"Have a bowl of pork rib soup to warm yourself up first." Song's mother used a spoon to scoop a full bowl of pork rib soup and placed it in front of Wang Shuning.

There were not only pork ribs soup and braised pork on the table, but also roast chicken with potatoes, stir-fried vegetables, scrambled eggs with tomatoes, and a dish of stir-fried eggplant with green peppers. It was almost as sumptuous as the New Year's Eve dinner.

After dinner, Song's mother said, "Except for the food, all the things you sent a few days ago have been taken to your room. I'll go boil some water, and you can wash your hair and take a shower, and change your clothes. You didn't sleep well on the train, and your eyelids were fighting while you were eating."

Wang Shuning nodded and put his hands on his knees. "I bought a sleeper berth, which is already good. If it was a hard seat, I would have to lose several pounds."

Wang Jianguo, who was about to go out for a stroll, stopped and turned around. "It's hard to buy a sleeper berth during the Chinese New Year, and it's also tight after the New Year. When are you going back next year? I'll ask your brother to go to the station tomorrow to buy a ticket, so that you don't get it when the time comes."

Wang Shuning thought, "School will start on February 1st, so I have to go back two days in advance to prepare. Students have to register and buy train tickets for January 20th to 25th."

Song's mother came out of the kitchen and said, "It's just right after the Lantern Festival."

After a while, Song's mother ran to the living room and urged Wang Shuning to go to the kitchen to wash her hair.

There is a bathing tent hanging on the beam, so you can take a bath in it without feeling cold.

After washing, Wang Shuning went back to her room and sat down. The bed was warm. The kang in the room had been heated up in advance by Wang Shuning's father, for fear that his little daughter would feel cold when she went to bed.

Song's mother moved the brazier to the bedside, put a rack on it, and asked Wang Shuning to put her head on it so that she could dry her hair.

"Seeing that you not only didn't lose weight but also grew better and better, Mom is relieved. Going to the countryside is hard enough, and you ran to that faraway island without even sending a letter in advance to discuss it with your family."

Wang Shuning turned his head to look at Song's mother, "This is a rare opportunity. Although Jinshan Island is remote, you don't have to work in the fields. Being a teacher is more comfortable than farming."

Song's mother combed Wang Shuning's hair slowly to let the inner hair be heated by the fire. "Just take good care of yourself when you are out there. You sent so many things home. The money you took out is not enough to spend."

"The fruits and seafood on the island are very cheap. You can buy a pound of shrimp for only three cents. Tropical fruits are also cheap. You won't spend much."

My sore scalp felt particularly comfortable when combed by Song's mother.

Song's mother: "It's good to be a teacher. At least you have winter and summer vacations, and you can come back when you want. If you were still in Dafeng Village, you would definitely not be back now, and you would have to leave early after the New Year, and you couldn't even spend the Lantern Festival at home."

After the hair was completely dried, Song's mother took the brazier away and said, "Go to sleep if you're tired."

Wang Shuning hid under the quilt and stammered, "Yeah."

After the door was closed, Wang Shuning closed his eyes and fell asleep in a short while.

When I woke up, there was a dazzling white light coming through the gap in the curtains. I opened the curtains and saw a vast expanse of snow outside the house. Heavy snow was still falling in the air. If I listened carefully, I could even hear voices outside the room.

Did you sleep till the next morning?

Wang Shuning curled up in the quilt and didn't want to get up. The air at the tip of his nose was cold.

"Xiaoning, get up and have breakfast." Song's mother pushed open the door and shouted at the hair sticking out of the quilt.

Wang Shuning pulled down the quilt a little bit, "Mom, can I get up? It's so cold outside."

Song's mother pouted and raised her voice, "I'll bring the bowl over. How about you sit on the bed and eat?"

Wang Shuning opened his eyes wide, "Okay."

"Hurry and get up. You are still eating while sitting on the bed. Why don't you tell me that I fed you myself? You didn't have dinner yesterday. Aren't you hungry?" The tigress got scared.

As soon as the door was closed, Wang Shuning threw back the quilt and began to get dressed. His skin was shivering from the cold and his nose was about to run. After brushing his teeth and washing his face, he quickly ran to the kang in the living room.

Mother Song looked at the clothes she was wearing and said, "There are old ones in the closet, you can wear those."

Wang Shuning turned around and went back to his room, opened the closet, took off his short cotton coat and put on a long one. The hem of the coat reached his knees, making him much warmer.

For breakfast, I had fried dough sticks, soy milk and corn burritos.

I haven't eaten whole grains for several months, but now I don't feel sick of eating them.

"Didn't you bring two thick cotton-padded jackets when you went to the countryside? Why are you coming back wearing such thin ones?" I found out yesterday that the short cotton-padded jacket my little daughter was wearing was new. I helped to organize the things that were sent back before and put them in the closet. There were no two thick cotton-padded jackets at all.

When I came back yesterday, the bag I carried was empty, with only some underwear and socks in it. Even the lunch box was empty.

"The sleeve of one of my shirts was torn, and there was a big hole on the chest of another shirt that was scratched by a branch. I couldn't sew, so I took out the cotton and stuffed it into a pillow."

Before returning, Wang Shuning had considered the low temperature in Beijing and brought a cotton coat with him, but it didn't work.

Song's mother glared at him. He didn't know how to mend the torn clothes, so he used them as pillows. "When you were little, I told you to learn more, but you didn't listen. Now you can't even make clothes. The cotton coat we bought is so short. You're the only one left at home. After breakfast, your sister-in-law and I will take you to the street to buy some cloth and cotton to make clothes."

"Mom, no need to buy it. I'm staying at home and not going out. I don't need it even if I go back to the island. This one is enough." It was so cold outside and it was snowing, Wang Shuning was too lazy to go out.

Zhang Xiuzhen sat aside without saying a word. She hadn't gone out to make new clothes yet. If it were her turn, she would have run over there long ago.

"No, you've finally come back, and you can't let the neighbors see you wearing old clothes during the New Year. You have to make new clothes." She told others that her youngest daughter was a teacher outside, and if she didn't dress decently, people would definitely gossip about her.

"Since there is no need to try it on, mom and sister-in-law can go, and buy me light yellow fabric."

Song's mother: "Yellow doesn't get dirty easily, so I have to wear bright red for the New Year"

Wang Shuning said: "I don't have to work in the fields, and everyone wears bright red during the Chinese New Year, so I wanted to wear something different."

After eating a fried dough stick, a corn cake, and a cup of soy milk, Wang Shuning went back to his room and came out to hand Song's mother a stack of bills. "These are all issued by the school. I won't need them if I don't leave the island. I'll use them all up during the New Year."

In addition to more than 10,000 yuan, Wang Shuning also had a lot of tickets, all of which were given to him by Song Wenyi when he sold things before.

Song's mother reached out and took the tickets tied with rubber bands, including cloth tickets, sugar tickets, wine tickets, and even cigarette tickets.

"The school is issuing so many tickets, do you still get paid?"

Wang Shuning replied, "Yes, the salary for supporting Jinshan Island is higher than that for staying in the town. The seafood and fruits on the island are cheap, and you can grow your own vegetables in the yard. You can eat in the school cafeteria at noon, and you can't go out of the island to buy food in the city, so the expenses are naturally lower."

Song Guiying put the ticket in her pocket, and when she came back the next day she never asked her younger daughter how much she earned as a teacher.

My daughter-in-law is beside me now, I will ask her separately later.