The road from the countryside to the town wasn't easy to travel on; most of the rural roads were bumpy dirt paths. It wasn't until the latter half, closer to the town, that the road was paved with sand or coal slag mixed with gravel.
With Wang Miaomiao occasionally giving compliments, Li Xiaohua was overjoyed all the way, making the journey quite harmonious and full of laughter.
Their previous relationship, due to Wang Zhaodi, wasn't particularly good, but by the end of this journey, Li Xiaohua had grown to somewhat like Wang Miaomiao, considering her a potential friend.
Liu Yulan followed behind them, hearing her youngest daughter call her a good mom, which made her heart sweeter than honey.
This youngest daughter hadn't been spoiled in vain. Now grown up and understanding, she's even considering things for her.
Indeed, she's her own child, just like her—a girl full of emotion and loyalty.
Looking at her daughter's attire now, compared to Li Family's daughter's, she suddenly felt a bit shabby.
She was used to being frugal. Although she never skimped on food for the kids, in other areas, she indeed wasn't very generous.
Her daughter had grown into a young lady but hadn't worn many new clothes. Listening to the children's cheerful laughter, Liu Yulan thought a lot along the way...
They walked at a good pace and soon arrived at Red Star Town, parting ways at the intersection. Wang Jia Bao and Li Xiaohua went to school, while Liu Yulan took Wang Miaomiao to the hospital.
Wang Miaomiao waved goodbye happily, "Remember to ask for leave from Teacher Wu for me, and also bring back my homework and notes..."
"Got it..." Li Xiaohua took on the task first, mainly because she was in the same class as Wang Miaomiao, while Wang Jia Bao was in the neighboring class, so it was more convenient for her to help. Now that she and Miaomiao were friends, of course she'd help with such little things!
Wang Miaomiao was quite pleased with her performance along the way. See, she got the little girl on her side, "Thank you, Xiaohua, you're really nice."
Wang Jia Bao, seeing the two stop talking, turned and left. He was quite annoyed with the constant chatter along the way. Indeed, girls' mouths could be noisier than a hundred ducks.
Apart from winning over Li Xiaohua on this journey, Wang Miaomiao also gathered a lot of information about school from her.
Now, middle school only lasted two years, and with just over twenty days until the high school entrance exam, less than a month, she suddenly felt the urgency.
In today's society, if you don't study, you end up going back home to farm. Compared to facing the earth doing hard labor, of course going to school was better.
Judging from Li Xiaohua's tone, her original grades were above average in the class, which wasn't great. Now the advancement rate was relatively low; if you didn't excel in studies, how could you get into high school? Without high school, you'd have to go back home to farm... That was absolutely not acceptable.
It seemed that in these twenty or so days, she'd have to cram at home. As for studying, especially middle school knowledge, she was still confident.
Entering Red Star Town, Wang Miaomiao couldn't take in everything. As they passed, she recorded each intersection sign and the stores they passed through in her mind.
Most people probably react like this when they enter a new environment.
The Red Star Health Center and Red Star Supply and Marketing Society were built next to each other, both two-story red brick buildings, with white background red letter slogans on their walls, "Run the health center well, benefit the farmers" and "Treat patients like relatives, treat life as sacred"...
In fact, along the way, these kinds of big-letter slogans could be seen on houses near the road, which was quite characteristic of the era.
Liu Yulan, with Wang Miaomiao, went in and easily found the doctor's office, queued up, and soon it was their turn.
The doctor took one look at Wang Miaomiao's wound and said it wouldn't heal without leaving a scar. Liu Yulan felt heartbroken upon hearing this, increasing her dislike and resentment towards Wang Zhaodi.
They got prescribed some anti-inflammatory and swelling-reducing medication. As for scar-removal cream, there was none!
It's understandable—after all, even nowadays, if you want to completely remove scars, relying on laser removal rather than just scar-removal cream seems more feasible. She hadn't heard of any scar-removal cream brand being that miraculous.
Leaving the health center, Liu Yulan was a bit despondent.
Seeing this, Wang Miaomiao felt warmth in her heart. Though she couldn't yet regard her as her biological mother, having shared a short period together, she had developed some feelings.
After all, people are like this: you treat me well, and I'll treat you well in return. Heart for heart, that's true affection.
"Mom, don't worry. It's just a scar. If I let my bangs down, it will cover it, and it won't be visible." Wang Miaomiao comforted Liu Yulan, saying what she truly believed. Since it was already a done deal, why dwell on it? She'd just be careful, and things would be as they should be. Anyway, the scar was on her forehead, not her face, which was already fortunate.
Hearing this, Liu Yulan reached out to touch her hair and sighed, "Silly girl, alright then, let's go to the supply and marketing society. Mom will get you some fabric to make new clothes. You're already a young lady..."
Liu Yulan knew her daughter was carefree. Besides being fond of eating and lazy, everything else about her was easy to please. However, the little girl didn't yet understand the importance of appearance for a woman. Well... forget it; she could only compensate in other areas.
If Wang Miaomiao knew what Liu Yulan was thinking, she'd surely retort: being fond of eating and lazy—already a poor evaluation for a woman, right?
"Really? Mom, you're so sweet..." Wang Miaomiao beamed, clinging to Liu Yulan's arm, acting spoiled and cute.
New clothes! What woman doesn't love beauty? What she was wearing now looked really ugly. How could she not be happy with new clothes...
Entering the supply and marketing society, Wang Miaomiao couldn't take it all in. Against one wall, tall shelves arranged goods in categories. The salespeople behind the glass counters were busy attending to the customers, with business booming.
It was a bit crowded inside, considering the whole town and countless villages had to shop here.
Liu Yulan dragged Wang Miaomiao first to the fabric counter. It wasn't easy coming to town, so she came well-prepared with tickets and money. Originally, she planned to visit the health center and then buy some household necessities at the supply and marketing society. Now, they just decided to buy extra fabric.
Nowadays, there weren't many types of fabric in terms of color and pattern. Liu Yulan took the lead, buying a piece of purple floral fabric, intending to make her a blouse and skirt, and also got a piece of black fabric for pants.
Wang Miaomiao looked quite satisfied, her face beaming with delight, continuously praising, "Mom, you've got great taste."
Which amused Liu Yulan, who smugly said, "Of course, back in school, your mom was the school belle, with countless boys writing me love letters..."
It's true. Liu Yulan was fair-skinned and beautiful back then, and with a teacher dad, she was like a little princess at school.
If not for her beauty, Wang Baoxing wouldn't have been smitten at first sight, even borrowing money just to marry her.