After coming down from Daqing Mountain, Wen Ziqing went to borrow a phone from the village chief Zhao Youtian. Zhou Yuanyuan came to Zhao Qingshan's house alone and found that the gate was half open.
Zhou Yuanyuan stood at the door and looked in, only to see Zhao Xiaocao drying quilts in the yard. Zhao Xiaocao was a petite girl, and there were two ropes in Zhao Qingshan's yard for drying quilts. The ropes were a bit high, so Zhao Xiaocao had to tiptoe and jump to put the quilt on the ropes.
Before the Zhao family moved to Kyoto, Zhao Qingshan was worried that the house would fall into disrepair in a few years without anyone to take care of it, so he asked Aunt Gu for help.
Aunt Gu would come to the Zhao family's house every three to five days to clean Zhao Qingshan's house and often take out the quilts and mattresses to dry in the sun. Zhao Qingshan had originally agreed to give Aunt Gu fifteen yuan a month as a reward for her help in looking after the house, but Aunt Gu refused, saying that as a fellow villager, it was her duty to help.
Aunt Gu's generosity is also one of the reasons why her daughter-in-law Zheng Qiulian is unhappy.
Zhao Yunxiang did not treat Aunt Gu badly. Seeing that Aunt Gu was determined not to accept any money, she would send her some food, clothing and daily necessities from Kyoto City every year.
Zhao Xiaocao is here today, probably working for Aunt Gu.
Xiaocao was tiptoeing and trying to throw the quilt onto the rope, when suddenly she felt her hands lighten and the quilt was already on the rope.
"Yuanyuan? When will you be home?" Xiaocao turned around and saw Zhou Yuanyuan standing behind her and smiling at her.
"Xiaocao, you've worked so hard." Seeing Xiaocao struggling to reach the rope, Zhou Yuanyuan hurried to help. Looking at Zhao Xiaocao, who was a head shorter than she was, Zhou Yuanyuan felt a surge of emotion. After not seeing her for so many years, Zhao Xiaocao had become just a faint figure in Zhou Yuanyuan's mind. Seeing her again, Xiaocao's image came alive.
Zhao Xiaocao heard the familiar voice, looked up, and a happy smile spread across her face. Xiaocao's eyes were big, and when she smiled, they turned into crescents.
"Yuanyuan, you came back alone? Where are Uncle Qingshan and Aunt Yunxiang?" Zhao Xiaocao looked behind Zhou Yuanyuan, but didn't see Zhao Qingshan and Zhao Yunxiang, so she was stunned.
"My grandpa and the others haven't come back yet! My brother Ziqing and I were passing by for something, so we came back to rest." Zhou Yuanyuan explained quickly, so that Xiaocao's neck would almost stretch out.
"It's snowing so heavily this year! The snow is over half an inch thick on the road. You must be tired walking here!" Xiaocao didn't know Zhou Yuanyuan and her friends had "flyed" back, but she felt tired for her. Starting in the afternoon of New Year's Eve, Zhaojiagou had been snowing heavily for two days and three nights, completely blocking the road from the village to Sanhe Town.
On the first day of the Lunar New Year, a light sleet fell, and a chilly wind blew. Not only were cars but even bicycles skidding on the icy road from Sanhe Town to Zhaojiagou. If Zhou Yuanyuan had taken the normal route back to Zhaojiagou, she would have had to take a bus from Qingshan City to Yuyuan County, then from the county seat to Sanhe Town, and then bike from there to Zhaojiagou. Xiaocao hadn't seen Zhou Yuanyuan's bike and assumed she'd walked through the snow all the way back from Sanhe Town.
"Not bad, not too tired." Zhou Yuanyuan glanced at her thick down jacket, somewhat impressed by her own foresight. As she was descending the mountain, she remembered she'd only just put on a thin wool sweater and quickly re-armed herself. Zhaojiagou was where Zhou Yuanyuan had lived for several years, and many people in the village knew her. Wearing such a thin outfit in the dead of winter would surely be seen as a joke.
As they were talking, Zhou Yuanyuan had already arrived at the main hall. Looking at the bright and clean house, Zhou Yuanyuan knew that Aunt Gu and Xiaocao had put a lot of thought into it.
"Yuanyuan, this is your favorite honeysuckle tea. Drink some to warm your body." Xiaocao was busy running around. In less than ten minutes, she went to the kitchen to boil a pot of water and made two cups of tea.
Xiaocao and Aunt Gu cleaned Zhao Qingshan's household items every few days, including the kitchen. Otherwise, Xiaocao wouldn't have enough time to wash a teapot.
A few years have passed, and the little girls have grown up, but Xiaocao has never forgotten the days she spent with Zhou Yuanyuan.
When Zhou Yuanyuan was in Zhaojiagou, she often went with Xiaocao to the Daqing Mountains. It was Zhou Yuanyuan who taught Xiaocao the recipe for making homemade honeysuckle tea. The two sisters played together a lot during those two years, and Xiaocao learned many skills from Zhou Yuanyuan, including making handmade scented tea.
Over the years, Xiaocao has sent a packet of homemade honeysuckle tea to Zhou Yuanyuan in Kyoto every year. Unexpectedly, Xiaocao also prepared some for Zhao Qingshan.
"Xiao Cao, stop it. I'm not hungry. Let's sit down and talk." Zhou Yuanyuan saw Xiao Cao was still busy going home to get some rice, flour, eggs, and other things, and quickly stopped her. These days, although life has improved a lot for everyone, life in the countryside is just about having enough to eat. Xiao Cao and Aunt Gu are not the heads of the family. If they were scolded by their family for taking food for her, Zhou Yuanyuan would feel bad.
Besides, for Zhou Yuanyuan, food is no longer the nutrients her body needs. She can use spiritual energy to replace food, so why should she waste Xiaocao's food?
Unfortunately, Xiaocao was stubborn. It had been nearly eight years since Xiaocao had seen Zhou Yuanyuan. If she hadn't looked 80% the same as she did when she was little, Xiaocao wouldn't have recognized this delicate, fairy-like girl as the Zhou Yuanyuan who had run wild with her in the mountains as a child. It was a rare trip for her friend to Zhaojiagou. Her family didn't buy much meat for Chinese New Year, but they had eggs from their own chickens, so they never ran out of them. They also grew their own vegetables and rice. How could she not treat her well?
"Yuanyuan, wait a moment. I can run fast and will be here in a short while." Xiaocao hurried out the door, but Zhou Yuanyuan grabbed his hand.
Zhou Yuanyuan's grip was so strong that Xiaocao couldn't break free. Instead, she was pulled into the main room by Zhou Yuanyuan and forced to sit on a stool.
"Xiaocao, you really should stop busying yourself. Wen Ziqing is behind me and should be here soon. He brought some food." Zhou Yuanyuan regretted meeting Xiaocao. She should have waited for Xiaocao to leave before secretly coming back.
Zhou Yuanyuan was most afraid of the enthusiastic Xiaocao. Having grown up with Aunt Gu, Xiaocao shared her temperament and personality, never willing to take advantage of others. When she was little, Xiaocao would return the favor by eating meat buns from Zhou Yuanyuan's house. As she grew older, it seemed Xiaocao's "problem" hadn't lessened, but had become more severe.
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