Snow began falling in the evening, growing heavier and heavier.

The snow accumulated thickly.

Many tree branches snapped under the weight, and the rooftops were buried, making the roof tiles invisible.

The snow on the ground was at least ankle-deep.

Before dawn the next day, Brother Lu Erge got up and used a long pole to clear the snow off the roof to prevent it from caving in under the weight.

Brother Lu Dage wanted to sleep in, but Fang Dihua called him up to sweep and clear the snow, and to also remove the snow from the fruit trees to avoid the branches that bore a lot of fruit from breaking.

Thus, everyone in the family got up, even the children, who bravely crawled out of their warm beds to build snowmen and have snowball fights instead of sleeping in.

Panpan, with his little bottom sticking out, lay on the window glass, looking outside.

The window had a thick layer of frost on it, and after blowing on it a few times, he stuck out his tongue and licked it, scraping a clear spot to peer through.

Imitating his grandfather, he exclaimed, “Wow, a bountiful year ahead with all this snow!”

Tiantian, heeding her grandparents’ advice, got up to put on clothes first to avoid catching a cold.

She draped a small cotton jacket over Panpan and, mimicking her grandfather’s loving tone, said, “Come on, dear grandson, wear your clothes!”

Panpan: “…”

He didn’t want to wear it; he just wanted to keep playing with the window glass.

Slap, slap—he got two light pats on his bottom.

Though Tiantian didn’t hit hard, where did she get this sudden temper to start smacking?

He let out a yelp, “Your temper is getting worse! You need to be gentler!”

By this time, Lu An and others had already shouted from the courtyard, starting to build a snowman.

The two kids panicked, hurriedly dressing before rushing outside to help.

Lu Xiuxiu saw that Lin Shu and the children were awake, so she came over to continue sewing clothes.

There were only two sets left to finish, and she could be done today.

The clients would come to pick them up tomorrow, just in time for New Year’s Eve.

Lin Shu didn’t persuade her to rest or take a break. Since her niece was willing to work, she let her.

After all, young people don’t fear exhaustion.

Today was the 29th, and it was time to make the large buns for the ancestral offering.

The yeast starter had been soaked yesterday, and in the evening, it was crumbled and mixed into the dough until there were no dry lumps.

Today, it would rise.

The mixture was poured directly into a large bowl of flour to knead the dough.

They would shape the dough into buns and let them ferment on the warm kang (heated bed) before steaming them.

These buns were special— the dough had to be firm, kneaded thoroughly, and the finished buns had to be large and smooth, without any cracks.

This was because they would be used for the New Year’s Eve ancestral and heaven-and-earth offerings.

Since Lin Shu didn’t have enough strength, Fang Dihua had Sister-in-law Lu Da knead the dough while she and the Second Sister-in-law helped with kneading.

Old Man Lu had been busy these past two days writing Spring Festival couplets.

His calligraphy was much better than others in the village, so many people came to ask him to write for them.

Lu Dage was asked to help write Spring Festival couplets.

Lu Shaocai originally thought that if anyone asked for his help, he would tease them about not voting for him in the elections.

But in the end, he was overthinking it—no one actually came to ask him.

Who wouldn’t want nice-looking couplets on their doors, after all?

During the New Year, every household not only puts up Spring Festival couplets but also decorates with “Guomenqian,” paper cutouts that are traditionally placed above the door.

Nowadays, they are made with red paper.

Jin Ping’er was skilled at making paper cutouts.

Every year, she made a lot of them and gave them away, receiving eggs as a reward in return.

The Lu family, of course, had some too.

Outside, the sounds of children having a snowball fight filled the street.

Lu An, who was sweeping snow, waved his broom while clearing the snow in front of the main door and joined the snowball fight.

Tian Tian and Pan Pan also ran out, joining Huzhi and a few other kids in their battle.

In the midst of their fight, the two kids suddenly heard their Second Aunt’s voice and excitedly turned to look.

“Second Aunt, Second Aunt!”

Pan Pan shouted happily.

Tian Tian also stepped noisily through the snow, running towards her.

Pan Pan, too, flailed his arms and rushed forward.

“Poof!” The snow was too thick, and he accidentally rolled into a snow pile, knocking Tian Tian down in the process.

The two kids rolled into a ball together.

Lin Xia, their Second Aunt, laughed loudly, “Oh, it’s not even New Year yet, and you’re already bowing to me for red envelopes!”

Lin Xia helped Tian Tian and Pan Pan out of the snow and brushed the snow off them.

Huzhi and the others rolled over too, calling out excitedly, “Second Aunt!”

Lin Xia laughed even louder.

She put down her backpack and started taking out candies to share.

Pan Pan, quick as lightning, grabbed her hand and whispered, “Second Aunt, let me hand them out!”

Lin Xia stuffed the candies into his pocket and let him distribute them, while she held Tian Tian’s hand and headed home.

Pan Pan distributed the candies to his friends.

He never divided them equally; on special occasions, he’d give everyone one piece and reward those who made significant contributions with an extra piece or two.

For example, when they fought with Zhang Xiaoliang and Chang Xiaogang, he generously gave each a piece, and even gave two extra pieces to the strong Huahua.

Today, everyone was just playing in the snow, having a snowball fight.

