In the end, Xuemei's lips were kissed raw by Han Chen, and they were red and her tongue was numb. Her whole body went limp, and she collapsed in Han Chen's arms.
Han Chen then let go of Xuemei, bent down to kiss Xuemei's forehead, and then hugged Xuemei tightly in his arms.
Xuemei was held too tightly by Han Chen, feeling like she couldn't breathe. She said in a soft voice, "Han Chen, don't hold me so tight, I feel like I can't breathe!"
Han Chen finally relaxed his arms. After both of them regained their breath, Han Chen looked down at Xuemei and said, "Xuemei, I'm sorry?"
Xuemei looked at Han Chen with a puzzled expression and asked, "Why are you apologizing so suddenly?"
Han Chen grabbed Xuemei's hand and kissed her lips before explaining, "I'm sorry that you and my parents have been wronged because of what happened between me and my mother!"
"Oh, I'm fine. If you feel you have let my parents down in this matter, you must treat them well in the future!" Xuemei replied.
Xuemei lowered her head, her eyes flickering uncomfortably. She felt that Han Chen's severing of ties with his mother, Zhang Lin, was a good thing. She was glad this way. She and her family wouldn't have to worry about Zhang Lin anymore, and she wouldn't have to visit her. She didn't think Zhang Lin was easy to get along with. Although this incident had saddened Han Chen, it would reduce conflicts between them.
Xuemei and Han Chen stayed in the room until Lin Jin knocked on the door and called them for lunch before they went out. At this time, their mouths were not so red and swollen. For lunch, they had white flour that Hu An had specially kneaded, and they ate it with the soup made from the mutton offal that Uncle Hu had brought back.
Uncle Hu went out and brought back two sheep bones, more than a pound of sheep offal, and more than three pounds of high-quality mutton. This was the logistics punishment given to the Lin family, and Grandpa Lin alone took a pound of mutton.
This was the first time Xuemei had eaten mutton and drunk mutton soup since she could remember. The mutton soup was delicious and rich, without any fishy smell.
Xuemei liked it after taking a sip. She drank a big bowl of mutton soup and then ate a bowl of noodles with the soup.
After Xuemei had her fill, she specifically asked Juan how to make the mutton soup. Juan said that this was mainly because the mutton was fresh, and asked Han Chen to go to the cellar and get some white radish, cabbage and other things, and stew the radish in the mutton soup in the evening.
This was also Xuemei's first time seeing a cellar, a place used to store fruits and vegetables for long periods of time during the northern winter. The entrance to the Lin family's cellar was just below the stairwell.
Xuemei had been wondering why the stairwell, which was about five or six square meters in area and not very high, was not used as a storage room but just for two bicycles. It turned out that on the lower side of the stairs, there was a raised area with a wooden board that could be lifted up. After lifting it up, you could see a square opening with a basement underneath. The wooden floor was about two meters above the cellar floor.
Only one person could enter the cellar at a time. As soon as Han Chen opened the door, Xuemei said, "Han Chen, please help me hold the top of this wooden staircase. I want to go down and take a look. This is my first time seeing a cellar."
Han Chen pulled Xuemei aside and explained, "Let's go in later. You need to ventilate the cellar every time you go in. It's been sealed in for so long, it's going to be very stuffy, lacking oxygen, and there might even be toxic gases. I'll go open the window at the back of the living room first, so it'll ventilate faster. Wait at least half an hour before going down."
Before Han Chen opened the cellar door, he had already opened the door to the living room. Now that the cold wind was blowing in, the living room was no longer warm. Xuemei and Han Chen had already put on their cotton coats.
The window at the back of the living room faced the entrance to the cellar. Once it was opened, cold wind rushed in. Han Chen looked at Xuemei, who was staring at the entrance to the cellar stupidly, and pulled her back to the room. After closing the door, he said, "Don't stand at the entrance to the cellar when it's ventilating. Look, even Xiaojin and his two brothers have already returned to their rooms!"
After staying in the room for more than half an hour, Han Chen went out. After a while, Han Chen came back in.
"Can I go down now?" Xuemei slipped down from the kang as soon as she saw Han Chen come in, and asked while squatting down to put on her shoes.
Han Chen looked at Xuemei's anxious expression, covered his mouth and smiled, then replied: "You can go down now, come out!"
Xuemei happily skipped after Han Chen. When they reached the bottom of the stairs, Juan was already waiting by the cellar. At Juan's feet was a bamboo basket that could be slung over one shoulder. Juan held the ends of the stairs on both sides of the cellar entrance. Han Chen went down the cellar first, carrying the bamboo basket astride. After he went down and held the bottom of the stairs, he called out to Xuemei, "Xuemei, come down!"
Xuemei went down to the cellar and found it dry and cold. The cellar was about ten square meters in size. Except for the one or two square meters around the stairs, the rest was filled with things, some in sacks, and some piled directly on the ground.
With Han Chen's introduction, Xuemei learned that half of the cellar was in the backyard. There was also an entrance in the backyard, but it was now frozen and covered with snow, so she came in through the entrance in the living room.
Nearly three-fifths of the cellar was filled with sweet potatoes and potatoes, most of which were bought by Juan and Yu Qing from the nearby countryside before the New Year. The remaining two-fifths were cabbage and white radish, which would last until March or April. Apart from that, there were only a few bundles of green onions and a small bag of yam that came from nowhere.
Han Chen brought up a basket of sweet potatoes and a basket of potatoes. After Xuemei went up, Han Chen put three cabbages, a small bundle of green onions, a few white radishes and a piece of yam into the basket.
After Han Chen came up, he sealed the entrance to the cellar. Xuemei quickly closed the door and windows of the living room, while Juan went back to the kitchen with the basket.
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