When they arrived at the Liu family's door, the excited child had transformed into a complete Baymax.
The hair and eyebrows are the most eye-catching, especially the two thick and well-shaped eyebrows, which twitch as the child makes funny faces and changes facial expressions. To be honest, it's quite funny.
The Liu family courtyard was also completely white, without even a single footprint. The doors and windows of the house were naturally tightly closed. As soon as the gate was pushed open, two deep marks were left on the ground.
Cheng Rui was still wondering.
"Sis, with such heavy snow, why aren't they out playing?"
I didn't see any children when I entered the village. Cheng Rui has a childlike mindset, so I can understand his simplicity.
Rural people look forward to snow, as a good snow promises a good harvest. However, too much snow can also be a worry. Nowadays, almost all houses in the village are made of mud and thatch, which not only don't block the wind, but also pose a danger if the snow is too heavy.
Another reason is that if they work hard, they can gather more firewood, but many families don't have enough cotton-padded clothes, which is the main reason why children don't go out.
Fabric is hard to come by, and cotton is just as rare.
This isn't a cotton-producing area, so if they want to buy cotton, they have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative. For them, these receipts are even rarer.
The only large market that doesn't require tickets—if you happen to stumble upon one, it's practically a stroke of luck.
Therefore, villagers actually have very few activities in winter. The men in the family make up the majority of the household, since there is a big task of shoveling snow in winter, and every year there are people repairing roofs and others patching up bricks and tiles.
Most of the children's clothes were made from adult clothes, or were hand-me-downs from older children. The cotton-padded clothes were also made from cotton that had been stored for who knows how many years, and the cotton inside was already hard and clumpy. Who would have the time to make clothes for their children?
Normally it's fine, but this is a real problem in this season. It's unrealistic for someone like Cheng Rui to roll around in the snow like that.
With their equipment, they're definitely going to get frostbite.
Tiger ran back after watching the commotion, but the snow had gotten heavy, so the old lady kept him at home.
He knocked on the door, then opened it and went inside, where he saw Sun Xiang coming out to greet him.
"I know it's you as soon as I hear the knock on the door, and you're always so polite."
"Come in quickly, come in quickly, take off your coat and shake off the snow."
Jian Dan casually took off his coat, hat, and gloves, while Cheng Rui put down his empty basket.
"You've come to pick up your cotton-padded coat, haven't you?"
The old lady also turned around and took things out of the cabinet on the kang (heated brick bed).
"It feels colder now that it's snowing, doesn't it?"
"That's right. I thought it was alright at first, but after it snowed, it felt like the walls were drafty."
Jian Dan didn't stand on ceremony and sat down directly on the edge of the kang (heated brick bed), touching it to feel its surface.
"Third Aunt, Auntie, your house is so warm!"
"We can't let the child get cold without a fever."
Xiao Rui, come quickly, take off your shoes and get on the kang (heated brick bed). It's warm there.
Tiger also greeted him.
"Little Rui, come up here quickly. I still want to come and play with you. My grandma said that Little An is sick and won't let me go and cause trouble."
Cheng Rui greeted the old lady and the others before climbing onto the kang (a heated brick bed) from the side and looking down at his toys with Hu Zi.
There was only the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law with their two children in the house.
"Third Uncle and the others haven't returned from the village office yet?"
This was the biggest excitement in the village today, and it wasn't a secret. A simple, casual question immediately brought a wide smile to the old woman's face.
"Yeah, they're still over there. We can't even call them back for dinner."
"You know what, Jian, you've really done a great service for our village!"
The villagers might not know the details, but these old men generally knew about important events in the village, and she naturally knew as well, so she started rambling on and on.
"That year, Tiger's dad also went to sell them. They were 2 cents a pound, which was alright. You know, these things all come from the mountains. To put it bluntly, you don't have any capital; you just have to put in some effort."
We old farmers may not have any other skills, but what are we afraid of when we put in the effort?
They had everything planned out, but once they got there, one minute they complained that the selection wasn't clean enough, the next they complained that the produce wasn't good enough, or that the quota was gone—it was all just a bunch of excuses. They took a whole truckload, and then brought it all back.
"You didn't take a single penny? Not even two cents?"
The old lady shook her head again.
"They were initially very selective about what they were going to accept, but then they started saying some inappropriate things, implying that they looked down on us because we were all peasants, poor, and inferior. When they got angry, they pulled us all back."
In recent years, they haven't mentioned selling mountain products unless they're absolutely desperate.
"ah?"
The old lady had only mentioned it casually, and now that the problem was solved, she didn't want to say anything more. She unfolded the finished cotton-padded jackets one by one.
"Let's not talk about that anymore. Come on, let's see if this cotton-padded coat fits. If there's any part that doesn't fit, we'll alter it."
He gave Cheng Rui a simple greeting.
"Xiao Rui, go and try yours."
I'd completely forgotten about it until the temperature dropped. These two kids' clothes are too short; tell me, won't their ankles suffer if they go out in this weather?
The old lady put the clothes on Cheng Rui and patted them down.
"Of course! This is nothing, it's only just started snowing, and we haven't even entered the coldest period of winter yet."
The cold days are yet to come; this child mustn't get cold, or he'll suffer later.
She didn't try to persuade them. If other people have the means to keep their children warm and prevent them from getting cold, why should she be the bad guy?
I agree with the simplicity.
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