Soon, it snowed again, and the weather became even colder. Even after Guihua finished her confinement, Old Lady Li did not let her go out of the house. Now it is the coldest time in Beicha, and it is the easiest to get frozen. With so many people eating, drinking and washing at home, Guihua always felt uneasy staying in the house. Old Lady Li and Wang Sufen heard about it and went to the back room to give her some extra advice: "There are so many people at home, anyone can help and the work can be done, why do you need it?"
Old Lady Li stroked her great-grandson's chubby face and agreed, "Your mother is right. You should just stay indoors and take care of yourself. It won't be too late to leave the house when the weather warms up in the spring. You have better conditions now, so take care of yourself as much as you can. We hid away during the confinement period like we did back then, and I don't know how many diseases we would have developed."
Guihua said, "I'll listen to grandma, but meat buns are easy to make, and I'm bored staying in the house. Grandma, please bring some cloth and I'll make clothes for you. My mother has been busy day and night and can't spare any time."
"That's fine. Your mother has already drawn the dimensions. You can just start working." Old Lady Li went to the front room to get the cloth and put it on Guihua's kang. She gave two more instructions: "The windows are all covered in front and back. Even with the lights on, it's too dark in the room. Just do a little bit a day. Don't rush it, or you'll damage your eyes."
As soon as Guihua agreed, she heard the door open. Wang Sufen went out to take a look and saw Zhenzhen walking in with her military water bottle. Wang Sufen quickly took a towel to wipe the snow off Zhenzhen's hat and cotton jacket, and kept nagging her: "Why don't you stay in the house and listen to the radio in such heavy snow? What are you doing out here?"
Zhenzhen warmed herself up by the stove, then climbed onto the kang and came close to Roubao, kissing him on his chubby face: "I miss my nephew."
Guihua smiled and put the meat bun in Zhenzhen's arms, letting her hold it for a while before putting the child on the kang: "Zhenzhen, if you have nothing to do, just stay in my room. Let's talk and I'll tell you a story."
Wang Sufen and Old Lady Li were also busy in the front, and seeing that Zhenzhen was willing to stay in the back room, they let her go. Before leaving, Old Lady Li worriedly told her, "I'll pick you up when it's time for dinner, don't go out by yourself, what can you do if your head is stuck in this heavy snow."
Zhenzhen agreed obediently, and after Mrs. Li left, she turned around and lay on the warm kang, holding Roubao's hand and chatting with Guihua: "Sister-in-law, have you been bored staying in the house for more than a month?"
Guihua sat at the end of the kang and unrolled the fabric. She took out a pair of scissors and started cutting along the lines drawn on it. "It's not boring. When Roubao was just born, your elder brother and I had no peace day and night. It was a luxury to have a good night's sleep. After half a month, he started to sleep longer, so your elder brother and I could talk during the day."
"What are you talking about?" Zhenzhen asked Guihua curiously while lying on the kang.
Guihua smiled and glanced at Zhenzhen: "You little girl asked a lot." But looking at Zhenzhen's sweet smile, she still told her in detail: "Your brother told us about their school and their work on the farm."
"Is my elder brother learning how to farm?" Zhenzhen asked again as she watched Guihua take out a needle and start making clothes.
"Farming is only part of it." Guihua sewed clothes quickly and explained to Zhenzhen with a smile: "There are many other classes. When Zhenzhen grows up and goes to school, she will know that going to school is a very interesting thing."
Zhenzhen silently calculated her age. She was born in the early 1960s, and was not yet of school age when the Cultural Revolution began. She estimated that she was destined to be a child who dropped out of school.
Days passed one by one, and suddenly it was Chinese New Year. It was the first time in all these years that the family was so well-gathered, with plenty of food and a big fat pig. The Li family had a particularly rich and festive New Year, and the children in the family all ate a lot and gained weight.
