The sun was hanging low in the western sky, casting a ray of light into the house, making it warm.

Liu Xinghua chopped cabbage and lard to make the filling, wrapped it in soft white dough, and then rolled it into the shape of a steamed bun.

Qian Chuan, with her five-month-old belly, sat at the table and helped Liu Xinghua with the packing. Liu Xinghua called her several times, asking her to put down her hands and go out to bask in the sun, but she just sat there and didn't move, insisting on helping Liu Xinghua to wrap the clothes.

It's not boring for the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to keep each other company, talking while working.

After the steamed buns are made, they are placed in a steamer, under which is a large pot of boiling hot water. Liu Xinghua stuffed the seam of the cage with a clean wet cloth and sat behind the stove to continue lighting the fire and steaming buns, while Qian Chuan still sat beside her and talked to her.

After steaming two baskets of plump white buns, the sun set behind the mountain and the sky in the west was filled with rosy clouds.

Qian Chuan stood up, holding her waist, and wanted to go to the toilet. As she reached the door, she suddenly saw a group of five children from the city almost reaching her home, and some of them were holding some luggage in their hands.

Ruan Xi and the others naturally saw Qian Chuan as well, and they immediately called out, "Fifth Aunt!"

Qian Chuan smiled happily, "Finally I'm back."

Liu Xinghua heard the sound from behind the stove and asked, "Who's back again?"

Qian Chuan stood in the door frame and looked back at her, "Who else could it be? Your five grandchildren."

Hearing this, Liu Xinghua quickly put down the half-washed cage cloth in her hand. Ruan Xi, Ruan Jie and Ruan Hongjun just arrived at the door, and they were inevitably greeted by grandma and fifth aunt.

But having been here last year, I felt much more familiar with the place this time and no longer needed to be introduced back and forth.

Liu Xinghua led them into the house and gave them some hot steamed buns that had just come out of the pot. She smiled and said, "It's filled with Chinese cabbage and pork lard. It's greasy and delicious. Come and try some. You must have been hungry on the way."

After walking on the mountain road for two days, it was rare to eat something hot. Ruan Hongjun didn't hesitate to take it, opened his mouth and took a big bite. He took one bite and found the filling inside, and then he cried out in pain because it was so hot.

Qian Chuan smiled and continued to go to the toilet. When she came back, she ran into Ruan Zhigao and Ruan Changsheng who had also returned. When Ruan Changsheng saw her, he quickly ran over to support her, calling her his darling and telling her to be careful.

Qian Chuan was a person who loved to work hard outside. She didn't like the delicate things. She opened Ruan Changsheng's hand and said to him, "Don't shout. Xiaoxi and Xiaojie are back. The three who came last year are here too."

Ruan Changsheng was not surprised at all when he heard this. He still went up to support her and said, "They came back last year, and they will definitely come back this year. Xiaoxi and Xiaojie are two good children who grew up in the countryside and have deep feelings for us."

He was not in a hurry, but Ruan Zhigao immediately quickened his pace and hurried home.

When I got home and walked into the house, I saw five babies, all smiling happily.

Ruan Xi, Ruan Jie and others greeted him one after another, and all said, "Grandpa is back."

Ruan Zhigao found a place to sit down and asked them with a smile: "How are you? You must be exhausted from the journey."

Ruan Hongjun likes to eat the stuffing of oil-dregs Chinese cabbage. He took a big bite and said, "It's much better than last year. We walked faster. It's not even dark yet. It was dark when we arrived last year."

As soon as he finished speaking, Ruan Changsheng came back with Qian Chuan.

Ruan Hongjun jumped up from the bench, rushed to Ruan Changsheng and said, "Fifth Uncle! You're finally back!"

Ruan Changsheng glanced at him and helped Qian Chuan sit on the bench. "What's wrong? Do you miss me so much?"

Ruan Hongjun nodded desperately at him, "I miss you so much, I've been thinking about it for a year!"

Ruan Changsheng reached out and rubbed his head twice, like rubbing a dog's head, "It's not in vain that I told you so many stories."

The atmosphere becomes more lively when there are more people at home, and everyone keeps talking.

