Zhou Quan responded, "Yes, I said that back then."
Li Mai nodded. "It seems that the villagers are no longer lacking in food and clothing!"
Zhou Quan nodded, "We should be fine. I heard from my father that the clan chief arranged for everyone to go back and turn over the land that was flooded before, planning to continue planting next year. He also cleared some hillside land nearby, so that if we encounter a disaster like this year again, we won't be left with nothing."
“Like our old hillside land, the villagers disliked it and nobody wanted it, but at least we still managed to harvest some grain from it,” Zhou Quan said.
Li Mai nodded, "That makes sense."
"Oh well, let's not sleep anymore. Let's get up and go back to see Zhuzhu. The little girl is definitely looking forward to our return!" Zhou Quan chatted with Li Mai for a while, and Li Mai was now fully awake and planned to go back to see Zhuzhu later.
Zhou Quan naturally had no objections. After she got dressed and the two of them finished washing up, they added a large piece of charcoal to the stove to warm the room. They locked the door and went back to the courtyard.
Sure enough, as soon as they entered the alley, they saw Zhuzhu squatting at the gate waiting for them.
Seeing them come in, Zhuzhu stood up and shouted, "Auntie, my parents are back!"
After shouting, he ran outside to greet Li Mai and Zhou Quan.
"Dad, Mom, Zhuzhu misses you!" Zhuzhu ran towards them with her short little legs.
Li Mai originally wanted to hold the child, but Zhou Quan reached out and took Zhuzhu, picked her up, and turned to Li Mai with a smile, saying, "Let me hold her. The little girl looks like she's gotten fatter in the few months I haven't seen her."
"Dad, Zhuzhu hasn't gained weight!" Zhuzhu is a little girl, and she is most afraid of people saying that she has gained weight again.
A few days ago, the neighbor's child came to play with her. When he saw her fish, he said that her fish had gotten fat, and that she had gotten fat too.
Zhuzhu almost cried. She didn't like being fat. The chubby boy in the village who was called "Little Fatty" was so ugly, and she didn't want to become that ugly too.
Li Mai chuckled and pinched her little cheek. "Who said our Zhuzhu is fat? Mom thinks she's just right, not fat at all, just right, and very pretty!"
After saying that, Li Mai reached into her sleeve pocket, took out a mechanical bird, unfolded it in front of Zhu Zhu, and tapped the bird's head. Immediately, the bird's head twisted from side to side, and the fake wings on its back fluttered as it flew.
"Wow, Mom, what kind of bird is this?" Zhuzhu was stunned. It didn't look like a real bird, but it could move.
"This is a thrush, isn't it beautiful!" It's made of wood, but the person who made it painted the wood to make it look like a thrush.
This was bought by Li Mai when he was in the capital.
She and Zhou Quan also bought a lot of toys for Zhuzhu, but most of them were fun toys, like rattles. Li Mai felt that they were not suitable for a smart child like Zhuzhu to play with; they were only suitable for coaxing babies a few months old.
Zhuzhu is three years old now, and she should play with things that develop her intelligence, such as this mechanical wooden bird.
Her space also contains more intellectually stimulating items, such as marionettes and mechanical calves.
Take them out slowly, don't take them all out at once. If you take them all out, Zhuzhu may quickly get tired of this kind of mechanical toy.
As the family of three slowly walked into the alley, some neighbors heard Zhuzhu calling for her parents and came out.
Have Zhou Quan and Li Mai returned?
"Koizumi, Komugi, is it really you two who are back?"
"Koizumi, Komugi, how did the trip go?"
"Oh my, Xiaomai, you've finally made it back before the New Year! Were you cold on the way? We were just saying the other day that you might not be able to make it back for the New Year!"
"Uncle Wangcai, Auntie, we're back. Have you all settled in?" Zhou Quan greeted them with a smile.
With those memories flooding his mind, Zhou Quan felt a deep connection when he saw the neighbors and uncles who had always been kind to him and offered him comfort.
So this is the warmth between people, the warmth I longed for but could never have in my memories.
This warmth makes you feel like you're all alone in the world, and you no longer feel lonely.
"Auntie, we were both fine on the way, and we even made a detour to Yongzhou City and the capital, which is why we're a little late getting back," Li Mai replied with a smile to her aunties.
After exchanging pleasantries with their neighbors, Li Mai and Zhou Quan took Zhu Zhu and went to the Zhou family's house at the very end of the alley.
Zhou Tao and Zhou Lei were already waiting for their elder brother and sister-in-law at the gate.
The siblings had seen all the New Year's goods their older brother and sister-in-law had brought back that morning, and all they could say was, "I've learned something new; I never knew you could buy so many New Year's goods."
"Sister-in-law, brother!" The siblings grinned foolishly at their brother and sister-in-law.
Zhou Quan glanced at his younger brother, his eyes filled with tenderness. What impressed him most about the boy was the thoughtful care the boy had given him during the two years he was paralyzed, and how the boy would secretly move wood from the yard to strengthen his arms so he could lift him up.
He put down the bead and patted Zhou Lei's head from behind.
"Hmm, not bad. It's been more than two months since I last saw him, and Xiao Lei has grown a bit taller." Zhou Quan praised his younger brother with a smile.
"Hey, big brother, you've grown taller too." Zhou Lei even knew how to joke with his older brother.
Li Mai led Zhu Zhu and walked side by side with Zhou Tao. The two sisters-in-law talked about how their mother got up early to fry dough cakes and make rice noodle soup.
"Did Mother store these fried dough sticks for the New Year? Why are you frying them this morning?" Li Mai asked in surprise.
"Yes, the New Year is just around the corner, and Mom started preparing for it early. Yesterday, she steamed six batches of buns, which are now frozen and stored in a large earthenware jar." Zhou Tao reported to Li Mai in detail about the family's preparations for the New Year.
Li Mai listened quietly with a smile on her face, occasionally responding with a word or two.
"Oh, right, sister-in-law, Mom sprouted more bean sprouts. She said you seem to really like bean sprouts, so she sprouted a lot more this year."
"By the way, sister-in-law, did you and brother eat Laba porridge on Laba Festival?" Zhou Tao remembered this and quickly asked Li Mai.
Li Mai thought for a moment, where was she on Laba Festival?
In the capital city.
She shook her head. "I didn't eat!"
"That's perfect. I saved two bowls for you and your older brother. I froze them and put them in a big earthenware jar. I said you can steam them and eat them when you get back."
Upon hearing this, Zhou Tao quickly ran to the kitchen, saying, "I'll ask Mom to heat up a bowl for you two. You two eat something first; there's still breakfast to come!"
Li Mai looked at the enthusiastic young girl, exchanged a glance with Zhou Quan, and chuckled softly.
Having a family like the Zhou family in this world is the happiest thing for them.
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