Er Dan ran into the kitchen, quickly grabbing a bowl and then the chopsticks.

Tonight, they were having freshly steamed white rice, made in the honeycomb coal stove.

The cast iron pot had a golden brown crust on the bottom, so Er Dan served the rice: a big bowl for his dad and a small one for his mom.

After serving everyone, he eagerly dug into the pot himself.

“So, how many points did Er Dan get on his exam?” Nie Bozhao asked.

Er Dan, holding the pot, suddenly looked troubled.

He turned around and gave Chen Lina a pleading look. “Mom…”

“Let the child eat first. Can we talk about the exam after dinner?” Chen Lina quickly intervened to save the child.

“Uncle, Er Dan got 61 points. And he even won a prize!” Liu Xiaohong quickly defended Er Dan.

Sure enough, the poker-faced father finally relaxed a bit, his mouth twitching. “What prize did he win?”

“The Best Progress Award.”

“There’s such an award? How did he get it?”

“He only got 8 points on the midterm exam, but for the final, he got 61. He made a 53-point improvement, and was the best in the class,” Liu Xiaohong explained.

Er Dan nodded quickly.

Well, with two academic overachievers in the family, why shouldn’t he be proud of improving by 53 points?

“Alright, fine. Your dad didn’t make such big progress when he was young. Well done! Come on, here’s your reward.”

After dinner, Nie Bozhao took out a few items from his bag and placed them on the table.

“Dad, these are pencils, but why are their leads so thin?” Er Dan asked.

“Son, this is called a mechanical pencil. It will help you write homework smoothly. But these are rare and can’t be used at school. They’re only for home use,” Nie Bozhao explained.

“Why, Dad?” Nie Weimin asked, curiously, pressing the mechanical pencil so it made a scratching sound.

“Because these were made by the Japanese. See the writing on it? It’s in Japanese. Right now, there’s a ban on these in the market, and they’re not allowed here. I had to apply for permission to get them for research purposes. You’re not allowed to take them outside or share them.”

Each child got one, along with a box of fine mechanical pencil leads.

Er Dan pressed it a few times, but the lead snapped each time, making him sweat from the frustration.

“Well, Dad, how are we sleeping tonight?” San Dan suddenly asked, and the room fell silent.

“Liu Xiaohong will go back to the farm, right, Mom?” Nie Weimin quickly said.

Chen Lina shook her head. “No, it’s snowing outside. It’s not safe to drive. She’s staying with us tonight.”

“Then let her sleep with you. I want to sleep with Dad, Er Dan, and San Dan. I don’t want to sleep with her,” Nie Weimin said.

The house had two stoves going, but Nie Bozhao’s study was strictly off-limits to the children.

So, they only had the two kang beds to sleep on.

“Nie Weimin, your kang bed is big enough and it’s warm. Tonight, you four will sleep together,” Nie Bozhao said.

“Okay!” Er Dan and San Dan responded in unison.

“No, I don’t want to,” Nie Weimin firmly objected.

“This child, Liu Xiaohong has helped you a lot when she was in school. While your mom was busy picking cotton, she cooked for you all. What’s with this stubbornness?” Nie Bozhao scolded.

“Aunt, I’ll go back to the farm,” Liu Xiaohong quickly offered.

“No, it’s too cold outside. I’m not driving out again tonight. If you want to sleep, sleep. If you don’t, Nie Weimin can go sleep in the storage room and guard the lamb meat. Be careful of the rats,” Chen Lina said firmly.

Nie Weimin went back to his room, grabbing a small blanket and pillow, grumbling as he prepared to sleep in the storage room.

The whole family was upset—Er Dan and San Dan were huddling around Liu Xiaohong, and the adults were clearly frustrated.

Only Liu Xiaohong looked the most awkward.

“Alright, tonight you can sleep on Dad’s wire bed, but no jumping around in the middle of the night. If you do, I’ll throw you out,” Nie Bozhao warned.

“Alright, go to sleep early. I’ll keep an ear out. If Weimin falls asleep quietly, we won’t have any trouble with that bed,” Nie Bozhao added.

Chen Lina, after applying some snowflake cream to her hands, listened for a while and then said, “Something’s not right with this child. I need to go talk to him.”

Once the New Year passed, Nie Weimin would be eight years old, and he was already a big boy.

Chen Lina had raised many dogs in her past life but had never raised children.

She always thought the nature of children and dogs was similar: as long as they were well-fed and well-dressed, and taken out for a walk often, they would mostly behave and listen.

However, a child like Nie Weimin, who was moody and unpredictable without any apparent reason, was rare.

Chen Lili was pregnant.

Although she treated Liu Xiaohong the same as before, her adoptive mother was about to have a biological child.

Girls were often sensitive, and at this moment, Liu Xiaohong needed attention and care more than ever.

Being treated with rejection while visiting her aunt’s house must have hurt the child’s feelings.

“Weimin, open the door.”

After a long while, Nie Weimin finally opened the door and immediately dived into the bed.

