In those days, you needed coupons to buy everything: grain coupons, cloth coupons, and coal coupons.
Last time, the people from Qingshan Brigade came to buy coal as a group, but because each household had few coupons and little money, they didn't buy much coal.
Before Xie Zhuo set off for the Southern Province, he had already exchanged coal coupons with Lao He, so there was no situation where he had money but no coupons, or had coupons but no money.
One person bought the total amount of several households in the entire Qingshan Brigade, which surprised Liu Mancang and Zhao Jisheng.
"Third Brother, did you buy so many?" Liu Mancang asked, looking at the coal briquettes in the sacks on the ground that couldn't be loaded onto the truck.
“Your sister-in-law is afraid of the cold, and besides, there’s also Da Bao and Xiao Bao,” Xie Zhuo said. “If the children catch a cold in winter, it’s not easy for them to get better.”
Liu Mancang nodded, "That's true."
However, another person who had come to buy coal, who overheard his words, glanced at Xie Zhuo several times.
Are you buying so much because you're afraid of the cold and catching a cold?
Whose house isn't cold?
Who doesn't have children?
It's just that we don't have money or tickets.
Because Xie Zhuo bought too much coal, the oxcart couldn't carry it all, so he asked around at the coal yard and hired a horse-drawn cart to help transport it home.
After Xie Zhuo and the others left, Xu Yan brewed a cup of tea with boiling water. The tea was jasmine tea that Xie Zhuo had brought back from the Southern Province.
Put a little bit in an enamel mug, soak it in water, and the jasmine flowers that were originally shrunken will unfold their petals and float on the water.
It smells pretty good.
Smelling the aroma of tea, Xu Yan picked up a book and sat down by the stove. When she looked up again, several hours had passed.
After Xie Zhuo washed his hands, he cupped her chin, lowered his head, and kissed her on the corner of her lips, which brought her back to her senses.
"Hmm? You're back?" Xu Yan looked up and kissed Xie Zhuo on the corner of his mouth.
"Hmm," Xie Zhuo's mood improved a little because of her unintentional little gesture. "What do you want to eat? I'll make it."
"Anything is fine," Xu Yan said. She didn't have any particular cravings. She was happy with anything Xie Zhuo made. After Xie Zhuo had been away for a few days, she was getting a little tired of eating the food she cooked herself.
"So easy to take care of," Xie Zhuo smiled and leaned down to kiss the tip of her nose again.
For lunch, Xie Zhuo made braised pork, stir-fried cabbage with vinegar, stewed potatoes with vermicelli, a pot of rice, and some pickled vegetables from autumn.
When Da Bao and Xiao Bao came home from school, they were practically drooling as they sat around the table.
“I’m a terrible cook, aren’t I?” Xu Yan looked at them. “I feel like the two of you could eat this enamel plate right now.”
"It's not bad," Da Bao said, barely suppressing his drool. "Third Aunt's cooking is also delicious."
“Yes,” Xiao Bao nodded from the side, “but Uncle San’s is even tastier.”
"You guys are so sweet-talking," Xu Yan said with a smile as she went to get a bowl to serve rice.
Because water was being boiled, the stove was still burning, so the table placed next to it wasn't too cold.
Although Da Bao and Xiao Bao were extremely tempted before eating, their eating manners were quite good when they actually started eating. They basically closed their mouths, chewed each bite thoroughly, and swallowed it before taking the second bite.
This was quite rare in rural areas at that time.
Xie Zhuo said it was his mother who taught him.
However, Xu Yan felt that the Xie family was well-off and provided the children with adequate food and drink, which was why the children didn't feel so anxious about eating.
If this were a family that couldn't afford meat all year round, which child could resist a plate of braised pork?
Even adults might not be able to resist.
After the family of four finished eating, Da Bao and Xiao Bao went to Xu Yan and Xie Zhuo's room and stayed around the stove for a while.
Because they had to go to school in the afternoon, the stove in their room hadn't been lit yet.
Xie Zhuo calculated that starting the fire an hour before they got out of school in the afternoon would be just right, and the house would be warm by the time they returned.
Xu Yan felt that the school was cold and there was no need to go there and freeze; studying at home was just as good.
But Da Bao and Xiao Bao were very enthusiastic. No matter how cold it was, they went to school on time every day. Sometimes Xie Zhuo would take them, and sometimes the two of them would run there together.
"Is the school really that good?" Xu Yan tenderly applied face cream to their two frostbitten little faces.
“It’s fun,” Da Bao said.
"In Chinese class, the teacher told us many stories we didn't know, and in math class, doing math was also very interesting."
“Xiao Bao also thinks it’s fun,” Xiao Bao said.
"As long as it's fun," Xie Zhuo said.
He went to the city hospital at some point, bought two empty IV bottles, washed them, filled them with boiling water, and then put them in separate bags made from scraps of cloth.
"Once the bottle cools down, ask the teacher to refill it with hot water," Xie Zhuo instructed. "Got it?"
“We’ve got it,” Da Bao and Xiao Bao nodded.
By the time the first snowfall began, it was almost mid-December. This year, the snowfall was late, but it lasted a long time.
It rained on and off for two or three days before it finally stopped.
The weather was so cold that it was impossible to go outside.
Even though the sun was shining brightly and some of the snow had melted, the biting cold wind made you want to turn around and run indoors immediately.
Xie Zhuo woke up quite early, but he didn't want to get out of bed while holding Xu Yan, and gently pinched her inside her pajamas.
Xu Yan was disturbed by his movements and couldn't sleep anymore, so she pushed him away in annoyance, "What are you doing? I'm still sleepy."
Xie Zhuo stopped moving his hands, lowered his head and touched the slightly protruding neck bone at the back of her neck with his lips, as if to soothe her.
But Xu Yan couldn't sleep either. She yawned, turned over, and lay face to face with Xie Zhuo.
"We're going to the city this morning, what are we doing this afternoon?" Xu Yan asked.
Xie Zhuo said last night that the snow on the road had mostly melted and the ground was almost dry. He had to go over to deliver the repaired radio and watch to Lao He and also ask about the previous investment.
"I'll talk to Da Bao and Xiao Bao this afternoon," Xie Zhuo said. "I've been so busy lately that I haven't had a proper chat with them."
"Didn't you say they knew what I went to the Southern Province for?"
“Hmm,” Xu Yan sighed, “Those two kids are really good at keeping quiet. When you went there, they clearly already knew, but they never said anything. Now that you’ve been back from the South Province for so long, they still haven’t asked about the results.”
“That’s not like me,” Xie Zhuo said. “If I have something to ask, I’ll ask on the spot.”
Xu Yan raised an eyebrow.
"Don't believe me?" Xie Zhuo looked at her.
Xu Yan didn't speak, but the expression on his face clearly said, "Listen to yourself and see if you believe it."
Xie Zhuo smiled, then slid his hand down a little, touched and rubbed a bit of fabric, and as Xu Yan tried to back away, he hooked his finger and brushed against her.
"Is...there's water now?"
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