Aunt Ma touched it again with affection and asked, "Isn't it beautiful?"

"Beautiful! You can trust me, you won't regret it! Add a gold hairpin to your hair, and it will look even more impressive," An Moxue praised, sitting on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed).

Just then, Old Ma returned. As soon as he entered the house, he saw Aunt Ma standing on the ground wearing a big sweater, touching the clothes with obvious affection.

"Wow! Where did this wealthy family come from? They're really impressive." Old Ma said jokingly as soon as he opened his mouth.

Aunt Ma gave Old Ma a coquettish glare, but didn't say anything.

Old Ma sat down on the kang (a heated brick bed) with a smile and asked, "Is there any for me?"

When An Moxue heard him ask this, she quickly took out another item beside her and handed it to Old Ma, "Here, this one is for you."

"There really is one!?" Her words were filled with unbelievable surprise.

"Just tell me if you want it or not!" An Moxue asked, handing over the clothes.

"Yes." Old Ma, as if afraid she would change her mind, snatched the clothes and tried them on while standing.

Aunt Ma scoffed, "Looking like you've never seen the world before, how embarrassing." She continued taking off her clothes.

"You old woman, Mo Xue is back, I won't hold it against you." Old Ma put on his clothes and said to An Mo Xue, "Girl, this suits you perfectly."

"Of course, the girl made it herself, how could it not be appropriate?" Aunt Ma continued with disdain.

"Really?" Old Ma looked at An Moxue, feeling even more at ease, as none of his children were as filial as Moxue.

An Moxue watched the old couple bickering without intervening, and even felt a sense of warmth and coziness; it felt like home.

An Moxue smiled and nodded.

Old Ma said, "I'll be wearing this this winter, and those old guys will be so envious." He was referring to the revolutionary veterans from other villages who drove the cart with him; they were all heroes!

"Showing off!" Aunt Ma curled her lip.

"What? I'm willing. You're envious of me, so show off! Aren't we each wearing one?" Old Ma said dismissively.

"Is the house all cleaned up? Have you opened the windows for ventilation?" Aunt Ma asked.

"It's all cleaned up, the windows are open, and the blankets are out to air," Old Ma instructed.

"Thank you, Uncle Ma! You've worked hard, Uncle Ma! This is a treat for you." An Moxue said, taking out a bag filled with several kinds of liquor, all of them pure grain liquor.

"Sorghum liquor, rice wine, and fruit wine!" The surprise was impossible to hide.

Just as Old Ma was about to take it, An Moxue said, "Uncle Ma, we've agreed that it's limited, you can't drink too much!"

Old Ma looked at An Moxue, then at Aunt Ma, sighed, and resignedly said, "Fine! I'll do whatever you say, okay?"

Then, An Moxue began to categorize, "Auntie, these two pieces of cloth are for you. You can keep these canned fruits and canned beef. These are cured meat and cured fish, made by people from the south. You can try these different flavors. The milk powder and malted milk powder are also for you. Oh, right, this is beef jerky, and this is mutton jerky."

She glanced outside and said softly, "These are cattle and sheep raised on my own ranch. Please eat as much as you like."

The elderly couple understood immediately. They had seen it before; the Mongolian region was full of pastures, and An Moxue had taken one item, and Aunt Ma had taken one too.

Old Ma said with a smile, "Your aunt and I have been taking milk powder and malted milk powder non-stop for the past few years. In addition, with the medicine you gave us to nourish our bodies, our health has obviously improved. People say that we have less gray hair. I don't know if it's true."

Upon hearing this, An Moxue stood up, first looking at Aunt Ma's hair, then at Old Ma's hair, and exclaimed in surprise, "It's true, there are indeed fewer white hairs, especially Aunt Ma's. Many of her hair roots are black, but the tips are white, which means that a lot of new black hairs have grown."

"Really? I haven't had to stay home all winter for the past few years, and I can even go out and visit neighbors!" Aunt Ma said, her whole demeanor light and cheerful.

"Keep eating, we're not short of money! Good health is more important than anything else," An Moxue said magnanimously, waving her hand.

After saying that, he went back to the kang (a heated brick bed) and continued distributing the items.

After the distribution was completed, a small portion remained on the kang (a heated brick bed). Old Ma said, "This morning, several people passed by my house and saw the car in the yard. They all knew you were back. Now, I estimate that most people in the village know you're back."

"It's alright. This time, I'll just let things happen naturally when I get back. There's no need to hide my itinerary. In a little while, I'll go to Aunt Guo's house to see her and Uncle Guo. I also need to check on the village officials. Uncle Ma, are the village officials still the same people?"

"Nothing's changed, it's still the same. But these days I'm at the village committee office all day. Now that the college entrance exam has been reinstated, several of our village's educated youth and young people have passed, and they're all busy with the paperwork!"

Old Ma tapped his pipe, about to light another cigarette, but then put it down.

Aunt Ma saw this and suppressed a laugh. An Moxue looked completely bewildered. She looked at Aunt Ma, then at Old Ma, her eyes questioning Aunt Ma: What's wrong? Why are you hesitating to smoke?

Aunt Ma said with a smile, "Your Uncle Ma has quit smoking! Now he only smokes two or three times a day."

An Moxue said, "That's great! You can eat candy! Didn't I bring back such a big bag of candy? If Uncle Ma wants to smoke, he can eat a piece of candy and feel much better."

"Will this work?" Aunt Ma asked eagerly.

"It should be somewhat helpful. My Uncle Ma has already quit smoking to this extent, which is already very good. Uncle Ma, have the Qi sisters, Taohua and Hehua, taken the college entrance examination?"

Old Ma sighed, "Speaking of which, it's a pity. Peach Blossom got into college and all the formalities are done. Lotus didn't do as well as Peach Blossom, but she also went to a teacher's college. After graduation, she'll definitely be a teacher. Isn't that great?"

“Yes, it’s quite good,” An Moxue replied.

"It's that old woman, Peach Blossom's mother-in-law. She's a terrible person. She sold the college admission notice to her niece on her mother's side for five hundred yuan. Lotus's husband seems like a good person usually, but when it really matters, he's worried that Lotus won't come back from her studies, so he's eyeing that five hundred yuan. Peach Blossom has already had several fights with the Wei family mother and son, and the village's mediation hasn't worked. The two sides are at a stalemate!"

"Has Peach Blossom not gotten married in the past few years?"

"No. What did you say to her back then? You persisted for so many years, and in these past few years, many good young men have taken a liking to her, but she didn't budge."

"Uncle Ma, what are you saying? I didn't say anything! I just told Tao Hua that a woman has to stand on her own two feet no matter what. If she's strong, no man will dare to look down on her. When you get married, you should find someone you love and whose family won't cause trouble. Marriage isn't like dating; it involves two families and is quite complicated!"

Old Ma laughed and said, "Just you wait! If that girl finds out you're back, she'll definitely come looking for you."

An Moxue said nonchalantly, "So what if she's here! I've been missing her! I was just looking forward to seeing her!"

Old Ma sighed helplessly, "You! You!"