The December wind, carrying snowflakes, rustled against the old locust tree.
My grandma told my grandpa, "It's snowing, it's going to snow soon."
It's snowing, and Dad will come home when it snows.
Fang Dongqiang stood on tiptoe and peered through the door frame, when he suddenly spotted the dark blue figure at the intersection—his aunt, Fang Meihao.
"Auntie!" Fang Dongqiang shouted as he ran over, his shoes slipping on the thin layer of ice on the muddy ground, almost causing him to fall.
Fang Mei laughed and opened her arms to catch him.
"Auntie, you wore light clothes when you went there, but now you're wearing very thick clothes."
"You're the same, all wrapped up like a cotton ball."
"Grandma said that if I wear thick clothes and it snows, Dad will come back."
"Your aunt lives closer to home, while your father lives farther away, so your aunt will get home faster and your father will get home later."
Is it very, very big outside?
“Yes, the outside world is very big.” Fang Meihao held Fang Dongqiang’s hand and chatted as they walked home.
When Fang Meihao came back, Fang Dongqiang slept with her again, and Fang Meihao told him about the outside world.
The night in December was chilly, but the house was warm. The mud walls blocked the cold wind, and the quilts were warm. Fang Dongqiang huddled inside, even his toes felt warm.
Fang Meixiang listened quietly until Fang Meihao finished speaking.
The sun in the twelfth lunar month is unusually warm, and it's a good day to clean before the New Year.
Fang Meihao wrapped a headscarf around her neck, tied a broom to a long stick, and swept the dust off the roof beams.
Fang Dongqiang burst into laughter when he saw her, "Little Auntie, you look like the mother hen in the book."
Fang Dongqiang took out a comic book, turned to this page, and saw a mother hen leading a group of chicks, with a checkered headscarf wrapped around her head.
Fang Meihao smiled upon seeing it, "It does look somewhat like it."
The dust was swept down and swirled in the beam of light. "Dongqiang, take your mother to the door. There's too much dust in the house."
Fang Dongqiang pulled Fang Meixiang to the door.
"Dongqiang, Meixiang!" A man wearing a leather jacket and carrying a snakeskin bag walked over.
Fang Meixiang paused, her fingers unconsciously twisting her clothes.
Fang Dongqiang hugged the comic book to his chest, shrank back, and pressed his back against the wall. The face looked somewhat familiar, yet somewhat unfamiliar.
Fang Damiao smiled and glanced at Fang Meixiang, "Meixiang, I'm back."
He squatted down in front of Fang Dongqiang again, "Dongqiang, don't you recognize your dad?" His voice was a little breathless, probably because he had been rushing on the way.
Fang Dongqiang blinked, looked at Fang Damiao, then looked up again; it wasn't snowing.
But this person really is my father.
He held up the comic book, covering half his face, leaving only his eyes showing, and secretly peeked at it.
Fang Meixiang's mother came out of the house. "He's been asking me for a long time when Dad will come back. When I told him it was snowing, he couldn't believe it when he saw the bright sunshine today."
"Hehe, Dongqiang, Dad lives far away. It was snowing at home when I left. It took a long time to get home, and the snow stopped by the time I arrived."
"Da Miao, you've all gotten so tanned." Fang Meixiang's mother led them into the house.
Fang Meihao put down the broom she was holding. "Brother, you're back?"
"Hmm, Meihao, you're on holiday too?"
"Da Miao, I'll go make a bowl of noodles." Fang Meixiang's mother walked towards the kitchen.
Fang Damiao looked at Fang Meixiang, "Meixiang, are you doing alright at home?"
Fang Meixiang's lips suddenly curled upwards, as if pulled by something, but the smile quickly disappeared as soon as it reached the corner of her eyes. She quickly lowered her head and stared at the tips of her shoes.
Fang Mei was busy going to the kitchen to start a fire.
Seeing that no one else was in the room, Fang Damiao whispered in Fang Meixiang's ear, "Go home tonight."
Fang Meixiang's cheeks slowly turned red, as if they had been warmed by the fire in the stove.
"Dongqiang, you're in school now?" Fang Damiao pulled Fang Dongqiang over and patted his head. "You've grown quite a bit taller this year."
Fang Dongqiang seemed to have something to say, but felt that he wasn't familiar enough with Fang Damiao yet, so he didn't say it.
"Look what good stuff Dad brought you." Fang Damiao took out a plastic Transformer from the pile of clothes in the bag. It was a novelty from the toy factory that could be disassembled and reassembled.
Fang Dongqiang's eyes lit up when he saw it, and he put down the book in his hand and picked up the Transformers toy.
"There's also candy," Fang Damiao said, taking out a bag of White Rabbit milk candy, opening one and stuffing it into Fang Meixiang's mouth.
