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Chapter 31.2
It snowed heavily and continued until the evening. A thick layer of snow had accumulated on the ground. Jiang Nian, wearing a homemade cotton coat, walked into the courtyard, where the snow had already reached her ankles. She quickly ran to the wall, brushed the snow off the wooden stool with her toe, and, enduring the icy cold, leaned over the wall, calling, “Sister Feng!”
Hearing her, Feng Mei ran into her courtyard and saw Jiang Nian’s head peeking over the wall. “What’s up?”
Jiang Nian, shivering from the cold, asked, “Has Commander Song come back?”
Feng Mei replied, “Not yet. He’s probably out on a rescue mission. With such heavy snowfall here, the snow in the northern foothills and countryside must be even worse. They must have left in a hurry and didn’t have time to return.”
Jiang Nian didn’t remember any snow rescue missions in the book.
Not fully understanding, she asked, “Where is it to the north?”
Feng Mei brushed the snow off her eyelashes, stomped her feet against the cold, and pointed north. “You see that mountain you look at every morning? At its base is the poorest small county, Lecheng County. Near it are several communes. The third and fourth brigades in the communes have many people, including educated youth sent to the countryside. Every year, when it rains or snows heavily, those living at the foot of the mountain suffer the most. Their snow must be even worse than ours.”
Jiang Nian understood.
The communes at the foot of the mountain had many brigades, each housing numerous people, including sent-down youth. If a snow disaster struck, the casualties could be unimaginable.
In this poor era, people couldn’t simply evacuate to another place like in the modern century. Here, where could they go? Families earned work points from working for the commune, which translated into a year’s worth of food just to survive. Those who did well barely had enough to eat, while the less fortunate had to forage for wild vegetables. In a heavy snowstorm, even wild vegetables would be scarce, making it hard to fill their stomachs, let alone find shelter elsewhere.
Jiang Nian jumped off the stool, looking at the dark northern sky. Normally, she could see the outline of the mountain in the morning, but now, there was only snow.
She brushed the snow off her head and stomped her feet before entering the house. She took off her shoes and climbed into bed, shivering from the cold. Jiang Nian couldn’t imagine how cold Lu Yu and the others must be during the rescue mission at the mountain base.
Watching the snowflakes outside the window, Jiang Nian felt incredibly lucky at that moment.
If she hadn’t met Lu Yu after time traveling, or if she hadn’t come to the military base with him, she might have been foraging for wild vegetables to survive in the countryside. There would be no meat or candies like she had enjoyed these past months.
Not even in her dreams.
The more Jiang Nian thought about it, the more she felt indebted to Lu Yu.
She sneezed and gradually fell asleep in the warm bed. By the time she woke up the next day, Lu Yu still hadn’t returned.
The snow had fallen all night and probably stopped just before dawn. Jiang Nian stayed under the covers for a while before reluctantly getting up, putting on her cotton coat, and walking into the courtyard. The snow was so deep that it reached her ankles, making a crunching sound with each step. Snow seeped into her shoes, soaking her socks with icy coldness.
She quickly ran to the eaves, rubbing her hands to warm them. She went to the second room on the east side, grabbed a shovel, and began clearing the snow. After just a few shovelfuls, her hands were freezing and red. She rubbed her hands, warmed them in her collar, and continued shoveling when her fingers regained some warmth.
The small courtyard, which had seemed insignificant before, now felt huge and difficult to clear.
The mixture of snow and mud created a muddy mess around her shoes. She tried to clear a path from the house to the kitchen but had to retreat back into the house to warm up in bed halfway through.
She realized how fortunate she was to have Lu Yu.
But she also knew that the hardship and cold Lu Yu was enduring were beyond her imagination.
After warming her feet and hands, Jiang Nian put on her damp, cold cotton shoes again and continued shoveling until she cleared a path to the kitchen. She added water to the pot, lit a fire, and sat by the stove to warm up.
Her fingers were numb and painful from the cold. Once they felt better, she started making breakfast.
There were leftover corn pancakes from last night. Since she was alone, she didn’t bother cooking a full meal, instead making egg soup and heating up the corn pancakes to eat with pickles.
After breakfast, Jiang Nian warmed herself before taking the shovel and continuing to clear a path from the house to the courtyard gate. She kept alternating between shoveling snow and warming herself by the stove, finally clearing a path.
Outside, she heard several footsteps crunching in the snow and Xu Yan speaking.
“Luckily there was a snowstorm last year, so Liu Qiang applied to the higher authorities in advance this year, and they granted you special permission to stay here for a few days. Otherwise, you would have frozen to death at home.”
Xu Yan sounded rather unhappy.
An older woman’s voice replied, “What do you mean by that? Are you cursing us? If it weren’t for Liu Qiang marrying you, do you think you’d have the good life you have now?”
