After an exam, Zhang Guoqing's home welcomed a peak in crowds.

In the past, at this time of year, markets of all sizes had already begun, and adults and children could go to the market to join in the fun, which was considered a good place to go.

The market was closed today, and the children had a day off. Besides playing on sleds in the snow, there was no corn to grind at home. The Zhang family's grandchildren, including several grandchildren, all crowded into the courtyard.

It was very cold on a snowy day, but this year other families were not like Zhang Guoqing's family. The fire wall and kang made the main room as warm as spring, and they didn't need to wear multiple layers of clothes inside.

Xizi and the others would never go home, no matter how hard they tried. Every evening, the two kangs in the west room and the study were filled with children, big and small, with their heads huddled together.

A few days later, Li Qinglin and Zhang Yuntao from the Iron Triangle moved into the courtyard carrying rations and bags of clothes, and occupied the only remaining wooden bed in the west room.

Zhao Yuanyuan was furious. She was just a little late, and the only room she had was already occupied. She couldn't possibly squeeze onto Zhou Jiao's family's kang, could she? She had no choice but to sleep next to the children.

Honeycomb coal is indeed better than coal balls.

The honeycomb coal that Aunt Wang, her left neighbor, had been complaining about for several months finally made her regret it so much that her intestines turned green. Looking at the Zhang and Chen families not far away, she comforted herself that fortunately she could still visit them.

Huang Juan was the happiest. Although her family didn't have Zhang Guoqing's sturdy labor, they still managed to scrape together enough time to make a lot of honeycomb briquettes. She reasoned that since the higher-ups had ordered the use of honeycomb briquettes, and even the usually astute Zhang Guoqing approved, they had to follow suit.

She squinted at her husband, Old Chen, with a smug look. See, she's doing a good job as the head of the household, isn't she? So far this year, no one in the family has had frostbite.

Cheerful laughter could be heard from the Zhang family courtyard every day, which attracted children from nearby to gather slowly, and retired old men and women to visit frequently.

Snowball fights, snowman building, ice lantern making, playing eagle-and-chicken games, and catching galaha (a game of catching galah) kept the children entertained. Listening to operas, storytelling, chatting, mending shoe soles, and occasionally visiting neighbors together kept Zhang's parents grinning from ear to ear. For a moment, everyone seemed to forget their food shortages and celebrate the holidays in advance.

Zhou Jiao was both sad and happy. Her son had a playmate every day, so happy that he even went to sleep with a smile on his face. Her parents-in-law also had a playmate and were so happy all day long that they no longer clamored to leave.

The only thing that tormented her was the things within the space. They could be touched and seen, but not eaten. She didn't dare use them at all because of the smell. But every day, she ate either vegetable steamed buns, corn tortillas, sweet potato porridge, or sauerkraut soup, which made her stomach ache.

Zhou Jiao often teased Zhang Guoqing about herself. She'd become a nun in advance, all she needed to do was keep a green lamp and a wooden fish. This made Zhang Guoqing both distressed and amused.

Days passed, and Li Qinglin and Zhang Yuntao went to their maternal family's house to celebrate the New Year. Before Zhou Jiao could envy them, Zhao Yuanyuan followed her twin brother to their maternal family's house.

The departure of the four of them lightened Zhou Jiao's burden, but it also increased her longing for her father in Beijing. Lin Lishan had secretly written to Zhou Jiao, telling her that her father was constantly busy and had lost weight.

Everyone has their own selfish desires. She suspected that the things she'd asked her father to take back with him had all been donated by him. She might be judging others by her own selfishness, but she even suspected that her mother, Lin Lishan, had also moved some of the things back to her parents' home. These concerns made her miss her father even more.

The matter concerned Zhou Xiaozheng, her only relative in both her past and present lives. The next day, Zhou Jiao risked her life by running to the provincial capital to mail the items to Old Lady Cheng.

If there is anyone in the capital who treats Zhou Xiaozheng sincerely?

Zhou Jiao felt that only Old Lady Cheng, putting aside family interests, was truly sincere towards them.

Although Zhou Jiao recognized her mother in her heart, the conversation before the accident that day, in which Lin Lishan recognized her mother's family and doubted Zhou Xiaozheng, still left a shadow on Zhou Jiao.

After the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month, after receiving supplies from their three sons' homes, Zhang's father and mother took a cart full of children and rode on the village's sled and ox cart back to their hometown.

“No matter how beautiful the hometown is, it’s the water; no matter how close the hometown is, it’s the people.” In the hearts of Zhang’s father and mother, their hometown is their Zhangjia Village. No matter how good the county town is, they still miss the old locust tree at the entrance of the village.

Standing at the gate, the couple both breathed a sigh of relief as the ox cart turned the corner and disappeared.

Zhang Guoqing looked at the child in his arms. He thought the child was behaving abnormally today and thought there would be another crying scene.

"Son, why don't you make a fuss and go back with grandpa and the others?"

Ping An opened his mouth and said, "Noisy."

Zhou Jiao chuckled. She knew her son well. It wasn't just about arguing; it was more about being stingy. He hated it when others touched his comic books, his toys, or even took his food.

At first, when more children came, the atmosphere became more lively and he was very happy and generous. But when he found that he had to share his fruit and everything else, he was not happy at all.

Zhang Guoqing carried his son into the yard. "Yeah, it's really noisy. But don't you miss your grandparents?"

"No. Grandma gave my candy to my brother."

Zhou Jiao couldn't be happy after hearing this. How could she hold a grudge at such a young age? "Ping'an, grandma loves you the most. If she knew you felt this way, she would be very sad. There was so much candy at home, so grandma shared it with your brothers. As for the few apples, grandma couldn't bear to give them to others, so she kept them all for you to eat?"

Ping An lowered his head and said, "But many of my brothers didn't give me anything."

Zhang Guoqing shook his head at her and patted the child's head. "Next time grandma wants to give you something, tell grandma you don't want it. Got it? Ping An did a great job this time. He didn't cry or make a fuss even when he was unhappy. He's a good child."

He didn't think Ping'an had done anything wrong. Others didn't know they had space, and everything was in short supply right now. Every family made sure their children held on tightly to what they had. His nephews and nieces had brought rations, but he'd given them more. Aside from his two sisters who occasionally brought snacks, his two brothers and sisters-in-law had come empty-handed.

"Dad, I really want to eat meat."

As soon as Ping An finished speaking, Zhang Guoqing, heartbroken, nearly burst into tears. These days, his son had been truly wronged for his safety. Even when someone so young told him not to let anyone smell anything, the child wouldn't even mention what he wanted to eat.

"Okay. You can have whatever you want. Mom and Dad are hiding it."

Zhou Jiao looked at the father and son with a headache. With a father like that, it was no wonder the son was so stingy.

Zhang Guoqing held his son up and laughed heartily along with the child's laughter. "Wife, Jiaojiao, wife, don't worry. Our son is not stingy. He has principles."

Zhou Jiao laughed in silence. "Spoil him, if you want to, spoil him." It would save her from complaining in the middle of the night that the child was thin and hungry.

In the following days, to avoid people coming to visit, Zhou Jiao asked Zhang Guoqing to lock the door after he left for work. Not only did Ping An find it noisy, she also felt it was a bit noisy.