Indeed, he hadn’t been jumping on the trampoline, but was reading a book—his father’s physics book from middle school. Like father, like son.

Nie Weimin seemed to have an innate understanding of math and science, just like his father.

“I’m asking you, why don’t you want Xiaohong? Didn’t you ever eat the food she made for you?

Whenever there were steamed buns at the farm, she saved them for you. At school, when everyone ate cold food, she made sure yours were golden and crispy before you ate them. Why don’t you want her?”

“I don’t not want her, I just don’t want to sleep with her. Comrade Chen, that’s a completely different concept.”

“Why? You’re just a kid, what’s the big deal with sleeping together?” Was he already aware of things related to men and women at such a young age?

Chen Lina thought for a while and couldn’t figure out if there was anything in the house that could corrupt a child’s mind.

Suddenly, Nie Weimin kicked the bed and said, “Mom, can you buy me another pair of underwear?”

“What’s wrong? The ones I just repaired fit fine, don’t they?” He was calling her “Mom” now—he must want something.

“Ugh, the bullhead on my underwear is so ugly!”

Saying that, he threw off the blanket, exposing his round, little bottom.

Chen Lina burst into laughter, almost unable to catch her breath.

Yes, clothes were precious in the frontier.

Every year, the fabric would wear out and had to be mended.

In this remote area, it was particularly wasteful to use fabric.

All year round, they had to change clothes, and mending was inevitable.

Nie Weimin’s underwear had a hole in the back, so it had been patched up, but it wasn’t properly fixed, so the thread stuck out.

As a result, his siblings often teased him, saying he had a “bullhead” on his backside.

Well, he didn’t want to sleep with Liu Xiaohong, probably because he was embarrassed about the patch on his underwear.

“Xiaohong is your sister. She wouldn’t laugh at you.”

“It’s so ugly! I’m too embarrassed to even go to the bathroom at school because Wang Fan and Qian Goudan always laugh at me.” And with that, he burst into tears.

Alright, Chen Lina comforted him until he calmed down.

Nie Weimin, who usually cared about his face, would only show such vulnerability and act spoiled in front of her.

“Comrade Chen, isn’t it time to pay the grain tax? Why are you always sitting by the sewing machine? Sometimes I wonder if you love this sewing machine more than you love me.”

Lying on the kang and preparing to do some calisthenics, Nie Gong was not happy.

The sewing machine clattered away, patching up the back of Nie Bozhao’s old pants and sewing new patterns onto Nie Weimin’s underwear.

Now, Nie Weimin probably wouldn’t be embarrassed to show his patched-up backside anymore.

“Comrade Nie, isn’t your lab being highly prioritized by the central government? You’re not even allowed to go for military training; you’re supposed to focus on experiments. Why, then, is your salary so much lower this month?”

Opening the bottom panel of the sewing machine and pulling out a few “Big Unity” bills from the cabinet, Chen Lina said, “This month it’s only 120. The mine district paid me 60.”

“What? Not enough?” Nie Bozhao had a “I’m the one who works to support the family” attitude. “Hurry up and get up, I need to go to Beijing for a conference. Who knows when I’ll be back.”

“Not enough. Very much not enough. Well, cotton is free, but fabric costs money. For the pants, I have to use fabric to make them. You need to go out, and I can’t afford to buy nice clothes. You see, your eldest son is very particular about clothes. I don’t have money, so I have to sew up broken clothes.” Chen Lina said.

“Kids are fine. Just grab some rough cloth and make something for them, that’s all.” Nie Bozhao replied.

“Then, when you go to the conference in Beijing, I’ll also give you a pair of patched-up underwear. How’s that?” Chen Lina said.

When in Beijing, of course, they couldn’t share a room with two experts—though back home, in places like Daqing or Yanbian, everyone wore worn-out pants, in the capital, no one could see patched-up autumn pants.

Those were only for home use.

“He’s just a kid. He doesn’t go out, just rolls around at home. Does he care if his little brothers laugh at him?”

“It’s fine for Er Dan; you could send him out naked, and he wouldn’t mind. But for your eldest son, he won’t even squat to use the bathroom at school if there’s a patch on his pants. He’d rather hold it in until he gets home.” Chen Lina reasoned.

“Alright, next month’s salary will be higher, and I’ll give you an extra 200. This month should be better. Now, come on and get on the kang.” Nie Bozhao replied.

Turning off the light, ready to climb into bed, Nie Bozhao was preparing for their monthly “intimate time.”

However, this time, unlike every other time when it was intense and energetic, Chen Lina wasn’t as interested today.

With a snap, she yanked the light cord and turned it off again.

“Come on, where’s the money? Don’t lie. I’ve already asked Wang Fan’s mom. Wang Gong’s salary this month is 180, plus the New Year’s bonus, that’s a total of 200. You’re an engineer with two students under you; your salary can’t be lower than his, and you even have a year-end bonus. Who are you trying to fool?” Chen Lina asked.

Nie Bozhao seemed a little embarrassed to answer.