After Captain Yang and the others gave their instructions, they left together.
Chen Fan was left alone in the room. He looked at the straw-covered bed, the blankets that hadn't been folded yet, the empty bed frame and wardrobe next to them, and the empty courtyard outside.
Then he looked at himself. He was wearing someone else's shoes, someone else's cotton-padded jacket and coat. The only things truly belonging to him were his underwear and undershirt. A wave of sadness swept over him.
Who has it worse than me after time-traveling?
From waking up to now, things have been happening one after another, leaving him overwhelmed.
Now that he had some quiet time, he finally had time to think about his situation.
After two minutes of careful consideration, he finally reached a conclusion: Thinking too much is pointless!
I'm in a strange place, penniless, and have no skills. I don't even have an identity document. I can't run away, and I don't have anywhere to go. What can I do?
Chen Fan couldn't help but look up at the sky and sigh, "I'm so hungry!"
He hadn't eaten anything since he woke up. If he counted the time he was unconscious after being rescued, it was almost a day and a night. In all that time, besides the two bowls of ginger sugar water and two bowls of medicine, he hadn't eaten anything else. How could he not be hungry?
He looked down at the edge of the cotton-padded jacket that only reached his thighs and sighed again, "It's so cold!"
He quickly climbed onto the bed, pulled back the blanket, and covered his nearly frozen legs.
The winters in Jiangnan were much colder than they were decades later. He remembered that after the new millennium, except for the big snowstorm in 2008, the snow in his hometown was at most a layer on the ground, and it would melt away in two days.
When he was a child, the snow could be a foot thick. When you stepped on it, your whole leg would sink in. And the snow would stay for a long time, until spring when it would melt. So, his deepest memory of winter was snow.
But in the 1970s in Jiangnan, the climate was even colder than in the 1990s.
Although it was a sunny day, he was still wearing a padded jacket, but only thin pajamas underneath. It wasn't enough.
After sitting in the pile of straw for a while, his legs were finally warm. But Chen Fan faced a new problem, "I'm starving, when will they send some rice?"
Just then, he suddenly smelled a delicious aroma. He couldn't help but sniff the air.
Who's cooking?
Then he felt discouraged. No matter who was cooking, they wouldn't send him a bowl.
At that moment, Jiang Lili timidly walked to the door, peeked inside, but didn't come in. She stood there and said, "Chen, Chen Fan, I made some food. Do you want to eat some?"
Eat?
Chen Fan's eyes lit up. He pulled back the covers and got out of bed, "Oh, how can I do that, how embarrassing. Where is it? In the kitchen?"
He had already forgotten Captain Yang's instructions.
Keep a distance? Can keeping a distance fill my stomach?
Jiang Lili was a little stunned by him. After two seconds, she reacted and pointed to the kitchen, "It's in the kitchen."
"Alright."
Chen Fan wrapped his cotton-padded jacket around him and walked towards the kitchen. He took two steps, then looked back. Jiang Lili was still standing there. He couldn't help but say, "Why are you standing there? Come over and eat with me."
Jiang Lili quickly lowered her head, "Oh, okay."
She followed behind him. A strange feeling suddenly came over her. Who's inviting whom to eat?
When they got to the kitchen, Chen Fan rushed to the stove.
It was a stove made of yellow clay and stones. It was far from as refined as the handcrafted stoves of later generations, it was the kind of thing where function over form was the priority. The countertop wasn't covered with anything smooth, and the stove ash had already stained the yellow earth of the countertop black.
There were two pots on the stove, a large iron pot for cooking rice and preparing dishes, and a smaller urn-shaped pot, a small hemispherical iron pot. It was very deep and mainly used for boiling water. When cooking, they filled it with water and used the heat of the stove to boil water at the same time, an efficient way to use energy.
But often the water wouldn’t reach boiling point before the fire went out, and the rough-made lid wouldn’t stop the ash from getting in. So, people rarely drank water boiled in the urn. It was mainly used for washing up.
Rural kitchens usually had their smoke vents on the side, so you could build a fire in front and stir-fry dishes at the back, which was very convenient.
Chen Fan had seen this kind of stove in farmhouses when he went on company outings in his previous life. Even though that was a refined version of the modern era, and this was a crude, original version, the layout and style were similar. He walked straight to the back of the stove, lifted the blackened wooden lid, and a strong aroma of rice hit his nostrils.
In the pot was fragrant, steamed white rice cooked over firewood. On top of the rice were two bowls, one big and one small. The large one contained cabbage, and the small one contained half a bowl of very thin egg custard. The yellow egg custard and white rice contrasted beautifully, and Chen Fan couldn’t help but swallow. He quickly closed the lid and reached for the bowl of egg custard, but he was scalded and recoiled as soon as his fingers touched the edge of the bowl.
Jiang Lili had also walked in by this time and was busy getting bowls and chopsticks. She placed the bowls and chopsticks on the small table by the side. She then reached out to lift the bowl of egg custard from the rice.
Chen Fan quickly shouted, "Careful, it's hot."
But Jiang Lili just lifted the bowl by the edge with her bare hand, turned it twice, and placed it on the table. She couldn't help but smile slightly, "It's fine."
She quickly lowered her head, picked up the cabbage, and then started serving rice.
Chen Fan's eyes widened. He lifted his hand to look at it, then at Jiang Lili's hand. Unfortunately, the light in the kitchen was dim and he couldn't see clearly.
He couldn't help but marvel, Looks can be deceiving, but actions speak louder than words!
The bowls were placed on the table, and they sat opposite each other and began to eat.
Two bowls of rice, three bowls of dishes.
Besides the half bowl of egg custard and stir-fried cabbage, there was a bowl of pickled vegetables, something every household in the countryside would pickle. They would dry radishes until they were semi-dry, then mix them with homemade soybean paste or chili sauce. They only needed two or three days to pickle. It was very good for eating with rice.
Chen Fan was starving. He picked up his bowl and started eating.
After eating a few mouthfuls of vegetables, he noticed that Jiang Lili's bowl only had a piece of pickled radish, and the stir-fried cabbage and egg custard were untouched.
He couldn't help but say, "Why aren't you eating vegetables?"
Jiang Lili's hand suddenly paused. Then, without looking up, she said nonchalantly, "You eat them, I don't like them."
Who doesn't like vegetables and only likes pickled radish?
Chen Fan immediately put down his bowls and chopsticks, picked up the egg custard bowl and the spoon, and poured half of the egg custard into her bowl. Then he gave her a big piece of cabbage before continuing to eat.
Jiang Lili looked at the food in her bowl, then stole a glance at him. She quickly looked away, as if she was afraid of being caught. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, but she quickly pursed her lips. After a while, she picked up a small piece of egg custard and put it in her mouth. The corners of her mouth couldn't help but twitch upwards again.
After finishing two bowls of rice, Chen Fan took a satisfied breath, "I'm alive again!"
By this time, besides the bowl of pickled vegetables, the other bowls were cleaner than if they had been licked.
(End of Chapter)
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