Is this winter cold?
Very cold, cold to the bones, cold to the heart...
There was heavy snow outside, and the room was freezing except for the kang (kang) which still had some heat...
The clumping cotton wool covered my body, my swollen belly, and I felt even colder...
Zhang Guoqing was standing in the thatched hut at this time, watching the scenes before him, and a chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
Love is sometimes great...
His mother-in-law, Lin Lishan, abandoned her own flesh and blood for her lover and lived in exile for seventeen years...
For decades, Mr. Zhang Wu has been alone guarding his crumbling home for his deceased wife...
But the reality is before us. Does Uncle Zhang Wu feel that he has lived enough, or does he simply not want to leave this little house that was once full of love and tenderness?
Zhang Guoqing shook his head at his uncle behind him, took a step forward, and looked at the old man calmly.
"Xiaowu, go back with your uncle. I won't live at his house, nor at yours..."
"Fifth Grandpa, do you miss Fifth Grandma? She must be waiting for you to chat with her on New Year's Eve."
The uncle who was adopted by Master Zhang Wu said, "Xiao Wu..."
"Hush," Zhang Guoqing gestured at him, and continued, "My grandfather must still be thinking about you drinking with him. Has he ever come to me in a dream to tell me what he wants to eat? Let me think, he loves braised pork, especially when it's stewed until it's soft and melts in the mouth. He likes the fragrant gravy on white rice the most. He often says that no matter what he eats, it's not as delicious as fragrant rice.
If you don't tell Fifth Grandma what the world will be like in the future and don't tell Grandpa what will happen to me in the future, they will definitely be very angry. How can they not be angry when they are not well-informed?
"Your grandfather's favorite isn't braised pork. He likes braised pork, peanuts, and roast chicken the most... Ouch, little brat, you did it on purpose."
Zhang Guoqing burst into laughter when he heard Uncle Zhang Wu finally speak.
"Uncle Qi, I'll hold Uncle Wu, you close the door. Uncle Wu, don't worry, this room won't collapse."
When Master Zhang Wu heard this, he immediately stood up and said, "What are you doing? I really don't want to go. If you are worried, please help me get some firewood."
"Dad, can you come home with me? Your grandchildren and the others miss you."
"don't want!"
Zhang Guoqing was silent for a moment, then shook his head. "Stubborn old man. Wait for me to get back and come back soon."
After moving the firewood from his village yard, he felt uneasy and secretly stuffed a bag of cornmeal into an old quilt and sent it over.
Because of the presence of outsiders, Zhang Guoqing didn't say much, just gestured with his hands. Seeing that Uncle Zhang Wu understood, he felt relieved. No matter how good the adopted child was, it was not his own child.
After settling the old man, he hurried back to the county town. Being called back to the village so suddenly in the middle of the day, he thought something had happened. His wife must be terribly worried now.
In the county town, Zhou Jiao had given up using the kitchen, fearing the attention of burning wood in two places. She couldn't cook meat or seafood right now anyway. She simply cooked in the living room. When guests came, they'd have steamed buns made from wild vegetables, and when no one was around, the family of three would cook their own meals.
She wasn't just worried about Zhang Guoqing anymore, she was even more worried about her father, Zhou Xiaozheng. Going to the south for a meeting out of the blue had already made her so nervous.
"Mom, eat dumplings."
Zhou Jiao was amused by her son's voice. What a good boy! He even knew to save two for himself.
"Son, when someone asks you what you want to eat, what do you say?"
"The wild vegetable steamed buns are gone."
Zhou Jiao teased her son, smelled the smell of dumplings in the air, and secretly wondered if she should get rid of the odor immediately.
She still remembered how the aroma of meat wafted from Aunt Wang's house next door a few days ago, attracting so many children to gather outside the yard. The children's eyes lit up as they drank the pot of bone soup.
Ping An heard the sound of the door unlocking and jumped up happily, "Mom, it's Dad! Dad is back."
Zhou Jiao quickly stood up and stopped him, "Don't jump on the kang, it's dangerous!"
