Rebirth: My Dear Little Wife Is So Scheming

Chapter 993: Chapter 993: Hard to Swallow

He Xin and the others sat around the table.

Looking at Dean Lu’s enthusiastic attitude, they had no choice but to pick up their chopsticks. To be honest, they were really hungry. They had eaten some dry food they brought on the train, but after getting off, all the hustle had left them ravenously hungry.

Logically, they should be very hungry. Looking at the slightly yellowing white rice in front of them, He Xin forced herself to pick up a piece of some food, the contents of which were unrecognizable, and put it in her bowl.

A pungent sour smell hit her nose, making her face turn pale instantly.

What is this smell? It’s like the odor of unwashed socks that haven’t been cleaned for weeks.

Can this be eaten?

Doctor Zhang and the others were also hesitant.

Even the few men among them couldn’t bring themselves to eat when looking at this food.

It’s so vastly different from what they’re used to at home.

Dean Lu saw them not moving their chopsticks and thought they were being polite, so he hurriedly said, "Please eat, please eat. This sauerkraut is freshly pickled this year. I specially cut a piece of meat yesterday, don’t be polite, hurry and eat."

Seeing their forced smiles, he thought they were embarrassed to eat and quickly said, "You eat first, I’ll go out and see if they’ve moved the medicines and equipment into the house for you. Those guys can be very careless if I’m not watching. If they break something, it would be terrible."

As Dean Lu walked out the door, he just ran into Xiaoyu.

"Xiaoyu, stay here. In case Dr. Zhang and the others have any requests, you can help them, but don’t go inside to avoid making them uncomfortable while eating."

Xiaoyu whispered, "Dad, this is the rice we can only afford during the New Year. If we eat it all now, what are Dr. Bai and Dr. Zhang going to eat tomorrow?"

The father and daughter deliberately lowered their voices.

But they spoke habitually loud, thinking they were being quiet, which was still clear as day to Bai Xiao and the others.

"Don’t worry, today I’ll find a way in the village to exchange for some more. We can’t let the doctors from the city eat the same things as us, besides they wouldn’t be used to it and might fall ill from the change in environment, which would be the worst-case scenario."

"But you don’t have any money, even if you go into the village to exchange, what do we have to trade?"

Xiaoyu gave her father a look, knowing that most of his salary goes to treating patients, leaving just a little for their daily needs. She’s used to living like this with her father, but when urgency strikes, her family would truly have nothing to spare.

Dean Lu chuckled.

"Silly girl, what do you think your father is? I’m a doctor, if I go to the village and have a word with them, I can still get things on credit. Worst case, I’d just treat them a few more times for free in the future."

Dean Lu’s words made Bai Xiao and the others lower their heads.

The food in front of them, which they found hard to swallow, turned out to be something only eaten during the New Year by the dean and Xiaoyu. And for their sake, Dean Lu was going to buy things on credit.

Bai Xiao picked up a chopstick-full of sauerkraut and placed it on the white rice, eating it quickly.

The white rice, once chewed, emitted a moldy old rice flavor.

No wonder it was yellowish, the climate here is humid, who knows how long this rice had been stored. It’s gotten damp and a bit moldy.

Not to mention that strangely flavored sauerkraut.

It really tested their taste buds.

Seeing Bai Xiao eat earnestly,

the four others also dug in.

Yet they mostly avoided the sauerkraut, eating just the plain white rice, as the sour vegetable’s taste truly could make one vomit.

The meal was consumed in silence.

The five of them realized that this year would undoubtedly be challenging, if they had to eat this kind of food every meal, they might not last long.

Bai Xiao shook her head, this was just the tip of the iceberg.

She already saw through the window that the sun had risen outside.

Soon, when they truly see their surroundings and the people, they’ll really understand where they’ve come to.

This, for her, would also be a challenge, though she had tasted hardship before, she had changed so much since rebirth.

The hardest time in this life was her days on the front lines, eating compressed biscuits every day.

But even that was better than the coarse rice they had now.

It seemed that this was just the toughest start for them.

After the meal, Xiaoyu, full of enthusiasm, wanted to serve them a second bowl. Seeing that they hadn’t touched the meat and vegetables in the pot, she was a bit frustrated.

She thought these doctors were perhaps being polite, intentionally leaving these good things behind.

They must know that in their home’s conditions, a meal with sauerkraut stew meat was reserved for New Year’s.

However, these doctors barely ate anything. She wanted to serve them a second bowl, but they steadfastly refused.

If it were her, she could eat three big bowls on her own.

These city people ate as little as birds.

After the meal, Bai Xiao insisted on accompanying Xiaoyu to familiarize herself with the environment instead of resting. Though physically exhausted, she didn’t want to disrupt her body clock, wanting to do something during the day and rest well at night. After all, she was still young and wouldn’t lose anything by skipping a night’s sleep.

He Xin, seeing Bai Xiao not sleeping, felt awkward to sleep herself and insisted on going with Bai Xiao and Xiaoyu to take a look around.

However, Dr. Zhang couldn’t hold on anymore, his age was a factor, and the journey, plus the exhausting walk up, had left him unable to stay awake.

They went to the first floor and finally saw clearly.

The bamboo building they thought was the most luxurious structure here. noveldrama

This place was surrounded by mountains, more like a basin.

Though called a town, looking at the rundown houses around, they realized that the bamboo building they found simple was actually more like a luxurious hotel compared to the surroundings.

The pedestrians on the street were truly ragged.

Even in their ragged clothes, with patches, often showing bare elbows and protruding toes from their shoes, greeting them.

Perhaps due to years of exposure to wind and rain, hard work, everyone’s skin was dark.

Like residents returning from Africa.

Every resident they encountered eyed them with curiosity and envy.

Every person who saw them couldn’t take their eyes off, making Bai Xiao and He Xin a little embarrassed, feeling like they were on display like a tiger in a zoo.

On the road, they met many people, all greeting Xiaoyu, giving a handful of greens, or offering some wild fruits, to be honest, this town was like a single street, taking ten minutes to walk from end to end.

Even the town government was just a crude shelter with a sign hanging by the door.

If Bai Xiao didn’t know this was a town with a rural hospital, she might think it was just a village.