Jiang Nian: …
Was this Liu Qiang’s difficult relative?
Xu Yan, feeling frustrated, snapped back, “I’m Liu Qiang’s wife, and his family is my family. You are the outsiders. If Liu Qiang hadn’t asked me to fetch you, I wouldn’t have bothered. You are just his uncle and aunt, not his parents.”
After speaking, she walked away without looking back.
Jiang Nian peeked through the crack in the door and saw a middle-aged couple with a teenage daughter and a boy around ten. The daughter seemed to have a hard life, carrying a cloth bag, while the middle-aged man also carried several cloth bags. Only the boy was being carried by the middle-aged woman.
Such a big boy, acting like a little invalid.
Jiang Nian quickly went back inside, thinking that as long as this couple was around, Xu Yan’s life would be tough.
As she expected, Xu Yan’s house had been filled with constant arguments these past two days. The middle-aged woman’s voice was loud, and Jiang Nian thought Xu Yan would be overwhelmed. Surprisingly, Xu Yan was even louder, completely drowning out the middle-aged woman’s voice.
Lu Yu had been gone for two days without returning. When Jiang Nian asked Feng Mei about it, Feng Mei said that the snowfall this year was heavier than last year. The army base was far from the foot of the mountain, the car couldn’t drive through, and it would take a whole day and night to walk there, especially difficult in the snow.
At noon, Jiang Nian made some sweet potato noodles with sweet potato flour and ate them with some pickles. When she was alone, she made do with whatever she had, as long as she wasn’t hungry. After eating, she went back to her room and took out the green fabric she had bought earlier to continue making a trench coat with a modern and vintage feel for Lu Yu.
In the afternoon, it started to snow again.
Xu Yan finished washing the pots and pans, then took a sweet potato from the stove, wrapped it in a cloth, and brought it into the house. Liu Qiang’s second uncle and aunt had come over, so Liu Jianye and Liu Jianwu were sleeping with Xu Yan, while the remaining two rooms were occupied by them.
Liu Qiang’s second uncle, Liu Erzhu, lived in the third brigade of a small commune near Lecheng County. His house, consisting of two rooms, had collapsed under the heavy snow, leaving the family with nowhere to live. They sought refuge with Liu Qiang because his parents lived far apart, one in the south and the other in the north. Liu Qiang’s parents were too poor, with the elderly couple unable to support their five sons or provide dowries.
As a result, Liu Qiang’s father stayed behind, while the other four sons were sent out. The second and third sons became live-in sons-in-law for other families, which provided extra labor and income while keeping their daughters at home. The fourth son was given away in exchange for a bag of grain.
Liu Qiang’s second uncle became a live-in son-in-law for the Gu family in the third brigade, conveniently close by. Last winter, they stayed with Liu Qiang and didn’t hesitate to exploit his family’s resources. Though Liu Qiang wasn’t keen on their visit, his grandmother felt guilty about her son marrying out and asked Liu Qiang to take care of them.
Gu Xia, Liu Qiang’s second aunt, bent down to peer out the window and saw Xu Yan bringing a hot sweet potato to the next room. She scoffed, “Look at how stingy she is, baking only one sweet potato without thinking of us.”
Gu Shan bounced on the bed, “Mom, Auntie’s house is so big, much bigger than ours.”
Gu Xia glared at him and snapped at Liu Erzhu, “It’s all your fault. If you weren’t so lazy, would my parents have sent us out? Look at the rundown house we live in now. I was so much better off at home!”
Gu Xia resented the situation. When Liu Erzhu first became a live-in son-in-law, he worked hard, earning praise from her family. But after she gave birth to a daughter, Liu Li, and then a son, Gu Shan, her family insisted the son take their surname. From then on, Liu Erzhu became incompetent and ate more than others, leading her family to send them away with two shabby rooms that were uninhabitable during rain or snow.
Last summer, they managed to endure the rainy days, but winter was unbearable without proper shelter.
Ignoring Gu Xia, Liu Erzhu sat by the bed talking to his daughter. Gu Shan ran to Gu Xia, tugging her arm, “Mom, you mentioned roasted sweet potatoes. Where are they? I want some. We eat pickles every day at home, and I haven’t had a roasted sweet potato in six months.”
Liu Li looked up at her brother’s voice but said nothing. Liu Erzhu remained silent, while Gu Xia, furious, kicked him. “Your son wants roasted sweet potatoes. Didn’t you hear?”
Liu Erzhu glanced at the mud spots on his pants and retorted, “This is someone else’s house, not ours. We already eat and drink their stuff. How can we shamelessly take roasted sweet potatoes from the kids?”
“What kind of talk is that?”
Gu Xia jabbed Liu Erzhu’s forehead, “This is your nephew’s house. Who does Xu Yan think she is? She should give you a roasted sweet potato if you ask.”
