Dawang took a broom to sweep the piled-up snow. The other spaces could be left alone, but the roads and gates had to be cleared from snow. Otherwise, the heaps of white snow would only get bigger and bigger. Then, it would freeze up the ground and it might cause someone to slip and fall later on.
Erwang also ran to help.
Lin Lan, “You don’t need to sweep it. I think the snow will still be falling by the end of the day, so you guys can just do it after school.”
Han Qingsong said, “Let them sweep the snow; it’s not safe for you to walk around like that.”
After he said that, Lin Lan felt a surge of warmth in her heart— Dawang still cared about her.
Although it was snowing, the children still went to school, Han Qingsong went to work and Lin Lan rested at home.
At noon, Lin Lan, Dong Huaihua and others went to the nearby brigade to promote the publicity events. When they came back, they walked home happily with a few catties of fine grains.
As soon as she entered the door, she found that the children were staring at each other in the yard. Maisui hugged Xiaowang, who was shivering like a quail from the cold.
Although the road was swept clean at the moment, there was snow under the trees at the base of the wall and it turned into ice particles when the cold wind blew, so the surrounding area was extremely cold.
Lin Lan, “Why don’t you all go in… Oh my god, I remember now.”
She was hasty today and left the keys in the house!!
Wow, look at this reliable memory of mine. This morning, all she really thought about was the publicity script. When she went back to the house to get a copy of the script, she placed the keys on the kang without much thought.
There was a saying that went, ‘after one pregnancy, you will be in a daze for three years’. Well, she technically gave birth to five children, so she was probably going to be confused for the rest of her life.
None of their family members had the keys. After locking the house door, they would put the key in a broken jar next to it. As for the gate, the key was also placed in a hole next to the door frame for them to unlock whenever one of them came home.
Either way, it was meant to guard against others to make sure that no one had any funny ideas about trespassing.
Who would have thought that this would happen…seems like they were guarding against themselves now.
The children looked at her eagerly when she came back.
Sanwang, “Mother, hurry and open the door.”
They thought that she had taken the key with her.
“It’s in the house…” Lin Lan smiled apologetically.
Dawang leaned against the wall with his arms folded, looking at the sky and the ground for a bit.
Sanwang, “Mother, how do we go in then?”
Their father did not have a spare key either as he also used the common one.
Lin Lan looked at the window, “Why don’t you try…”
Sanwang, “!! Mother, even mice can’t get in through the window lattice. But if you insist, why don’t you let your real son Xiaowang try?”
If it was only the outer gate key that was lost, Dawang could still climb the wall to enter the compound. But with the house key locked in, only the Gods could help them as even Wangwang wouldn’t be able to get it for them.