After the fifteenth day of the lunar month, Li Mulin and his family should go back to Bingcheng. Mingxin, who had been either climbing the mountain or sledding on the ice every day, cried bitterly when he heard the bad news that he had to go back to Bingcheng. He insisted on exchanging fathers with Mingxi, and said confidently: "My second brother has to go to school in Bingcheng anyway, so let him be my father's son." Mingxin said as he threw himself on Li Muwu: "Second uncle, I will be your biological son from now on. Don't chase me away. Let's go to the mountain to catch rabbits."
Li Muwu looked at his nephew hanging on him and didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He could only rub his head awkwardly and said, "Wait until the holidays and ask your father to bring you here. Second Uncle will definitely not chase you away."
"Second Uncle, don't you really want to have another son?" Mingxin looked at Li Muwu with tears in his eyes.
Li Muwu glanced at his brother whose face was darker than the bottom of a pot, and quickly pulled Mingxin down and stuffed him into Li Mulin's arms: "Second uncle has two more sons than your father. If you were a girl, I would switch you." Li Mingxin looked up at his father and burst into tears.
Li Mulin dragged his son out with a dark face: "Do you dislike your father so much?"
Li Mingxin cried sadly: "We don't have roasted rabbit at home."
Li Mulin stuffed the son who didn't want his father anymore because he wanted to roast rabbits into the cart, and said goodbye to Old Lady Li: "Mom, we are leaving now, and we will come back in the summer."
Old lady Li smiled and nodded: "Bring the two brothers here in the summer, let them and Mingnan go swimming in the river, fishing or something, they will be delicious when grilled." Li Mingxin, who had just stopped crying, started crying again. Li Mulin looked at his mother and always felt that she was doing it on purpose.
After Li Mulin said goodbye to his mother and Li Muwu, he said to Li Muwen, "Brother, come stay at our house when you go to Bingcheng in a few days." Li Muwen smiled and said, "I'll visit you then."
Seeing that everyone had finished chatting, Li Musen said hello to Old Lady Li: "Mom, should I take my fourth brother to the train station?"
"Go ahead." Old Mrs. Li waved her hand: "Get to the train station early to avoid missing the train."
After Li Mulin and his family left, the Li family suddenly became much quieter. Mingnan and Mingbei no longer went out all day, but sat at the table and worked hard on their winter vacation homework. Li Muwen stayed with Old Lady Li for a few more days. As the first month of the lunar year was coming to an end, Li Muwen had to leave. Old Lady Li took out the gold bar that Zhenzhen had given her before. Such a big gold bar could not be exchanged in Beicha, a small place. If it was sent to Bingcheng, Li Mulin would not have any connections. In addition, Zhang Chunhua was short-sighted and talkative, so Old Lady Li was really worried about letting her eldest son know about this. After thinking about it, Old Lady Li felt that it would be more reliable to let her eldest son handle this matter.
Sure enough, when Li Muwen saw the gold bars, he only raised his eyebrows, then naturally put them away and asked Old Lady Li: "What do you want to exchange for it?"
Old Mrs. Li took a puff of her pipe and said, "Change some money. It's not good to be short of money at any time. Buy some things for Zhenzhen. You are knowledgeable and know what things are good. Just exchange them and send them home. Also, if you have a sewing machine ticket, ask me for one. I will buy one after I change the money and use it to mend clothes. A sewing machine is really useful."
"I'm glad you don't have to worry, but I can't send all the money back once it's changed. It will attract too much attention." Li Muwen thought for a while and said, "I'll send some money to you monthly first, and when I come back in a year or two, I'll bring the rest back to you."
Old Mrs. Li nodded and said, "Let's do as you say." After the mother and son agreed, Li Muwen took Li Mingxi to Ice City.
Mingxi was originally a good student. During the winter vacation, Mingdong reviewed the high school content for him again and focused on teaching Mingxi's weak points. After arriving in Bingcheng, Mingxi successfully passed the transfer exam for Bingcheng No. 6 Middle School.
Li Muwen helped Mingxi with the admission and boarding procedures, and took him to Li Mulin's house two days before school started, asking him to take care of Mingxi and cook more delicious food to improve his life when he came home. Li Mulin also knew his wife's character, and promised to take care of his nephew's affairs himself and not let Mingxi suffer any grievances.
