The three siblings were sitting on the heated brick bed, chatting, when they heard someone knocking on the door outside. Xu Ning quickly put on her shoes and went out to answer the door.

Xu An followed behind his sister. It was usually their father and Uncle Lu who knocked on the small door in the evenings.

Xu Ning opened the door and saw her father and Uncle Lu each carrying a large basin. She quickly asked, “Dad, Uncle Lu, what are you carrying?”

Father Xu and Uncle Lu brought the basins into the house and said, “These are the heads and offal of two pigs. Your mother and Aunt Lu have cleaned them up.

Your Grandpa Qi said that stewing these things creates a strong smell that takes a long time to dissipate, so he asked us to bring them here.”

Xu Ning had already planned to collect the items tomorrow to prepare them here. She fetched two large basins from the kitchen and asked her father and Uncle Lu to pour the contents into them, as there weren’t many basins left at the cowshed where they cooked and washed vegetables.

Xu Ning invited the two men to sit on the heated brick bed, then handed Uncle Lu the letters from Lu Xiaotang and Lu Xiaoran. She also took out the money and ration tickets that Lu Xiaotang had sent.

After reading the letter, Uncle Lu said to Xu Ning, “Xiao Ning, when you write back to Xiaoran and Xiaotang, just tell them that we’re doing well here and they don’t need to worry.”

Xu Ning replied, “Uncle Lu, don’t worry! I’ll let them know when I write to them.”

The next morning, when Xu Ning got up, the sky was still gloomy, though it hadn’t snowed yet. She planned to go into town today to use the wool ration tickets that Lu Xiaotang had sent. She had noticed yesterday that they were about to expire in a few days, and she also intended to withdraw some money.

When Xu Ning arrived at the supply and marketing cooperative, she felt like her hands were numb from the cold. Su Hongying saw her and quickly stood up to greet her, “Xiao Ning, are you cold? Come in and warm yourself by the fire.”

Xu Ning sat down next to the stove with her and said, “Sister Hongying, my cousin sent me three jin of wool tickets, but they’re about to expire soon. I thought I should use them before I forget.” After saying that, she handed the wool tickets to Su Hongying.

Su Hongying checked the tickets and saw that they were indeed close to expiration. She then took Xu Ning to the wool counter to choose some colors.

Xu Ning looked at the selection and saw that there were only three colors suitable for men: black, dark blue, and coffee brown. She chose two jin of coffee brown wool, handed over the money and tickets to the salesperson, and then rode her bike to the post office to withdraw the money. She pedaled quickly on her way back home, fearing it might start snowing halfway.

As soon as she reached the entrance of the village, large snowflakes began to fall. Passing by the educated youth courtyard, she noticed that the door was shut from the inside, and there wasn’t a single person on the road.

Xu Ning parked her bicycle at home, picked up the wool, and headed to the cowshed.

Her father and Uncle Lu were chatting in Grandpa Qi’s house, while her mother and Aunt Lu were sitting on the heated brick bed, knitting sweaters and talking.

Xu Mo was lying on the bed, looking at a picture book. When he saw Xu Ning come in, he quickly put the book down and shouted, “Sister, you’re finally back! I missed you so much.”

Xu Ning smiled, pinched his little cheek, and said, “Did you really miss me, or did you miss eating candy?”

Xu Mo looked at his sister seriously and said, “I did think about candy a little, but I missed my sister even more.”

His words made all three of them laugh. Xu Ning took two White Rabbit candies out of her pocket and gave them to him.

Mother Xu and Aunt Lu asked her to sit on the bed, and Xu Ning took out the wool, saying, “Look what I got!”

“Aunt Lu, the wool ration tickets that Brother Lu sent yesterday—I bought three jin of wool with them. Since we all already have sweaters, why don’t you use this wool to knit a sweater for Brother Lu and send it to him?” Xu Ning suggested.

Aunt Lu looked at the wool Xu Ning had bought and didn’t bother being overly polite. At this point, formalities would just be unnecessary between them.

She said to Xu Ning, “Alright, then I’ll set aside your Uncle Lu’s sweater for now and knit one for Xiaotang first. When it’s done, you can help send it to him.”