After a while, Zhang Guoqing came in and rushed towards him. He reached out and hugged it, holding it high up, "Son, what did you eat today?"
"dumpling."
Zhou Jiao put a plate of dumplings on the table and watched the father and son playing with a smile.
"Jiaojiao, I left in such a hurry at noon that I forgot to tell you that my godfather called. He said he would be back in Beijing in two days and is in Haishi now, so don't worry."
Zhou Jiao finally felt relieved and asked about the situation in the village.
Zhang Guoqing glanced at the child in his arms and began to explain in simple, accessible language. His son understood everything now, and it would be good to know the situation outside sooner.
In the afternoon, when it was time to go to work, Zhang Guoqing just walked out of the house and met Lao Chen from next door.
Old Chen looked around and waved to him.
Zhang Guoqing's heart pounded at the sight. Whenever Old Chen looked like this, it was always bad news. He hurried forward.
"Uncle, are you going to work now?"
"Yeah. Does your family still have money? Remember to take Jiaojiao to buy some snacks and store them at home to supplement the child's nutrition. It doesn't matter to us adults, but we can't save money on children."
Zhang Guoqing said with a smile, "Uncle, thank you." After that, the two chatted tacitly for a while and then went back to work.
It seems the Grain Bureau is about to make trouble again. Last time they reduced the amount, what is going on this time?
At this moment, Zhang Guoqing felt even more fortunate to have such a good neighbor. However, he didn't treat the neighbor unfairly, believing that a reciprocal relationship was the key to long-term success.
As soon as he entered the office and before he sat down, several colleagues stared at Zhang Guoqing.
He smelled his body - no smell of dumplings.
He looked around in confusion, "What's wrong? Why are you all looking at me?"
A colleague stepped forward and said with a smile, "Xiao Wu, you have a wide network of contacts and a smart mind. Please help us all figure out where we can get rations. Anything edible will do."
Zhang Guoqing frowned and said with a bitter face, "Where can we find it? Our canteen is pretty good. I just came back from the village, and the porridge there is just clear soup."
A colleague touched his stomach and said, "What's good about that? I peed at noon and it's gone. Eating cakes every day is not a solution. My salary is not enough to cover my expenses."
Zhang Guoqing thought to himself: This is unbearable, it’s not over yet.
"You're single, so it's easy to deal with. But for us, a couple with five children, that's really suffering. Sigh... I haven't had anything dry to eat in five days."
Zhang Guoqing watched as a group of people chattered in unison. They all talked about food shortages, and food shortages.
"well……"
"Why are you sighing? Your wife is known for her poor appetite. The food she saves is enough for you to eat. Not to mention your father-in-law's contribution. Your uncles in the provincial capital can only watch."
Zhang Guoqing smiled wryly and shook his head. "Everyone's pretty much the same now. My father-in-law and his wife eat in the cafeteria. How much food can they possibly have left? And every uncle's family has kids. I've been fretting for days, trying to figure out where to get some rice to make porridge for the kids. I worked so hard to get them plump, but now they've lost weight again."
"So what does your son eat now? My little son wanted to cry yesterday because he wanted to eat eggs. Alas...it's okay for the adults, but the children are suffering."
Zhang Guoqing thought for a moment and said, "We crush cakes and boil them into a paste, or chop up Chinese cabbage and cook it into corn porridge. We haven't eaten eggs since they became unavailable last month."
After saying this, he looked at everyone's expressions. Thinking of his son's fleshy body, he really couldn't say that the family was seriously lacking in nutrition.
"My wife feeds her children this way, too. Besides making cakes, she also brings home cornmeal, reprocesses it, and sifts out the finest layer for the children."
"Last time I broke the ice and caught a few fish, and I saw my wife scraping out the fish meat and sticking it into balls. These southern fish balls are suitable for babies."
Zhang Guoqing listened to everyone happily talking about how to raise children, and looking ahead, he didn't know how much more laughter like this would happen in the days to come.
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