"Oh, I thought Zhao Dongxiu was a decent person, but I suppose I was blind to the true nature of people."
"Comrade Xiao Wei, stop crying. Are you hungry? We have an extra rice cake from dinner; I’ll have my grandson go home and bring it for you."
"I still have a few sweet potatoes at home."
"I have some vegetable porridge."
...
Yuan Chun was a bit dumbfounded by everyone’s enthusiasm.
Wasn’t it said that food was the most precious thing in this era? How come everyone was giving it away?
She wasn’t hungry.
She really wasn’t hungry.
But she couldn’t say it.
Even though her stomach was full, she had to wear a grateful smile and thank everyone.
"Aunties, thank you for your food. Without you, I would have had to go hungry again tonight. Boohoo, as expected of the families of steel factory workers, your awareness is really high. I really admire you all, thank you, thank you."
Yuan Chun appeared so moved that tears were in her eyes, deepening everyone’s sympathy for her.
"Sister, sister, pretty sister, I have cookies for you to eat. I don’t want you to go hungry. Going hungry hurts, it’s painful. Don’t go hungry, I’ll give you my snacks."
Suddenly, the silly husband ran over, holding a big pile of snacks.
Tears were streaming down his face.
Yuan Chun was dumbfounded again.
What’s going on?
Why are you, a grown man, crying?
I’m the one who’s feeling wronged, not you.
Oh my... this fool...
Yuan Chun had no idea how to comfort him.
"Pretty sister, these are my snacks. I’m giving them all to you." The little fool packed the snacks into Yuan Chun’s hands.
Yuan Chun felt awkward, "I won’t eat them. You should keep them and eat slowly."
Cookies, chocolates, candies, all precious little treats; Yuan Chun didn’t dare take a little fool’s snacks in front of so many people.
"I won’t eat them. I want the pretty sister to eat them. If I run out of snacks, dad and mom will buy me more. But pretty sister, you’d have to go hungry." The little fool cried even more, "Pretty sister, why don’t you come to my house? We have food at home, there are potatoes, corn, and sweet potatoes. They’re cooked sweet and delicious, very tasty."
"Oh my, Sanbao knows how to lure girls back home now, hahaha..."
"Old Chen, you don’t need to worry about Sanbao’s marriage anymore. See him, he knows how to give snacks to make girls happy and even lures them back home."
"Hahaha... Sanbao, why don’t you share some of those snacks with us too?"
The little fool politely called out, "Aunt Zhang, Mrs. Liu, Aunt Yang, Second Aunt, Auntie, if you want snacks, Sanbao will share next time. These snacks are for the pretty sister. Pretty sister’s sister-in-law is bad, she doesn’t give her food to eat and makes her go hungry. Sanbao feels sorry."
"Tsk tsk tsk, my Sanbao knows how to feel sorry for others now." Second Aunt said, casting her gaze on Yuan Chun to scrutinize her carefully, "This girl is really pretty, doesn’t look like someone from the countryside at all, much prettier than the girls raised in our city."
"Looking a bit sallow and thin, probably hungry these days."
"Yes, when this girl first came to the steel factory, her face was as rosy and beautiful as a peach, attracting many unmarried men from our steel factory. Several unmarried men wanted Purchaser Wei to arrange a marriage proposal, but Purchaser Wei refused outright, saying that their child was still young and needed this girl to look after until they sent their child to kindergarten, then they’d find a husband for the girl."
"How old is Purchaser Wei’s child?"
"Almost six months old."
"Oh, that’s soon then. The youngest child in our factory district’s kindergarten is one year old."