In November, Shen An Ning began to prepare for the winter. The cabbages and radishes planted in the yard and private plots at home could be harvested. Most of the cabbages were stored in the warehouse to be eaten slowly during the winter and in the spring. The remaining ones were made into a jar of sauerkraut, a jar of spicy cabbage, and a jar of pickled radishes, which were kept for mixing with porridge.
After delivering supplies to the Cheng couple for the first time, Shen Anning went there twice in succession, delivering a quilt with many old patches, two cotton-padded clothes, and enough food for them to survive the winter. After these few times of getting along, she and the Cheng couple became familiar with each other.
Mr. Cheng Mingli started studying medicine formally at the age of eight. His enlightenment books were Li Shizhen's Compendium of Materia Medica, so his achievements in traditional Chinese medicine are unmatched in the country. He and his wife have a son and a daughter. Before he was sent down, he forced his two children to publish a notice in the newspaper to sever ties with him. This only kept them safe. Their jobs were demoted, their daily benefits were withheld, and someone was watching them from time to time, so they were also willing but unable to do so, and the help they could give to their parents was very little.
After checking the weather, the elders in the village predicted that this year's heavy snow would probably occur in late November or early December. The villagers took advantage of these good days and were busy. Shen Anyu and Shen Anxuan went up the mountain with the children in the village to pick up dead branches after school every day. Although the firewood at home was small, the quantity was enough for them to get through the winter with some left over. This year, honeycomb coal was sold by the piece because of the mass production. As early as when the weather turned cold, she got the coal ticket from Sister Li and bought 500 pieces in a big deal.
These days, every household is busy preparing food and firewood for the winter. Even the elderly who usually have some minor illnesses don’t care about their physical discomfort and do what they can for the family.
On the morning of the 30th, shortly after dawn, Shen Anning was still preparing breakfast in the kitchen when she heard a few kids from the village who loved to jump around shouting outside: "It's snowing, it's snowing."
Lifting the tattered quilt at the door, she saw small snowflakes floating in the sky. The sky was no longer gray, but a little bright. The snow would probably not get heavier until night. Shen An Ning planned to go to Cheng Lao's place tonight, and then she would stay at home with her younger brother and sister to spend the winter.
She packed twenty sticky beans, twenty black-flour steamed buns, ten sweet potato cakes, five pounds of rice, two pounds of millet, five pounds of fine cornmeal, and ten eggs. She didn't dare give more bacon and sausage, so she only cut one pound in total. After all, these things are rare nowadays.
Night, especially snowy nights, is the best time to erase traces.
It was snowing, and Shen Anning was not worried about people on the road outside. He rode his electric donkey at lightning speed all the way until he stopped on the small road near the cowshed.
Just as he was about to knock on the door, he looked at the open door and smiled.
"Grandpa Cheng, Grandma Cheng, you guessed I would come tonight, right?"
"Isn't it? Your grandma Cheng said that with your personality, you will definitely come to see us two old people before the snow gets too heavy."
Shen Anning took out the things one by one, helped hide them, drank a bowl of ginger sugar water, and felt warm all over.
After she recovered, Shen An Ning prepared to go back. She looked at the old man and the old woman sitting opposite her. After she had fed them for a while, the two old people's complexions had finally recovered, and they looked much better than at the beginning.
"Grandpa Cheng, Grandma Cheng, the villagers won't come here often during the winter. You won't be short of food during this time. Take good care of yourselves. I'll come back on the 26th day of the Lunar New Year."
Old Cheng took out a small cloth bag from the kang hole and handed it to Shen An Ning. "An Ning, these herbs are usually collected by your grandmother Cheng and me in the mountains. Your grandfather must have a lot of hidden injuries on his body after going to the battlefield. I have divided them and written down the usage. Take a medicinal bath in winter, decoct a dose every two weeks, and you will suffer less after these few months of hibernation."
Looking at Old Cheng's calm demeanor, Shen An Ning couldn't help laughing in his heart. The old man was quite funny. After returning to the city in his previous life, he liked to bicker with his grandfather. Both old men came from the war years and lived in pain in their later years. When they were together, they could still bicker and reminisce about their youth together. After all, there was still some fun in it, which made them feel a little more relaxed and happy.
"Okay, I'll definitely tell my good grandfather when I get it back. It's no exaggeration to say that your medicine is worth a fortune. My grandfather is blessed. It's the Shen family's good fortune to be able to receive your medicine at this time." Shen An Ning took the bundle, and the heaviness in his heart was relieved a lot.
Cheng Mingli looked at the girl in front of him and thought to himself that meeting Shen Anning was a blessing for the Cheng family and him!
Shen An Ning came with a bag and left with a bag. Although there was heavy snow outside, her heart was warm, and even her flesh and bones were filled with warmth.
On the way back, the snow was much thicker, and the electric scooter was no longer very convenient. There was no choice but for Shen An Ning to take out a pair of long cotton boots and a military coat, wrap herself up like a ball, and walk home with one foot deep and one foot shallow. Fortunately, it was snowing, so the footprints were quickly covered. It was really not easy to walk in the snow. Fortunately, Shen An Ning had a treasure with her. When she was tired, she would go into the space to rest for a few minutes and drink some hot water. It usually took her half an hour to walk home, but she took a full hour and a half.
After packing up his clothes before entering the door, Shen Anyu heard the noise and got up to take a look, then poured a cup of hot water for Shen Anning.
"It's okay. It's snowing a bit heavily outside, so Big Sister came back a little late this time. Go to bed and don't worry."
"Well, sister, you warm yourself by the fire first and soak your feet before going to bed." Shen Anyu said as he poured a pot of hot water on the stove into the foot soaking bucket and lifted the stove to Shen Anning's side.
After soaking my feet, I talked with Shen Anyu for a while, then looked at my watch. It was almost three o'clock. "Okay, go to bed. We don't have to go to school tomorrow. Let's take an early nap and sleep until we wake up naturally, then get up to eat."
Every morning when he gets up to go to school, Shen Anyu is also looking forward to the annual hibernation. Now that the first heavy snow has fallen and the weather is getting colder, he estimates that he will only have about ten more days of classes. After taking the final exams, he can go on vacation.
Lying on the kang and holding Shen Zixi, the little girl had a memory of the movements. She squeezed into Shen Anning's arms very naturally, raised her little feet, and knocked on her aunt's thigh. Her movements were silky smooth, and she was mumbling something in her mouth.
Shen An Ning touched the little girl's face. She slept so hot that it was a little hot to the touch. The kang was too hot, so she could only lift the quilt to ventilate.
After a tiring night, Shen Anning was really tired. She hugged her chubby little niece and fell asleep quickly.
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