Time flies, and winter vacation is here in the blink of an eye.
That day, Xia Qingqing received a letter from Shanghai, sent by Liang Shuang.
At first, she didn't notice anything wrong, since she and Liang Shuang communicated almost every month.
It wasn't until she read the letter that she learned Liang Shuang was planning to come to Beijing during the winter break and would visit her, and had written to let her know in advance.
Xia Qingqing glanced at the time on the letter and, judging from the time, Liang Shuang was probably already on the train.
Sure enough, the next day, Xia Qingqing saw Liang Shuang shivering from the cold at her doorstep, wearing a wool coat and a turtleneck sweater.
Liang Shuang exhaled a puff of white breath and gave Xia Qingqing a bright smile: "Qingqing, it's so cold in Beijing. I feel like I'm about to freeze."
Seeing that her face was red from the cold, Xia Qingqing quickly took the luggage from her hands: "Are you stupid? You know it's cold in Beijing, but you don't know to wear more clothes. Come inside with me and warm up by the fire."
Zhang Hongyan and Xia Heping were sitting around the stove in the main room. When they saw Liang Shuang, they immediately stood up and said, "Oh my, this must be Shuangshuang. Your aunt hasn't seen you for almost two years."
"Auntie, Uncle Xia, it's been a long time," Liang Shuang said, taking off her gloves and rubbing her hands together as she greeted Zhang Hongyan and the others.
"Hey, long time no see," Xia Heping said with a smile and a nod.
Xia Qingqing poured Liang Shuang a cup of hot tea: "I thought you wouldn't arrive so soon. You must be freezing. Have some hot tea to warm yourself up."
"Actually, it's not so bad. It's just that it's quite cold outside, but it's not cold on the train," Liang Shuang said, taking a sip of hot water and finally feeling like she had come back to life.
Although she knew that Beijing was cold, she didn't expect it to be this cold. She had even worn two sweaters under her wool coat.
Zhang Hongyan looked at the wool coat Liang Shuang was wearing and said, "It would be strange if you weren't cold wearing that. Qingqing, go to the room and find Shuangshuang a thick cotton coat so she can change into it."
“Auntie, you don’t need to go to so much trouble. I feel much better now,” Liang Shuang quickly stood up to try and stop her.
Her outfit wasn't as unwarm as I'd imagined. Both her wool coat and the sweater she wore underneath were cashmere, so they were incredibly warm indoors. It was just that the wind outside was so biting that it made her shiver.
“Why not? It would be even more troublesome if you caught a cold later. Speaking of which, I almost forgot about the ginger soup. Shuangshuang, sit here and warm yourself by the fire. Auntie will go and make you some ginger soup,” Zhang Hongyan said before getting up and going to the kitchen.
Liang Shuang stopped Xia Qingqing, who was about to find clothes for herself: "Qingqing, you really don't need to get me a cotton coat. I brought a military overcoat with me." As she spoke, she pointed to the suitcase behind her.
"You brought it, why didn't you put it on? And you're freezing like this," Xia Qingqing couldn't help but roll her eyes at her.
Liang Shuang gave an awkward smile. She was just thinking of striking a pretty pose, but she only realized how cold it was after getting off the train. Thinking that she could just hold on and get to Xia Qingqing's house soon, she was too lazy to change her clothes.
"You're prioritizing style over warmth," Xia Qingqing laughed.
Zhang Hongyan boiled a pot of ginger soup with lots of brown sugar and served a bowl to everyone.
Gou Dan, who was doing his homework in his room, saw his mother suddenly bring in a bowl of ginger soup. He shook his head in resistance and said, "Mom, I'm not cold, I don't need to drink this."
The ginger soup didn't taste very good either; it was spicy and pungent, and he didn't like drinking it at all.
Besides, he really didn't feel cold at all. Ever since the weather turned cold, Zhang Hongyan had someone install a stove in his room, just in case his hands got cold while he was doing his homework. He stayed in the room warm and cozy.
Ignoring Gou Dan's desperate shaking of his head, Zhang Hongyan placed the ginger and brown sugar water in front of him: "Listen to me, drinking this won't do you any harm. Mom put a lot of brown sugar in it, it's very sweet."
"Okay, I'll drink it after it cools down."
Gou Dan looked at Zhang Hongyan curiously: "Mom, why did you suddenly decide to make ginger soup?"
“Your sister Shuangshuang is here. Do you remember her? She’s Liang, the educated youth who used to be very close to your sister in Shihe Brigade.”
Dog Egg's eyes lit up: "Of course I remember! Sister Shuangshuang used to bring me delicious food all the time. Mom, I want to go and say hello to Sister Shuangshuang too."
Zhang Hongyan nodded: "Go ahead, it's a good opportunity to rest for a while, and then continue doing your homework in the afternoon."
Dog Egg happily put down his pen and dashed into the main room, shouting to Liang Shuang, who was huddled next to the stove, "Sister Shuangshuang~".
"Oh, it's Gou Dan! Our Gou Dan has grown so tall!" Liang Shuang looked at Gou Dan with some surprise.
In her memory, Gou Dan was still that dark-skinned, skinny little boy. In the blink of an eye, he's almost as tall as her. Time really flies.
Gou Dan smiled sheepishly: "Hehe, maybe it's because I usually eat a lot."
He not only ate a lot, but Xia Qingqing also bought him milk powder to ensure he got enough nutrition. With good food and drink every day, he naturally grew taller.
“It’s good to be tall. Tall boys are more popular with girls,” Liang Shuang said with a smile to Gou Dan.
Hearing this, Gou Dan curled his lip indifferently: "Whatever, I don't need little girls to like me."
"Haha, you're still young. You'll understand when you grow up."
Liang Shuang drank a large bowl of ginger and brown sugar water, and her warm body broke out in a thin layer of sweat, making her feel much more comfortable.
Xia Qingqing thought that she must be tired after sitting on the train all day, so she told her to go to her room and rest for a while, and then wake her up when it was time to eat.
As a result, Liang Shuang was not sleepy at all when she lay in bed, and started chatting with Xia Qingqing.
Xia Qingqing looked at Liang Shuang and asked, "Shuangshuang, why did you choose this time to come to Beijing? It's so cold and inconvenient to go out. Why didn't you come during the long summer vacation?"
"Hehe, actually I just came here to have some fun, but I mainly came to see my boyfriend," Liang Shuang said, awkwardly touching her nose.
She came to Beijing mainly to visit her brother and Zhang Jianguo at the military base. She hadn't seen Xia Qingqing for two years, so she decided to visit her as well.
Xia Qingqing was stunned: "When did you get a boyfriend? I've never heard you mention it before."
"It was a while ago, after we officially became a couple, we hadn't met yet, so I didn't tell you about it," Liang Shuang said somewhat guiltily.
"Hurry up and tell me honestly, what does your boyfriend do? Is he from Beijing? What's his name? How old is he?" Xia Qingqing asked a series of questions in one breath.
Liang Shuang whispered, "Actually, you should know him too. He's Zhang Jianguo, the second son of the brigade leader."
"What? Zhang Jianguo?" Xia Qingqing couldn't help but exclaim in surprise. She never expected that Liang Shuang's partner would be Zhang Jianguo. What a strange fate!
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