Yan Sisi couldn’t help but hiss from the cold. Today was really freezing, winter had clearly arrived. While sitting on the bus, she had noticed a thin layer of ice forming on the small river by the roadside. In a little while, it would become thick enough to skate on.
She followed her parents, finding Uncle Yan Da, who drove the village’s daily ox cart to town. They waited until the cart was filled with people before it started moving.
Familiar villagers, seeing them return with bundles of goods, greeted them with smiles. “Aiguo, you’re back!”
“Hello, Auntie. What are you doing in town?”
“We ran out of cooking oil, so came up to get some. And look at you, you’ve brought back so many things again.” Cheng Ying, chatting with them, glanced at their heavy bundles. Compared to her own family, the Yans were lucky. Both the eldest and second sons worked in the city. Especially the second son, every time he came back, he brought so many things. Her own son, working in the fields all year, barely earned anything.
Yan Sisi’s eyes wandered over the roadside trees, listening to the continuous chatter of the auntie since they got on the cart. After about half an hour, she could finally see the orderly rows of single-story houses in the distance. Most of the village still consisted of thatched houses, with only a few built from red bricks. Under the old trees at the village entrance, only a few children, unbothered by the cold, ran around wildly. Occasionally, a few adults could be seen walking through the village.
Feeling sore all over from the bumpy ride, Yan Sisi exhaled a puff of warm air and said, “Finally, we’re here.”
The ox cart continued to sway forward slowly. Yan Sisi caught sight of a familiar figure. Squinting, she opened her mouth and shouted, “Grandpa!”
Yan Dawu looked up at the sound of his granddaughter’s voice. Seeing that his second son’s family had returned, he quickly responded, “Ah, Sisi’s back!”
Father Yan, sitting beside her, jumped off the cart and called out, “Dad, where are you headed?”
“Just going to check the fields.” Yan Dawu stepped forward and immediately noticed the thick plaster cast on his son’s arm. Frowning, he asked, “What happened to your arm?”
Then he set down the shovel on his shoulder, took the parcel from his son’s hands, and asked in puzzlement, “Did you get into a fight?”
His second son had always been good-natured and rarely got into arguments. How did it come to this that he had actually fought someone?
After paying the two-cent fare to the ox cart driver, Yan Sisi jumped off the cart. She glanced at her grandfather and father walking slowly, then broke into a small run, heading straight for the family house. Along the way, she ran into some childhood friends.
“Sisi, you’re back!”
“An, where are you planning to go?”
“Going to catch fish. Do you want to come?” Yan Guodong asked as usual. Although he already knew Yan Sisi wouldn’t join, he still asked every time he saw her.
Yan Sisi, seeing the fish wriggling energetically in the river, felt a tug of excitement. She glanced toward her house, not far away, but shook her head. “No, I need to go home first and check on things!”
“I knew you wouldn’t come,” Yan Guodong laughed, waving his hand, and carried his wooden bucket as he continued toward the river outside the village.
Yan Sisi walked up to her family’s yard, enclosed with bamboo, and looked at the red-brick house inside. She pushed open the bamboo gate and called out loudly, “Grandma, I’m back!”
Xu Baoying, feeding the chickens, turned around and saw her eldest granddaughter. She quickly poured the water in her hands into the wooden trough and asked, “Are you back alone? Where are your parents?”
“They’re behind me with Grandpa. Grandma, did you miss me?”
Xu Baoying wiped the dirt from her hands, touched her granddaughter who had run over, and smiled with narrowed eyes. “Of course I missed you. I think about my little darling every day. But why does it feel like you’ve lost weight?”
“Lost weight?” Yan Sisi touched her cheeks, feeling no difference.
“Maybe your dad isn’t feeding you enough. My little darling’s face has gotten so much thinner.” Xu Baoying looked at her granddaughter, heart aching at the sight of her thinner frame. Did city life mean no proper meals? How could two workers let their child get this skinny?
At that moment, Father Yan came to the doorway and called out, “Mom, I’m back.”
“Ah! What happened to your arm?” Xu Baoying swallowed the words she was about to scold him with, frowned, and looked at her son’s plaster-covered arm with concern. It hadn’t even been that long since she last saw him, and now his arm was injured.
“Just a small injury. The doctor said some rest will make it better,” Father Yan replied. He had just been scolded earlier, and now seeing his mother so anxious, he quickly waved it off to his wife, “Aren’t we going to the mountain? Let’s go!”
Mother Yan, holding the package in her hand, looked at her mother-in-law’s worried gaze, hesitated, and said, “It’s fine if Sisi and I go. You stay home and rest properly.”
Without waiting for her husband’s reply, she took her stunned daughter by the hand and turned to leave. Before they had gone a few steps, they heard the grandmother’s concerned voice call out, “That wretch beat you up like this? Did you report it?”
A flurry of questions, luckily she had run fast. If her grandmother caught up, there would have been no escaping a scolding. In such situations, it was better to avoid confrontation when possible.
On the winter hillside, white mist wrapped around the dark green pine trees, rising sparsely. Yan Sisi weaved through the oddly shaped trees, looking around. Apart from the pines, everything else was bare. Every tree looked roughly the same aside from its shape, making it impossible to tell if any were fruit trees.
