As winter arrived, several heavy snowfalls kept people indoors.
Braving the snow, a woman hurried home, not daring to waste a moment, with two pancakes she couldn't bear to eat tucked into her arms.
She was already walking very fast, but by the time she got home, her hands were so cold she couldn't feel them.
She breathed on her hand to warm it before opening the door and quickly going back inside. There were three children on the kang (heated brick bed), who jumped and danced with joy at the sight of her. The oldest was five, and the youngest was just over two.
A smile appeared on the woman's face.
"mother."
The woman said, "Hey, have you all eaten your porridge?" She pulled all three children over and kissed them one by one.
The so-called "paste" is simply dry food soaked in water. After soaking for a long time, you stir it and it's ready to eat. Nowadays, it's cold, and the three children usually stay indoors, huddled together on the kang (heated brick bed). When they talk in the room, their breath leaves white vapor.
The youngest child nodded: "I ate."
The woman gave the two pieces of dry food she was carrying to her eldest son; these would be their provisions for tomorrow.
Although the woman was a native of the county, she didn't have much money. When she went to He Zifeng's shop for porridge, He Zifeng introduced her to the workshop. The workshop saw that she was quick and capable, so they put her in the tofu shop for a hundred coins a month, plus two hot meals. Working in the heated room, it wasn't cold at all. Many of the female workers brought their children with them so the children could enjoy some of the warmth.
She initially considered doing the same. However, her child was too young and didn't have a cotton-padded coat yet; catching a cold would be troublesome. Now that it's cold, although the poor family doesn't have much, she's worried about leaving the child at home, so she always locks the door from the outside.
She was incredibly grateful to He Zifeng; if he hadn't introduced her to the workshop, she definitely wouldn't have survived the winter.
I work over there now. I earn 100 coins a month. I can also buy pancakes from the workshop. Grain prices are skyrocketing now. I heard that a pancake costs 10 coins outside, but here they're only 3 coins each, and they're not small either. Two pancakes soaked in water to make a paste are enough for three children to eat for a day.
The woman stepped onto the cold kang (heated brick bed) and reached out to hug the children. She then rubbed their bodies to warm them up.
The five-year-old son said, "Mom, I want to earn money too."
The woman said, "My son has grown up, but we have a father and mother at home, so we don't need you to go out and work."
As they were talking, they heard a sound outside. The woman thought her husband had returned, and her face lit up with joy as she got up to go out. But she found that it was her sister-in-law who had come!
The younger sister-in-law knelt down as soon as she entered the house: "Sister-in-law, please lend me two jin of grain. My family really can't make ends meet." Their families were in similar circumstances. Back then, the younger sister-in-law was stingy; when everyone was hoarding grain, she thought it was too expensive and didn't buy any. Now, with the snowstorm preventing her from going out to buy any, and all the new grain from that year was gone. She was asking for five copper coins a jin of grain that had been stored for who knows how many years.
Besides, the cold weather brings difficulties not only in terms of food, but also in the shortage of firewood and coal. It's only the beginning of November, and winter still has two months to go. Who knows when this will end?
The woman said, "Get up quickly." Then she said, "Every family is struggling. My family only has five catties of grain left. I'll lend you three catties. It's okay for us adults to suffer a little, but the children can't go hungry. Otherwise, you can go to the workshop tomorrow and ask if you can take any of the food they give out each day that you can't finish."
The younger sister-in-law said, "Okay, I'll go ask tomorrow too. Thank you for saving my life, sister-in-law." As she spoke, tears welled up in her eyes.
The woman left with the grain, feeling a pang of regret. It was fortunate she had this job; otherwise, her life would have been the same as her sister-in-law's. Life was hard for ordinary people.
Children are the most sensitive; they seemed to sense her discomfort and woke her up with their tender voices.
She asked, "Is Mom alright?" She felt a little embarrassed; she was a grown woman, yet she was being comforted by a child.
Just then, there was a knock at the door. From afar, a man could be heard saying, "Look what good stuff I've brought!" He then happily entered, bringing two loads of firewood and one load of coal ash. These were things that money couldn't buy these days.
The man is now part of the snow-clearing team. He's not only responsible for clearing the main roads in the county, but also for clearing the roads leading to the villages. Although it's tiring and hard work, he's received a cotton-padded coat and two meals a day. He said, "This was given to us by the deputy constable. Everyone gets one."
"Didn't you spend any money?" the woman asked.
The man said, "I didn't spend a single penny."
The woman's face lit up with joy. She quickly gathered the firewood and placed it in the backyard. They had a heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove), but they were reluctant to burn it. She said, "We'll burn it when it gets cold!"
The man went home and quickly put his cotton shoes out by the window to air them. They'll be dry inside by tomorrow.
The cotton-padded clothes and trousers were placed on top of their thin quilts. Suddenly, it was much warmer. The man, with his fiery temper, would sit on the kang (heated brick bed), and the children would all gather around him. The whole family would huddle together; it wasn't time to sleep yet, so they would chat.
The woman told the man about her sister-in-law coming to borrow grain. The man said, "She's having a hard time too." Thinking of the natural disaster, he felt a pang of sadness; such a heavy snowfall must have killed countless people. Touching the woman's cold hand, he said, "I'll get you some new clothes next month, so you won't be so cold every day."
The woman defiantly said, "I can withstand the cold. I'll give the next set to the children when they're ready." The damp chill in the room made them uncomfortable.
The man said, "They're not going out, and besides, give them all the light clothing we have at home. It's quite cold on the street. You can't fall down, or the house will collapse."
The woman looked at the man and after a long while, finally hummed in agreement.
The man said, "I heard that the county is slaughtering pigs tomorrow. They'll make sauerkraut stew with pork then. If I get some, I'll bring it back for my family of five to eat."
The woman's mouth watered at the mention of meat. She said, "Then I'll bring back tomorrow's food too." The children had been eating dry rations soaked in water all day, and their mouths were all sore. She had even asked some experienced women who had given birth, and they said it was because they weren't eating well. Eating something better would help them recover quickly.
"The county magistrate is truly benevolent."
"It's the same with Lord He. If it weren't for him, our whole family would have starved to death."
As they talked, the group lay down, their cotton-padded clothes and trousers tucked under the blankets, making them much warmer. Soon, the children's even breathing could be heard, but the woman couldn't sleep. However, she dared not move, afraid of waking the children.
The man whispered, "Why aren't you asleep?"
The woman swallowed and said, "I can't sleep, I just want to eat tomorrow's sauerkraut stewed pork as soon as possible."
Even if a man hasn't slept with a woman, he still craves food. But he's too proud to say it out loud, so he says, "Next year, I'll buy more pork and stew a pot for you, so you can eat as much as you want!"
The woman scoffed, "Keep bragging." Then she ignored him and went to sleep. Her dreams were filled with stewed, creamy white pork.
The next morning, the entire street was enveloped in an enticing aroma. Anyone unaware of the situation would think they were still dreaming.
A note from the author: Happy Mid-Autumn Festival to everyone.
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