"Fangfang, please put some more money in the letter. Consider it as Xiuxiu's travel expenses and a gift for Mom and Dad."
Hearing her husband's words, Lu Fangfang hesitated.
She and Zhuang Mingcheng just received their salaries for this month, which totaled over a hundred yuan. She was planning to save them for future emergencies.
"Please take some; I'm afraid something will happen if I don't have money."
Lu Fangfang thought about it and realized that her husband's words made sense.
She got up and walked to the wardrobe. She opened the door and took out a bulging handkerchief from the bottom of the clothes.
Carefully untied, revealing the money and tickets inside.
She looked at Zhuang Mingcheng and asked, "How much?"
Zhuang Mingcheng glanced at it and then said, "Take half of it, consider it an early New Year's allowance for Dad and Mom."
"half?"
Lu Fangfang hesitated for a moment, then took out four ten-yuan bills from her handkerchief.
We don't have much money right now, but if she finishes drawing the comic books, the family will be better off.
Zhuang Mingcheng took out two more sheets from his handkerchief and placed them in her hand.
"What are you doing? This is Xiaohua and Xiaohuanggou's allowance, you can't touch it."
Lu Fangfang quickly put it back.
She marked all the money with a pencil; the allowances for Xiaohua and the little yellow dog couldn't be touched, she had promised.
"Consider it a loan; I'll pay them back next month."
"That won't work either."
Lu Fangfang hesitated for a moment, then reached under the blanket and took out a small handkerchief.
After untying the knot, she carefully pulled out two five-yuan bills.
She wrapped up the rest and put it under the blanket.
Seeing this, Zhuang Mingcheng had no choice but to take out a ten-yuan note from his shirt pocket that he hadn't spent in months and reluctantly put it into his wife's hand.
"Here, use mine, is that alright?"
With a smile, Lu Fangfang glanced at her husband and casually said, "Consider it a loan from me. I'll pay you back when I receive the payment for my artwork."
"No need, we're all family, what's the big deal?"
Zhuang Mingcheng waved his hand, appearing very generous.
"Oh, right, take another ten catties of national grain coupons for Xiuxiu to buy food on the way."
"Food on the train doesn't require ration coupons; you can buy it with money."
Despite saying that, Lu Fangfang still took ten jin of national grain coupons and put them together with sixty yuan.
She rewrapped the handkerchief, put it under her clothes, and then closed the wardrobe door.
She took the money and tickets to the table, put them into a letter, and then placed it in an envelope.
"Mingcheng, if you put the money in the envelope, it won't get lost when you mail it, right?"
"Don't worry, no one dares to touch the letters sent from the military."
"That's fine then. You can mail it out tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, Lu Fangfang felt relieved and handed the letter to her husband.
A letter sent from the Qilian Mountains to her hometown would take a month to arrive.
Xiuxiu will be on the road for another half a month, and when she arrives, it will be November.
Her belly must have been quite big by then, and it was a cold time, so it seems we'll have to build a small heated kang (traditional heated bed) in the outer room.
Oh, and we also need to buy a curtain to cover things up a bit.
After thinking for a while, Lu Fangfang took out a new sheet of paper from the drawer and began writing a reply to President Sun in the provincial capital.
Sixty-one drawings, even at the fastest pace, would take her more than a month to complete, and she would still have to inform the person who created them.
Zhuang Mingcheng propped his head up and watched for a while before getting up and going to the outer room.
As he reached the door, he turned and looked into the yard. Little Flower and Little Tibetan Fox weren't sleepy tonight either; they were playing with Little Wild Donkey in the yard.
Late at night, the little ones were making a ruckus, even the two ducks under the shed were quacking.
"Little Flower, Little Yellow Dog, you two behave yourselves. What are you making a fuss about so late at night? Come in quickly."
"Awoo~"
"Meow~"
Little Flower and Little Tibetan Fox called out as they ran into the house.
"Oh...ah..."
Not to be outdone, the little wild donkey stretched out its head and barged in.
Seeing Zhuang Mingcheng staring blankly at it, it quickly took a few steps forward, snuggled into its arms, and then walked out on its own.
Zhuang Mingcheng: "..."
He couldn't help but scratch his head, feeling that the little wild donkey was acting a bit strange today, not quite the same as usual.
Yes, she seems more lively and approachable.
Turning his head, he saw that Xiao Hua and the little Tibetan fox had already jumped onto the bed. He shook his head, too lazy to think about it anymore.
He poured himself a cup of hot water from an enamel mug, then turned and went into the inner room.
"Fangfang, why does the little wild donkey seem different to me? But I can't quite put my finger on it, or what exactly has changed."
Upon hearing this, Lu Fangfang couldn't help but laugh again.
"Yes, they've changed. They've become more greedy, more foolish, and more shameless."
With her pen still in her hand, she smiled and recounted the events of the afternoon to Zhuang Mingcheng.
"Really? It can roll around?"
"Yeah, you didn't see it. I almost died laughing. This little rascal, I don't know where he learned it from."
Zhuang Mingcheng looked out the window, a broad smile on his face.
This greedy little wild donkey is quite interesting.
In the yard, the little wild donkey lay on a pile of hay, with a bundle of corn stalks beside it.
He lowered his head, took a bite, and then snorted.
Thinking about how it felt to lie on the grass at noon, it lay down again.
The donkey shifted its head upwards, using the corn stalks as a pillow to ensure it could easily reach the food.
Its little tail wagged, and it looked incredibly comfortable.
...
"Mingcheng, tomorrow, could you help me mail this letter?"
Lu Fangfang lowered her head, wrote the address on the envelope, and then handed it to her man.
She took out a sheet of drawing paper that the publisher had sent her, pondered for a moment with her pen, and then began to sketch.
She planned to first draw the cover of the comic book, and then go to the county town to buy paint to apply it.
The cover is very important; it can determine the sales of a comic book, so she has to draw it well.
She took out the few drawings she had made at noon for reference, determined the positions of the Tibetan fox, snow leopard, and Tibetan wild ass on the cover, and then she picked up her pen and started drawing.
After a while, she finished drawing her family's "Three Silly People of the Plateau" around the edges of the drawing paper.
In the center of the drawing paper, she left an empty space for the Pallas's cat. She wanted to draw all six members of the Pallas's cat family, as they were the main characters in the story.
After thinking for a moment, she drew two cute pikas in the corner of the drawing paper.
On the grasslands, pikas are the most numerous and the most representative animals.
On the kang (a heated brick bed), Zhuang Mingcheng was reading a book.
Seeing that his wife had finished drawing one, he casually said, "Fangfang, it's getting late, you should rest. You can draw comic books, but you can't overwork yourself."
Lu Fangfang stretched out her arm, glanced at the time, and realized it was already past nine o'clock.
After putting away the drawing paper, she stood up and stretched.
Looking back, she saw her husband already warming the bed on the kang (a heated brick bed).
She smiled and walked forward, reaching inside to touch it.
Yes, it's hot enough.
She took off her clothes, lifted the blanket, and crawled inside.
...
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