Chapter 57.1

Qin Qingman’s lips were just one centimeter away from Wei Ling’s when she finally stopped. Taking the initiative to kiss someone was still a bit too embarrassing for her.

As she breathed in the scent of Wei Ling’s breath, her face turned even redder.

When she was around the person she liked, she felt her heart race and her pulse quicken. She longed to get closer, but her sense of shame ultimately held her back from giving in to the impulse.

Qin Qingman stopped, but Wei Ling struggled to hold back.

From the moment she had leaned in towards his lips, he had woken up. Even though he was awake, he didn’t open his eyes. He waited, hoping for his wife to “tease” him. But as he waited and waited, nothing happened.

Sensing Qin Qingman’s hesitation, Wei Ling couldn’t wait any longer.

He opened his eyes, reached out, and pulled her into his arms. Finally, their lips met in a spark, igniting a fire that overwhelmed all of their senses.

The two of them didn’t separate for quite a while.

When they finally broke apart, both of them were breathing heavily. Their lips were not only red but also glistening, with a subtle, tingling sensation.

Qin Qingman’s face turned even redder.

“I… I’ll go add coal to the stove.” she said, feeling as if her face wasn’t the only thing burning. The shame of being caught trying to steal a kiss overwhelmed her, and she couldn’t even bring herself to look at Wei Ling. Instead, she quickly made an excuse to get off the bed.

But Wei Ling, having just tasted the moment, was in no mood to let her go.

He pulled her back into his arms, refusing to let her escape.

“Ah Ling, Chuchu…” Qin Qingman was both nervous and shy, terrified that Chuchu might wake up and see them embracing.

“It’s fine. Chuchu will probably sleep for another half hour.” Wei Ling said, his voice calm.

He had been up half the night with Chuchu, so he knew that as long as they didn’t make any loud noises, the child wouldn’t be disturbed. Chuchu had wet the bed the previous night and had been very embarrassed about it. After taking a shower, instead of going to sleep right away, Chuchu had stayed up with Wei Ling to help with the bedding before finally falling back asleep.

In order to dry the bedding that had been washed, Wei Ling had turned the fire in the living room up to the maximum the previous night. He needed to dry Chuchu’s bedding before sunrise.

While waiting for the bedding to dry, the child, tired from staying up, had leaned against Wei Ling, dozing off like a chick pecking at rice.

“How do you know Chuchu will sleep for another half hour?” Qin Qingman asked, puzzled by Wei Ling’s certainty.

According to Chuchu’s biological clock, the child should be waking up soon.

Wei Ling, having promised Chuchu to keep a secret, wasn’t about to tell Qin Qingman. Instead, he made up an excuse, “I feel like Chuchu will sleep for another half hour. Probably because it’s cold today, and there’s wind outside.”

Hearing this, Qin Qingman quickly went to lift the curtain.

She had been so focused on Wei Ling that, with the room’s stove burning brightly, she hadn’t noticed the cold outside. After all, she didn’t have Wei Ling’s sharp hearing.

As she pulled the curtain aside, Qin Qingman could clearly see the outside scene.

The night before had been lit by a bright moon, and she had expected a nice day today. But, to her surprise, the weather was completely different. It wasn’t snowing heavily, but the wind was blowing hard.

White fur wind.

The light raindrops, blown by the wind, had turned into delicate, thread-like ice needles.

As the ice needles passed, trees and thatched roofs had been frozen into transparent, crystal-like sculptures. If it weren’t for the stoves burning in every home, the entire building would likely freeze in such weather.

In this kind of white fur wind, people shouldn’t go outside.

The wind could make it hard to open one’s eyes, and anyone who ventured out could easily be blown away. That’s why, during such weather, no one in the villages would go outside.

Even the training at the XXX Division would be suspended today.

This kind of weather could easily take lives.

“It’s windy.” Qin Qingman murmured, staring out at the snow being swept up by the wind.

This was her first experience with the northeastern “white fur wind.”

The wind was even more terrifying than she had imagined.

Such winds were frightening, but after they passed, they could also create breathtaking beauty. Rivers seemed to bloom, and trees were covered in ice needles. This kind of natural beauty, formed only after the white fur wind had passed, was highly sought after by photographers in the later years.

As Qin Qingman gazed at the beautiful scene outside the window, she fell into deep thought. Wei Ling, assuming she was worried, spoke up.

“Wife, we’re safe inside the house. The foundation is deep, and the walls are made of whole logs with double layers. It can withstand up to a level twelve wind. Don’t worry, we’ll be fine here.”

At that moment, Wei Ling also set aside all his romantic thoughts and, standing beside Qin Qingman, looked out at the white fur wind through the small gap in the window.

He had experienced this kind of wind in his previous life.

It had happened when he was stationed at a border city. That winter, the temperature seemed colder than it was now, and the border city was not the land beneath his feet but a place closer to the capital.

One winter, the white fur wind had blown for half a month.

The extreme cold lasted for half a month, during which many soldiers froze to death, and many civilians in the border city also perished from the cold and hunger. The whole city was severely weakened by the harsh weather. Even worse than the city’s suffering was the devastation on the prairie.

Countless civilians and livestock on the prairie had frozen to death.

When spring came, war broke out in the border city.

The nomadic people from the prairie came to invade, driven by the need to survive. A large-scale battle was inevitable, and as a result, many people died from the cold, many died from hunger, and even more died in the battle. In the end, although Wei Ling managed to defend the city, the entire area was left desolate.