Liu Erzhu found Gu Xia unreasonable. After marrying into her family, he discovered they were all difficult. Over the years, he had been bullied by them, living like a submissive man with no dignity.
Seeing him remain silent, Gu Xia became even more furious, starting to yell. Next door, Liu Jianwu, eating roasted sweet potatoes, told Xu Yan in his childish voice, “Mom, second aunt is so noisy.”
Liu Jianye nodded in agreement. They had quarreled non-stop last year, and it was the same this year.
Xu Yan said, “Ignore them. Finish your sweet potatoes, and I’ll take you to Aunt Jiang’s house.”
The children, excited, nodded, “We love Aunt Jiang.”
After they finished their sweet potatoes, Xu Yan wiped their hands and took them out, locking her door. She had some peach crisps, money, and tickets hidden in her room and didn’t trust the Gu family.
As Xu Yan left with the kids, Gu Xia spat, leading Gu Shan out, “I saw a small bag of white flour in the cupboard. I’ll make you some white noodles, they’re delicious.”
The thought of white noodles made Gu Shan drool. He had never eaten white noodles, only cornmeal and sweet potato noodles. An older kid in the brigade, who had eaten white noodles, always bragged, making Gu Shan crave them.
Liu Li swallowed hard and looked at Liu Erzhu. He asked, “Do you want some?”
She hesitated but nodded, then shook her head, “We can’t touch Auntie’s things.”
“If you really want some, I’ll thicken my skin and ask for a bowl once your mom cooks it.”
The snow was gradually getting heavier as Xu Yan led her two children to knock on Jiang Nian’s door.
Inside Jiang Nian’s house, a fire burned in the brazier, providing a bit of warmth. Liu Jianye and Liu Jianwu were obediently playing on stools. Xu Yan helped by adding a few dry sticks to the brazier and then scooted closer on her stool, starting to complain about Gu Xia’s family.
As she recounted Gu Xia’s actions over the past two years, Xu Yan was so angry she almost jumped up.
Jiang Nian had no impression of Gu Xia’s family because they weren’t mentioned in the book’s storyline. She wasn’t interested in getting involved, as meddling could lead to trouble. So, she just listened to Xu Yan’s complaints all afternoon. When it was nearly dark, Xu Yan took her children back home.
Jiang Nian went out to close the courtyard gate. Another layer of snow had fallen, and it clung to her shoes with mud as she walked under the eaves, forcing her to stomp her feet clean.
Just as she was about to go to the kitchen to make dinner, she heard Xu Yan’s family arguing again.
From their shouting, she gathered that Gu Xia had secretly taken the white flour Xu Yan had hidden in the cabinet. There wasn’t much flour, just a small bag, but Gu Xia’s family of four had used half of it for a meal of white noodles.
How could Xu Yan not be upset? The flour was bought specifically for Liu Jianye and Liu Jianwu. Xu Yan and Liu Qiang wouldn’t even eat a bite themselves, surviving on cornmeal instead. Gu Xia had used up half the flour in one go.
As Jiang Nian cooked dinner, Xu Yan’s house was still noisy. Soon, Liu Jianwu’s crying could be heard, followed by Xu Yan shouting, “Gu Shan, how dare you hit my son?!”
Gu Xia retorted, “What are you going to do? You think you can hit my son?”
Jiang Nian sensed things were getting out of hand and hesitated about whether to go and bring Liu Jianye and Liu Jianwu over. Just then, she heard footsteps outside, followed by Feng Mei’s scolding voice: “You dare cause trouble in our family quarters? Captain Liu kindly took your family in, and while he’s away, you bully his wife and children?”
Feng Mei’s loud voice and strong presence drew the attention of other military wives.
Seeing this, Gu Xia backed down. Liu Erzhu had felt guilty since Xu Yan discovered the missing flour and had apologized immediately. But Gu Xia acted like it was her own house, refusing to admit fault and arguing with Xu Yan.
Even Liu Erzhu, with his thick skin, couldn’t bear being pointed at by the military wives. He retreated into the house, and Liu Li followed, shrinking her neck. Gu Xia, seeing this, said to Xu Yan, “We’ve eaten it already. If you want it back, we’ll just vomit it up.”
She then dragged Gu Shan back into the house.
Xu Yan was pale with anger. Feng Mei tried to comfort her before leaving. Once everyone had left, Xu Yan ran to the kitchen, took the remaining flour and a bowl of rice to her room, and locked them up. She then picked up Liu Jianwu, saying, “Don’t cry. When your father comes back, tell him Gu Shan hit you.”
Liu Jianwu, wiping his tears, nodded. Liu Jianye said nothing but glared hatefully at Gu Shan, who was making faces at him through the window as they passed by.
The snow stopped by midnight. Although it wasn’t heavy, the snow at the foot of the mountain was much thicker.
