Chapter 78: Home

The three arrived home, and Xia’s father and mother were relieved to see their eldest son walking freely.

“Eldest son, are you recovered?” Xia’s mother hadn’t seen her eldest son in years. Tears welled up in her eyes as she walked over and held his hand, asking.

“Mother, I’m fine. This time, I owe it all to my little sister for taking care of me.”

Seeing that her eldest son was truly fine, Xia’s mother immediately let go of his hand and pulled her daughter over to shower her with affection.

Xia Ningzhou and Xia Ninghao looked at each other. How quickly did maternal love disappear?

For dinner, the uncle’s family and grandparents all came to the house for a reunion dinner. Everyone had heard that the eldest son of the Xia family had been injured and was back to recuperate. Many people in the village had brought food to visit.

The next day was the twenty-eighth of the twelfth lunar month. Xia Ning’an got up early and went to the door to paste couplets with her brothers.

At this time, the couplets pasted were not auspicious sayings. Xia Changhai asked Xia Ning’an to write red quotations.

No matter what was written, it was for good luck.

From that day on, Xia Ning’an began preparing various delicacies.

She made dough and fried twists, fried crullers, fried meatballs, fried fritters, fried flatbreads, fried noodles…

She steamed several pots of steamed buns, flower rolls, bean buns, sugar buns, steamed cakes, jujube cakes, meat buns, and then wrapped some dumplings, pork and cabbage filling, pork and chives filling, mutton and sauerkraut filling, beef and radish filling…

She prepared two large vats of these foods and froze them in the yard.

At nine o’clock that night, Xia Ning’an packed some of each of these foods, along with 10 pounds of white flour, 10 pounds of rice, 2 pounds of pork, two frozen fish, a lump of frozen shrimp, a chicken, a bunch of garlic chives, some green beans, eggplant, peppers, tomatoes, and other vegetables, a bottle of white wine, and prepared to send them to the cowshed.

As she was about to leave, her alert brother heard her and chased after her.

He was worried about her safety and insisted on going to the cowshed with her.

Xia Ningzhou carried a large backpack and went to the cowshed with his sister. Xia Ning’an knocked on the door.

“Grandpa Liu, are you asleep?”

“Is that An’an?”

“It’s me, Grandpa Liu.”

Grandpa Liu quickly put on his clothes and opened the door for Xia Ning’an.

They went inside the house.

“Grandpa Liu, why is it so cold in here? Didn’t you light the kang?”

“We’re not cold. We’ve been much better off this winter with the cotton clothes you sent.”

“How can you not light the kang on such a cold day? Do you not have enough firewood? My brother will go get some later. You light it first.”

“Yes, yes, yes. Don’t trouble your brother. I heard from the villagers that your brother was injured and came back to recuperate. How can you let him carry so many things?”

He quickly asked Xia Ningzhou to put down his things and brought him a stool to sit on.

Xia Ningzhou put down his backpack and went out to get a bundle of firewood. He came back and lit the kang for the elderly people.

The three people in the cowshed looked at the eldest son of the village chief, who was a soldier. He didn’t talk much, but he worked hard and they all liked him very much.

“Grandpa Liu, Grandpa Li, Uncle Wang, eat these foods over the New Year. Bury them in the snow and eat them over the next few days. Don’t save them. Eat your fill for the New Year, and you won’t be hungry next year. There are also three pairs of shoe covers that my mother sewed from rabbit fur inside. They’re very warm and won’t let snow in.”

The three people in the cowshed were already familiar with Xia Ning’an. They knew she wasn’t a stingy child. She even funded the village children’s education out of her own pocket. She was a good child. They didn’t stand on ceremony with her. If they had the chance to return to the city, they would definitely repay this girl.

The firewood ignited quickly, and the room warmed up. Xia Ning’an and her brother said goodbye and left.

Xia Ning’an, who was a little behind, secretly put a lot more firewood in from her space. When the three elderly people woke up the next day and saw it, they thought that the village chief’s son had been busy all night and hadn’t slept.