In contrast to the lively atmosphere in the side room was the deserted main room where Ruan Changgui and Sun Xiaohui lived. Since the other kids didn't come over to say hello to them, and they were too embarrassed to go over to them, they had no choice but to do this.

In the past two years, their life was neither good nor bad, because Ruan Yuejin also went to the mine to earn work points, and there were only four people in the family, and there were no children to go to school and spend money, so there was no problem with having enough food.

But compared with the life of the old couple Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua, it is still far behind. After all, Ruan Changsheng can do the work of two people, and Ruan Cuizhi is the only tailor on Fengming Mountain, so she can earn a lot of money every year.

Thanks to Ruan Cuizhi's cooking skills, the family had meat to eat from time to time and lived a very comfortable life.

Ruan Changgui and Sun Xiaohui were often jealous of the good life in their hometown, and they also regretted that they had wanted to separate the family. They also tried many ways to curry favor with Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua, but Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua were hard-hearted and ignored them.

When they were angry, they would curse Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua behind their backs for being partial, and saying that they were cruel and hard-hearted and unworthy of being parents.

They are all their children, so why do the eldest and the fifth child live a good life, while the second child and his family have to live a hard life!

Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua couldn't hear anything, so they could make up stories and curse behind their backs. Anyway, it was they who wanted to divide the family property in the first place, not them as parents who kicked them out, so how could they say they were not in the right?

Ruan Xi had been at odds with Sun Xiaohui since she came here, and her relationship with Ruan Yuejin and Ruan Yuehua was not good either, so she naturally did not bring Ruan Hongjun, Ye Fan and Ruan Qiuyue to greet them. After dinner, she went to the tailor shop to sleep.

Ruan Jie was very afraid that Ruan Changgui and Sun Xiaohui would keep on keeping her and tying her up, so she stayed away from them and didn't even give them a chance to make eye contact. Anyway, they never raised her, so she didn't feel guilty.

After two days of walking on the mountain road, Ruan Xi and Ruan Jie were very tired, so they took Ruan Hongjun, Ye Fan and Ruan Qiuyue to the tailor shop to sleep. The next day, I slept until I woke up naturally, washed up, and went back home for lunch. Ruan Cuizhi happened to come back as well.

During the meal, Ruan Xi asked Ruan Zhigao: "Grandpa, has Ling Yao's father been rehabilitated?"

Although Ruan Zhigao is no longer the brigade secretary and spends his days at home raising chickens and ducks and taking care of his private plot, the cadres will still tell him everything if there are any important matters in the village.

After all, he has been the brigade secretary for decades and is old, so he still has the most influence in the village.

He nodded to Ruan Xi, "Yes, the higher-ups sent a notice and rehabilitated him."

Ruan Xi asked again: "Have they returned to the city yet?"

Ruan Zhigao nodded again, "They left. We intended to keep them in the village for the New Year before leaving, but they heard that they had to make some work arrangements and deal with many things when they returned, so the family of three went back."

Ruan Xi took a deep breath and said with a smile, "That's good. Their family has finally made it through."

Liu Xinghua said: "It's really not easy for a family of three to have lived here for so many years. I remember when they first came, Zhou Xueyun was like a grown-up girl, but when they left, she had a lot of white hair on her head."

It's really not easy to think about it. A city person who is used to a comfortable life has wasted seven or eight years here. Judging from the appearance alone, he will definitely feel that he has aged more than ten years. Ling Zhiyuan's change is even greater than Zhou Xueyun's, and he looks more vicissitudes of life.

Although Ling Yao's family had already left, Ruan Xi still went to the stilt house after lunch. When we got there, we saw that the wooden door was locked. We looked through the window and saw that the room was filled with miscellaneous items from the production team.

She walked around the stilt house and went up to the hillside where Ling Yao often raised the pigs. As she walked there, she thought to herself that Ling Yao was probably like this every day, quietly and lonely, traveling back and forth in these mountains.

Ruan Xi sat alone on the hillside for a while, and seemed to understand more and more how he felt staying here alone, every day. So he felt more and more that it was good to leave. He shouldn't have to live such a depressing life here.

Ruan Xi took a deep breath, and the cool winter air filled her lungs.

This time, it’s really goodbye.

Have a happy life.

