Chapter 14
Breakfast was pumpkin millet porridge and pancakes. When He Guijuan was cooking the porridge, she threw a dozen red dates into it, and the porridge was filled with the sweet fragrance of the red dates. The pancakes were also well-made, fragrant and soft, and when you took a bite, you could smell the sweet fragrance of wheat.
After breakfast, as usual, Old Mrs. Lin put down her bowl and went out with a handful of melon seeds in her pocket. Li Hongmei took her two precious sons and Fengyin to visit her relatives. Zhang Yueju and He Guijuan were in the kitchen cleaning up the dishes and preparing the things they would need for New Year's Eve tomorrow.
Although it is not popular to hold New Year sacrifices nowadays, we still have to set off one or two strings of firecrackers, prepare a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner, and celebrate the new year in a lively manner.
Even if you have to borrow money or buy on credit, you have to prepare a sumptuous New Year's Eve dinner. If you can't have a good year in a row, what hope do you have for the next year?
Jiang Jiang followed Feng Zhen out of the door, carrying the small basket.
Fengzhen is the most diligent child in the family. She sweeps the floor, washes clothes, makes fire, and collects grass for the pigs. She is the one who feeds the pig at home.
Fengzhen likes Jiang Jiang very much. Her biological sister Fengyin ignores her, and her mother always scolds her for being stupid. She also doesn't take her with her when she goes to visit relatives at her grandmother's house. Only Jiang Jiang is willing to play with her and work with her.
"Sister Fengzhen, this is for you."
Feng Zhen looked at the candy in Jiang Jiang's hand and swallowed. "Keep it for yourself. I don't want it."
"This is what Brother Zhong Xing gave me. I've already eaten it. This candy is delicious. Sister Feng Zhen, please try it."
After hearing this, Fengzhen no longer refused. She took the candy from Jiang Jiang's hand, peeled off the candy wrapper, took out the candy inside and put it in her mouth.
"Is it tasty?"
"Hmm." Feng Zhen nodded. As soon as she put the candy in her mouth, she liked the taste.
I originally thought that the White Rabbit milk candy given by my third aunt was the most delicious candy, but I didn’t expect that this one is even more delicious than the White Rabbit one given by my third aunt.
When they passed by Dongxi River, they happened to meet Zhong Xing and Yu Hangyuan who were washing their faces by the river.
After a day's work, all the pride they had when they first arrived had been worn off. Zhong Xing had taken off his watch and changed his leather shoes. His exquisitely tailored black windbreaker had turned yellow and was covered with mud and grass clippings. His face was covered with dust, and he looked very disheveled.
"Brother Zhong Xing, Brother Hang Yuan."
Feng Zhen froze where she was. After a long while, she blushed and followed Jiang Jiang's example to call for help.
Zhong Xing pointed at the small basket on her back and asked, "Where are you going?"
"Sister Fengzhen and I are going to collect grass for the pigs."
"Then I'll go with you. We just happened to have finished our work."
He and Hangyuan are now living in the Lin family, so it is only right for him to help them with some things.
Yu Hangyuan raised his hand, "Me too."
As they talked, they walked towards Junfeng Mountain together. Zhong Xing picked up Jiang Jiang and let her sit on his shoulders.
It was the first time for Jiang Jiang to sit on someone's shoulders. Zhong Xing was very tall, and sitting on his shoulders, she felt like a giant, with everything overlooking her.
"Brother Zhong Xing, I can walk by myself." Jiang Jiang said softly. Zhong Xing had just finished his work and Jiang Jiang was afraid that he was tired.
"It's okay. I'm not tired."
Zhong Xing walked steadily, he had always wanted a younger sister, but he was an only child and didn't have any cousins. When he saw Jiang Jiang yesterday, he couldn't help but think about it.
If he had a sister, she would definitely be someone like Jiang Jiang.
Well-behaved and pretty, sensible and cute.
Although he is more than ten years older than her and can be considered her uncle in terms of age, this does not affect his love for Jiang Jiang.
The snow on Junfeng Mountain only covered a thin layer, which was better than other places. It was freezing cold and it was difficult to go out. You had to use your hands to dig through the ice and snow and cut the pig grass.
With the help of Zhong Xing and Yu Hangyuan, they quickly harvested a full basket of pig grass. Zhong Xing sent the two home before returning to the educated youth site.
They usually ate at the educated youth camp and would return to the Lin family to stay after dinner.
Fengzhen took a chopping board and a knife from the kitchen, chopped up the washed pig grass, and poured it into a bucket to make pig feed.
After chopping all the pig grass, the two began to pour food into the trough for the pigs. There was no extra food at home to feed the pigs, so every household would let their children go up the mountain to collect pig grass and bring it back to feed the pigs. Fengzhen was the one who collected the most and best pig grass among those children.
Sometimes she would carry the basket and go up the mountain before daybreak.
When He Guijuan came out with the steamed buns, she saw that the two little girls had already fed the pigs.
She and her husband had only one daughter, Jiang Jiang, who was very young. She had originally wanted to pamper the child more and let her rest in the house, but Jiang Jiang just liked to stay with Feng Zhen and help with housework. Fortunately, she only went up the mountain to collect grass for pigs, so He Guijuan let her go.
"How come you and your sister Fengzhen came back so soon after going up the mountain to collect grass for pigs?"
"Thanks to Brother Zhong Xing and Brother Hang Yuan for their help."
He Guijuan wiped the grass debris off her daughter's face with concern, "Lunch will take a while, take your sister Fengzhen back to the house to drink some water and eat a piece of egg cake."
Jiang Jiang brought Feng Zhen to the room where she slept and carefully took out two egg cakes from the chest of drawers.
Jiang Jiang usually never went near the chest of drawers. She never took or touched adults' things. Just as He Guijuan said, she only took two pieces of egg cakes.
There was also a tin can at the bottom of the chest of drawers, which contained malted milk. After she arrived at the Lin family, her mother would make her a bowl of it every night. It was sweet, fragrant and rich.
Every time Fengzhen entered her uncle and aunt’s cave, she felt as if she had entered another world.
It was bright, tidy, and cozy. There seemed to be a clean fragrance in the house, unlike the cave where she slept, with shoes and socks thrown everywhere and filled with a lingering smell of sweat. All she could hear every day was either her father's snoring or her mother's scolding.
"Egg cake?" Feng Zhen's eyes lit up when she saw what Jiang Jiang was holding.
"Well, we'll each take one."
There was a faint sweet fragrance at the tip of her nose. Feng Zhen inhaled the scent, wishing she could replace the fragrance with real egg cake and swallow it into her stomach, but she still refused, "You eat it, I'm not hungry."
On the day Third Aunt came back from the commune supply and marketing cooperative, she also gave them a bag of egg cakes, but she only tasted a small piece, and the rest went into the stomachs of her two younger brothers and Fengyin.
"Eat quickly. I've been hungry for a long time. Sister Fengzhen must be hungry too."
Feng Zhen doesn't look like Lin Lao Er and Li Hongmei at all. Instead, she looks more like Lin Lao.
Be down-to-earth, hard-working and able to endure hardships.
Fengzhen was really hungry, her stomach growling. Finally, she couldn't help it and looked at Jiang Jiang with gratitude. She held the egg cake and took a small bite. The egg cake melted in her mouth, soft, glutinous and sweet. It was truly a delicious food.
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