Yan Sisi followed her mother up the slope toward the mid-hillside. The bare trees were littered with fallen leaves, crunching under their feet with a crisp sound.
After walking about a third of the way, Yan Sisi was about to pause for a rest when she suddenly heard a clear female voice from ahead: “Tang Mingze, I like you.”
Yan Sisi, curious and about to see which girl was bold enough to confess to her cousin, was immediately pulled behind a tree by her mother.
She turned to her mother, blinking in confusion. Why was she being pulled like that?
Mother Yan frowned at her daughter’s excited expression and shook her head. This was about a girl’s reputation, it was better not to get too close to watch.
The next second, they heard her cousin’s deep voice: “I’m sorry. I only see you as a friend.”
Xie Yiyi, stunned by the unexpected rejection, felt her heart stop. She had thought their feelings were mutual. She couldn’t understand how, even after she had confessed first, she could still be rejected. Swallowing her embarrassment, she persisted, asking, “Do you really not like me even a little?”
Tang Mingze looked at Xie Yiyi’s expectant face, his expression completely unmoved, and said coldly, “I’m sorry.”
Hearing this, tears streamed down Xie Yiyi’s face, and her voice trembled with sobs. “It’s not your fault. It’s just that I’m not good enough.”
The bittersweet, half-crying tone softened Yan Sisi’s heart, even though she had been secretly listening. She turned to her mother, only to find her staring blankly, lost in thought.
Yan Sisi waved her hand gently in front of her mother and whispered, “Mom, are you okay?”
Mother Yan came back to her senses and softly asked, “It’s fine… is he still there?”
Yan Sisi peeked out from behind the tree and only saw a figure running off quickly. She turned to her mother and said, “He’s gone. Can we go out now?”
“Let’s wait a little longer.”
Before Yan Sisi could respond, they heard her cousin’s stern voice calling from nearby: “Who’s there? Come out.”
Yan Sisi hesitated, then poked her head out and smiled. “It’s me, Brother.”
Tang Mingze finally relaxed. Good, it wasn’t anyone else. He smiled, eyes crinkling, and walked over, asking as he came, “Where’s Aunt?”
Yan Sisi pointed to her mother hiding behind the tree, signaling him with her eyes. Tang Mingze blinked, acknowledging, and quickly walked forward to take the package from her mother, asking, “When did you arrive?”
Yan Sisi beamed. “We came when someone was pursuing you.”
After saying that, afraid her cousin might scold her, she darted ahead, running up the mountain.
Mother Yan looked at her handsome nephew. If nothing had happened in the family, he might have been married long ago. How could he still be single now?
Thinking this, Mother Yan tentatively asked, “Mingze, is there someone you like?”
“No, Aunt. With my current situation, I don’t have the headspace for a relationship. Anyone with me would just suffer too,” Tang Mingze said, his eyes darkening. His family problems were far from resolved, so he didn’t want to drag anyone else into them.
“These are only temporary. Things are much better now. If you truly liked a girl, there’s no need to reject her so quickly,” Mother Yan said, looking at her thin, frail nephew. She knew his heart ached, yet she still hoped he could open up, live positively, and not remain trapped in past hardships.
“Don’t worry, Aunt. I know what I’m doing,” Tang Mingze replied. He didn’t want to talk more and silently followed behind, carrying the package.
Yan Sisi, walking ahead, had no such deep thoughts. She ran from one side to the other, looking around, planning during this trip to the countryside to take her father into the mountains and collect some trees to plant in their spatial storage.
Before long, the three of them reached the mid-mountain. Yan Sisi looked at the quiet, empty thatched huts. Approaching the innermost one, she pushed open the door and called, “Grandpa, I’m here.”
An elderly man with graying hair and a frail frame was sitting on the bed. Hearing her voice, he looked toward the doorway and couldn’t help but smile, waving at her, “Sisi is here! Come in quickly, it’s cold outside.”
Yan Sisi ran inside, while Mother Yan followed silently behind. Every time she saw her father living in such a cramped thatched hut, with not even a proper piece of furniture, her heart ached. She felt helpless, every visit she could only bring food, and she dared not add anything noticeable. She wondered when this kind of life would finally end.
Inside, Yan Sisi immediately felt much warmer than outside. She noticed a small depression in what was otherwise a flat area and curiously asked, “Brother, why is there a pit here?”
Tang Mingze placed the package on the wooden bed, poured a cup of hot water, and handed it to his aunt. “I read in a book that in winter this can help keep warm, so I tried making one. It’s actually warmer than just burning wood in a ceramic basin.”
Yan Sisi immediately thought of people in the city who had been poisoned while burning fires indoors for heat. She frowned seriously. “Isn’t this too dangerous? People in the city have ended up in the hospital from indoor fires. If it weren’t discovered in time…”
Mother Yan also disapproved. “Exactly, Mingze. I had someone buy two hot water bags this time. You and Dad each get one. If that’s not enough, I’ll figure something else out.”
“Mingze, are you at home?”