"Then give me one sugar bun and one cabbage bun, along with a bowl of millet porridge."
The nurse counted out seventeen cents and handed it over to Yang Yufen along with a lunchbox.
Yang Yufen packed the buns for the nurse while Gui Xiang ladled the millet porridge, deliberately scooping extra chopped red dates into it.
The floating red dates in the golden porridge made for a lovely sight.
Seeing those seventeen cents, Gui Xiang suddenly felt a spark of hope for life.
After a busy hour and a half, watching the steamers empty of buns and the pot of millet porridge nearly drained, Yang Yufen abruptly covered the pot.
Gui Xiang gave her a puzzled look.
"Take a few of these to share with the neighbors—they’ve helped us often enough. The rest are for Ershun and his father; they need to eat too. It’s getting late—we should hurry to buy meat and deliver the food, or we’ll miss the good cuts."
Gui Xiang nodded eagerly and insisted on delivering the buns herself. After some back-and-forth, she returned with a pancake pressed into her hands.
"The people here are really kind," she remarked.
Yang Yufen smiled but said nothing.
The two hauled their things home first, then rode a tricycle to the market for meat.
"There’s so much meat here!"
"And way more people than in our commune. Let’s grab some bones too."
With their purchases secured, they rushed back to the hospital.
At home, Qin Nian woke to her alarm, rubbed her eyes, and shuffled toward the kitchen—only to bump into something at the doorway.
"You’re up so early? Mom said you wouldn’t be awake for another half hour. Breakfast just went into the pot; it’ll be a while."
Shen Xianjun stepped aside to make room.
Qin Nian blinked up at him, momentarily startled, then warmed at his words.
"Mom can’t even get the time right. She told me not to mix it up too," she grumbled, her earlier warmth turning to exasperation.
"I’ll go wash up. Waking early means more time to study."
"Actually, I had some questions for you—I forgot to ask yesterday."
Shen Xianjun pulled a notebook from his pocket, puzzled by a mechanical engineering concept.
The children woke soon after, clamoring noisily.
"Grandma? Grandma?"
"Waaah! I want Grandma!"
Qin Nian and Shen Xianjun each scooped up a child, but neither could calm them down.
"Mommy promises you’ll see Grandma as soon as you’re back from school, okay?"
After a struggle, they finally got the kids to school—but Qin Nian arrived late to work for the first time.
"Nian, this isn’t like you. Why are you late?"
Xiao Ranran sidled over, only to freeze at the sound of a loud stomach growl. Her eyes widened at Qin Nian’s abdomen.
"I was so busy with the kids I forgot breakfast."
Qin Nian patted her pockets out of habit, but they were empty.
"Here, have some of mine."
Xiao Ranran shoved her own snacks into Qin Nian’s hands before they all dove into work.
By lunchtime, Qin Nian paused mid-bite, her colleague’s takeout forgotten.
It had only been one night without her mother-in-law, and with Shen Xianjun helping, yet she missed Yang Yufen terribly.
Meanwhile, Shen Xianjun was hanging laundry when he heard familiar sobs growing louder.
"Aunt Yang, are you home?"
"Dabao, Erbao, what’s wrong?"
He found the two children being led back by their teacher, filthy and crying hysterically.
"You’re their father, right? Please calm them down," the teacher urged.
Shen Xianjun knelt to check for injuries, but the sight of him only made the wails escalate.
"Is Aunt Yang here? The thing is, Dabao and Erbao are usually well-behaved, but today they were upset from the start. During recess, some kids said something, and a fight broke out."
The teacher, noting Shen Xianjun’s failed attempts to soothe them, glanced around for Yang Yufen and explained:
"Older kids said your two missed their grandma. One child’s grandparent recently passed, so they assumed the same about yours and said Dabao and Erbao would never see Grandma again. That’s when the fight started. No one’s hurt—just these two won’t stop crying."
Shen Xianjun was dumbfounded. This was the crisis?
"Shh, Grandma’s perfectly fine! Didn’t Mommy say you’d see her after school? How about I—"
He nearly offered to take them to her, then realized he had no idea where his mother was.
"Or we could go see Mommy?"
At this, Erbao’s paused cries resumed full force.
"Given their state, they shouldn’t return to daycare today. Just comfort them. I need to get back—the nursery can’t run unsupervised."
The teacher left as Aunt Wang emerged.
"Oh dear, what’s happened to Dabao and Erbao?"
"Aunt Wang, we want Grandma!"
The children abandoned their father for her arms.
"Don’t cry, or Grandma’s heart will ache! Come to Aunt Wang’s house, okay? She’ll be back soon. Remember? She’s always home when you return from school."
"I miss Grandma," Erbao whimpered.
"Has Aunt Wang ever lied to you? Eat lunch, take a nap, and when you wake up, Grandma will be here. But if you keep crying, your eyes will swell shut, and you really won’t see her."
"Really?" Dabao hastily wiped his tears.
"Really."
Aunt Wang nodded. The sobs gradually quieted, though hiccups lingered from the earlier storm.
"Thank you so much, Aunt Wang," Shen Xianjun sighed, his headache easing. How do kids have this much lung power?
"Don’t mention it. Your mother leaves them with me often when she’s busy."
Shen Xianjun finished hanging the laundry and cooked lunch, but the children refused to leave Aunt Wang’s doorstep, their eyes glued to the road.
Meanwhile, at the military district:
"The calls keep coming—mostly from comrades who fought alongside us. Saying yes or no to any of them is impossible."
"Same here. But the country’s at a stage where we can’t afford delays."
"I’ll set the example. Demobilization starts with me. Let the younger generation take the reins. Each era has its duty—mine is done. It’s time to make way for theirs."