Fang Meixiang sipped the candy, her smile growing even sweeter.
"Dongqiang, give a few to Grandma and Auntie." Fang Damiao stuffed one into Fang Dongqiang's mouth.
Fang Dongqiang ran towards the kitchen, clutching a toy and a candy in one hand.
After eating the noodles, Fang Damiao went home to prepare for his stay that night.
"Da Miao, since it's sunny today, let's air out the blankets and stuff, and tidy things up. I was thinking of cleaning the house today and then tidying up your place too."
"It's okay, I can tidy up by myself. Dongqiang, are you coming home with Dad?"
Fang Dongqiang stood to the side, his eyes darting around, without saying a word.
"Dad will take you to the shop, and I'll buy you whatever you want."
Fang Dongqiang, who had been sitting still, immediately stood up.
"He gets all excited as soon as you mention buying things." Fang Meixiang's mother's eyes curved into crescent moons. "Dongqiang, are you going with Daddy?"
"I'll go." This time, she agreed without hesitation.
"Okay, you go with me. We'll have dinner here, and Meixiang can have dinner first and then we can go together."
Fang Damiao took the house key, slung the snakeskin bag over his shoulder, and held Fang Dongqiang's hand with his other hand.
Fang Meixiang looked at them, stretched her neck, and slightly raised her bottom off the stool.
"Meixiang, Da Miao, tidy up the house. Have dinner first, then we can go together."
Fang Meixiang sat back down on the stool after hearing this.
The sun warmed the village roads, and Fang Dongqiang's hands were warm too, held in Fang Damiao's palm. "Dongqiang, did you miss your dad at home?"
Fang Damiao turned to the side and looked down at Fang Dongqiang, smiling, "The kid is getting more and more handsome."
Fang Dongqiang also looked up at Fang Damiao, "I want to buy a bicycle, I want to ride in front to my second aunt's house."
"Ha, a little kid wants to buy a bicycle."
“Yes, Fang Yu, Xiao Jun’s family has one. Sit in the front.” “Ring ring, ring ring!” Fang Dongqiang imitated ringing the bicycle bell.
"Hey, Da Miao's back from making a fortune outside!"
"Hehehe, what kind of money can you make by doing some work?"
"Dongqiang, do you still recognize your father?"
Along the way, we kept encountering villagers who greeted us.
Fang Damiao pushed open the creaking wooden door, and a smell mixed with dust and mildew hit him. Fang Dongqiang waved his hand in front of his nose.
Fang Damiao looked at him and chuckled, "Still acting like an adult? Staying here tonight?"
Fang Dongqiang shook his head.
The square table was covered in a layer of dust, and fine cobwebs formed on the chair legs.
A small hole appeared in the window paper, and sunlight streamed in, casting bright, shimmering spots on the ground. Countless tiny dust particles could be seen swirling within the beams of light.
Fang Damiao put down the snakeskin bag, raised his hand to wipe the edge of the table, and his fingertips were immediately covered with a layer of dust.
Fang Damiao took the quilt out to air it, picked up a broom to pull off the spider webs, and then took a rag to wipe the bedside and the table and chairs.
Looking at the stove, I noticed a ring of light yellow rust around the edge of the iron pot, but I figured I'd just leave it there if I wasn't cooking.
"Let's go to the shop."
Fang Dongqiang immediately skipped out the door.
"Boss Miao is back!" someone shouted as they saw him walking towards them from afar.
"The workers are the big bosses."
"This is the style of a big boss, even wearing a zip-up jacket."
"Making money in Shenzhen?" someone asked, reaching over to touch the zipper. "So stylish!"
Fang Damiao picked up Fang Dongqiang and asked, "Look, what do you want?"
"Dongqiang, your dad has made a fortune. Buy whatever you want."
Fang Dongqiang still followed the principle of only taking one type of drink at a time, so he only took one bottle of soda, took a sip, handed it to Fang Damiao, and ran off to play with the other children.
"Dongqiang, let me see it." "Can I touch it?" The children had never seen such a toy before, so they all crowded around to take a closer look.
“Those buildings over there are really tall,” Fang Damiao said, squatting on a rock, talking about what he had seen and heard in the big city. “They’re more than ten stories high, the windows are so clean you can see your reflection in them, and the elevators go by so fast you don’t have to climb stairs…”
"Da Miao, how much money did you make this year?" someone asked.
"The money is definitely more than from farming. It's just that the expenses are higher in big cities."
As they chatted at the shop entrance, the setting sun cast a long shadow over him. Fang Damiao then led Fang Dongqiang home, wanting to bring in the quilts that were drying outside before the sun completely set.
