Li Lei, holding the donkey whip, sat in the driver's seat, tugged at his fur hat, and raised the whip high, intending to whip it in a flourish. However, the whip's end struck his hat instead.

The passengers on the carriage burst into laughter. Liang Qi, unable to sit still in the carriage canopy any longer, lifted the cotton curtain and jumped out, sitting on the other side of the carriage shaft. Li Lei held the reins.

After shouting "Giddy up, giddy up!" several times, the donkey finally set off. Along the way, Li Lei pursed his lips tightly, his eyes fixed on the road ahead, his palms, clad in cotton gloves, were sweating from the cold winter.

With Liang Qi's help, Li Lei survived several crises. When they finally arrived home safe and sound, Li Lei was covered in sweat. Xiao Yue had originally planned to leave the donkey at Liang Qi's house until the following spring, when she would build a donkey shed and bring it back herself.

Once in the yard, Li Lei led the little donkey directly to the kitchen in the front room, tied it to a pillar by the entrance, and then used a good wooden bucket as a feeding trough for the donkey.

Xiaoyue followed him into the kitchen in the front room, where Li Lei was grooming the donkey. Xiaoyue rolled her eyes, then pretended to be very caring and said, "If you put it in this room, you can live in it. Won't it smell?"

Li Lei glanced at Xiaoyue and said indifferently, "It's okay, I clean it every day. I'll also put a wall around the kitchen, the door is over there."

Xiaoyue looked at the wall that Li Lei was gesturing to her, and indeed the two doors were quite far apart. Helpless, Xiaoyue could only say, "Okay, then the little donkey is yours."

They then returned to the shed of the oxcart and, together with Liang Qi, moved the cloth inside to the warehouse.

Lu Xiaomei also carried a basket containing millet flour and fine cornmeal to the kitchen. She took out a handful of candy from the basket, gave two pieces to Xiaodouding, two pieces to Shuiyue, two pieces to Chunyue, and two pieces to Li Qianqian on the kang.

Xiaoyue entered the room just in time to see the scene of giving candy to Li Qianqian. Xiaoyue burst into laughter for no reason, making Lu Xiaomei blush and Li Qianqian feel confused.

She grabbed Xiaoyue from the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and pulled her onto it. Through her clothes, she tickled Xiaoyue's armpits with both hands. Xiaoyue rolled to the east side, then from the east to the west, but Li Qianqian wouldn't let up.

Xiaoyue laughed until she cried. Finally, she couldn't resist Li Qianqian's tricks anymore. Seeing that Lu Xiaomei had already left, she whispered to Li Qianqian about Li Lei pulling Lu Xiaomei away.

Upon hearing this, Li Qianqian couldn't help but glance at Lu Xiaomei in the kitchen. Without saying a word, she ran out of the house to find Li Lei.

Xiaoyue watched Li Qianqian run out, and before she could even finish her kiss, she came to help Lu Xiaomei with her work.

Taking advantage of the lull in work, Lu Xiaomei mixed five jin of millet flour with one jin of fine cornmeal, then divided the mixture into two basins. She placed one basin on the stove...

Use a ladle to scoop boiling water and pour it onto the surface, stirring quickly with chopsticks. Once it reaches a certain consistency, let it cool slightly, then start kneading the dough by hand. The dough is very thin. After kneading, cover it with a cloth and place it on the kang (heated brick bed) in the east room.

Then the next pot is the same as the previous one.

Xiaoyue came to boil beans. First, she washed half a bag of shelled dried green beans picked in the summer, poured the washed beans into a pot, added water until it covered the beans, then added a packet of saccharin, and started boiling the water.

Lu Xiaomei kneaded the dough in two bowls and placed them on the kang (heated brick bed) on the east side. Then she covered them with a large quilt, preparing to let the dough rise overnight before making steamed buns.

Xiaoyue had also cooked the beans. She lifted the lid of the pot, and the water had almost boiled away. She then used a spoon to mash the cooked beans into a paste. After that, she sifted the mashed beans into a large basin and took it to the floor of the east room to cool.

Xiaoyue and Lu Xiaomei were preparing to make steamed buns for tomorrow, while Liang Qi was tidying up the storeroom to make room for clothes to be made next month. Li Qianqian, after asking her brother, went to the storeroom, picked out a piece of cloth, and began to sew clothes.

After dinner, Xiaoyue, along with Chunshui, Shuiyue, Xiaodouding, Liangqi, and Lilei, made round bean paste balls about the size of apricots.

Xiaoyue looked at the round ball of red bean paste in her hand. The paste was still warm in her hand. Suddenly, she opened her mouth and put a piece of red bean paste into her mouth.

The little boy stared wide-eyed at Xiaoyue's puffed-out cheeks, then mischievously pointed at them and giggled.

When the little boy pointed, everyone else looked over. Xiaoyue blushed with embarrassment in front of the child. In a moment of urgency, Xiaoyue took advantage of the little boy's open mouth and stuffed one into his mouth. It was sweet, and the little boy's face sparkled with excitement.

Little Douding followed Xiaoyue's example and put a ball of bean paste into Shuiyue's mouth. Shuiyue was stunned for a moment, then quietly lowered her eyes.

Little Bean gave one to Chunyue, Li Lei, and Liang Qi each before finally stopping and making more bean paste.

After finishing making the bean paste, Xiaodouding and Shuiyue took the bean paste to the west room to deliver it to Lu Xiaomei and Li Qianqian.

Seeing that Chunyue had gone to weave, Li Lei said, "I'm going to check on the little donkey," and hurriedly ran away.

Xiaoyue and Liang Qi were left to clean up the mess. Xiaoyue carried a basin full of fillings to the single bed in the storeroom and placed it there. Liang Qi was also carrying a large basin full of fillings. As soon as Xiaoyue turned around, she saw Liang Qi following her.

Xiaoyue stepped aside, and Liang Qi easily entered the house. Xiaoyue then brought over another basin, and Liang Qi followed suit by bringing over the last basin as well. After placing the basins, Xiaoyue intended to stand by the door and wait for Liang Qi to come out before locking the door herself.

Xiaoyue stood facing the door, watching the sun go from red to gold and then disappear. The brilliant colors vanished in an instant. Xiaoyue felt a pang in her heart, as if something was blocking her mind. She wondered where the poplar catkins were and in whose house they were.

I wonder how Yang Danian is doing?

Feeling utterly frustrated, Liang Qi unconsciously placed his hand on Xiaoyue's waist, but Xiaoyue didn't turn around.

Liang Qi stood behind Xiaoyue and asked in a low voice, "What's wrong?"

Xiaoyue simply replied, "Let go."

Liang Qi gently pressed her head against Xiaoyue's shoulder in a coquettish manner, and said in a not-so-good mood, "No."

Xiaoyue had never heard Liang Qi speak like that before. Curious, she turned around and asked with concern, "What's wrong with you now?"

"I'm going to marry you."

"Okay, I'll marry him."

Upon hearing Xiaoyue's words, Liang Qi immediately perked up. "Really?" she asked, sounding both doubtful and expectant.

“It’s true, we should set a date. I have no relatives. Ge Sanlin rescued me back then, and I don’t even know who my parents are. You can tell Uncle Liang to set a date.”

Liang Qi picked up Xiaoyue and spun her around before realizing that the two of them felt too ambiguous in the darkness.

He awkwardly let go of the door, tried to push it open but couldn't. Xiaoyue suddenly laughed behind him.