In the dim light of a kerosene lamp, several elderly men were dehairing and slaughtering pigs. The heat swayed in the lamplight. It was cold outside, and a crowd of villagers were standing quietly outside the door, holding bowls.

Some people started crying while eating, some were worried about their family members who had fled the famine, and some said that if their relatives were at home, they could also drink pig blood soup with oil and salt today.

Qin Laoshuan said, "If anyone tells a word about what happened today, no one will survive. Remember this."

Thirty thousand kilograms of sweet potatoes were placed in the production team's grain warehouse. Qin Huai walked in and saw that there were still more than a dozen bags of grain inside. This warehouse was guarded by someone in the village 24 hours a day. Everyone had guessed that there was a lot of grain in it, but they didn't expect that these were all left.

"Don't think about those grains. They are seeds for next year." Qin Laoshuan said again with concern.

There was no answer except the sound of heavy footsteps.

Yu Zhennan was shocked by the heaviness of this.

The pork was loaded onto the truck, and Qin Huai got on and drove away.

Yu Zhennan said, "Life is so difficult for farmers." Just now, an old man brought him a bowl of pig's blood soup, but he felt it was too heavy.

Qin Huai said, "Brother Yu, with these sweet potatoes, we can save many lives."

With Qin Laoshuan in charge, these sweet potatoes will definitely play the greatest role.

Qin Huai drove the truck directly to the chemical plant and said goodbye to Yu Zhennan and went home. Yu Zhennan called him and Qin Huai stopped to wait for him to speak. He thought for a while and said, "It's okay. You can go back. Be careful on the road."

"Got it, Brother Yu."

The old man listened to him talk about the village affairs, chanting "Amitabha" in his mouth, and then said: "Qin Huai, I will go back tomorrow. There is food in the village now. We don't need to make soap anymore. I am not needed here."

"Grandpa, what are you talking about? There are only a few sweet potatoes in the village, and we have to be frugal with what we eat. I often have to go out, and I can't feel at ease without you watching over Xiaomi and the others."

"It's so cold, what are you doing out there?"

"This is Big Brother Yu's home, not ours. How can we keep living in someone else's house?"

The old man was stunned and said, "After this winter, when the trees grow leaves and grass emerges from the ground in the spring, we can return to Qinjiazhuang."

The two little girls did not have the worries of adults. They begged Qin Huai to go back to the village and bring back the textbooks to study on their own.

The door was closed and everything was unified. The weather was getting colder and colder. It snowed for three consecutive days. Qin Huai thought that he would just spend the winter like this.

But after only two days of peace, the old man came over hesitantly and said, "Qin Huai, I want to discuss something with you, is that okay?"

"Grandpa, if there's anything else we need to discuss, just tell me."

"Your aunt hasn't been back for three years, and I don't know if she's dead or alive. I'd like to take advantage of my free time to visit her. Is that okay?"

"Okay, but I'm worried about you being alone. I want to go with you."

The old man said, "If I could see her once before I die, I would be able to close my eyes after death."

He said this because he was afraid that Qin Huai would dislike him, but Qin Huai said, "Please bring more dry food on the road, and also bring some food for my aunt."

Old Man Qin didn't refuse and said, "I thank you on behalf of your aunt."

Qin Huai's heart was so blocked that he couldn't speak.

The two men had more than a dozen flatbreads in their arms. Qin Huai also wrapped a few pounds of corn flour around his body and cut two sticks to explore the snowy path.

After several days of heavy snow, the ditch was covered. If people accidentally stepped into it, they would not be able to climb out, so they had to explore the way first.

The two men walked through the city and headed south. Beyond the city, they reached the countryside. Looking around, they saw snow everywhere, making it impossible to tell which was the road and which was the ditch. Fortunately, Old Man Qin could still barely discern the direction, and the two men trudged along without seeing any other pedestrians.

Starting early in the morning, they walked until the afternoon when Old Man Qin pointed ahead and said, "That should be your aunt's village."

As the father and son approached the village, a fat and strong dog came over. It was not afraid of people at all. Qin Huai waved the crutch in his hand, then took a few steps back, letting out a creepy growl from his throat.

Old Man Qin said, "Be careful of this beast. He must have eaten people before."

Qin Huai was startled.

"Who in the countryside has enough food to feed it? Look how strong it is. How else can it get so fat except by eating people?"

Qin Huai became angry after hearing this, and chased the dog with the stick in his hand. The dog screamed and retreated. It probably didn't expect that there was someone stronger than it.

After a stalemate, it probably felt that Qin Huai was not easy to deal with, so it slowly retreated.

The old man gasped and said, "This beast."

After scolding him, he took Qin Huai to a house in the middle of the village. The door was ajar. Qin Huai had a bad feeling in his heart and walked in quickly. There were no footprints in the yard, which didn't look like anyone lived there.

"Grandpa, you're not in the wrong place, right?"

The old man's breathing quickened as he said, "This is it, this is it."

"Grandpa, please wait outside. I'll go in and take a look."

He reached out and pushed open the door. When he walked in, it seemed that the room was even colder than outside. It was pitch black and he couldn't see anything. There was no one in the main room. He walked further into the room and saw several people lying on the kang inside.

"Auntie?" he called out tentatively. But the person on the kang didn't respond. He ran over to the kang and pushed the three people, but they were already dead.

He screamed again in fear: "Auntie."

The old man rushed in from outside and asked, "What happened to your aunt?"

Qin Huai pointed at the three people on the kang and said, "They're all dead."

The old man hurried to look, carefully identified it and said, "Thank God, your aunt is not here."

These three people were obviously an elderly man, a middle-aged man and a child.

Qin Huai breathed a sigh of relief. Although it was a good thing that she was not there, where could she go with such heavy snow?

There were footsteps outside the door, and a middle-aged man walked in and asked, "Who are you? What are you doing here?"

He looked very strange. He was obviously a farmer, but he was wearing a Zhongshan suit. He looked like a cadre, but his legs were covered in mud.

"Qin Liu is my daughter, and we are from Qinjiazhuang." It would be easier if there was someone around, so Old Man Qin immediately revealed his identity.

"Uncle, are you looking for Qin Liu? She lives in my house now and lives with me."

Old man Qin immediately grabbed him and said, "Take me to see her quickly."

During the conversation, I learned that this man was called Li Xiangyang, the village chief of Xiaoli Village. He was a retired soldier, so he looked different from ordinary villagers.

Li Xiangyang said embarrassedly: "Uncle, I didn't tell you that we live together. I originally planned to go to Qinjiazhuang to see you in the spring and talk about this, but I didn't expect you to come first."

"As long as people are alive, nothing else matters."

The old man was not opposed to this kind of thing and kept urging Li Xiangyang to walk faster. He couldn't wait to see his daughter safe and sound.