"Wife, are you brushing off like this?"
"Thank you, Wei Kaiyun."
"I should be the one thanking you. Ever since you married , it’s been you holding everything together these years. My heart aches for the difficulties you face.
In my heart, no one compares to you, and my next life belongs to you, Jiang Xinyu."
"Haha, are you going to be my bull and horse?"
"That’s for sure."
The two cuddled together, listening to the radio. Wei Kaiyun’s hand was always on her belly, feeling the baby’s movents.
Around four o’clock, Sister-in-law Liu ca in asking what they wanted for dinner.
"Let’s have porridge tonight, with shredded radish balls and fried dough twists. We don’t need to make anything dry."
Fry so bean sprouts and cut so marinated at.
Sister-in-law Liu went down to arrange this, and after a while, Jiang Xinyu also got up; sitting on the kang was too uncomfortable for long periods.
She had just walked around the courtyard when Old Yang returned with the three children. Seeing their rosy cheeks and bright eyes, she knew they were happy.
"Mom, I pulled my sister on the ice, and Brother Jianbin also pulled on the ice sled."
"Was the ice sled more fun, or the ice monkey?"
"Both were fun. Today, I managed to hit five hundred tis without the ice monkey falling over."
"Aweso, my son."
Shi Jing looked embarrassed being praised. But those pretty eyes were filled with pride and excitent.
"Mom, Brother Jianbin can hit seven hundred tis with the ice monkey."
"That’s even more impressive. Both of you are fantastic.
Alright, co inside, or you’ll catch a cold when your sweat dries."
The two children went into Wei Kaiyun’s room, while Feifei went into Shang Zhenkun’s room, holding her hand as she entered.
Inside, their excited voices and laughter echoed out.
Jiang Xinyu still instructed Sister-in-law Liu to fry the shredded radish balls again; it’s for her family, and if it’s too hard when cold, it’s not tasty.
The fried dough twists didn’t need that because they were crispy, and wouldn’t beco hard."
Jiang Xinyu cut a radish, marinated it with salt, secretly added a bit of chicken essence, and then vinegar.
Once the oil was hot, she fried a large bowl of chili oil and put it over the marinated radish; the taste was excellent.
The children were very active in the afternoon, so they ate a bit much at night. Luckily it was porridge; otherwise, they’d risk indigestion.
After dinner, everyone sat together listening to storytelling and cross-talk.
The children listened intently, and Jiang Xinyu was quite satisfied, wanting to cultivate such habits in them.
Whatever task you do, if you do it, put in all your effort; the result isn’t important.
The two boys had sweated in the afternoon, so Jiang Xinyu gave each of them a bowl of ginger brown sugar soup.
Though it didn’t taste nice and was a bit spicy, none of them refused, each drinking a big bowl.
The morning of the second day, there was noodle soup and egg fried rice.
Sister-in-law Liu watched Jiang Xinyu put in six eggs, feeling a pang of heartache. That’s way too many.
Today, the village was quite lively; won who married out ca back, and married-in wives returned to their parents’ hos.
Their family was as usual; in the morning, the children studied with Master Shang, and the three of them now knew two thousand characters, moving on to broadening their knowledge.
Master Shang’s vast knowledge, particularly in history, was sothing the children beca accustod to.
Old Yang sat smilingly on the side and listened. After class, he said, "Do you all think Master Shang’s teachings are good?"
The three children nodded.
"Then work hard. When you grow up, rely on your abilities to go to the places you most want to visit, to taste the local food, and experience the culture."
Old Yang didn’t know that it was this remark that would lead these three on many travels in the future.
In the afternoon, the two boys went out to play first, and Feifei waited until she woke from her nap before Old Yang and Monk Master accompanied her to the riverbank.
Old Yang would leave tomorrow. She needed to write to friends; this situation probably surprised them, though she had inford them upon arriving. Regardless, she thought it best to notify them by letter anyway.
Wei Kaiyun sat beside her, helping seal the envelopes. When they addressed the letter to Qian Jun, he strained his neck to try and take a look.
Actually, Jiang Xinyu’s letter was very simple. She rely told Qian Jun she had arrived and that life here was alright.
After completing the letter, Jiang Xinyu sighed, "Qian Jun has been really good to . If it wasn’t for his help at first, I probably couldn’t have gone to university. Back then, Shi Jing was already quite big, and political reviews might not have passed."
"If he ever faces difficulties, I certainly wouldn’t stand by, not for anything else, but to repay him."
"Yes, in the future, no matter who among us is capable, we must repay Qian Jun."
"Rest assured, as long as he needs my help, I’ll definitely put in effort."
Wei Kaiyun could roughly imagine the helplessness his wife felt back then. Just for this, he considered Qian Jun a benefactor.
Letters were sent to everyone with the return address clear of course. Lv Beiguang’s letter was the longest, mainly about the two children.
Not knowing if his decision initially was correct, maybe in the future there’ll be an opportunity to visit Guodong and the others.
It’s not that she didn’t want them by her side, but she didn’t wish to trouble the village chief here.
The family already made enough trouble; wanting to transfer two more people would likely make others uneasy.
"Xinyu, even if Shi Jing and Feifei grow up, we can only offer advice, not to ntion they are soone else’s children. When I’m better, I’ll often send them so food."
Jiang Xinyu nodded, this was all they could offer. Their capacity was only this much.
The dinner was wonton; the children loved it, as did Old Yang and Monk Master.
In terms of food, Jiang Xinyu never made compromises; if she had the ans, she’d ensure this, and if not, they’d have to bear it.
Again everyone sat on the kang listening to the radio; storytelling was just creating stories, and naturally, discrepancies with historical facts occurred, which Shang Zhenkun explained to the children.
"Master Yang, are you leaving after lunch tomorrow?"
"Sure, it’s always nice to have another al."
So the next day’s lunch included roast chicken. There wasn’t much prepared in her space, and Old Yang was also given two to take with him when he left.
Jiang Xinyu packed pork head at, vermicelli, and marinated pig lungs and heart to send back with him. She also sent a small pot of braised pork; more than this he wouldn’t take.
Mostly bread, fried dough twists, and convenient foods were packed.
Old Yang took the food and letters back; he felt reluctant to leave after several days of living here, realizing how lonely being alone could be.
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