There are many people and children in the family, especially with the lively Ruan Hongjun around, and the atmosphere of the New Year, it is extremely lively. Ruan Zhigao and Liu Xinghua were smiling all the time and wished these children were with them every day.

Under the same sky, the atmosphere in Ruan Changfu's two-story house was almost freezing cold.

The weather happened to be cold, and even the New Year’s Eve dinner felt cold in my mouth.

They finally got through New Year's Eve and stayed up all night. On the first day of the new year, they did not go out to visit other people to wish them a happy new year, and no one came to their house to wish them a happy new year, as if they had a tacit understanding.

The only one who came to pay New Year's greetings was Su Mengmeng.

Ruan Qiuyang saw Su Mengmeng coming over and she didn't want to stay at home in the cold. Besides, Ye Qiuwen's incident had happened three months ago and was no longer a new topic in the compound, so she went out with Su Mengmeng.

As soon as Ruan Qiuyang left, Ruan Hongbing could no longer stay and ran out to play with his classmates.

So only Ruan Changfu, Feng Xiuying and Ye Qiuwen were left at home. After all, they were a family, and it was not that they didn't talk to Ye Qiuwen, but they only said necessary words and there was almost no unnecessary chat.

There was no sign of easing in the relationship between Ruan Changfu and Ye Qiuwen, mainly because Ye Qiuwen's attitude was a bit tough, and it was impossible for Ruan Changfu to soften first. She made such a mistake and lost such a person, and still expected him to coax her again?

She was coaxed into not knowing east from west, south from north, and that's why she had the courage to do those things.

The relationship between Feng Xiuying and Ye Qiuwen has eased recently and is not as tense as before. However, there is still a gap and some knots in the heart between the mother and daughter, and it will take some time for them to return to the way they got along before.

Good or bad, it’s all in the past, so let it be.

Ruan Changfu has no other requirements for her now, as long as she behaves herself and has no more contact with Lu Yuanzheng.

Ruan Qiuyang and Ruan Hongbing went out to play, so Ruan Changfu went back to the house. Feng Xiuying did not go near Ruan Changfu. Instead, she sat down in the restaurant, tidied up the kitchen and restaurant, and picked some vegetables to prepare the next meal.

Ye Qiuwen probably felt suffocated, so she wrapped herself in a scarf and put on a hat and went out for a walk.

She didn't walk far, just walked around outside the compound and came back.

When she passed by the mailbox at home on her way back, she accidentally glanced at it and saw that there seemed to be something inside, so she opened the mailbox and took a look. Seeing that there was indeed a letter inside, she opened the mailbox and took it out.

The recipient on the letter is Ruan Xi.

Seeing that it was a letter from Ruan Xi, Ye Qiuwen felt subconsciously depressed and stuffed the letter back.

But just as she stuffed the letter back into the mailbox and before her fingers even left the envelope, she suddenly stopped. After a pause, she took out the letter again, held it straight and carefully read the sender's information on the envelope.

After reading it, she murmured softly: "Ling...Shen Hai..."

She looked at the sender's message and wondered - when did Ruan Xi get to know someone whose home was in Shenhai?

After standing in front of the mailbox for a while, she rolled up the letter and put it in her cotton-padded jacket pocket, then pulled the scarf over her face and went into the house.

She went straight upstairs after entering the room, locked the door, and took out the letter again.

After taking it out, he sat on the bed, tore it open, took out the letter inside and unfolded it.

There was nothing shameful in the letter. It was just that the boy named Ling from Shenhai told Ruan Xi about some of the situations after he returned to Shenhai, such as his parents had resumed work and he would go to school this year.

The letter only talked about trivial things.

But after reading it, Ye Qiuwen was stunned for a long time looking at the address on the envelope - so after Ruan Xi came to the city, she was hanging out with Xu Zhuo, the commander's son, while also using letters to hook up with a boy from Shenhai?

This letter was the first letter the boy wrote to her after returning to Shenhai.

The address on the envelope was magnified infinitely in her eyes.

After a moment she blinked twice, reached into the desk drawer and pulled out a box of matches.

The match head slid across the tinder, and a red flame jumped up.

The flames licked the corners of the letter and envelope, and the brown paper quickly turned into ashes, which were shattered all over the ground by the wind.