Chapter 11: Crying Over White Noodles
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
"Okay! You have to prepare a rice bag for me!" Bai Xue said candidly.
It was a big problem that she did not have bags in her hands. She had only had plastic bags in the interspatial supermarket and did not dare to take them out. In the future, if she wanted to sell more things, she had to prepare some sacks and cotton bags commonly used in this era.
"Alright…" Chef Wang looked at Bai Xue strangely and immediately agreed.
In comparison to the grain, it was nothing to prepare a rice bag.
He immediately went to find a white cotton bag that could hold 25 catties of grain.
"Take this bag. I'll find three aluminum lunch boxes for you to pack the noodles! Just send them over when you come over tonight!" After saying this, he turned around and took out three large aluminum lunch boxes from the shelf and helped Bai Xue pack the noodles.
"Thank you, Uncle. I'll go back now. I have to eat the noodles while they're still hot!" Bai Xue thanked him and placed the three lunch boxes into the cotton bag before carefully carrying them out.
"Walk slowly. Careful not to spill the soup! My surname is Wang. You can call me Uncle Wang in the future!" Chef Wang shouted from behind Bai Xue. His surname was Wang, and his first name was Cheng. He was from Pingyang Town and had six children at home. His eldest child was two to three years older than Bai Xue at best.
When Bai Xue walked out of the kitchen, the waitress was still wiping and sweeping. She caught Bai Xue looking at her, but she said nothing.
Chef Wang had already followed her out. Moreover, she had heard Chef Wang telling her to address him casually as Uncle Wang in the future. She did not dare to offend the chef.
When Bai Xue walked out of the restaurant, a gust of cold wind blew into her face, making her shiver.
"I have to think of a way to take out the cotton clothes from the supermarket so that I can wear them."
Her supermarket had old-fashioned cotton clothes and pants that were a little similar to this era, but the material was definitely better and looked nicer than this era. There were all kinds of colors, unlike the fashion in this era which was either black, white, or gray. It was rare to see clothes with more colors. Most of the clothes consisted of blue working clothes.
She jogged back to the hospital. When she walked into the ward, she saw the nurse removing the needles from Bai Daliang. He was sleeping soundly.
"Are you done with the IV drip?" She put down the noodles and rubbed her face with her hands to keep warm.
"Yes! I'm done! Xue, why are you gone for so long? Are you cold?" An Quanzi walked over and handed her a cup of hot water.
The moment she took the hot water, the heat from her palm warmed Bai Xue's entire body. She hurriedly took a few sips. It was a little hot but she could not care less. The damn weather was simply too cold.
"When I went to the state-owned restaurant, it was already past mealtime. I begged the chef to make me three bowls of noodles, so it took a while! Uncle Quanzi, eat it while it's hot!" Bai Xue caught her breath and quickly took out the lunch box from the cloth bag.
An Quanzi did not stand on the ceremony. Since she had already bought it for him, he would eat it. He picked up a lunch box and opened it. When he saw the noodles inside, he was dumbfounded and did not dare to pick up his chopsticks to eat.
When Xue told him that she had bought noodles, he thought it was corn noodles, so he did not think too much about it. He could occasionally make noodles with corn flour at home as well. Although it did not have the exact same texture as white noodles and did not have much oil and salt, it was still delicious.
He never thought that the noodles Bai Xue mentioned would be white noodles.
He had never eaten such a generous serving of white noodles complete with eggs on them.
It was not that they did not have white flour. When it was time for food distribution, their family would use work credits to exchange for some white flour. However, they would only use it to make dumplings for a meal during the Chinese New Year. The rest would be used to make glue for shoemaking. It was impossible to have any leftovers to make noodles to eat.
"Xue, quickly wake your father up and let him eat it while it's hot! I think your father's injuries will recover quickly after eating this bowl of noodles!" An Quanzi had never eaten white noodles before, let alone Bai Daliang. Bai Daliang's mother was biased to begin with, so he definitely would not have a chance to eat good food.
