At four in the morning, Zhang Guoqing quietly got out of bed. He picked up his toiletries, gently closed the door, and went out into the yard. Seeing some activity next door, he smiled knowingly, betting his second brother didn’t sleep well all night.
There must have been a light snowfall late at night. A fine white layer covered the ground, easy to slip on if not careful. Zhang Guoqing quickly finished washing up, picked up a broom, and swept the yard to prevent his mother from slipping in the dark early in the morning.
Next door, Zhang Guoqiang heard the sound of sweeping in the yard. He could no longer stay in bed; he hadn’t slept a wink last night, worried that he’d wake up realizing it was all a dream. He was anxious yet excited, tossing and turning, unable to believe he could work in town now, especially in an office? Hearing the sounds, he knew it was Xiao Wu.
Zhang Guoqiang tiptoed hurriedly into the yard and saw Xiao Wu sweeping, so he grabbed a broom himself. Gazing at the snow, he whispered, "You’re up early. Did it snow lightly last night? I had no idea. Good thing dad had us hang quilts outside a few days ago to block the wind."
"Haha... Having an elder at home is like having a treasure. Aren’t our parents the old treasures of our family! I got up early to see if there was anything to prepare. We’ll head straight to find Brother Qingshan later. The sooner we head up the mountain, the sooner we can come back to take care of things."
Seeing the front yard cleaned, Zhang Guoqing took a lantern, and the two headed to the kitchen. Seeing his second brother about to wash up, he went back to the room and brought a pot of wild chicken soup from last night to the kitchen.
Zhang Guoqiang saw Xiao Wu carrying the pot and curiously asked him, "Isn’t this for your wife? Why did you bring it here?"
"Jiao Jiao started cooking it last night, saying it’s for the kids at home. Second brother, look, there’s nothing to eat in the kitchen, everything’s locked up by mom." Zhang Guoqing looked at the lock on the cellar and tugged on the lock handle.
Zhang Guoqiang hurriedly stopped him. With his great strength, he could very well pull off the lock, and their mom would have their hides for sure. This lock was newly bought; their mom had been worrying about it for days.
Looking at the kitchen, utterly empty, their mom’s habit was to lock things in the cellar. In the end, the two brothers didn’t want to wake their parents, so they managed to find a few steamed buns, heated them, and ate them with the chicken soup.
Zhang Guoqing dunked the steamed buns in the chicken soup, eyeing a few pieces of chicken, and sighed, "Second Brother, do you know what I hate the most? Our family’s steamed buns! Big sister said we’ve had the same steamed buns for decades. Luckily these are wild vegetable ones; if they were cornmeal, they’d be dreadful."
Zhang Guoqiang rolled his eyes at him, disappointingly pointing at him, "You’re lucky you say it at home. If you said it at the village entrance, they’d beat you senseless. Even for these buns, not every household in the village has them for every meal. Why are so many people here helping out this time? Because of these buns. They save them to take home for their kids. Our family having these buns is already considered good." Updates are released by 𝓷𝓸𝓿𝓮𝓵⁂𝓯𝓲𝓻𝓮⁂𝓷𝓮𝓽
With those words, Zhang Guoqing was deeply touched, "As you mentioned before, I’ve been paying attention. Besides the few dozen households at the North Mountain Foot, those with many sons in the village are slightly better off, but families with many kids aren’t having an easy time. Even today, at the village entrance, many kids still wear single-layered clothes, patched all over, with straw sandals, unfazed by the cold, playing happily, and it pains me to see it."
"Weren’t we the same when we were kids? I remember when autumn came, mom would sit up all night by the oil lamp, piecing together little scraps of fur to make clothes for us. During the harsh winter, she couldn’t bear using old fur and shivered without ever stepping out. People said mom wasn’t a true Northeast woman because she didn’t smoke. But I knew, even dad couldn’t bear to smoke unless he couldn’t stand it. Well, that’s fine, I can’t stand the smell anyway — it was only dad who took a few puffs.
You say you hate steamed buns, haha... I hate when someone comes to lie on the kang and smoke dry tobacco the most. Especially in the dead of winter, with thick old curtains hanging outside, and all windows tightly shut, people would come in, sit on the kang, and smoke non-stop. The inconsiderate ones would cough a few times, spit phlegm on the floor. Some even brought kids with runny noses, squeezing it right onto the kang. Every winter, I absolutely refuse to sit in the main room on the kang."
Zhang Guoqing quickly took a sip of soup, put down his chopsticks, "Second Brother, you did that on purpose, didn’t you? I’m eating, and you say such disgusting things. I’m done. Let’s finish up quickly and check out the back yard."
Zhang Guoqiang burst into laughter, finished eating quickly, and followed him out, joking and scolding, "You little punk, always making a fuss! You run far away when there’s fertilizer at home, then how do you still manage to take a dump?"