The prairie, too, was in ruins.

“Long live the Party, long live the country.” Wei Ling said, genuinely moved.

After the liberation, although the country was still in a difficult period, with food and supplies being scarce, the government had been adjusting and doing its best to ensure that the people were fed and clothed.

Under the united efforts of the nation, the people no longer suffered mass deaths from the white fur wind as they did centuries ago.

Qin Qingman, hearing the sentiment in Wei Ling’s words, softly replied, “Yes, the Party is good, the country is good. Now, as long as people work hard, they can live, instead of working and being exploited to the point of starvation.”

“The Chairman is the great leader of the people of the entire nation.”

Wei Ling and Qin Qingman both agreed with the statement.

The farmer has his land, and the distribution is based on labor. The times need to progress step by step, and one day, a broad road will be opened.

Take it slow, take it easy, so that the prosperity of future generations can be attained.

“Big Sis, Brother-in-law.” Just as the two outsiders, who were not native to the land, were watching the white-haired wind outside, feeling a sense of reflection, Chuchu also rubbed his eyes and sat up.

He had stayed up late the night before, and even though he had slept a little more, it seemed he didn’t wake up as refreshed as usual.

“Awake?”

Qin Qingman turned to look at Chuchu.

The moment she looked at him, she noticed something unusual. She remembered that the child had been wearing a pale yellow undergarment, but now it seemed to have changed to grayish-white. Could it be…?

Qin Qingman subtly reached out and touched Chuchu’s bedding.

Freshly washed bedding felt different from used bedding, and the moment Qin Qingman touched it, she immediately noticed the difference. She even caught a faint fragrance.

It was the scent of soap from the soapberry.

This scent could only be smelled on freshly washed bedding. If the bedding had been used for a week, the faint soapberry scent would have dissipated into the air. So, Chuchu’s bedding had just been washed.

Qin Qingman understood.

She also recalled the large bowl of honey water the child had drunk just before going to bed, and instantly, she guessed the answer.

“Big Sis.”

Chuchu had been a little groggy at first, but when faced with Qin Qingman’s clear, bright eyes, he suddenly felt guilty. His little hands were secretly patting the blanket under the covers, worried that he had drawn a map again.

He patted for a while without finding anything, and finally let out a sigh of relief.

Wei Ling, who was standing nearby, watched Chuchu’s seemingly discreet actions in silence.

He had helped the child hide it.

If the secret hadn’t been hidden, it was not his problem. He couldn’t afford to offend his wife.

Chuchu had no idea that he had already given himself away. Still, like usual, he happily pounced onto Qin Qingman, his three-year-old small frame, with a large head and small body, was just the cutest at this age.

Qin Qingman didn’t expose the child’s secret, instead playing along with him for a while before getting up.

It was time to rise.

She tidied up, then began preparing the meal, figuring they would be ready by around ten o’clock.

The days were short, and today, they didn’t plan to have three meals, especially since they had eaten a lot of meat the night before. Meat not only filled the stomach but also staved off hunger. The three of them, having just woken up, didn’t feel hungry.

This was the first time Chuchu woke up in the morning without feeling hungry.

“Big Sis, Brother-in-law, this coal burns really well. Yesterday, we burned it for a whole day and night, and it only used up a little less than half a basket. If we were burning firewood, we would’ve needed at least four or five baskets like this, and the heat wouldn’t be as high as coal.”

After washing up, Chuchu squatted in front of the steel stove in the west room, looking around in shock.

At their house, they stored firewood and coal in large willow baskets.

These baskets were round, with two handles shaped like ears, perfect for holding things on the ground.

“Coal does burn more efficiently.” Qin Qingman replied as she cooked dumplings in a frying pan in the living room.

They had boiled a little too many dumplings last night and hadn’t finished them. The leftover dumplings could be fried today.

Since they were already cooked, there was no need to add any flour-water mixture to the pan. She could just fry them on low heat, and the lid would prevent any oil splashes.

“Big Sis, coal is so useful, why don’t the others in the village burn coal?”

Chuchu walked out of the west room, puzzled.

“Coal like this is rare. The first priority goes to government institutions and the military, and ordinary people generally can’t afford or find it. People in the city use honeycomb coal for cooking, and those in the countryside are more likely to use firewood, as it’s abundant and free.”

Qin Qingman responded to Chuchu’s words.

There were several large forests in the Northeast, with abundant trees and countless amounts of timber. Coupled with the large-scale steel production in 1958 and later land reclamation, the entire Northeast was rich in firewood that seemed endless.

In their Kaoshan Village, as long as they weren’t lazy and stocked up a little more firewood each year, every family would have enough to stay warm during the winter.

The original owner had suffered from the cold because several of his aunts had borrowed the firewood, and since the original owner had limited physical strength, he hadn’t chopped enough firewood himself, which led to him freezing to death in his sleep.

Chuchu immediately understood after hearing Qin Qingman’s explanation.

When it came to spending money or not, of course, they would choose the option that didn’t cost anything.

“Thank you, Brother-in-law.” The child ran to Wei Ling and hugged his large leg, knowing where the coal in their home had come from.

Wei Ling was helping Qin Qingman with the cooking. When Chuchu hugged his leg, he reached out with one hand to pat the child’s head.

Being together felt indescribably warm for the three of them.