"Alright!" Bai Xue also knew noodles would not taste good if left for too long, so she went over to wake up her father.
"Dad, Dad, eat first before you sleep!" She did not dare to use too much strength and pushed him gently.
Bai Daliang slowly woke up. The wound was at the back of his head, so he could only lie on his side. Bai Xue had to carry the lunch box and chopsticks to his head. The moment she opened the lunch box, the fragrance of white noodles stimulated Bai Daliang so hard that his eyes widened in astonishment. The dizziness and discomfort dissipated slightly.
"Xue, are those white noodles? Where did you buy it? They are not cheap, right?" The first thing he asked was the price.
"Dad, I bought them from a state-owned restaurant. Eat it while it's hot! Come on. Let me feed you!" Bai Xue did not want to explain further and only spoke vaguely.
Bai Daliang refused to let the matter slide. "Xue, the state-run restaurant needs food stamps. Where did you get food stamps to buy these noodles? You can't do anything stupid, understand?"
Bai Xue did not know what he was talking about, but she was touched that he was so worried about her.
Although she was touched, it was a real problem now. She did not know how to explain and tried her best to think of a way. She looked around and did not know how to answer.
"Xue, did you spend money on food stamps?" An Quanzi asked. He was staring at the noodles and had not eaten yet.
"I heard my father mention going out without any food. He was so hungry that he could not take it anymore. He went to the state-run restaurant and spent a lot of money to buy food stamps for a meal!" An Quanzi continued to explain.
"No… No, I did the chef a favor. He sold me three bowls of noodles without asking me for food stamps! Hurry up and eat it. It's getting cold!" As she spoke, she picked up the noodles and placed some by her father's mouth.
Bai Xue could not say she had spent money to get the noodles since they knew exactly how much money she had on her.
"Xue, hurry up and eat your food. My hands are fine, so I can help myself!" Bai Daliang stopped asking questions and said he could eat just fine. Bai Xue did not insist. She had never served anyone before, so it was better for him to eat it himself!
"Dad, eat slowly!" After saying that, she picked up the remaining lunch box, opened it, and started eating.
To be honest, the noodles were not very delicious. Among all the noodles she had eaten, this was the worst. Although there was meat and oil in it, there was not much. Also, there was very little salt. However, she ate it very happily because she had a taste of hunger after coming to this era.
She then looked at Bai Daliang and An Quanzi. The two of them ate very slowly and sampled every mouthful with great care. It was as if the food in front of them was not noodles but gold and they could not bear to eat it.
"Uncle Quanzi, hurry up and eat it all! Don't even think about leaving it for your family. Not to mention that the noodles won't taste good after being left for too long, I even have to return the lunch box to them!" Bai Xue knew An Quanzi could not bear to eat the food and wanted to bring the noodles back for his kids.
He had two daughters and a son. The eldest daughter was 16, the second son was 14, and the youngest daughter was 12. Usually, they did not have anything good to eat, so it was normal for them to think of their children when they ate noodles.
"Okay then. Got it. I'll start now!" An Quanzi said with a trembling voice.
Bai Xue clearly saw a teardrop trickling into the noodles.
Bai Xue thought to herself, "Was it really necessary? It's just below-average noodles."
When she turned to look, she noticed her father's eyes had turned red as well.
It did not end there. When the nurse came in unknowingly, she stood by the bed and stared at their noodles without blinking. Bai Xue held back her laughter and asked, "Nurse, what can we do for you?"
Nurse Xiaolan came back to her senses. It was not that she could not afford to eat noodles, but she had not eaten them for a long time. She was a glutton and could not move her feet when she saw food.
"Um… This is an anti-inflammatory medicine, and this is a painkiller. The patient has to take one pill each after meals!" She put down two pills with a red face and went out.
In this era, people were short on resources, so even medicine was dispensed tablet by tablet.
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