The climate here is cold, so Xie Yun rarely leaves the house. Her daily activities consist of carrying firewood, cooking, and sweeping snow. Every time she goes out to sweep the snow from the roof, it's her best warm-up. She stands below, holding a long stick with a wooden rake attached to it, and scoops the snow down. While others go up on the roof to sweep snow, she doesn't dare. She knows her own limitations best.

In the winter, when she had nothing to do, she cooked a lot of food at home and stored it in the space, so that she wouldn't have to cook during the busy farming season. The food, vegetables, fruits, and aquatic products in the space were still being stored, but the sacks and seeds were not enough, so she would have to buy some more when spring came.

Next year will be a special period, so I have to be more careful in everything I do. Even though I am the orphan of a martyr, I can't give them the chance to find fault with me.

Two days before the Lunar New Year, Han, a youth educated in the Youth Home, and the woman they had spoken to earlier came to Xie Yun's home. Han explained their purpose: they were looking for Xie Yun to spend the Lunar New Year with them. During Lunar New Year, everyone in the Youth Home gathered together, each bringing something to cook, to celebrate the holiday together. Since Xie Yun didn't live at the Youth Home, the two of them came to see her and see if she would go.

Xie Yun decided to go anyway. After all, she was still an educated youth, and the educated youths were a group after all, so she couldn't stop interacting with them forever.

Seeing that Xie Yun agreed, Han Zhiqing and the other two exchanged a few words before returning. As they walked back, they both envied Xie Yun. Not only did she live alone, but she also kept the place clean and tidy. It was a comfort to see.

Xie Yun waited for them to leave before getting busy. She was craving some braised food, so she grabbed some duck intestines, pig intestines, lotus root, dried tofu, kelp, pig's trotters, chicken feet, duck heads, fish balls, boiled eggs, and a large pig's head. By the time she had finished packing all these things, it was almost noon, so she quickly started cooking. Now that she was done, she could eat in the evening.

At noon, she made stir-fried silkworm pupae. Xie Yun hadn't eaten it since she came here, and now she felt a craving for it. She also made boiled pork slices and steamed some rice. As usual, she made extra, saving some for lunch and storing the rest in her space.

Her space now contained a wide variety of food. Even though it was freezing cold outside, she wasn't idle. She took advantage of the situation and made a lot of cold drinks. She froze a basket of pears and stored a lot of edible ice cubes in her space for summer cooking. She also had a good supply of regular ice cubes. Since she didn't have a fan, she kept some ice basins in her space to cool down when it got too hot. Although she had a refrigerator in her space, she couldn't cook much at once.

In the afternoon, Xie Yun caught a ton of shrimp and crabs from the lake in her space. She cleaned them, seasoned them, and made marinated crabs and raw shrimp. She also found a large octopus and made octopus balls. After some thought, she made sweet and sour spare ribs and braised pork in red sauce. After a hearty meal in the evening, she began her daily skincare regimen.

When I was lying on the kang after leaving the space, I was still thinking that I should take a fish with me when I go to the Youth League Home. I will also have to cook a fish at home. The old people always say that there will be surplus every year.

On the morning of the 30th, Xie Yun started making paste to paste up the couplets and the Chinese character for "Fu". Other time-traveling women could do everything, but Xie Yun was stuck. Xie Yun couldn't write calligraphy; she had bought all of them.

After checking at home and making sure everything was done, he carried a large fish weighing 6.7 catties and headed to the educated youth home. When he arrived, he knocked on the door. It was Han Zhiqing who opened the door. Seeing Xie Yun, he quickly let her in.

Xie Yun entered the main hall and saw all the educated youth there, chatting and laughing. When they saw Xie Yun enter, they stopped chatting and looked at her. Han Zhiqing quickly introduced her to the educated youth. Actually, all of them knew Xie Yun, but they had never greeted her. Xie Yun didn't know their names, and the few she knew were from gossip she heard from the team leader's wife.

At this time, Han Zhiqing said, "This is Wang Hong, Chen Zhaodi, Wang Lei, and Xu Jianye. You are all from the same group of educated youth. My name is Han Jun, she is Xu Lili, this is Qian Meng, and this is Zhao Weiguo. They are all veteran educated youth. This is Wang Qing, this is Li Baoguo, this is Qin Lai Di, and this is Wang Jianjun. They came after you." After saying this, he looked at Xie Yun and said, "Come, you can also figure out what we can cook."

Xie Yun smiled and said, "I've got the fish, you see what to do with it." Then she handed the fish to Han Jun.

After she finished speaking, she sat by the side, silent, watching them discuss. After a while, they settled on the menu and began cooking. Every female educated youth joined in, even Wang Qing, picking some vegetables as a token of appreciation. Xie Yun didn't mention cooking, just picking vegetables. She knew her limitations. She used a lot of oil, salt, and seasonings when cooking, and oil now required coupons. Even without coupons, you couldn't buy it, even if you had money. In the city, each person only had two liang of coupons per month. If she were to make this one dish, no one would be left. The educated youth would cry.

During the meal, men sat on one side and women sat on the other, all gathered around a table overflowing with food. The atmosphere was quite pleasant. Before the meal began, everyone said a blessing, and everyone enjoyed the meal thoroughly. Everyone, except Xie Yun, was completely stuffed. After the meal was over and everyone cleaned up, they performed a few more shows before dispersing. Han Jun and Wang Lei escorted Xie Yun home, where she began making dumplings with chives, egg, and shrimp. She finished her dumplings and didn't go to bed until after midnight.

On the morning of the first day of the new year, I went to the home of the team leader, the village head, and the party secretary to pay New Year's greetings. After returning home, I had lunch, took a nap, and then watched a movie. I found a New Year's film and a comedy. I had a lot of fun watching them.

The New Year didn't end until the fifth day of the Lunar New Year. At Xie Yun's place, all she did was eat, drink, sleep, and watch TV. After the second day of the second lunar month, Xie Yun went to the county, collected her allowance, and went to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some White Rabbit candies, pure white cotton cloth, and a piece of black cloth. She also bought some matches, oil, salt, sauce, and vinegar. She also found a seed vendor and bought some more. She couldn't make large orders; large quantities required a letter of introduction, which was a real hassle. She figured she'd have to go to the city someday.

During the first few days of spring plowing, Xie Yun found an excuse, got a letter of introduction, and headed to the city. Once there, he found a seed shop and bought a large quantity. He then found a sack factory and, after asking the doorman for a pack of cigarettes, inquired about the factory's sales department. He found the sales director, who gave him two boxes of good cigarettes and a permit to buy 20,000 sacks. He then wandered around the city's department store before returning.