Ma Aning gently patted her chest, trying to completely relax.
"Many people in the village must be up by now. It's alright. You two little ones, go to sleep. Mom will stay with you."
Ma Aning was unaware that she was treating her two children like older children.
"I don't want to sleep, I want to wait for Daddy to come back," Shen Xiaoxiao said, her eyes darting around.
“Your dad might not be back that early. Why don’t you two go to sleep first? I’ll wait for him to come back,” Ma Aning suggested.
Shen Xiaoxiao yawned, but still tried her best to keep her eyes open.
Seeing this, Ma Aning stopped forcing her and let her fall asleep naturally when she couldn't stay awake any longer.
Ma Aning looked at her son again; his eyes were closed, and she didn't know if he was asleep.
Sure enough, Shen Xiaoxiao fell asleep in no time.
Ma Aning's heart was constantly in her throat. She held her two young children tightly and listened intently to the faint sounds coming from outside.
Time ticked by, but the outside remained eerily quiet, and her anxiety grew.
However, the waiting time always seemed so long. Gradually, weariness washed over her like a tide, and finally, she couldn't resist the drowsiness and fell into a deep sleep while holding her two children.
After an unknown amount of time, a soft but urgent knocking sounded suddenly, instantly waking Ma Aning from her sleep.
She sat up abruptly, her heart pounding, and asked alertly, "Who?"
A familiar, slightly tired voice came from outside the door: "Wife, it's me, I'm back, open the door!" It turned out that Shen Zishan had returned.
Ma Aning was overjoyed and quickly replied, "Coming!" With that, she swiftly jumped out of bed, grabbed a coat haphazardly, and hurriedly ran towards the door.
As soon as she opened the door, a biting gust of cold wind hit her, making her shiver.
Upon closer inspection, one could see that Shen Zishan, standing outside the door, was shivering all over, with a thick layer of frost covering his hair, as if he had just crawled out of an ice cellar.
Feeling sorry for him, Ma Aning quickly pulled him into the house and said with concern, "Come in quickly, look how cold you are. I'll boil some hot water for you so you can soak your feet and get rid of the cold."
Shen Zishan shook his head and said tremblingly, "No need to trouble yourself, I'll go by myself. You take the children and continue sleeping." As he spoke, he tried to break free from Ma Aning's hand and walked towards the kitchen.
Ma Aning was unwilling to listen. She pulled Shen Zishan back forcefully and scolded him, "Look how frozen you are! You're still trying to be strong! Listen to me, go inside and warm up. I'll go make you some ginger soup and boil some water to soak your feet."
After saying that, she carefully helped Shen Zishan into the room, and then took out a spare quilt from the cabinet and wrapped Shen Zishan up.
He hurriedly put on the slightly thin and worn-out clothes, then turned around and quickly lit the kerosene lamp that emitted a faint light.
Using the dim light, she carefully made her way to the kitchen.
After entering the kitchen, she skillfully walked to the stove, gently lifted the pot lid, and cleaned the iron pot.
This iron pot was something I secretly bought from the black market when the communal dining system was disbanded.
Although I've used it many times, every time I see it, I'm reminded of that difficult yet thrilling experience.
Then she added some dry firewood to the stove, making the flames roar.
Once the fire was burning brightly, she began to cook ginger soup.
In no time, the kitchen was filled with a rich aroma of ginger.
She first filled a large tin can with steaming hot ginger tea, and then poured the rest into several large bowls.
Then, she carefully washed the iron pot, added a full pot of water again, and put in firewood.
After completing these tasks, she carefully picked up the tin can filled with ginger tea and slowly walked into the room. At this moment, Shen Zishan was curled up on a stool in the room, his body trembling incessantly, his originally rosy face pale as paper due to the cold.
"Brother Shan, are you feeling any better? You should drink this ginger tea first," Ma Aning said softly, gently placing the tin can on the bedside table.
Upon hearing the sound, Shen Zishan shivered and stretched out his hands, which were red from the cold, to hug the iron can tightly in front of him.
He slowly brought the tin can to his lips, first tentatively taking a small sip, and instantly a spicy yet warm sensation slid down his throat into his stomach.
After drinking a large can of ginger tea, he could clearly feel his stomach gradually warming up, and the biting coldness in his body began to dissipate.
Seeing that the bowl in Chen Zishan's hands was almost empty, Ma Aning asked with concern, "How are you? Brother Shan, would you like two more bowls to warm yourself up?"
Shen Zishan gently shook his head and said with a smile, "No need, you should drink a bowl too. It's freezing cold, you mustn't catch a cold running around like this." His eyes were full of concern and tenderness.
"Okay!" Ma Aning smiled and readily agreed, then turned and strode into the kitchen, picked up the bowl of ginger soup and gulped it down.
As she drank, she noticed that the water in the pot had begun to boil and churn, making a hissing sound.
Ma Aning put down the bowl in her hand, walked quickly back to the room, and said to Shen Zishan, "Brother Shan, the water has boiled. Once you feel a little better, go take a hot bath to get rid of the cold."
After saying that, she added with concern, "Be sure to watch the water temperature, don't get burned."
"Okay, I can handle these things, so don't worry about it."
Shen Zishan responded gently to Ma Aning, looking at her busy figure with pity in his heart, "It's still early, you should take advantage of the children not waking up and get some more sleep. You were exhausted last night too."
As dawn broke, Shen Xiaoxiao woke up with dazed eyes, blinking her big, round eyes and looking around curiously.
When she saw Shen Zishan lying beside her, she was so excited that she danced around and babbled a series of baby words that only she could understand, forgetting to call out to anyone in her heart.
Ma Aning was concentrating on her needlework by the bedside when she heard her daughter's voice. She immediately stopped what she was doing, rushed forward, and carefully took Shen Xiaoxiao into her arms.
Gently coaxing, "Oh dear, my little darling, are you awake? Are you hungry? Mommy's here..."
"Honey, we have to be gentle. Your dad just fell asleep a little while ago."
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