Lu Youxi was discharged from the hospital the next day and continued to recover at home.
Otherwise, just the cost of staying in the hospital would have been substantial.
However, her mobility was now limited, and she couldn't do many chores, so she could only do tasks that didn't require frequent movement of her legs.
By the end of June, Lu Youxi's leg injury hadn't fully healed, but she was now able to move around.
The accident made Lu Zhenguo and his wife realize that it was indeed too tiring for Lu Youxue to travel back and forth to school at noon.
Liu Yushu then went to town every noon to bring Lu Youxue his lunch.
Now that Lu Youxi was able to move around, she suggested that she should be the one to deliver lunch to Lu Youxue.
"Your leg hasn't fully healed yet; how can you walk that far?" Liu Yushu disagreed.
"It's not that far to walk, most of the way is by car. I just have to leave home a bit earlier and walk slower," Lu Youxi explained to Liu Yushu, "I can bring my own share and eat with Youxue. It's different for you. After you deliver the meal to Youxue, you have to hurry back. By the time you return, where would you find a hot meal? If you're late, the grandparents will suspect that you're either dilly-dallying around town to slack off or secretly spending money on something."
When Liu Yushu delivered the meals, it was always Lu Youxi who slyly kept aside a portion for Liu Yushu before the food was served.
Otherwise, although Lu Zhenguo would keep a portion aside, it would inevitably lead to some grumbling and blaming from the Lu Family's elders.
It was fortunate that the Lu Family's elders didn't do any household chores now.
Even something as simple as carrying plates wasn't touched by Old Madam Lu, which gave Lu Youxi the chance to secretly set aside food for Liu Yushu.
"And Youxue is going to have summer vacation soon; I won't need to deliver for many days," Lu Youxi hugged Liu Yushu's arm, "You've been running back and forth for almost half a month, and it's really tiring."
Indeed, in three more days, Lu Youxue was going to start his summer vacation.
Lu Youxi would only need to deliver lunch for three days.
Only then did Liu Yushu agree.
The second day Lu Youxi delivered lunch to Lu Youxue, Grandma Xu from the village was going to town to sell eggs laid by her chickens. She made an arrangement to go to town with Lu Youxi.
"I walk slowly; I might delay you, right?" On the way, Grandma Xu cheerfully spoke to Lu Youxi.
"My leg hasn't healed yet, and I walk slowly too. Neither of us can complain about the other, heh heh." Lu Youxi smiled broadly in response.
Grandma Xu patted Lu Youxi's hand with pity.
If it were her own granddaughter, she surely wouldn't know how to pamper her.
But those two old folks at the Lu family were really outrageous. Their treatment of Lu Youxi could chill the hearts of onlookers.
Grandma Xu's children had all gone to the city to work, leaving her to live alone.
Even when she was at home by herself, she had grumbled that the Lu Family's elders were too partial towards Lu Zhenjia's family, which was unreliable.
Ultimately, they have to rely on Lu Zhenguo's family for their old age.
After alienating Lu Zhenguo's family, she wondered how Lu Zhenjia would provide for their elder care?
Grandma Xu took a warm egg out of her basket and put it into Lu Youxi's hand.
The egg was still warm, distinctly different from the other eggs in the basket.
"I just boiled it at home; you can eat it while walking," Grandma Xu kindly said.
"Grandma Xu, it would be better for you to sell it!" Lu Youxi's eyes reddened.
Hexing Village wasn't wealthy, and since Grandma Xu lived alone, without strong labor at home, she rented out her land for others to cultivate, which meant she naturally earned much less.
She did odd jobs she could manage and saved up eggs laid by her chickens to sell in town.
Because she only had a few eggs, wholesale buyers weren't interested.
Grandma Xu's life wasn't exactly comfortable.
"Do I really need this one egg?" Grandma Xu said with a chuckle, "I know your family situation; just eat it."
"Actually, my mom always sneaks some to me," Lu Youxi explained quietly.
"I know. What mother wouldn't dote on her own children? What your mom sneaks to you is hers to give. What I'm giving you is from me. Besides, it's just one egg; what's that worth? I can't do much, but if I can help you out with a little something, then that's what I'll do. You don't eat as well as the men in your family—your brother even gets to drink milk, so what's one more egg for you?"
Lu Youxi smiled with teary eyes, not rejecting Grandma Xu's kindness. She sniffled, peeled the egg, and ate it.
When they arrived in town, Grandma Xu temporarily parted ways with Lu Youxi; she went to sell her eggs, while Lu Youxi carried the lunchbox to the entrance of Lu Youxue's school.
From afar, she saw Lu Youxue waiting at the school gate.
Lu Youxue, spotting the familiar figure in the distance, was surprised and hurried over, "Sister, why are you the one delivering lunch? Your leg hasn't fully recovered yet."
"Taking it slow, it's not a big issue," Lu Youxi gave the lunchbox to Lu Youxue, "Hurry up and take it inside to eat."
Lu Youxue's keen eyes noticed another lunchbox in the bag Lu Youxi was carrying, "Sister, did you bring your own lunch too?"
"I came with Grandma Xu, and she went to sell her eggs. So, I'm planning to wait for her to finish selling and then go back together, that's why I brought lunch," Lu Youxi explained to Lu Youxue, "You should head back to school now."
But Lu Youxue didn't move, holding the lunchbox, he said to Lu Youxi, "Then I'll eat with you, sister, come with me."
Saying this, he didn't wait for Lu Youxi to answer, but instead walked towards the right, and Lu Youxi could only follow.
They didn't walk far before following Lu Youxue to a set of stairs beside the school.
The stairs were quite clean. Lu Youxue found a spot in the shade to sit and wiped the adjacent spot with his clothes hem, "Sister, sit down."
Lu Youxi sat down alongside him, realizing the surroundings were pretty nice. Sitting on the stairs, they faced the town square with an open view, accompanied by the chorus of cicadas on a summer noon.
It reminded Lu Youxi of her past life when she was abroad on business, stealing moments of leisure in a park, sitting on the ground eating a sandwich while feeding the pigeons.
Once Lu Youxi took out her lunchbox, Lu Youxue saw it contained the same meal as his and heaved a sigh of relief.
With no Lu Family's elders watching, Liu Yushu had sneakily prepared a lunchbox for Lu Youxi, naturally on par with the standard for Lu Youxue.
As they ate, Lu Youxue spoke, "Sister, your leg hasn't fully healed; don't come to deliver lunch tomorrow. Let mom rest too; I'll eat back at home."
"No worries, I'm on vacation now and have nothing else to do. At home, I can't do heavy work because of my leg injury and I have to endure the grandparents' scorn; I might as well come to bring you lunch," Lu Youxi explained, "And the day after tomorrow you'll officially be on vacation, so I'll just have to deliver for two more days."
Lu Youxue mainly found Lu Youxi's earlier reasoning very sound—rather than suffering scorn at home for being unable to work, it made sense to come over.
"Oh, by the way, sister, which university did you apply for?" Lu Youxue scooped up a spoonful of rice and asked Lu Youxi.
"I applied for Jing University," Lu Youxi said.
In her previous life, she had attended Jing University, and this life, when she came back, the college entrance exams were already over, suggesting her results were the same as in her previous life.