Liu Jingze gently draped his coat over Zhang Hongmei, then went to check on the kitchen; the fire in the stove was still burning brightly.

I went back inside and continued reading.

In fact, Zhang Hongmei hadn't slept soundly at all. She woke up as soon as Liu Jingze got up, but she was too lazy to open her eyes. Liu Jingze's actions touched her quite a bit, but that was all; they didn't stir any ripples in her heart.

An hour later, Liu Jingze woke Zhang Hongmei up. "Hongmei, are you hungry? What would you like to eat?"

“Brother Jingze, you don’t need to stay with me all the time. It makes me very uncomfortable. You’ve finally come back, why don’t you go home and spend time with Grandma and the others? You’re putting me in a really difficult position.”

"Are you tired of me? Fine, I'll give you time and space. I'll come see you again tomorrow, but you should still try to avoid touching cold things."

"I understand, I'll be careful."

Finally, I got rid of him; he really caused me panic. I quickly went into my spatial dimension to tidy myself up, but where should I throw away my sanitary napkins? I wouldn't be worried if I didn't have them, but I would be worried even if I did.

I'll just put it in a trash bag and burn it when I go into the mountains later. Just thinking about it makes me feel disgusted. But there's no other way, so this is the only option.

After tidying myself up, I felt a bit hungry, so I ate a piece of cake and drank a cup of hot milk in my online space before leaving.

Feeling utterly bored, I found a needle and thread and decided to try making shoes. It's a great way to kill time. In my past life, I always felt like I didn't have enough time; now, it's like I'm simply wasting my life.

After pricking my hand several times, I finally resigned myself to giving up. No, I'm just too clumsy.

I lay dejectedly on the kang (heated brick bed), it was so warm and comfortable. I thought about what entertainment options I had in my space, and finally sighed. I hadn't prepared anything, so all I had were books.

Go down to the ground, find a chess set, and entertain yourself.

Dinner was still porridge. Zhang Hongmei didn't eat after getting her food. She waited for Li Cuihua to take it back to Shi Tou and San Ya. After a whole day of school, how could they manage with just a bowl of thin porridge?

The next morning, Liu Jingze came over but only brought Zhang Hongmei a few radishes and helped her split the large logs. He left after an hour.

Zhang Hongmei could accept this distance, and the annoyance she felt yesterday was gone.

It wasn't until the fourteenth, when her period was over, that Zhang Hongmei became excited. She could go to the market the next day! Excitedly, she went to Li Cuihua's house.

"Third Aunt, are you going to the market tomorrow?"

"Let's go, we need to prepare the New Year's gifts. Let's go together."

"Alright, Auntie, is anyone in our village slaughtering a pig this year?"

"Yes, there are five."

"Great, now I can buy meat."

"Okay, I'll tell them how many you want to buy."

"I'd like to buy twenty catties from each family. I also want pork ribs and pork bones."

"Okay, let me ask if they can sell this much. My older brother's family should be able to sell you twenty catties without any problem. You should be going to school soon, are you buying so much meat to take with you?"

"Well, Auntie will have to help me fumigate it then. By the way, Auntie, do you know how to do enemas?"

"Yes, I will. Do you want to make rice flour sausage or meat sausage?"

"I want them all. Can I pay a little more to have someone clean my small intestines for me?"

"No need, is one small intestine enough?"

"If one family can sell me twenty catties of meat, that will be enough; I'll have to smoke the rest."

"Okay, but the pigs at my house are too small this year, so we won't slaughter them. We'll keep them for the New Year. Otherwise, I could give you more."

Liu Maocai entered the house just in time to hear, "We're slaughtering a pig. Take some extra for Hongmei. Even if it's small, we can still get seventy or eighty catties of meat."

"No, Uncle, this pig is too small. Besides, I might be able to buy a hundred pounds of meat."

“They wouldn’t last long anyway, so we killed them.”

Even if Li Cuihua was reluctant, she wouldn't argue with Liu Maocai's words. "Let him kill me then," she thought, "there really won't be any food left to feed him this spring."

"Your second sister should be back today, and Shi Tou and San Ya are on holiday too. Come over for dinner tonight and we'll make dumplings."

"Okay, I still have a lot of wheat flour. I'll bring it over in a bit. We'll eat pure wheat flour noodles. I also have a small piece of cured meat, and cabbage and pork noodles."

"No need, I have flour and meat at home, I've saved them all. Keep yours for yourself, take it with you when you leave."

"No need, we'll eat at the school cafeteria then."

"Then bring some fine grains, so you can make some yourself if you get hungry. Be obedient."

Zhang Hongmei then dropped the subject. Liu Maocai sat to the side, smoking his pipe, looking at Zhang Hongmei as if he wanted to say something but hesitated.

"Third Uncle, do you have something to say?" Zhang Hongmei couldn't pretend she didn't see it; Liu Maocai's behavior was too obvious.

"Jianguo's mom, go get some dried sweet potatoes for Hongmei to chew on."

Li Cuihua said, "Really, I forgot. I also roasted some pine nuts. Hongmei, wait a moment."

“Hongmei, be careful when you go to the capital. Your father once told me that they went to the border because they couldn’t stay in the capital.”

Did my dad say anything else?

"No, I guess he just blurted it out when he told me. Just be careful and come back if you can't handle it."

"I know, Uncle. I'm just a student, what could possibly happen? Don't worry. You're still hiding this from my Aunt?"

What's the point of telling her?

Li Cuihua brought in a tea tray containing dried sweet potatoes and pine nuts. She also carried in a cloth bag.

"Hongmei, these are the new sweet potato chips this year. Take them and eat them. I'll pack you another bag when you leave."

"I still have some."

"If you have any, they're from last year. They can't taste as good as this year's fresh ones."

The three stayed for a while. Before leaving, Li Cuihua gave Zhang Hongmei a small cloth bag, but did not let Zhang Hongmei open it before seeing her out.

Zhang Hongmei saw Liu Jingze at the door. After spending the last few days together at a distance, Zhang Hongmei gradually stopped feeling annoyed and was able to face Liu Jingze as usual.

Liu Jingze saw Zhang Hongmei carrying a bag from afar and quickly ran over to take it from her. "What's this?"

"Hehe, I went to my third uncle's house, and I came back empty-handed."

"That's because you've always done your job well. What, are you going to the market tomorrow?"

"Hmm, I want to see if they sell fishing nets. I'd like to go fishing."

"Should I go with you?"

"I want to go with Sister Er Ya." Zhang Hongmei was a little hesitant. If there wasn't anything ambiguous about it, she would definitely have agreed to go to the market together.

"Then let's go together. We'll also bring Stone, Sanya, and the others."

"Okay, let's go together. I wonder what's being sold at the market this year? I want to eat candied hawthorns. We still have some sugar at home, but I don't know who knows how to stick them?"

"My grandma knows how to make them. Let's buy some hawthorns and have her make a lot so the kids can have a treat. But do you have enough sugar?"