I just ate two big meat buns. I feel full of energy now. Seeing someone doing manual labor, Lin Xiang naturally wouldn’t foolishly refuse to help. Lin Yun not only carried up two baskets of sweet potatoes but also cleaned the dirt off them and cut them into pieces. You could say that he’s almost completed all the preparatory work for making sweet potato flour. Lin Xiang sat idly nearby, so she picked some peppers from her own small plot. The peppers were, of course, planted by Lin Yun during the idle farming season, Mrs. Lin never did such chores, and the original owner of this body certainly didn’t either. Tʜe source of this ᴄontent ɪs 𝘯𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭•𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚•𝕟𝕖𝕥 "It’s a pity there’s no dried chili powder, and not enough oil." She had 800 yuan, but without oil coupons, she couldn’t buy any oil at all. It seems she’d have to make another trip to the town tomorrow to "beg" Chef Shen for some oil. Otherwise, even if the sweet potato flour is made, it would be of no use. While she was busy, she suddenly heard a knock at the door. Lin Xiang wiped her hands on her apron, "Knocking at the door? How polite!" She opened the courtyard gate and saw Shi Lemeng with her uncle and aunt, and Tiantian being held in their arms. "Comrade Lin, we finally get to see you!" Shi Lemeng’s aunt, Yu Xiumei, took Lin Xiang’s hand as soon as she saw her, "We should have visited earlier, but Tiantian was in the hospital for a few days and only got better and was discharged yesterday, so we came to find you today. I hope you don’t mind." Lin Xiang quickly said, "Auntie, you’re too kind. I said it that day too, anyone would’ve helped in that situation, you don’t need to specifically thank me." "It’s different. If it weren’t for your quick reaction that day, Tiantian might have... I know you are kind and helpful, but we must express our gratitude." Yu Xiuli was enthusiastic, so Lin Xiang couldn’t refuse them at the door and had to invite them into the courtyard. As soon as Shi Lemeng stepped into the courtyard, she saw Lin Yun wearing thin clothes, squatting by the well, washing sweet potatoes one by one. The weather at the end of October was already a bit chilly, wearing such thin clothes could easily make someone sick, not to mention the freezing cold well water. Her slight change of opinion for Lin Xiang saving Tiantian faded away when she saw Lin Yun’s condition. Shi Lemeng called out. Lin Yun turned his head upon hearing her voice, was momentarily surprised to see Shi Lemeng, and then politely greeted her. After greeting, Lin Yun continued his work. Noticing his frostbitten hands, Shi Lemeng took a few steps forward, "Comrade Lin Yun, why don’t you heat some water before washing the sweet potatoes? Look at your hands..." Lin Yun and Lin Xiang looked at her, showing a complex expression. Shi Lemeng didn’t realize anything was wrong and wanted to persuade further, but Yu Xiumei quickly interjected, "It’s quite chilly outside, Comrade Lin, can we go inside?" "Right, right, Tiantian just got out of the hospital, so can’t be in the wind, let’s head inside." Lin Xiang led the way, "My house is quite old, please don’t mind." The Lin Family’s house was built back when Mr. Lin was still around, many years have passed since, and although the house wasn’t drafty, the condition wasn’t very good. Inside, there weren’t any good furniture, everything looked quite dust-covered. However, Lin Yun was diligent and had tidied the main room nicely; he had also repaired the broken tables and chairs. While Lin Xiang went to boil water, Yu Xiumei whispered to Shi Lemeng, "Are you silly? Don’t you know how troublesome it is to heat water in the countryside? Do you think it’s like in the city, where you can have hot water anytime on the stove?" "Moreover, who uses hot water to wash sweet potatoes? Luckily, the social atmosphere is more open now, or else, just from what you said earlier, you’d have been taken away already!" Chastised by her aunt, Shi Lemeng muttered softly, "I just thought it’s too harsh to use well water in this weather." "Your thoughts, your thoughts, but the siblings didn’t mind, so how is it your place to meddle? Auntie knows you’re a kind heart, but when out and about, you should hold your tongue and actions in check, got it?" Before Shi Lemeng could respond, Lin Xiang came in with the kettle. The Lin Family’s kettle was quite old, with rust on the top. "We don’t have tea cans, so we can only use bowls for water, I hope you don’t mind." "How could we, Comrade Lin, you’re too gracious." Yu Xiumei gestured for Shi Yong’an to put down the net bag he was carrying and began taking items out one by one. Two jars of malted milk, two pounds of sesame cookies, two pounds of rice cake, a pound of Big White Rabbit candies, and also a bag of brown sugar with half a bag of red dates. Such visiting gifts are considered quite high-end everywhere. "Not knowing what you like to eat, I bought some of the popular items from the supply and marketing cooperative for you to snack on in your free time." "Auntie, you’re really too kind. Visiting us is enough, there’s no need to bring so many things, it’s too formal." "Compared to your lifesaving help for Tiantian, these are nothing. Comrade Lin, please don’t refuse, otherwise, I really don’t know how to express my gratitude to you." Tiantian is the treasure of the Shi Family, the couple only has this precious child, had anything happened to her, Yu Xiumei wouldn’t want to live herself, so compared to Lin Xiang’s lifesaving grace, these items can’t fully express her gratitude. Aside from these gifts, Yu Xiumei also handed Lin Xiang a leather envelope, "Comrade Lin, you must accept this." "Auntie, I really can’t accept this." "You must accept it." If it were just the goods, it would be fine, but to accept money from the Shi Family would change everything. Yu Xiumei tapped the envelope, "Open it and see, I guarantee everything inside is what you need." Seeing Lin Xiang still reluctant to accept, Yu Xiumei simply tore open the envelope and poured out its contents. In addition to five banknotes, there was a thick stack of tickets. Grain tickets, meat tickets, oil tickets, sugar tickets... Except for the extremely rare industrial tickets, Yu Xiumei had prepared a set of each type of ticket for Lin Xiang, two of each kind. Yu Xiumei wasn’t wrong, she truly could not refuse. In the seventies, without tickets, many things could not be purchased. Lin Xiang took the fifty yuan separately, returned it to Yu Xiumei, but kept the tickets. "Auntie, calculate how much those tickets are worth, and I’ll give you the money." Yu Xiumei gave Lin Xiang a look, "You child, why don’t you listen when I talk?" "Then... I’ll accept them?" "Accept them, so that we can feel at ease." Lin Xiang indeed felt a bit embarrassed, though both Shi Yong’an and Yu Xiumei were workers and received ticket subsidies every month, she didn’t feel right about taking these extra tickets. Just as she was thinking about what she could exchange to not let Yu Xiumei refuse, Yu Xiumei brought up a request to her.