of scene, Yisheng suddenly felt that she was still quite lucky. At least, in her childhood, she had enough clothes and food and was treated like a princess. Now, although she did owe people for all their help and she did have some debts, at least she was not living a very hard life. Compared to these people, she was very lucky. When she thought that way, she suddenly felt like something had dawned on her. Perhaps she should try to climb up from the dust herself and see the world above ground that she has not seen for a long time?