"Xia Xiao should really thank Gao Jiaxing," Yang Xuehua said solemnly before breaking into a smile, "because he sucked out the snake venom for you. I heard his mom chased him with a stick to beat him afterward."
"Thank you, Sister Aihua, Sister Xuehua, Sister Meihua… I will visit the team leader's house tomorrow," Xia Xiao obediently replied, feeling relieved that Gao Jiaxing was alright. Although the original host did not survive, since people earnestly tried to rescue her, she knew she had to remember this life-saving grace.
At that moment, Wang Aihua smiled gently and touched Xia Xiao's head, "Then you rest well these few days."
Everyone was tired from the day's work, and after dinner and a bath, they chatted briefly before all collapsing into sleep.
Due to physical reasons, Xia Xiao soon fell deeply asleep, and the night just passed like that.
The next morning, the educated youth got up at four o'clock and left the house before five.
Xia Xiao was astonished, "It's so early, it's still dark." Since she didn't have to go out to work, Xia Xiao stayed in bed, not wanting to get up at all.
In that moment, Xia Xiao felt deep respect for the pioneering laborers, while also worrying about her own small body that couldn't withstand labor.
Xia Xiao didn't get up until the sun shone on her buttocks. She then saw a bowl of sweet potato porridge by the bed, remembering Wang Aihua and Yang Xuehua's reminders in her ear before they left, which warmed her heart. The weather in December was very cold, but even at its coldest in the south, it was never as cold as in the north, yet both bread and sweet potatoes still needed to be heated before they could be eaten.
Xia Xiao immediately got up, boiled a pot of water, and heated the sweet potato porridge. She poured some into a thermos and used the rest for washing her face and body.
After washing up and eating breakfast, Xia Xiao went through the original host's luggage, which included a total of just three sets of clothes.
There were two cotton coats, one quilt, one straw mat, one mosquito net, two pairs of liberation shoes, one pair of straw shoes, a box of sewing supplies, and several letters.
Xia Xiao opened and flipped through the letters; inside the paper of each letter was a 50-cent note and a half-jin food coupon.
The paper was thick, written by the original host's father and brother, with tones of concern for the original host. They also mentioned the original host's mother and several younger sisters, with the last letter dated December 9.
Looking at the calendar on the wall, it was December 25, and the original host had only received the letters two days ago.
Xia Xiao sighed with a heavy heart, realizing that they didn't know their daughter and sister had passed away just yesterday. Although Xia Xiao felt it cruel for the original host, who was reported to be three years older, to replace her brother in moving to the countryside as an educated youth at such a young age,
Considering the original host's family circumstances, Xia Xiao sighed, not knowing what to say.
Now, excluding the original host, there were six people in the family. The father worked at an electric plant and the mother was a temporary worker on an assembly line at a textile factory. The family was supporting itself just on these two jobs. Several younger sisters were still in school, and they also had to look after their grandparents. The entire family was living tightly.
The eldest brother, Xia Rong, had just graduated from junior high and was arranged to move to the countryside as an educated youth. However, their father had just experienced an accident, and to keep his job, the family had Xia Rong replace him at the electric plant, working on high-altitude operations, which was quite challenging for a sixteen-year-old boy.
If not for this arrangement, the family would have had to rely solely on the mother's temporary job, which would be even harder.
Thus, the original host, being the second child, ended up replacing her brother and moving to the countryside as an educated youth.
Although sympathetic toward the original owner, Xia Xiao didn't know who to blame. There was also a half-written letter from the original owner, filled with deep longing for home and concern for family members, with not a hint of resentment.
The original owner reported to the production team in October, having stayed there for two months by now, and had received two letters from home. Xia Xiao took out the money and food coupons from the envelopes and counted them—a total of one yuan and one jin worth of food coupons—they looked very concerned about the original owner.
However, the harsh conditions in the south were made worse by the winter, and the original owner, having been bitten by a poisonous snake, had passed away.
Xia Xiao could see that the original family was good, very warm. She still felt a strong sense of kinship from the letters and envied it deeply. She longed for such affection and to be loved in that way. Now, observing everything that belonged to the original owner, she felt like a thief. But since fate had allowed her spirit to be reborn in the original owner's body, Xia Xiao decided to live well, also for the sake of the original owner.
Xia Xiao gathered the original owner's money and food coupons, planning to send them back to the family when she had a chance. For now, she stared blankly at the half-written letter.
Living as the original owner, she naturally had to mimic the handwriting, or else it could create trouble if someone noticed the differences.
Luckily, Xia Xiao had previously studied at City S's top university, where she interned for two years after her junior year. Having the original owner's memories made the dialect of City S not too challenging for her.
Xia Xiao breathed a sigh of relief, wrapped her coat tightly around herself, and studied the original owner's handwriting earnestly before taking out pen and paper to practice writing. She needed to master it quickly during these few days of rest to reply to the original owner's family.
Time passed unconsciously, and soon it was noon; the educated youths all returned from work.
Xia Xiao tidied up the letters and writing materials and brought out boiled water she had made for everyone to drink. It was somewhat cold in the south in December, and it was warmer inside. Having some hot water to drink after coming in from outside was even better.
Then Wang Aihua, Yang Xuehua, and Dong Meihua all praised Xia Xiao's thoughtful gesture. Even Sun Yuhua and the usually silent Feng Ying rarely showed smiles towards Xia Xiao.
At that moment, Dong Meihua quietly came over and told Xia Xiao that the meat soup she ate yesterday was snake meat, from the very snake that had bitten her.
Ugh, Xia Xiao immediately felt a chill over her whole body and began to feel nauseous.
She hadn't realized that the delicious meat soup she had eaten yesterday was stewed snake meat with radishes. No wonder they had all been so secretive; it all made sense.
Seeing Xia Xiao's reaction, everyone laughed. They had all experienced the same shock initially but had gotten used to it over time.
Yang Xuehua said, "Luckily, I stopped Meihua yesterday, otherwise Xia Xiao might have thrown up the snake meat she had eaten, and that would have been such a waste."
Everyone nodded in agreement, as few women were not afraid of the squishy snakes. They were afraid, too. But snake meat was still meat and indeed delicious after they had tried it. Thinking back to the snake meat soup from yesterday, everyone seemed to savor the memory.
Wang Aihua patted Xia Xiao on the shoulder, "Xia Xiao is still too timid. It looks like we need to get you to eat more to toughen up."
Dong Meihua immediately giggled, "Xia Xiao was fed snake gall before passing out yesterday, and that's really good stuff."
Xia Xiao: "..." No wonder she felt such a bitter taste when she woke up.
Now feeling nauseous again, Xia Xiao couldn't throw up; had it been mentioned yesterday, she might have really done so.