Li Muwen had other things to do in the army, so he returned to the army after settling his nephew's affairs. When Mingdong started school, Li Muwen took the time to invite his nephew and brothers to have a meal together, and sent a package of things to Old Mrs. Li. Then he reluctantly left his hometown and boarded the train to Fujian.
The weather was getting warmer, and Mingbei was tempted by the big fat pig he had during the New Year, so he urged Grandma Li to catch another piglet. As for the chicks, they didn't need to go out to buy them this year. Grandma Li faced the light and took out about twenty fertilized eggs and placed them on the west kang in the back room, ready to hatch her own chicks.
I don’t know if the braised chicken nuggets are out of fatherly love or out of boredom, but every two days he would go to the backyard and walk around the house twice. Although he couldn’t see what was going on inside the house, he would look proud as long as he stood under the window.
Zhenzhen looked at the braised chicken nuggets with their head held high and couldn't help but mock it, "They laid the eggs for the chicken soup and the chicken and potatoes stew. Look at them showing off."
The little green bean eyes of the braised chicken nuggets glanced at Zhenzhen: "They can lay eggs every day, but if it weren't for me, how could there be so many kinds of eggs for you to hatch chicks? I'm not bragging, I'm really awesome. Look, your father worked hard for more than 20 years to have five children like you, and I've only been working hard for more than a month, so 20 to 30 should be no problem."
Zhenzhen called a few grasshoppers to add to the braised chicken nuggets. Seeing it eating them one by one with relish, she looked at it with a sly smile: "My grandmother has saved enough eggs for breeding. From now on, you will have nothing to do with this hen laying eggs."
The braised chicken bit into the mouth without warning and swallowed a whole grasshopper. It stretched its neck for a long time and took a lot of effort to swallow it. Zhenzhen laughed and ran back. The braised chicken was so anxious that it didn't even eat the remaining grasshoppers. It flapped its wings and chased Zhenzhen: "Don't be like this. I have finally changed my ideal in life. How can it be so unreliable?"
When they arrived at the front yard, Mrs. Li was directing Mingnan and Mingbei to build a new chicken coop with wood. The braised chicken was immediately hit hard, and it drooped its wings and went back to the chicken coop. After a while, all kinds of fluttering sounds came from the chicken coop, and Zhenzhen's face instantly turned black.
Spring is indeed a good time for all things to grow. Old Mrs. Li successfully raised 20 chicks and gave half of them to the third son, Li Musen's family, with 10 chicks. Just after raising them for a few days, Liu Xiulan found out that she was pregnant. Mingrong and Mingguang were worried about sending the chickens away, so they took the initiative to take on the job of feeding the chickens and cleaning the chicken coop.
The Li family still secretly harvested two crops of grain a year, and exchanged the grain coupons for industrial coupons and cloth coupons. Li Muwu basically didn't spend his monthly salary on anything else except buying some meat and non-staple food. Li Muwen also exchanged the gold bars he took away for a lot of money, but he couldn't come back for a while, so he could only send money and things back every month. Old Mrs. Li dressed Zhenzhen up and gave her new clothes to wear all year round, and the children around liked to get close to Zhenzhen.
In the blink of an eye, it was the summer of 1964. Zhenzhen's pigtails had turned into twin ponytails. She was leading the plump white meat buns to feed the chickens in the yard. Of the original batch of chickens, only the braised chicken nuggets were still alive and well, and they looked particularly energetic. Not only were their feathers shiny, but the hairs on their tails were particularly bright in color, and the big comb on their heads was fat and big. Li Mingzhong couldn't help drooling every time he saw it.
Guihua came out of the house, stroking her slightly bulging belly, carrying a bowl of wild vegetables. Zhenzhen ran over to take the bowl from her and poured all the wild vegetables into the chicken trough. She smiled sweetly at Guihua, "Sister-in-law, what are we having for lunch?"