Lu Yu had been gone for ten days. Jiang Nian, staying at home alone, spent her days staring at the grey, cold sky. Occasionally, she heard the arguments from Xu Yan’s house. Feng Mei often came by to chat with her.
Finally, on New Year’s Day, there was news about Lu Yu.
Feng Mei told her that Zhu Jun had come back briefly last night and then left again. Commander Song had Zhu Jun pass on a message that they were safe. According to Feng Mei, Lu Yu had also asked Zhu Jun to tell her that everything was fine.
Jiang Nian, who had been worried for more than half a month, finally felt relieved.
Since Lu Yu left, she had been anxious, knowing that Xu Cheng had been injured during a snow rescue and was now paralyzed. She sighed in relief, saying, “It’s good that they’re fine.”
She added a few dry sticks to the brazier and asked, “Sister Feng, when do you think they’ll be back?”
Feng Mei rubbed her head with a needle and thought for a moment. “Last year, they were gone for over twenty days. They should be back in a few days.”
Noticing Jiang Nian’s worried look, she hesitated before saying, “Are you worried Lu Yu might end up like Captain Xu?”
Jiang Nian: …
Can we not jinx it?
Knowing that Lu Yu and the others would return in a few days lifted Jiang Nian’s spirits. She got up early, shoveling the snow in the courtyard into a big pile. She used the clean snow to build a snowman, piling the dirty snow off to the side.
She exhaled warm air into her hands and placed the snowman’s head on its body. She added a red scarf she had knitted last month, stuck two thin sticks on its head, used two small blackened pieces of wood for eyes, and dried red chili for a nose.
She went inside to warm her hands over the brazier before heading to the kitchen to prepare dough for corn and white flour buns. She also planned to make some glutinous rice cakes with the leftover glutinous rice.
In the afternoon, Song Xiangdong came by with a bowl of hot cornmeal porridge. His face was red from the cold, and his breath was visible as he spoke.
“Aunt Jiang, my mother made this for you to try.”
Jiang Nian accepted the bowl, feeling the warmth in her hands. “Thank you.”
Song Xiangdong smiled shyly, “You’re welcome.”
He ran outside but then remembered something and turned back. “Aunt Jiang, I’ll come back for the bowl later.”
Jiang Nian smiled, “Alright.”
After he left, Jiang Nian stirred the cornmeal porridge with chopsticks. It was mixed with chili oil and vinegar, tasting sour and spicy—quite delicious. She knew this was a traditional northern dish, often made by the older generation. Her grandparents sometimes made it too, but with white flour.
At dusk, Song Xiangdong returned for the bowl. Jiang Nian gave him some glutinous rice cakes. Surprised, he took a bite, and his eyes widened as the sweet flavor filled his mouth.
Jiang Nian smiled and asked, “Is it delicious?”
Song Xiangdong nodded happily, “It’s so delicious! Thank you, Aunt Jiang. I’ll take it back for my mom and Xianghong to try.”
Jiang Nian suppressed a smile, turned around, put away the steamed buns and glutinous rice cakes, washed her hands clean, and lay down in bed.
Feng Mei had only mentioned that Lu Yu and the others would return in a few days, without specifying the exact day.
The wind picked up outside again, and even under the blanket, Jiang Nian could hear the howling wind. She drifted off to sleep but was awakened in the middle of the night by the cold. Opening her eyes, she found herself near the edge of the bed again, with the blanket inside the bed and only a corner draped over her. She shivered from the cold, pulled the blanket over herself tightly.
It seemed the wind outside was getting stronger. Jiang Nian was about to go back to sleep when suddenly she heard coughing in the wind.
It sounded like Lu Yu’s voice.
Could it be that he had returned?!
Jiang Nian quickly put on her padded jacket and pants, slipped on her cotton shoes, and groped her way to the door in the dark. She grabbed the door frame and pulled it open a crack. In the pitch-black courtyard, she saw the tall figure of a man walking into the kitchen. Shortly after, the light in the kitchen turned on.
No need to think twice—it was Lu Yu sneaking in over the wall again.
She wrapped her padded jacket tightly around herself, closed the door, and hurried to the kitchen. After more than twenty days apart, seeing Lu Yu tonight gave Jiang Nian an indescribable sense of relief and security. She reached the kitchen door just as Lu Yu turned around after closing the cabinet.
Jiang Nian’s eyes were filled with joy, her voice clear and pleasant. “You’re finally back.”
Lu Yu was momentarily stunned, looking at Jiang Nian standing at the doorway. Her hair was disheveled, a few strands falling across her face, enhancing her snow-white complexion. Her smile revealed bright white teeth, and her eyes seemed to hold sparkling starlight.
His heart skipped inexplicably. The deep darkness in his eyes softened into a gentle smile. “Yes, I’m back.”
**
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Ayalee[Translator]
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