When dawn arrived, Li Chenmo woke up and went to the pig pen with his son. As for his wife and daughter, the two of them were still sleeping.
In the winter, dayti was shorter, so even though it was already five o’clock in the morning, the sky was still dark. Holding onto a flashlight, he saw the fluttering snow slowly fall to the ground and pile up into a thick layer.
As they walked to the pig pen, only the crunching sound of ice breaking under their feet could be heard. Thinking about the New Year that was only one month away, Li Chenmo said, "During this period, we have to keep the pigs warm and feed them well."
Dong Li also calculated the ti and knew that in around three weeks, it would be at distribution day. By then, the pigs would be slaughtered, and they would receive the work points. Thinking about receiving the fruit of their labor made him feel excited.
"Understood," he nodded.
When they arrived at the pig pen, Chen Jianmin, Chen Jianguo, Li Chenze, and Li Lingyun were already there. Since they didn’t have any electricity, they could only use an oil lamp to light up the surroundings.
The dim lighting was only enough for them to see the rough situation around them. Li Chenmo hung the flashlight he was holding and used it as a lamp. With the flashlight illuminating the pen, he extinguished the oil lamp for safety reasons.
They piled up lots of dried straw to keep the pigs warm. If the oil lamp fell, it would cause a fire, so it was better to put it away and use a flashlight instead.
Due to the cold weather, they worked faster than usual so they could go back earlier. Everyone didn’t talk much, but Chen Jianmin noticed that the water used for the pigs’ drinking water was not frozen.
He reached out to touch it and realized that it was warm. Feeling curious, he asked, "Uncle Chenmo, how can the pigs’ drinking water not turn into ice?"
Hearing this, Li Chenmo replied, "It’s underground water coming from the mountain spring. We also don’t know the reason why the water is warm during winter and cold during sumr."
Chen Jianmin looked at the water thoughtfully for a mont before he resud working. After they cleaned up the pen and mixed the fertilizer, they left the pen at sunrise.
When Li Chenmo and Dong Li returned to their house, Lu Jueyu and Dong Huang had woken up. At this mont, the mother and daughter were busy cooking breakfast in the kitchen.
Due to her big belly, Lu Jueyu only prepared a simple al for the family: at stead buns, warm soy milk, vegetable and egg porridge, scallion pancakes, and fruit juice.
After washing up, the family sat together on the kang bed in Li Chenmo’s bedroom. With the heated kang, they didn’t feel cold and could enjoy their al.
While they were eating, Li Chenmo said, "Wife, later I have to go out to deliver so flour, vegetables, and jerky to the production team."
Lu Jueyu was taken aback when she heard her husband’s words and asked, "Husband, why did you suddenly send those things?"
Li Chenmo explained what had happened during the midnight to his wife before he said, "Since I have refused to let the educated youths stay at our house, I decided to help them by contributing so food."
When Dong Li heard his father’s words, he nodded and very much agreed with his father’s decision. He knew that so of those educated youths were having bad intentions toward his parents, so it was better not to invite a wolf into their house from the start.
After learning what had happened, Lu Jueyu nodded and said, "Husband, there is a group of elderly living in the production team’s pig pen and cowshed. Even if my eldest sister-in-law often visited them, now that the snow is heavy, the shed and pen might not be able to withstand the snow."
Li Chenmo thought for a while and said, "I will inform An Xuyuan or Han Yuheng later about this matter."
"If they have no place to stay, we can let the elderly stay with us until spring," Lu Jueyu added.
"Okay," Li Chenmo nodded and poured more fruit juice for his wife.
After breakfast, Li Chenmo went to the greenhouses with his children. The three of them harvested the matured vegetables while Lu Jueyu prepared the flour and at jerky.
They packed the vegetables into bamboo baskets. After everything was done, they loaded the bamboo baskets into the bicycle’s cart.
Before leaving, Li Chenmo turned to his children and said, "Stay at ho and accompany your mother."
Dong Li and Dong Huang nodded as they said, "Father, we will take care of our mother."
"Good."
At the sa ti, Zhang Yulan was holding a bamboo basket as she walked into An Xuyuan’s house. After they confessed their feelings to each other five days ago, she no longer avoided being seen together with him in public.
When she entered the yard, she didn’t notice anything unusual. But the mont she stepped into the living room, she was taken aback to be t with several pairs of eyes staring at her.
She looked at the educated youths for a mont before she said, "Good morning, comrades. Is the vice team leader ho?"
Hearing this, one of the educated youths nodded and said, "The vice team leader is in the kitchen."
Zhang Yulan nodded and said, "Thank you." Afterward, she turned and went to the kitchen.
After she left, the educated youths huddled together and started discussing what had just happened. No one knew about An Xuyuan’s relationship status, as he always kept a low profile regarding his personal life.
Now that they saw a woman visiting him so early and entering his house with familiarity, they couldn’t help but think about the possibility of her being An Xuyuan’s prospective partner.
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