"Where's my donkey?" Zhao Chunmiao shouted, "Zhou Chang'an—"
Zhou Chang'an came out of the house with his hands behind his back and said slowly, "It's late, keep your voice down."
Zhao Chunmiao hurried over and said, "Where's the donkey? The donkey in the pen is gone! Was it stolen?"
"A donkey?" Zhou Chang'an thought for a moment, "I think I saw Wei Guang leading a donkey out this afternoon."
Just then, Zhou Weiguang walked in from outside.
Zhao Chunmiao hurriedly asked her son, "Where did you take the donkey?"
Zhou Weiguang said, "The donkey... is in the kitchen."
kitchen?
Just as Zhao Chunmiao was about to ask for details, she heard Zhou Weiguang say again, "It's already slaughtered. Mom, you decide how to divide it. I'll send some to my second brother tomorrow."
"You've already slaughtered it?" Zhao Chunmiao was stunned for a moment before she reacted, then roared, "You killed my donkey?!"
“You said it this morning, that raising them isn’t worth it, it’s better to slaughter them and eat them for meat,” Zhou Weiguang recalled for Zhao Chunmiao.
Zhao Chunmiao choked, then said irritably, "I was just saying it casually, I didn't ask you to actually kill him!"
"Alright, alright," Zhou Chang'an said from the side, "Just kill it then. Your son hasn't been home for so many years, and you can't even bear to part with a donkey?"
“That’s not what I meant!” Zhao Chunmiao glared at Zhou Chang’an. “I mean… well, never mind, let’s just leave it at that.”
Zhao Chunmiao walked towards the kitchen, saying, "While the donkey offal is still fresh, I'll cook you donkey offal soup."
Zhou Chang'an said, "Let's skip it today. It'll be past midnight by the time we finish cooking. We can do it first thing tomorrow morning..."
Before she could finish speaking, Zhao Chunmiao had already come out of the kitchen with her hands on her hips.
"Where's the donkey offal?"
Zhou Weiguang paused for a moment, then said, "It's been given to Xiao Wu's family."
Zhao Chunmiao asked, puzzled, "Why give it to his family?"
Zhou Weiguang: "...His wife wanted to eat donkey offal, and he asked me for some, so I gave it to her."
Actually, Zhou Weiguang could tell Zhao Chunmiao the truth, and Zhao Chunmiao would definitely not be unwilling to give Qin Hanshu a bowl of donkey offal.
But somehow, the words came out differently, and he told a lie.
However, given Zhao Chunmiao's character, even if she met Zhou Xiaowu's family, she wouldn't bring up this matter on her own initiative.
As long as... Qin Hanshu doesn't mention it, this matter won't be exposed.
Zhou Weiguang touched his nose somewhat guiltily. Luckily, he was standing in the courtyard, where it was dark and he couldn't see it.
Zhao Chunmiao said enviously, "Xiao Wu's wife is really lucky. Xiao Wu indulges her in everything. I think if she wanted the stars in the sky, Xiao Wu would find a way to pluck them for her..."
As he spoke, he glanced at Zhou Chang'an.
Zhou Chang'an smiled good-naturedly and said, "Yes, I still need to keep up the good work and learn from Xiao Wu."
Zhao Chunmiao spat in embarrassment, snorted, and turned to go to the kitchen.
Yes, she's very lucky.
When she was young, Zhou Chang'an was similar to Zhou Xiaowu; she was the envy of many women back then.
Now that they're older, everything has become more ordinary, and the couple focuses most of their energy on their children.
Zhao Chunmiao divided the donkey meat into three portions: one portion for her own family, and two portions for Zhou Weiguang to deliver to Zhou Weili and another relative in the county the next day.
The donkey meat we keep at home is made into braised donkey meat, which can be stored for a long time and is an extra dish for the Chinese New Year.
Zhao Chunmiao originally wanted to send some to Qin Hanshu, but when she thought about how inconvenient it would be for so many people at the educated youth settlement, she gave up the idea.
We can just have her come over to our house for dinner later.
***
Qin Hanshu used the donkey offal given by the Zhou family to boil some for the tiger with plain water, and made a big pot of donkey offal soup with the rest.
I scooped a bowl for each of Ma Chaoyang and Zhang Kangmei, and put the rest in my space. We can cook noodles or eat them with flatbread later.
But why did Aunt Zhao give her so much donkey offal?
Knowing full well that she was alone, giving her too much would be too much for her to eat.
Moreover, according to past practice, Aunt Zhao almost never sent anything to the educated youth settlement; she would just invite her to her home to eat whatever she wanted.
But this time...
The educated youth who were returning to the city to visit their relatives were ready to set off.
The cadre school where Lin Zhiheng's parents worked was located on the outskirts of the capital, and they reportedly lived a very difficult life.
Qin Hanshu and the others prepared some local specialties for him to take with him.
Lin Zhiheng did not refuse and thanked him sincerely.
The heavy snow finally fell, turning the fields into a vast expanse of white, and transforming the Loess Plateau into a desolate and cold landscape.
When the meat was distributed that day, Qin Hanshu didn't want pork; she only wanted mutton, which weighed about four pounds. Thanks to Accountant Niu's favor, she was given only the top brain of the mutton.
She had originally planned to have hot pot mutton by herself, but Aunt Zhao gave her a whole set of donkey offal, so she decided to repay the favor and took the mutton to the Zhou family.
Besides mutton, she also brought sesame paste, fermented bean curd, and chive blossom sauce that she had scavenged from her home in the capital.
It was snowing, and every household had their doors closed.
When they knocked on the Zhou family's door, Zhou Weiguang answered.
She was never as comfortable and at ease with Zhou Weiguang as she was with Aunt Zhao and Zhou Ruilan.
Qin Hanshu explained his purpose with a slightly reserved demeanor.
Zhou Weiguang said, "My parents went to the commune early this morning and won't be back until the afternoon."
"Oh? Then I'll come again tomorrow."
Qin Hanshu was about to turn around and leave when she heard Zhou Weiguang say, "Come in, Lan Hua is feeling hungry."
...Oh well, we're already here.
Qin Hanshu entered the Zhou family's courtyard.
She was wearing a blue padded coat, a Lei Feng hat, and a red scarf around her neck, which completely covered half of her face.
Her hat, body, and scarf were covered in snow, making her look like a little snowman.
Its nose was a red dot, just like a carrot stuck on a snowman.
Zhou Weiguang's lips curled up almost imperceptibly before quickly disappearing.
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