Xu Ning noticed that Aunt Lu had only just started knitting the sweater in her hands, and since she didn’t have much to do at the moment, she offered, “Aunt Lu, you go ahead and finish knitting Uncle Lu’s sweater. I’m free right now, so I’ll knit Brother Lu’s sweater.”

Aunt Lu smiled happily and said, “Xiao Ning, thank you so much!”

Xu Ning waved her hand dismissively and said, “Aunt Lu, there’s no need to thank me.”

After lunch, Xu An went to school. Xu Ning spent some time looking through a picture book with Xu Mo and then made him a bowl of milk powder. Once he drank it, the little guy fell sound asleep on the heated brick bed.

Xu Ning sighed. With no phone, no computer, no internet, and not even a TV, how was she supposed to pass these long winter days?

Xu Ning sighed a few more times, then picked up the wool beside her and began knitting. She suddenly remembered the industrial coupons that Lu Xiaotang had sent, and thought about checking out radios the next time she went into town. Having one would help her stay more connected to the outside world.

When Xu An came home from school, Xu Ning was just about to get off the heated brick bed to stretch her shoulders. She noticed the layer of snow on his cotton coat and hat, remembering that it had been snowing outside. She quickly grabbed a towel to brush off the snow from Xu An.

After cleaning him up, she told him to sit on the heated brick bed. Xu An saw the partially knitted sweater beside her and asked, “Sister, did you buy wool? Who are you knitting this for?”

Xu Ning replied, “Yesterday, Brother Lu sent some wool ration tickets that were about to expire, so I went to buy it this morning. Since our family already has sweaters, I’m knitting this one for Brother Lu to send to him.”

Then she asked, “What would you like to eat tonight? I’ll make something for you all later.”

Xu An said, “Sister, you should keep knitting so you can finish and send it to Brother Lu as soon as possible. I’ll cook dinner.”

With that, he went to wake up Xu Mo, who was still sleeping beside him.

Xu Ning didn’t stop him. The boy had slept the whole afternoon; otherwise, he wouldn’t be able to fall asleep at night.

Xu An woke up Xu Mo and asked, “Sister, what should we make for dinner?”

Xu Ning thought for a moment. There were still two basins of pig offal in the kitchen, and they had plenty of blood sausages left.

That day, Xu Ning had only taken a small basin of the pig offal, leaving the rest in the cowshed. She figured there were more people on that side, whereas here, it was just her and her two younger brothers. They wouldn’t be able to eat much anyway.

Looking at Xu Mo, who was sitting on the heated brick bed, still rubbing his sleepy eyes, she asked, “Xiao Mo, are you awake now? Are you hungry? What do you want to eat tonight?”

Xu Mo rubbed his eyes and replied, “Meat.”

Xu Ning and Xu An both laughed. Xu An said, “He’s been eating meat every day for the past few days. I don’t know how he’s still craving it.”

That evening, Xu An made shredded radish stir-fried with pork, an egg and mushroom soup, and steamed buns.

Xu Ning looked at the dishes on the table. It seemed like they were always eating either radishes or cabbage, or sometimes dried vegetables. There really wasn’t much variety in vegetables during the Northeast winter. She decided that after dinner, she would start growing some bean sprouts to change things up a bit.

She recalled a video tutorial she had seen online before, on how to grow bean sprouts. After dinner, she filled a bowl with beans and soaked them in water, planning to experiment with growing yellow bean sprouts.

To her surprise, it actually worked. Two days later, the beans began sprouting. By the time Xu Ning had knitted most of the sweater, the bean sprouts were ready to eat.

Since it was her first time growing them, she hadn’t controlled the amount well and ended up growing too many. She had Xu An take a large basket of sprouts to the cowshed.

When Jianmin, Da Lin, and Er Dan came over to play on Sunday, Xu Ning packed some sprouts for each of them to take home as well.

Aunt Dashuan and Aunt Xiangyun even came over with homemade soybean paste and dried radishes, asking Xu Ning how she grew the sprouts and if she could teach them. They had heard from Jianmin and Er Dan that Xu Ning grew those sprouts herself.