Regardless of the reason, whether they stood outside, stayed by each other's side, or didn't take advantage of the situation, whether they were educated youth or villagers, their intentions were good, and everyone appreciated it.
Before the coldest days of winter arrived, I took a short trip into the deep mountains. When I was almost at the foot of the mountain, I released two wild boars. This time, they didn't try to hide them and just swaggered into the village, pulling on their ropes.
The three children have been completely freed up and are now part of the village community. They've been skating, playing on ice, and pulling sleds. There's no river in the village, but there's a large, low-lying area between the village and Mingzhu's house. If you pour water on it, it freezes solid overnight, creating a ready-made ice rink.
Although it wasn't big, it was still a playground for the children.
A sharp-eyed child spotted Jian Dan and cried out for help.
"Xin Xin, Cheng Rui, Cheng An, look! Isn't that Sister Jian?"
"Huh?"
The children ran out without even looking.
"Sis, sis, you're back?"
"Sis, is this it?"
Surrounded by the child, Jian Dan quickly stopped.
"Slow down, slow down, yes, that's it,"
The children had been present throughout the events of the past few days. The older children, being more sensible, understood the underlying dynamics after a brief explanation and, without asking further questions, simply took the rope.
"Sis, take a break, shall we go have some fun?"
The two pigs weighed several hundred pounds each, and were simple, strong, and very light.
The moment it was in the children's hands, it became a solid iron block. The ground was covered in compacted snow, making it quite slippery. Using this weight, the two children exerted all their strength and were only able to move it a little bit.
Cheng Rui circled around it several times and kicked it, but it couldn't move an inch.
Several children who followed behind also stared intently; it was meat!
Although the village has distributed meat, each family only gets about two jin (1 kg), and they need to save it for the New Year. They can't bear to eat it now; if they can cut two slices for a meal, it's already too oily.
They are at the age of rapid growth, and they miss him when they can't see him. But to not let them eat right under their noses is a different matter altogether.
"Wow, Sister Jane caught another wild boar?"
"So big, and so much meat?"
"Slurp!"
"It's Sister Jane's,"
Cheng Rui was still fuming and arguing with the two big guys. Cheng An turned around and saw Jian Dan still cuddling with the little girl. He asked them,
Do you want to eat meat?
Her face tightened, and her aura instantly became imposing.
After a two-second silence, it immediately became lively.
"I want to eat, I want to eat!"
"Is Sister Jane going to give us meat again?"
"Great! Time to eat meat!"
"Oh~ Time to eat meat! Time to eat meat!"
Cheng Rui's crazy streak has returned.
Who wants to eat?
"Come quick, let's transport it back. No work, no meat!"
Instantly, a bunch of little heads surrounded the wild boar. Tiger was a step too slow and didn't push forward, shouting at the top of his lungs.
"You guys deal with the little one first, I'll go back and call the adults to deal with the big one."
Keep it up, we'll get it back so we can eat meat!
After shouting, he ran away in a flash.
There's not much to do in the village during winter, but after the New Year, people have to worry about farming. The village officials and the older folks like to stay in the village office and chat.
Then I heard a lot of shouting and yelling outside.
"Grandpa, Grandpa, Grandpa Weimin,"
He lifted the curtain, paused for a moment, and then greeted everyone in turn.
"Grandpa, Second Grandpa, Fifth Grandpa, Uncle, Patriotic Grandpa, Grandpa Han,"
"Alright, let's get down to business. What's with all the shouting?"
"Grandpa, Sister Jian has hunted two wild boars again!"
"What?"
Several people stood up in a flash.
"The wild boars have come down from the mountain again?"
Tiger scratched his head.
"...No way? Sister Jian dragged her back herself..."
It's not that I don't want to carefully discern these social customs; it's just that in this rural area, even getting enough to eat is difficult, and a single bite of meat can be something that everyone remembers for a long time.
Cheng Chao didn't return until the twelfth lunar month. Instead, Jian Wenxiu came over and took the little girl away, saying that he wanted to go back to the Sheng family to pay respects to their ancestors. Jian Dan naturally had no objections.
However, since Cheng Chao had not shown up, Jian Dan became increasingly convinced that Jian Wenxiu's claim that Cheng Chao had taken on another mission was largely unfounded.
The two children didn't think too much about it. They had always lived far from Cheng Chao, and it was normal for them to see each other only once every few years. They couldn't understand why Cheng Chao was so anxious.
On Laba Festival, I simply cooked a pot of Laba porridge.
Since the two children came, she had never worried about leftovers, but today, the two children were clearly not paying attention while eating.
I glanced at the table briefly: braised pork, pig's trotters, crisp pickled vegetables, and thick, soft eight-treasure porridge. This is all fine, right?
"What's wrong? Don't you like the food today? Don't you like anything?"
"no,"
"Huh?" Jian Dan was also startled and asked, "How did you make both kids cry?"
"Wait, wait, what's wrong? Say what's wrong, why are you crying?"
"If you need anything, just tell me, and I'll figure something out."
Hearing this, the two children cried even harder.
"I don't know how to say it,"
"Then, tell me slowly?"
Sobbing, Cheng An spoke haltingly, making Jian Dan frown as she listened.
"Sister, we didn't go there on purpose. Jixiang and Ping'an were playing around and ran over there, so we went there."
I couldn't figure it out for a long time, so I asked simply and directly,
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