Guihua looked at Zhenzhen's fair and tender smiling face and couldn't help but laugh: "Tell sister-in-law what you want to eat and she will make it for you."
Zhenzhen thought for a moment, picked up a bucket and a small net and walked out: "I'm going to the river to see if I can catch some fish or shrimp or something?"
After hearing this, Mrs. Li hurried out of the house and said, "Bao, you can't carry the bucket. Grandma will go with you."
Zhenzhen looked at Old Lady Li helplessly: "Grandma, I'm already six years old, and you still call me baby all day long. It makes people laugh."
"No matter how old you are, you are still my treasure." Old Mrs. Li couldn't help but snatch the bucket from Zhenzhen's hand: "I only have one granddaughter like you, if you are not a treasure, then what is it?"
Roubao ran over with his chubby little legs and put his hands around Zhenzhen's thighs: "Aunt, Roubao wants to go too."
Zhenzhen pinched Roubao's chubby face again and again, and gave him a kiss as he looked expectantly in the eyes: "Grandma and aunt can't carry you, wait until Sunday when your fourth uncle has a day off, and let him carry you."
Roubao pouted, but was still well-behaved and didn't cry. Zhenzhen touched his head and shouted into the yard, "Braised Chicken Nuggets, come and play with Roubao."
The braised chicken looked reluctantly at the group of half-grown hens surrounding it, and moved to the side of the meat bun, looking back every step. Meat bun's eyes suddenly lit up when he saw the braised chicken, and he started to chase its beautiful tail. The braised chicken had no choice but to play the game of I run and you chase with Meat bun for the hundred and first time.
Guihua sat at the door of the room washing clothes, watching her son and the rooster running around the yard. She couldn't help laughing, "Grandma, look at our rooster, it's very human. It can understand everything our Zhenzhen says."
Old Mrs. Li took a puff of her pipe and said, "How can it not be smart after raising it for two or three years? I think it will become a spirit if we raise it for a few more years." Zhenzhen touched her nose and led Li Mingzhong out of the house.
Although the weather was good today, the adults were all at work, the teenagers were all at school, and the families of the four or five-year-old children were worried about letting them play by the river on their own, so they all stayed near their homes. Therefore, when Zhenzhen and Old Lady Li arrived at the river, they did not see many people.
Li Mingzhong has grown a lot in recent years. He looks tall and mighty and can scare many people. However, Zhenzhen always feels that Li Mingzhong is tall but not smart. Except for his bravery in hunting, he is stupid at other times. When they arrived at the river, Zhenzhen had just found a good position when Li Mingzhong jumped into the river with a splash.
Zhenzhen was unable to avoid it and was splashed with water. She rolled up her pants and wrung out the water on her head, then yelled at Li Mingzhong, "Stupid dog, get up here!"
Li Mingzhong looked back at Zhenzhen, showing his big white teeth, and stretched out his two front legs to paddle the water. Zhenzhen was so angry that she laughed, took off her shoes and wanted to go into the water to chase him. Old Mrs. Li hugged her and said, "It's not that hot yet. What if you get frozen in the water? Put on your shoes quickly."
Zhenzhen stepped on the water with her white and tender little feet and smiled at Old Lady Li: "Grandma, the water is not cold. I won't go down to chase it. I'll just stay here and catch some fish and shrimps."
Only then did Mrs. Li loosen her grip and handed the small net to Zhenzhen. She also put the large bucket she had brought beside her. Zhenzhen held the small net and stuck it into the water. After a few minutes, she scooped it out and found a net full of lively fresh shrimps.
Old Lady Li filled the bucket with water and looked at the shrimps jumping around in it, puzzled: "Why do you like eating shrimps so much? Even if you peel and remove the heads, there's not much meat left."
"They taste delicious. They're delicious no matter how you cook them in water." While Zhenzhen was talking, she scooped up another net of shrimps. Old Mrs. Li looked down and saw that the shrimps were more than a finger long and weighed two or three pounds. Just when she was about to say that they were enough to eat, she saw Zhenzhen suddenly stand up and look in the direction of Li Mingzhong with excitement.