After changing out of her dirty clothes, Feng Qingxue’s hair was already half-dry.
Her hair, usually tied in pigtail braids, hung loose behind her shoulders, softly curled and voluminous like it had been styled with heat.
Niu Yibao knocked on the door and quickly found himself astonished again. He sheepishly handed over a military green canvas bag, "Sister-in-law, Commanding Officer Lu told me to bring this. Inside it are tickets and money that he saved up. You can buy whatever you want. Don’t shortchange yourself."
Feng Qingxue accepted the bag and turned around to offer him a packed luggage bag.
"I brought these from home, they are for the soldiers in the troop to have an extra meal. Lu Jiang can’t eat a lot of food as he is injured, might as well use them to take care of the troop instead."
They were all heroes who had shed blood for their country and family, she wanted to do something good for them too.
Knowing the weight of the luggage bag had to be at least forty or fifty kilograms, Niu Yibao scratched his head, "Sister-in-law, keep it for yourself. Our troop has plenty! Commanding Officer Lu can’t be discharged for a while. Since you’ve come all this way, you’ll have to stay for a bit before leaving. Since you don’t have time to cook, just give the food to the cafeteria and let the chef cook it. All you have to do is pay them a salary."
"I can do that?" Feng Qingxue’s eyes brightened. That would solve the problem of meal replacements for Lu Jiang.
"Absolutely, that can be arranged at any cafeteria."
"Take note of that, thank you, comrade Niu. I will go out later to see what good stuff I can find." Feng Qingxue had an idea. She stuffed the luggage bag into his hands, "I brought two luggage bags of food. I kept one for myself, it should be enough for Lu Jiang’s recovery. You have to take this one away, it’d be a shame if the food got spoiled in this heat."
With that being said, Niu Yibao accepted it without hesitation and handed it over to Ouyang Zijin in Lu Jiang’s presence.
Ouyang Zijin opened it and remarked, "Wow! Sister-in-law is really thoughtful!"
These were all preserved foods, packed with plenty of salt so they didn’t spoil even in the heat.
Feng Qingxue brought all these for the soldiers in order to take care of Lu Jiang, didn’t she?
Lu Jiang looked quite pleased with himself, "Of course! Without me, do you think you’d have such delicacies? Tell those boys to train harder after they finish their meal, no slacking! The better they are at combat, the more likely they are to survive on the battlefield!"
"I got it, look how smug you look!"
Ouyang Zijin put the luggage bag under the bed and was about to ask Lu Jiang about what he wanted to eat for dinner when Feng Qingxue walked in after knocking.
"Elder Brother Ouyang, you’ve taken care of Ajiang for the whole day. You must be tired. Go back and have a good rest. Leave everything here to me." The hostel was close to the hospital. As soon as Niu Yibao left, she headed out.
She was unfamiliar with the area around here, circled the vicinity, and gathered some local knowledge.
Then, she sent a telegram back home letting them know that she was safe, addressed to Wang Zhengguo.
"Alright then, you two chat. I’ll be leaving first. If you need anything, call me through Niu Yibao," said Ouyang Zijin as he got up, picked up the bag on the floor, and waved at Feng Qingxue, "Sister-in-law, I think formalities are unnecessary."
Feng Qingxue smiled and said, "We’re just like family, why the need for formalities?"
Ouyang Zijin felt particularly gratified upon hearing that and left chuckling, pulling Niu Yibao out of the sickroom as he left.
Feng Qingxue and Lu Jiang exchanged smiles. She reached into the canvas bag and pulled out a jar of honey, "Ajiang, I brought a jar of honey for you to drink with water." She had specially researched that drinking honey water aids wound healing.