the next day.

Li Mingqing wore a cotton hat, cotton gloves, and thick waterproof boots, and took a shovel to go to the village entrance to check the situation.

As soon as I went out, I saw old man Li coming out to pour out dirty water.

"Mingqing, are you going to work?"

"I'll go see if I can leave first. If not, I-"

"Yes, we can walk. Mingli and his friends opened a small path yesterday. We should be able to ride a bike there."

Li Mingqing was stunned when he heard this.

The three brothers really did great things quietly and brought benefits to the surrounding villages.

Apart from them, no one else would brave the cold wind to do this. They have to go to work, otherwise no one would come out to sweep the snow for no reason.

He put down his shovel and pushed his bicycle out.

I haven't been to the supply and marketing cooperative for two days and I don't know what's going on.

When he arrived, Zhao Xiaoling had not yet arrived.

I looked at the items on the shelves and found that they were basically intact, which showed that not many people had come here in the past two days.

Five minutes later, Zhao Xiaoling trotted in.

"Sister Zhao, you've worked hard at the supply and marketing cooperative these past two days."

"I only came yesterday, and there was no one there. I ended up buying two boxes of matches myself. If nothing unexpected happens, no one will come today. I thought you wouldn't come today, but I didn't expect you to come."

"My eldest brother and his friends cleared a small path."

"No wonder, it's really hard to get here in this cold weather. I think we can just sit there. There's no one around."

Li Mingqing sat there and took a sip of hot tea and asked, "Is there a power outage in town?"

"It stopped for two hours the day before yesterday, but the phone came back soon after."

"It seems that the power line in our village has really been cut. We have been without electricity for two days. I don't think the electrician will be able to come to repair it until tomorrow at the earliest."

The two of them sat there chatting, but by noon there was still no one there.

"You're going home at noon?"

"Yes, go back. It's too cold here."

Even though he was wearing thick clothes, he couldn't resist the cold. Even though the door of the supply and marketing cooperative was closed tightly and there was even a curtain at the back to block the wind, he was still freezing.

Fortunately, he was wearing the hot pack awarded by the system.

The constant heat from the soles of my feet spread throughout my body, preventing me from shivering from the cold.

On the way back, Li Mingqing took a closer look at the electric wires on the roadside.

Sure enough, halfway along the way, I saw a tree trunk that was broken in half due to the snow.

The broken tree trunk knocked down the power lines.

It would be strange if it could be powered.

When he arrived at the village entrance, he saw Zhao Hongbin, his mother and his wife cleaning the millstone.

"Brother, my family wants to make tofu. Would you mind taking over our business? This way, we don't have to grind the stone mill all over again."

"When will it be ground?"

"It's for tomorrow's lunch, so soaking the soybeans now is perfect."

"I'll go back and ask."

When I got home, Old Lady Li was helping to make pot stickers in the new house.

"How is it? Is the road easy to walk on?"

"Big brother and his friends are amazing. They cleaned the path just right. Oh, by the way, Mom, I just came back and saw Hongbin cleaning the millstone. He asked if our family wanted some to make tofu."

"I'm talking to your wife right now. It's the perfect time. When can we do it?"

"Tomorrow at noon."

Sun Jiaxue said, "Mom, I was bored at home the other day and picked out half a bag of soybeans. You can take them home later."

"There's half a basket at home."

"Here, take it. My wife isn't feeling well right now. We'll go to your place tomorrow at noon to drink some tofu pudding."

Li Mingqing cleaned the soles of his shoes and changed his shoes in front of the door before entering the house.

He took out half a bag of soybeans.

Sun Jiaxue picked out all the rotten soybeans and pebbles inside, and then just soaked them in water and waited to grind the beans.

"It won't take that much."

"Okay, I'll pour out half a bucket and you can take it back later."

Sun Jiaxue smiled and said, "Just now when we were making pot stickers, Mom and I said that it would be even better if there was tofu as the filling. We can eat tofu tomorrow. Mom, call me when you go to grind soybeans tomorrow."

"It's so cold, don't go."

"It's okay, I'll just watch and not interfere."

Old man Li sat by the window and watched the girl write.

Li Mingqing went over and asked, "Niece, have you been to the cowshed since the snow?"

"Not yet. We brought a lot of sweet potatoes there before, but Teacher Bi told us to go less often because the cowshed was very cold, so we didn't go."

"Don't go if it's so cold."

evening.

Li Mingqing went home and parked his bicycle inside the courtyard wall. He said something to Sun Jiaxue and left.

He found that a small path had been cleared on the road from the village to the cowshed.

It goes without saying that it was done by a few people in the cowshed.

Uncle Song saw him and said, "We are fine. It's so cold, you should go back."

"I just came out for a stroll."

Aunt Miao glanced at the basket in his hand and said, "We still have a lot of the sweet potatoes you asked the children to bring last time. It's not easy for everyone. We feel embarrassed."

"What's the big deal? It's just tuition for a few children."

"That's not true. Food is so precious. Winter has just begun, and I've already gotten used to it after living in the village for a few years."

As they talked, the two men led Li Mingqing into the cowshed.

It's quite cold indeed.

Fortunately, there was a layer of oil paper covering the outside, otherwise I would have frozen to death while sleeping in the middle of the night.

The wooden boards were covered with thick weeds and blankets and clothes.

There are clothes for all seasons.

There is no other way. Everything that can be covered has been covered.

He placed the basket on the slab and said, "Where are Uncle Bi and Uncle Kong?"

"I'm going out for a walk."

It would be better to go outside and walk around to keep warm than to sit in the shed and shiver.

“I didn’t see it when I came.”

"Maybe it's heading towards the back mountain."

When you have nothing to do, take a stroll in the back mountain. Maybe you can pick up a wild rabbit and add some meat to your diet.

"Okay, I'm leaving first."

Aunt Miao swiftly picked up the basket from the stone slab and handed it to him, "Take it back quickly."

"A little bit of fat. Jiaxue and I don't like it. It won't be good if it's kept for a long time."

"Nonsense, who doesn't like to eat fatty meat?"

This is really true. It is indeed the fat that was cut off while cooking these two days.

Li Mingqing left quickly without taking the basket.

Aunt Miao wanted to catch up, but after taking two steps she stopped to avoid being seen by others.

Uncle Song said, "We are able to have such a good time this year thanks to Li Mingqing. If we can ever return to the capital again, we must remember his kindness in helping us in our time of need."

"That's for sure. I hope that day will come. You have to repay the favors you receive."

"Even if I go back, my mentality will be different from before."

"That's right. In the past, people in the capital had no worries about food and clothing. I never thought that most people were living like this. Most people don't have enough to eat or wear warm clothes. The revolution hasn't succeeded yet."

They used to be either rich or noble, and to put it bluntly, they had no idea of ​​the suffering of ordinary people.

Now that I am in it, I understand the difficulties faced by ordinary people.