Although she was not injured this time, several adults still warned her not to go into the mountains and not to come back so late.
Xu Ning didn't plan to go up the mountain either. He had enough firewood and meat. If it snowed heavily, the mountain would be closed. By then, the temperature in the mountain would be dozens of degrees below zero, and his body would not be able to bear it.
Father Xu asked, "What about the meat?"
Xu Ning said, "We'll keep them for later use. Tomorrow I'll go to the city to buy more salt and make bacon out of them. It'll be enough for us to eat until next year. I'll take one over to my place and keep the other one in Grandpa Qi's house. His place is big and no one dares to go into Grandpa Qi's house.
You should also nourish yourself well in winter. We are not short of food now. Mom and Aunt Lu, make more when you cook so that everyone can eat enough. Look at how thin my dad and Uncle Lu are."
Several people watched her gently under the light as she muttered instructions, their hearts softened.
When Xu Ning woke up the next morning, the sky was gloomy and it looked like it was going to snow. She put some cabbage in the space and took out a few pieces of wild boar meat.
She planned to go and deliver some food and meat to Grandpa Wang and his family today. If it snowed, it would be inconvenient to ride a bike into the city. After entering the city, she went to Grandpa Wang's house first. Grandma Wang opened the door and saw that it was her and said happily,
"Xiao Ning, why are you here today? It's going to snow soon. Are you cold? Come inside and warm up."
Xu Ning pushed the bicycle into the yard, put the backpack inside the house, and then took down the two bags on the back of the bicycle.
Grandma Wang quickly took a bag from her and said, "Xiao Ning, why are you bringing so many things? We still have some at home."
Xu Ning brought the bag into the main room and said, "Grandma Wang, isn't it going to snow soon? It will be inconvenient for me to go into the city then, so I brought you more this time. Why don't you see Grandpa Wang? He's out sweeping the floor!"
"He got up early, swept the floor, and went outside the city to collect firewood. Xiaoning, your grandpa Wang has become much more energetic since he met you," said Grandma Wang gratefully, holding her hand.
Xu Ning patted her hands and consoled her, "Grandma Wang, you and Grandpa Wang, relax. Life will get better and better in the future. Maybe one day Uncle Wang will come back. You two old people must take good care of your health! Otherwise, he will be so sad! Don't you think so?"
Grandma Wang wiped her tears and said happily, "Yes, yes, Xiaoning is right. Let's listen to Xiaoning."
Xu Ning took out the things in his backpack and two pockets: cabbage, radish, 50 duck eggs, 20 catties of wild boar meat, 2 catties of peanut oil, 1 catty of brown sugar, 50 catties of rice, 30 catties of white flour, 30 catties of cornmeal, and four pairs of cotton socks.
Grandma Wang stared blankly at the things she took out. After a while, she came to her senses and said, "Xiao Ning, this is too much. I can't take it. I can't take it. You should take it back quickly." Then she put the things into Xu Ning's backpack.
Xu Ning held her hand and said, "Grandma Wang, it's going to snow heavily soon. I'm afraid that the mountain will be closed due to heavy snow and I won't be able to go out for several months, so I prepared more for you. Don't refuse, otherwise I will have to return the money to you and Grandpa Wang."
Seeing that Grandma Wang was still trying to refuse, Xu Ning continued, "Grandma Wang, I still have to go to the supply and marketing cooperative to buy some things, so I'll go back first. You pickle the wild boar meat. When the winter comes, cut a few slices and steam them to eat. They will be delicious. The duck eggs can also be pickled and eaten slowly."
After saying that, before Grandma Wang could react, he stood up and pushed the cart away.
Xu Ning locked the car and walked into the supply and marketing cooperative. Maybe because of the bad weather today, there were not many people in the supply and marketing cooperative.
Several salespeople were chatting together. A young girl saw Xu Ning coming in and said to Su Hongying, "Sister Hongying, your sister is here."
Su Hongying turned around and saw that it was Xu Ning. She immediately stood up happily and asked him to come inside to talk. When she walked to the back warehouse, Xu Ning took out two military coats from the backpack and said to her,
"Sister Hongying, my friend came over yesterday, and I asked him to leave two more for you,"
He took out two pieces of meat wrapped in oil paper from the backpack and said, "This is a wild boar that our village hunted in the mountains. I also contributed a little, so the village gave me a few pounds. I gave you two pounds, and gave two pounds to Brother Jianshe and Sister Hongmei.
Please bring some to them when you get off work. It's going to snow, so I won't go to their place."
Su Hongying happily took the coat and put it aside and said, "Sister, take the meat back and eat it. We have some meat coupons every month in the city, which can satisfy your craving."
"Sister Hongying, don't refuse. Take it back and feed it to my nephew. I still have several kilograms of meat at home. What can you do with the two taels of meat coupons you have each month? We can still go up the mountain and find something to eat in the countryside."
Su Hongying accepted it with embarrassment, gave the money for the military coat to Xu Ning, and then stood up and pulled out a box from the corner of the warehouse.
Said to Xu Ning, "Sister, these fur boots arrived yesterday. There are a few boxes of defective ones in them. Do you want to take a look?"
Xu Ning saw the pairs of cotton boots in the box. They were furry inside and the leather outside was of different shades. They didn't look good, but they didn't stop them from being warm.
Xu Ning said with sparkling eyes, "Sister Hongying, how many pairs can I buy?"
Su Hongying smiled at her and said, "These shoes are not cheap even if you don't have a ticket. People with tickets won't buy defective ones. They are only a few cents cheaper, so you can pick a few more pairs."
After hearing what Su Hongying said, Xu Ning decided to order a few more pairs. This kind of shoes is not easy to get wet when it snows and is warm. He picked out a pair for each of them, but there was no size that Xu Mo wore.
She and Xu An's shoes were also two sizes larger. They should be able to fit in just by wearing a pair of wool socks and a thick insole.
After thinking about it, since Grandpa Wang and Grandma Wang got up so early every day to sweep the streets, I bought them a pair of shoes. I didn’t know what size they would wear, but Grandpa Wang was about the same height as Grandpa Qi, so I bought the size that Grandpa Qi wore, and Grandma Wang bought the size that her mother wore.
Xu Ning looked at the large number of shoes she had chosen and said to Su Hongying embarrassedly, "Sister Hongying, did I buy too many?"
Su Hongying waved her hands and said, "It's okay. They have already chosen. The remaining ones will be chosen by the relatives who come first."
The "they" Su Hongying was referring to were the sales clerks here.
Xu Ning left the supply and marketing cooperative carrying a large basket of cotton shoes, intending to first deliver Grandpa Wang's cotton shoes to him.
As soon as they arrived at the entrance of their alley, they saw Grandpa Wang coming back with firewood on his back. Xu Ning got out of the car and called out, "Grandpa Wang, are you back from collecting firewood?"
"Xiao Ning, it looks like it's going to snow soon, why are you out at this time? Let's go home and ask your grandma Wang to cook something hot for you," he said and led Xu Ning back.
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