"Why are you in such a hurry?"
"How can I not be in a hurry? Look, the snow outside has already reached our ankles. I’m just here to tell Chaoyang and Xiang Dong that we won’t be picking up the car tomorrow. Let’s wait until spring; otherwise, it’s too dangerous."
"Alright, I saw the heavy snow too, and I think the trains might stop as well."
"Alright, you two don’t need to be busy now, I’m heading back."
"Wait a minute, have a cup of hot water before you go."
"No, I’m not thirsty. I better head back. It’ll take two hours on this road."
After seeing off Wang Shulin, Li Yungui felt uneasy, but thankfully he ca on foot. Otherwise, he might not have made it.
"This is good. Chaoyang doesn’t have to suffer."
"Indeed, besides, we’re relatives with Wang Shulin. His cousin married your uncle."
"My uncle remarried?"
"Yes, it’s been over a month."
"Actually, that’s good. Xue’er and her two sisters are at our place, and Hong Lin and his wife have their own ho. My uncle was quite lonely."
"That’s why your mom and I don’t want to force you to marry. You have to find soone you truly like. It’s a lifeti matter."
In no ti, Qu Xiaoli returned. Li Yungui helped her shovel snow. "Take off your outer clothes and get on the kang."
"Yeah, the snow is crazy. It’s so big. I saw footprints in our yard. Who ca?"
"Wang Shulin. He ca to tell us not to pick up the car."
"Even if he wanted to go, I wouldn’t let Chaoyang go in this weather."
Li Manjiang sat on the kang watching his parents interact, still as warm as always.
Qu Xiaoli took off her outer clothes and pants. Li Yungui took them outside, especially the cotton shoes, placing them by the fire because they were already a bit wet and uncomfortable to wear again.
As he entered the house, he heard his wife and son talking about waiting for the snow to stop and then sending a matchmaker to Han Family Village.
Li Manjiang was no longer opposed to marrying a girl from their hotown, so he nodded in agreent.
Qu Xiaoli sat for a while and then put on Li Yungui’s cotton shoes to knead dough. This weather is perfect for dumplings, especially since the eldest son is ho today, she’s making his favorite.
Sauerkraut and pork dumplings, Qu Xiaoli deliberately cut a large piece of fat at to render the oil, then chopped so wild boar at, adding cracklings. It’s sure to be delicious.
Li Yungui was in charge of chopping the at filling, while Li Manjiang peeled garlic. Dumplings with chopped garlic taste the best.
The three of them were preparing at ho, and so was almost every other family in the village; nearly everyone was having dumplings.
Du Fengying and Zhang Qiu’e were also preparing to make dumplings with a three-delicacy filling, as Han Xiangjun requested. Even though the wild boar at was ready, they ate offal for lunch, so they wouldn’t stew at for dinner.
Han Xiangjun was telling three children stories from his history.
Jiang Feifei thought it was a tale of rebellion, as a well-off young man ventured out on his own.
Not seeing admiration in the children’s eyes, Han Xiangjun felt wounded. How could they not admire him?
Shang Zhenkun was reading off to the side, listening to Han Xiangjun’s stories.
Old Yang was lying in a room reading a book, a novel from Feifei’s study.
It was quite interesting, certainly better than accompanying Old Han to mislead the children.
Wei Kaiyun was in the room, sleeping soundly with two children beside him. He was genuinely exhausted from the previous day and only had an opportunity to nap in the afternoon.
The two children also slept soundly because soone was beside them.
Today Jiang Xinyu let everyone go ho early. The older ones stayed to shovel snow, even though it was still snowing. By shoveling now, it’d be easier when the snow stopped, instead of struggling later.
The two professors hurried back. Jiang Xinyu had Chaoyang escort them ho, considering their age and the risk of slipping on the way.
Many hands made light work; within half an hour, the roof snow was cleared, and then everyone went ho.
After reaching ho, they took off their outer clothes directly in the hall; otherwise, it was too cold.
Upon returning ho, Jing Chu helped to make dumplings. He was delighted to have dumplings for dinner.
The snow outside had reached their ankles and showed no signs of slowing down.
Wei Kaiyun was already awake, holding bottles in both hands, letting the children drink milk while lying down.
The three of them heard noise and imdiately looked towards Jiang Xinyu.
"The snow outside is too heavy, I don’t think we’ll be having classes tomorrow."
"Honey, let’s shovel the snow off the roof later. This weather isn’t normal, such big snowflakes, and no signs of stopping."
"Alright, we can shovel it now. It probably won’t stop tonight."
Whether there would be classes tomorrow wasn’t ntioned, but with snow like this, there probably wouldn’t be.
They might not even be able to go outside tomorrow.
Wei Kaiyun heard Chaoyang’s voice, but since the kids weren’t done eating, he didn’t get up.
Chaoyang was helping Guodong shovel snow. Zhao Xiaoqiang was also helping load it onto the cart. They decided to push the snow outside; otherwise, the yard would be full of it.
Shi Jing and Jianbin couldn’t sit still in the house either.
So the two boys also ca out to help. As long as they weren’t causing trouble, it was good. "Shi Jing, Feifei said she wants a snowman."
"Then let’s build one in the yard. It should look great."
The two began building a snowman. Although it was their first ti, they did quite well.
"Chaoyang, you don’t have to go out tomorrow." No need to think; collecting the car won’t happen. With this much snow, the roads would be impassable.
"Yeah, my dad said Wang Shulin ca over this afternoon and told us we wouldn’t be picking up the car this year."
"That’s the wisest decision; with such heavy snow, the outside must be extrely slippery. Driving is impossible."
"Indeed, but we’ll have to go eventually."
Wei Kaiyun ca out and joined the work, Old Yang heard the noise and ca out too. The two climbed onto the roof to clear the snow; though it’s a blue brick-tile house, heavy snow isn’t safe.
Han Xiangjun also ca out, watching them work in the snow. With no other option, he joined in.
"Chaoyang, go ho; your family needs to shovel snow too."
"Master, we have plenty of people at ho. I’m not indispensable."
It took several people an hour, but soon enough, the ground was white again.
Wei Kaiyun found a large piece of pork and gave it to Chaoyang, urging him to go ho.
"Master, isn’t this too much?"
"Not too much. It’s over thirty pounds; enjoy so good at." Wei Kaiyun laughed as he handed it to him.
Chaoyang accepted it with a smile, then went ho. In just that hour, his back was soaked, so he had to hurry ho to avoid getting sick. New Year’s was coming soon, and it wouldn’t taste good if he got sick right before eating the at.
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