In the morning, Xu Ning was awakened by the cold. She felt the kang beneath her; it was no longer warm. Quickly, she added some firewood and dressed before pushing open the door. Outside, she saw that it was snowing, with a thick layer already covering the ground. No wonder it had felt so chilly that morning.

Xu Ning closed the door and went through the inner door to the kitchen. When they built the house, Uncle Hongjun had worried that heavy snow in winter would make it difficult to open the door, so they had added a door from the bedroom to the kitchen.

Xu Ning cooked a pot of millet porridge, peeled a few chestnuts, crushed them, and added them to the porridge. She boiled three eggs and sliced two pieces of pickled carrots that Er Dan had brought yesterday, mixing them with sesame oil.

Just as she finished preparing breakfast, Xu An got up. He opened the door and, seeing the snow, excitedly ran outside, shouting and making a circle in the yard. Xu Ning noted that he was bundled up well and didn’t stop him; after all, children should be children. When he shouted outside, Xu Mo also woke up. Xu Ning went in to help him dress, then the siblings brushed their teeth and washed their faces together.

After breakfast, Xu Ning planned to light the stove. It had been in Xu An’s room for a long time without use. She and Xu An moved it to the kitchen, and once they got the stove going, both of them ended up covered in soot.

Xu Ning intended to try cooking with the stove at lunchtime, planning to make noodles and stir-fry some eggs. She thought the stove was quite convenient for cooking.

As the three of them finished their meal and settled on the kang, they suddenly heard someone calling for Xu An outside. Xu Ning told him to stay put while she went to open the door. Peeking out, she saw three small heads by the side of the door: Jian Min, Er Dan, and Da Lin. They called out, “Xu Zhiqing, we’re here to find Xu An!”

Xu Ning quickly ushered the three inside, using a towel to wipe the snow off them. She asked, “It’s snowing; what are you all doing here?” The three of them chuckled. Xu Ning thought to herself how great the charm of the ‘Lianhuan Ce’ (a series of illustrated booklets) must be.

Once she had dried off the snow, she hurriedly told them to take off their shoes and warm up on the kang. Xu An brought out the ‘Lianhuan Ce,’ and they began discussing it while Xu Ning offered them a plate of pine nuts and hazelnuts to snack on. She then wondered to herself if Xu Yang’s package had arrived yet.

Two thousand kilometers away in a certain military unit in Jinshi, just after finishing training, Xu Yang heard someone calling his name, saying he had a package. Excitedly, he thought, “Could it be news from my parents?” He rushed to the duty room, collected the letter and the package, and hurried back to his dormitory. Placing the package on his bed, he quickly opened the letter. One was unsigned, but as soon as he saw the handwriting, he recognized it as his father’s. The letter simply stated that they were all safe and well, and that he shouldn’t worry.

The other letter was from Xu Ning and Xu An. It mentioned that the pine nuts and hazelnuts they sent were foraged from the mountains. They wrote that there were so many pine nuts, hazelnuts, and chestnuts in their area that they couldn’t gather them all, and every day they brought back several baskets. Now, they had so many stored in the house that there was no room left. They also mentioned they had dried six large bags of wild vegetables and mushrooms harvested in autumn, and that they could still catch wild chickens in the mountains. They shared that they had divided a large amount of grain and over a hundred yuan among themselves, and now the house was so full of food that they had no space left for the vegetables grown in their private plots, which they had to keep covered with oilcloth outside.

They wrote about the cotton clothing and shoes he received, saying they were defective goods bought from the supply and marketing cooperative. Not only did he get them, but everyone in the family received some as well. Xu Ning mentioned she knew someone at the cooperative who reserved defective items for her. The letter ended with a note advising him not to send anything back, as they had everything they needed. They encouraged him to take leave and visit Yushu Village to reunite. Implicitly, they mentioned that the whole family was now in Yushu Village.

Reading this, Xu Yang’s eyes turned red, and he slowly relaxed his tightly clenched fists, letting out a quiet sigh of relief. Since he enlisted, he had felt a constant tension; as the eldest son, he worried about his parents and siblings. Now, he finally had news from his parents. The situation might not be perfect, but at least his family was together and could look after each other.

Wiping away his tears, he tucked the letter away and opened the package. Inside, he found a large bag of pine nuts, a big bag of hazelnuts, dried pork, milk candies, cotton clothing, cotton socks, cotton shoes, and a cotton hat.

Now, Xu Yang truly believed his sister when she said there was plenty of mountain produce. If she didn’t know someone at the cooperative, how could they have acquired all these items so easily?

Seeing all these things made Xu Yang feel a little more at ease. He thought about taking a leave of absence to go visit.

Xu Ning sat on the kang for a while, but the chatter from the boys made her head buzz. She went to the kitchen and filled a kettle with hot water, placing it on the kang for them to drink when they got thirsty.

She decided to braise the pig’s head. Remembering the pig offal she had cleaned a few days ago, she took it out from the storage space and placed everything into a pot. Adding various spices, she let it simmer slowly over low heat. She also sliced some potatoes, soaked kelp, and prepared wood ear mushrooms.

After nearly two hours, the braise was finally ready. Xu Ning fished the pig’s head meat out of the pot and removed the bones.

The boys on the kang, now restless, had lost focus on their reading and were peeking into the kitchen.

Xu Ning chuckled as she took out five bowls, filling them with pig head meat, offal, wood ear mushrooms, kelp, and potato slices, adding a bit of broth to each.

She set four large bowls on the table and kept the smaller one for Xu Mo. Then she called the others in to eat. Xu An was the first to come down and put on his shoes, while Jian Min, Er Dan, and Da Lin hesitated a bit, feeling shy. Xu Ning encouraged them, saying, “Come on, it’ll get cold. It’s nothing special, just some pig offal.”

The three boys hurried down to put on their shoes, mumbling, “Thank you, Xu Zhiqing.” Xu Ning smiled and ruffled their hair, urging them to eat quickly. She helped Xu Mo put on his shoes, and soon they all sat at the table, eating eagerly without lifting their heads.

After the boys finished their bowls, Xu Ning served each of them another, along with four cornmeal pancakes for them to soak in the broth. The little ones drank up all the soup and licked their bowls clean. Seeing this, Xu Ning felt a pang of sadness.

Kids nowadays often waste half of what they have.

She asked if they were full and if they wanted more, but they all shyly shook their heads, saying they were satisfied.

Er Dan exclaimed, “Xu Zhiqing, this is so delicious! I’ve never had anything this good before.” Jian Min and Da Lin nodded in agreement, saying it was tasty.

Noticing that it was still snowing and that it was already past four in the afternoon, Xu Ning grew concerned about the darkness making the roads dangerous. She told the boys to head back and come to play again tomorrow.

She walked them to the main road, watching as the three entered the village. Looking up at the sky, she noticed the snowfall was intensifying, prompting her to hurry home.

Xu Ning took out a large basin and filled it with the pig head meat and offal, cutting it into small pieces. She prepared another basin with the potato slices, kelp, and wood ear mushrooms. Then, she found an empty jar on the shelf and filled it with two pounds of liquor from her storage space. She grabbed Xu An’s small backpack, placed the jar inside, and instructed Xu Mo to wait at home while she and Xu An each carried a basin toward the cow shed.

Xu An led the way and gently knocked on the door. It swung open from the inside, revealing their father. The siblings stepped inside together.