Chapter 32: Lifesaving Rations
“Looks like I’ll need to prepare a ladder, rope, and other tools later.”
Muttering to herself, Su Ning carefully stuck most of her body out the window, gripped the wooden frame above with both hands, and slowly extended her legs.
Once her whole body was hanging outside the window, she spotted a flat spot on the ground, let go, and jumped down.
It had been a long time since she did something this stimulating, and after landing smoothly, her little heart was still pounding wildly.
She patted her chest and then crouched low as she quickly left the guesthouse.
To avoid running into Zhang Ze and the other one, Su Ning didn’t take the same path she had used to enter, but instead went directly down another one.
Most houses in Gu City were built along the Li River, and interestingly, local residences were mostly wooden stilted buildings with flying eaves, while state-run units had white walls, blue tiles, and red plaques, clearly distinct and highly recognizable at a glance.
On the main road at around eight o’clock at night, people walked in twos and threes, and occasionally a fleet of trucks rumbled past.
After asking someone for the general address, Su Ning followed the direction she pointed and smoothly arrived in front of that landmark building.
The enthusiastic elder sister who gave directions said that this Gospel Hall in Gu City was built in 1904, exactly sixty years ago, and it was also the only church here.
Since it was the only one, there was no mistake—Qu Hui’s home was nearby.
She looked around and chose the nearest empty alley, then, taking advantage of no one around, slipped into a blind spot, squatted down, and flashed into the Peach Blossom Spring Space.
She first hurried to the storage room in the small courtyard, grabbed a back basket, took a few hemp sacks, and turned to head to the underground storage room.
Standing in front of the large wooden cabinet, Su Ning thought for a moment and first opened the drawer labeled ‘rice’.
Inside the opened rectangular drawer were plump white grains of rice; she opened a hemp sack and scooped them in handful by handful.
In no time, the sack was filled with ten jin, but the rice in the drawer showed no sign of decreasing—it seemed just as full as before.
No matter how many times she saw it, it still felt magical; she sighed as she tied the sack securely.
Next, she successively filled it with five jin of millet, twenty eggs, and ten jin of sweet potatoes.
This weight alone nearly kept her from straightening her waist—no way around it, there were plenty of good things, but her stamina was too poor, so she could only give up.
Coming up from underground, Su Ning went straight to the kitchen; as soon as she pushed open the door, the aroma of various foods wafted out.
Looking at the steaming dishes of assorted delicious meals she had portioned out, neatly filling two large tables pushed together, she subconsciously swallowed several mouthfuls of saliva.
The breakfast-lunch she ate in Star City had long been vomited out clean, and after recovering from the motion sickness, suddenly seeing so much food naturally made her hungry.
She needed to hurry; she’d eat the meal back at the guesthouse—first, grab a meat bun to tide her over.
On a row of cabinets of uniform height along the wall were several large steamer baskets containing not only buns with various fillings but also white steamed buns and multigrain steamed buns.
She picked a mushroom meat filling bun she liked and stuffed it straight into her mouth, biting down hard; her hands didn’t stop until she had stuffed the remaining two sacks full.
Only then did she contentedly pick them up with one hand, took the bun from her mouth with the other, and quickly ate it.
“So fragrant!”
These were all made by her own hands bit by bit over those four days on the train; if her maternal grandfather and mom knew, they would surely feel even more rest assured.
Even if she was here all alone now, she could still take good care of herself.
She took a handkerchief from her pants pocket to wipe her hands; then Su Ning bent down with effort to shoulder the back basket in the courtyard, grabbed the bags in hand, and flashed out of the space.
……
Although she knew things in the space could be taken out anytime and anywhere, it was still much better than her foolishly straining to carry them.
But better safe than sorry—what if something happened? If she got lucky too many times, she’d lose her initial caution and eventually reveal a flaw to be caught.
It was just a bit more tiring and laborious, but far better than any risk of exposing the secret.
Confirming the back basket behind her was covered tightly, and the hemp sacks in hand were tied securely with no scent escaping, Su Ning then supported herself against the wall and slowly continued down the alley.
The road underfoot was paved with large bluestone slabs, with moss covering the fine cracks and corners.
In just over ten minutes, she was already drenched in sweat and gasping for breath.
Finally seeing a household ahead with a faint light still on, she couldn’t help but feel joyful inside, and her soft, aching legs were filled with strength again.
“Knock knock knock~”
“Who is it? Coming, coming.”
The door opened, and the one who came to open it was a refined middle-aged man in his forties.
Surprised to see an unfamiliar girl he didn’t recognize at the door, Liang Zhiyuan pushed up his glasses on his nose bridge and asked puzzledly, “Who are you?”
“Uncle, sorry to bother you. I’d like to ask where Qu Hui’s home is—do you know?”
“Oh, Qu Hui.”
Among the Qu families living nearby, he only knew of that one, and coincidentally, it was quite close to his own home, just three or four households in between.
Borrowing the light from inside the house to size up the girl at the door, though she looked a bit disheveled, her eyes were clear and bright; Liang Zhiyuan thus rest assured and pointed out the location for her.
If not for his wife inside being ill and needing constant care, with his usual temperament, he would definitely escort her there himself to feel at ease.
After all, the Qu family now had only the old and the young, even if he didn’t think this girl was bad…
He loosely closed the door, came out, and stood in the middle of the road, just watching her back.
Seeing his actions after gratefully thanking him, Su Ning thought he was worried she might not find the right house and was watching to make sure; deep down, she silently sighed that her luck was good to meet such a kind uncle.
Little did she know that he was indeed uneasy, but the object of his unease was her.
……
“Knock knock knock~”
The old couple inside hadn’t gone to sleep yet, but to save electricity and oil, they hadn’t turned on the light or lit the kerosene lamp; hearing the knock at the door, they exchanged a surprised glance.
“So late, who could it be?”
“Old man, you lie down; I’ll go see.”
Huang Shufen groped her way out of bed, lit the kerosene lamp on the table with a match, covered it with the transparent lampshade, then carefully took it and went out the room door.
When she opened the door and saw clearly who was standing outside, she said both surprised and delighted, “How, how is it you… girl, come in quick!”
“Old man, just call me Ning Ning.”
“Yes, yes, Ning Ning come in quick—what’s this?”
Closing the door and bringing her into the house, Huang Shufen then asked with a puzzled expression, “Child, did something happen and you need help?”
Otherwise, why would she come to their house in the dark?
“Old woman, I’m here on purpose, and I do have something.”
“Old woman, who is it?”
“It’s…”
“Elder Sister!”
Qu Hui, who hadn’t fallen fully asleep in the inner room, heard the voices outside and walked out in a daze; when he realized it was that pretty sister he had met on the train just a short while ago after parting.
He couldn’t help but rub his eyes hard, then immediately called out happily, his voice so loud it momentarily drowned out his grandmother’s words.
Qu Feng on the bed also couldn’t hold back; hearing his eldest grandson’s excited voice, he pushed himself up with both hands, “Hui, where did this sister come from—could she be someone from his mother’s side?”