"Ring ring!" A neighbor rode up on a brand-new bicycle, with a red rope tied to the handlebars. "Da Miao, you're back?"
"Hey, you're back!" Fang Damiao replied.
"Dad, this is the bicycle. I can sit in front of it and it can ring."
Fang Damiao turned to look at the figure riding away on the bicycle, "Do you really want a bicycle?"
"Yes!" Fang Dongqiang nodded vigorously.
After calculating the money in his pocket, he was still struggling with how much money to give to Fang Meixiang's parents. He needed to save some money for the New Year, and he would also need money for transportation next year. There was simply no extra money to buy a bicycle.
The money spent in the pink-lit shop was enough to buy a bicycle. Fang Damiao clenched her fist and pinched herself hard with her nails.
"Next year, Dad will earn some money and send it over for Grandpa to buy. We won't buy it this year."
"Oh!" Fang Dongqiang's voice lowered, and his eyelashes drooped.
Seeing his son's dejected look, Fang Damiao felt an urge to slap himself a few times.
The sun sets quickly in the twelfth lunar month, and the light bulbs in the house come on, casting a dim yellow light that carries the aroma of food.
The family sat around the square table for dinner.
"Da Miao, do you like eating out?"
"I can eat it. They're all from all over the country. I can eat anything when I'm tired from work." Fang Damiao picked at the rice in his bowl. "But none of it tastes as good as the food at home."
The light bulb swayed overhead, casting the family's shadows on the wall, flickering on and off.
Fang Damiao and Fang Meixiang's father chatted about things happening at home and outside, while Fang Dongqiang ate his rice on the side and Fang Meixiang chewed on her meat in small bites. The faint sound of firecrackers in the distance made the December night seem especially peaceful.
Fang Damiao handed 50 yuan to Fang Meixiang's mother, "Mom, Dad, I didn't save much money in the first year I was away from home. Well, sometimes I have to spend money when I have a headache or feel cold or hot."
"Yes, it's so hard for you to work out there all by yourself, you must take care of your health."
"Maybe it's because it's my first year in such a far place and I'm not used to it yet. Next year will be better, and I'll save more money next year."
"Buy a bicycle," Fang Dongqiang suddenly interjected.
“The children are all listening to us.” Everyone immediately looked at Fang Dongqiang.
"I'll buy a bicycle when I have money," Fang Dongqiang shouted again.
Fang Meixiang's mother turned her head and smiled at Fang Dongqiang, "You want everything just because others have it."
Fang Damiao's lips were tightly pressed together, and he rubbed his hands on his legs. "Buy it, I'll definitely buy it next year!"
"Da Miao, you must be tired from the journey. Why don't you go home soon?"
"Dongqiang, are you going to sleep at my place tonight?" Fang Damiao asked.
Fang Dongqiang thought for a moment and moved closer to Fang Meihao.
"Dongqiang, you should stay here. Da Miao, you don't need to cook, come and eat."
“Okay!” Fang Damiao immediately agreed. “I haven’t tidied up my stove yet, and I’ll be going out again after I turn 15 next year.”
"Yes, we'll eat here for a few days during the Lunar New Year."
Fang Damiao patted his pocket but didn't reach in again. "Let's go, Meixiang."
Fang Meixiang's mother tidied Fang Meixiang's clothes.
The road was faintly illuminated by the warm yellow light shining from the windows of the houses on both sides, and the sounds of laughter and conversation could be faintly heard from inside.
Fang Meixiang followed behind Fang Damiao. The bamboo forest in the distance rustled in the wind, mixed with the occasional crowing of roosters and barking of dogs, making the village both lively and peaceful.
When they encountered villagers, some asked jokingly, "Da Miao, did you bring Mei Xiang home to sleep tonight?"
“I’m coming back, so I’ll have to bring him home to stay,” Fang Damiao answered readily.
"Yes, yes, the couple hasn't seen each other for a year. Hurry up and go." The man waved with a grin.
As you enter, pull down the thick cotton thread with a metal plate hanging from it, and a dim yellow light pours down, casting crooked shadows of tables and chairs on the muddy ground.
"Meixiang, let me boil some water for you to wash up." Fang Damiao put down the bag containing Meixiang's clothes.
Fang Damiao cleaned the rust off the pot, added water, and used the firewood left over from the beginning of the year to light it and stuff it into the stove.
The flames crackled and danced in the stove, illuminating Fang Damiao's face. "Meixiang, sit here and warm up."
Fang Meixiang walked over slowly and approached Fang Damiao, then sat down next to him.
"Meixiang, I'm not home, do you miss me?" Fang Damiao reached his hand inside Fang Meixiang's clothes.
Fang Meixiang lowered her head even further.
The flickering flames in the stove cast a warm, rosy glow on their faces.
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