It wasn’t a special day, and with the New Year approaching, every household had stocked up on supplies, and many families had even slaughtered pigs for the festivities.

Candy needed to be saved.

After all, tomorrow was New Year’s Eve, and they’d definitely have candy then, and even more during the New Year visits.

So, Pan Pan gave Huahua one piece and shared one piece between every two other kids.

Tian Tian pouted—wasn’t it enough to eat until you’re full?

After distributing the candies, they continued playing.

He hurriedly ran back home.

When Lin Shu saw Lin Xia, she almost didn’t recognize her.

She stared at Lin Xia’s wind-chapped, red face—her cheeks were so dry that the skin was peeling!

“Sis, where on earth did you go for your countryside visit? Was the wind there that vicious?”

Lin Xia laughed, “Not everyone’s as lucky as you, enjoying the comforts of home all day long. Even the wind around here, if you’re out in it every day during winter, is just as harsh.”

The cold wind felt like little knives slicing across the face. Before long, her face turned red, chapped, and started peeling.

When Lin Xia arrived, the Lu family gathered to greet her, exchanged a few words, and then left Lin Shu and her second sister to talk, while they all went back to their tasks.

Fang Dihua was concerned about where Lin Xia had come from so early in the morning, whether she was cold, tired, or hungry.

She urged her to get up on the warm kang (heated bed) to warm herself up.

Lin Xia replied, “Auntie, I caught a ride here early this morning. I left a little earlier, but it wasn’t cold at all.”

Fang Dihua thought, How could it not be cold? It snowed heavily last night, and the roads must have been tough.

She then told Lin Shu to quickly make some ginger tea with brown sugar to warm her second sister up.

Sister-in-law Lu Da glanced at Lin Xia’s chapped red cheeks and smiled.

Lin Xia looked just like her own little sister.

Her face was exactly the same as hers, red and chapped from the cold.

Meanwhile, Sister-in-law Lu Er greeted Lin Xia warmly, but in her heart, she was thinking, This is interesting. She didn’t even go home first, but came to her sister’s place. Is she trying to save food for her own family?

Lin Shu boiled water and scooped out half a ladle of warm water for her second sister to wash her face and soak her hands.

Then she took out some cold cream to apply to her.

Lin Xia freshened up and said, “It smells so good.”

Panpan shouted, “Second Aunt, my dad bought that! Of course, it smells good.”

Lin Xia laughed, “Oh dear, sorry for using it. I should’ve known to use your stuff.”

Tiantian excitedly brought out their own cold cream.

Theirs was the same as the adults’, just a moisturizing cream, and Fang Dihua used it on them, too.

Lin Xia sipped on the ginger tea and noticed that Lu Xiuxiu was still sewing clothes. “Third Sister, you’re even busier than people with jobs. The factory is already on break for the holiday.”

Lu Xiuxiu was worried that people would say Third Aunt was making her work too hard, and she wouldn’t be allowed to help anymore.

She loved making clothes. “Second Aunt, sewing clothes is much easier than other things.”

How could farm people ever sit idle?

Her family doted on her, and even at her age, they hadn’t made her work the fields.

She was content.

After finishing the ginger tea, Lin Xia opened her backpack and took out the things she had brought for Lin Shu.

She had carried two bottles of malted milk, several cans of food, two pounds of sugar, and a few apples. It was so heavy!

Fortunately, she was used to carrying her tool bag around; if Lin Shu had to do it, she would have been exhausted.

She brought Lin Shu a red scarf as a gift. “I bought it during a business trip to Qizhou a few days ago.”

She held the red scarf up to Lin Shu’s neck and smiled, “It looks so good on you! It makes your cheeks look rosy.”

But Lin Shu’s cheeks were red because she was blushing, not because of the scarf.

Even though everyone loved these red scarves now, Lin Shu wasn’t really from this era, so she felt too embarrassed to wear it outside.

Previously, Lu Shaotang had bought her one, but she just stuffed it into a cabinet. One night, he found it there and wondered why she wasn’t wearing it.

In the end, the scarf just became a prop they didn’t talk about anymore.

Lin Shu quickly took the scarf off and put it on Tian Tian instead. “This looks much better on a little girl.”

Tian Tian happily admired herself in the mirror. “Thank you, Second Aunt.”

Lin Xia didn’t mind; she was happy to gift it to whoever—whether Lin Shu wore it, gave it to her daughter, or her mother-in-law, it was all fine.

She also praised Tian Tian, saying the scarf looked great on her.

The two kids didn’t go to see their grandpa writing Spring Festival couplets anymore; instead, they stayed with their Second Aunt, asking about her friends at the steel mill, how their Second Uncle was doing, how Grandma Jiang and Director Jiang were, and how all their little friends were.

Lin Xia answered all their questions.

Since everyone else was busy, Lin Shu went ahead and started making breakfast.

They only ate two meals a day, so as long as they ate before nine, it was on time.

Lin Xia played with the kids and their toy tractor while sharing good news with Lin Shu and the others.

Due to her outstanding performance, Lin Xia was sent on a business trip by the city’s power supply bureau to attend a meeting in the provincial capital.

According to what she heard, the discovery of a coal mine in the province had increased fuel supply, allowing more power to be generated and distributed.

With the province’s coordinated efforts, power lines would eventually reach their town, Qing County, next year.