Chapter 26 Where's the New Quilt?

Today is New Year's Eve. Although posting Spring Festival couplets is not allowed due to the unrest, every household has bought some bright red things to hang under the eaves, such as red lanterns, red flags, and even red peppers, which are bright in color and symbolize a prosperous life.

The chimneys of every household had been chimney-smoking since the morning, and the aroma of food seemed more lively than usual.

An Zhixia cooked a pot of bone soup for Fang Lixi, and picked up a tray of steamed buns, a tray of steamed buns, and five pounds of dumplings. She also asked her brother to deliver the eight Beijing delicacies, canned food, malted milk, milk powder, two taels of meat, and a box of bulk calcium milk biscuits contributed by Nie Yichang and Hang Xianglei.

"Tell Fang Yuan that this is for the children, and no one can touch it, not even him!"

An Zhiqiu responded with a smile, shook his head lovingly and said, "I understand. I will tell Comrade Fang Yuan exactly what Comrade An Zhixia said."

"Wait for brother to come back, and then go to the village chief and Uncle Wang's house. Both of them have put in a lot of effort," An Zhixia pointed to the two boxes of snacks that she had prepared, "and remember to tell Fang Yuan that there are glutinous rice sticks and peach cakes in them. The village chief's family also got two kilograms of fruit candies. Let him pay these debts back slowly in the future."

An Zhiqiu nodded in agreement and found that the girl had another label: sharp tongue but a soft heart.

The educated youth in the commune who did not go home organized a Spring Festival Gala, and the educated youth in the yard also took some food to participate. Even Fei Zheng gritted her teeth and fried some hometown twisted dough sticks with half a pound of white flour and rapeseed oil. The dough was coated with sugar and sesame seeds and was crispy and delicious.

"You and your brother are really not going?" After wrapping the fried dough twist with oil paper, Fei Zheng whispered, "It's nice for everyone to get together and have fun. The most important thing is that we can exchange information and keep in touch. If we have the ability to return to the city, this is a rare network of contacts. If we can't return to the city, we can also form a family like Brother Zheng and Sister Yi Yue, which is better than living with the illiterate locals for the rest of our lives."

An Zhixia shook her head: "I have an unpleasant temper and I can't stand being wronged. Don't make everyone's New Year miserable. Go and have fun. I'll boil water and warm up the kang for you at home."

In her previous life, she had won so many awards that she had to attend all kinds of parties and dinners. When she went, she would just hang out with the director and producer, drink a lot of wine, or hide away to enjoy the food. She knew with her toes that this was the home court of Nie Yichang, Hang Xianglei, and Chen Sike. Well, Qi Yunlan had to be added to the mix.

When An Zhiqiu came back, the brother and sister stayed in the room staring at each other. Apart from reading, they had no other entertainment at all.

An Zhixia took out a stack of letter paper, filled her newly bought fountain pen with dark blue ink, and leaned over the table to write: "First Aid Manual."

However, his spiritual consciousness was flipping through the books in the supermarket, picking out several emergency rescue measures that people often encounter nowadays, and quickly copied them down.

Burns, insect stings, drowning, hard objects stuck in the throat, fire, food poisoning, injuries to various parts of the body, heat stroke...

An Zhiqiu sat aside and watched with great interest. The more he watched, the more surprised he was: "Sister, where did you learn this method?" How come she was born of the same parents, lived under the same roof, and went to the same school, but she surpassed her brother so much without any effort?

An Zhixia lied very smoothly: "Oh, when I was collecting firewood, I passed by the army. There was a little nurse reciting something inside the wall every day. I memorized it after reciting it many times."

Well, he touched his head embarrassedly, opportunities always come to those who are prepared.

Although there were only two people eating, An Zhixia still prepared a large table of food. There was a plate of fried food, a plate of bean sprouts and meat, a plate of scrambled eggs with chopped green onions, a plate of stewed vegetables, a plate of braised pork, a plate of chicken and mushroom stew, a plate of braised fish, a plate of braised radish and lamb, and a pot of pork ribs and meatball soup, paired with apple juice she squeezed.

The brother and sister sipped low-alcohol, low-quality liquor, fantasized about their days in the countryside, and unknowingly finished most of the meal.

The villagers of Hetang Village must have agreed to set off firecrackers in every household, and the sound of firecrackers lasted all night. In the early morning, the air was filled with the smell of ammunition.

The children put on new clothes, carried cloth bags, and went around in groups to ask for snacks.

Because Fang Lixi was rescued in time, An Zhixia's affection for the children in the village increased. She specially prepared beautifully packaged fruit candies, calcium milk biscuits and sliced candied apples to entertain the little guests.

Each of them got two candies, a biscuit, and a sweet apple. The children were so happy that they went out to tell the public. The whole village, from one-year-old children who could just walk to boys and girls aged 13 or 14, came running over and said all kinds of auspicious words.

The other educated youth in the yard were also bombarded with auspicious words. For the sake of face, they all took out some snacks. Looking at the children's most innocent smiles, they felt both pain and happiness.

Not seeing the Fang sisters, An Zhixia just thought they were accompanying Fang Lixi and didn't want her brother to be lonely.

But in the afternoon, Niu Wang ran over and waved to her.

"Sister, I have information."

An Zhixia smiled and handed him an apple. "What's wrong?"

"Little Songyan has caught a cold and has a fever," Niu Wang explained while holding an apple, "Didn't I fail to watch Fang Lixi and let him fall into the water? It just so happens that I got a lot of delicious food today, so I brought it to them to try. If I hadn't handed her the peach cake, she wouldn't have noticed it when it touched her palm. "

An Zhixia was a little confused. This shouldn't be the case. She had been with them for a whole night and a whole day. She had fed them ginger soup and isatis root and touched their foreheads from time to time. This was normal. How could they get sick after only one day?

Thinking about the story of Fang Songyan who lost his life to a cold, she didn't dare to delay. She sent Niu Wang away, called her brother and rushed to the cowshed.

When they arrived, the only people in the dim room were three siblings talking in low voices.

"Sister, why are you here?" The three children were quite friendly to her and greeted her happily.

An Zhixia walked a few steps to the kang and stretched out her hand to test the temperature of Fang Songyan's forehead.

The little girl dodged and slid down from the other side of the kang nimbly: "Sister, let me pour you some sugar water."

An Zhixia held her hands and pressed his forehead against hers. The place where they touched was hot and dry!

"Where's your dad?" she asked through gritted teeth, noticing that half of the things her brother had brought were missing. "Where's the new quilt I made for you? Where's the milk powder?"

The little girl shivered and said, "Dad, Dad went to clear the irrigation canal. Sister, don't be angry with him."

Fang Lixi was also anxious to get up, but was held down by An Zhiqiu. His bright eyes were filled with pleading: "Sister, the workers who dredge irrigation canals in winter get higher pay. Dad really wants us to live a good life, don't blame him, okay?"

(End of this chapter)