Chapter 11 – Chapter 11: Repaying the Money

Her restless heart instantly settled. If it was a balanced space, maybe she could even go find her young grandparents and mother in the future!

Qin Xue gently touched her still-flat belly, her heart tender and confused.

Baby, we’ve been through so much hardship, but we haven’t died. That means our fate is deep, right?

You have to grow up well. After all, your mom came back from several decades in the future. I know how society will develop, so I will definitely try my best to give you a good growth environment!

Qin Xue didn’t know how long she sat there, before she went to wash up, not having a toothbrush to brush her teeth was truly unbearable. After cleaning up, she returned the money to Fang Hong and went to the cafeteria to get some food. Tomorrow, she would go to the street to buy some grain.

Putting her thoughts into action, she went to the kitchen to find some salt, took some money, and went to Fang Hong’s house. After eating, she needed to boil water for a bath.

Qin Xue had been in the hospital for more than ten days and had never showered, only wiping with a towel each time. Today, she returned home feeling weak and sweaty after cleaning up her room in the afternoon.

Fortunately, the previous occupant hadn’t thrown out the stove and honeycomb coal, otherwise bathing in cold water in this slightly chilly weather would be impossible.

She knocked on Fang Hong’s door and quietly waited for it to open. During this time, several women came from the stairwell and entered the door, all of them taking several glances at Qin Xue before they entered.

Since Qin Xue didn’t know them, she just smiled and nodded, then looked away and minded her own business.

Fang Hong was in the kitchen starting the stove to prepare dinner when she heard a knock on the door. She opened it and saw Qin Xue, so she called out:

“Qin Xue, you can sit down. I’m just starting the stove to prepare dinner. You can eat with us, come in, I’ll wash the rice and put it on the stove first.”

“Sister-in-law, wait, I just want to talk to you for a bit, and then I’ll leave. I won’t eat at your house. I’ll just go to the cafeteria for dinner later,” Qin Xue hurriedly refused.

Qin Xue didn’t want to trouble Fang Hong too much. In this era, no household was well-off, especially when it came to food, which was scarce.

If she went to eat at Fang Hong’s house, she would probably have to make extra food like she did at noon. Such good things were hard to come by, and there was no need to add to their burdens.

“Qin Xue, don’t be so polite with me. What do you mean by going to the cafeteria? Isn’t it just a meal?

Just eat with us, okay? Did you hear that?

You said you have something to tell me, go ahead, I’m listening!” Fang Hong thought about Xie Jun’s request to take care of Qin Xue, so even though they weren’t well-off, she still invited Qin Xue to stay for dinner.

“Sister-in-law, this is the money for my hospital stay. Now that I’m discharged, I want to return it to you. Thank you for lending me the money in the first place. If I hadn’t had it, I wouldn’t have been able to leave the hospital.

Also, do you have any grain, meat, or oil coupons? I’d like to buy or borrow some from you. Is that okay?”

Qin Xue knew that asking for these coupons wasn’t easy. In this era, everything was rationed, and without coupons, you couldn’t buy anything even if you had money. So it was a bit difficult for her to ask for them.

But Qin Xue’s room had no such coupons, and she didn’t want to go through Chu Molin’s things in his room. Qin Xue only knew Fang Hong and Yu Xiu in this residential building, so she could only ask Fang Hong.

“Hmm, I do have some, but not many. I’ll lend them to you for now. Don’t mention buying them.

Your husband Chu Molin is away on a mission and hasn’t come back yet. You can’t collect his allowance, so just repay me when he comes back and gets his allowance.”

Fang Hong thought to herself. Coupons were already scarce, but Chu Molin and the others had been away for more than a month and still hadn’t returned. She didn’t even know where they had gone for their mission or when they would be back.

Qin Xue, having been injured and lost her memory, was also pregnant. Not helping her would be pushing her towards a dead end.

Mr. Xie would soon receive his allowance, so she could just lend a bit to Qin Xue for now.