After fleeing the famine, my older sister and I married the brother next door.

Su Xiaoyin smiled and reached out to smooth the wrinkles between his brows: "If they don't have the talent for academic examinations, they can learn carpentry from you. Your skills are enough for them to live on for a lifetime. Or we can send them to learn other trades, like accounting, running a shop, or trading with caravans. As long as they're willing to work hard and don't slack off, they can go anywhere. How could we let them go hungry?"

Chen Dashan sighed and pulled her closer to him: "That's true, but I'm always afraid that I haven't made enough arrangements and that I'll be neglecting the child."

Su Xiaoyin leaned against his chest, listening to his strong heartbeat, her voice soft: "Then don't keep thinking about it to yourself. In the future, help me think about them, pay close attention to them, and see where their individual talents lie. Shi Tou is steady and can sit still; A Ji is clever and has a sweet tongue; A Fu is thin but thoughtful. They all have different personalities, and their future paths will be different too. Let's take our time and see, there's no rush."

Chen Dashan nodded, feeling a little relieved.

Su Xiaoyin added, "And there's Qingqing too. We can't let her suffer. Although girls don't inherit family property, a meager dowry will lead to mistreatment in her husband's family. From now on, we'll start saving for her dowry. When she's a little older, Xiaoqing and I will teach her embroidery. She's smart and skillful; having this skill will help her gain a foothold in her husband's family."

Chen Dashan's brows relaxed completely, and a smile even appeared on his lips: "Okay, I'll listen to you. Qingqing is smart, she'll definitely learn well. Your and Xiaoqing's skills are among the best in the county, she can't go wrong learning from you."

Su Xiaoyin hummed in agreement and yawned.

The moon peeked out from behind the clouds, its soft light filtering through the paper window and casting a silvery glow on the kang (a heated brick bed). From the next room came the sound of a stone turning over, followed by a mumbled word, and then silence.

Chen Dashan listened for a while to make sure the children were sleeping well before lying back down. He held Su Xiaoyin's hand, their fingers intertwined, the rough calluses and delicate fingertips rubbing against each other.

"Xiaoyin," he suddenly spoke again.

"Um?"

"Tell me, from the time we got married until now, we've gone from being penniless to having land, mountains, shops, and a house. Our children are studying in school, and life is getting better every year... Isn't that how God has treated us?"

Su Xiaoyin was silent for a while, then said softly, "It's not that God has been kind to us, it's that we are hardworking, willing to work, and don't slack off."

Chen Dashan thought for a moment, then smiled and said, "You're right."

The wind picked up again outside the window, gently tapping against the windowpane. The room was warm and cozy, and so was the blankets. All the busy days, wasn't it all for this moment of peace? Chen Dashan closed his eyes, his breathing gradually becoming steady. Listening to his even breathing, Su Xiaoyin knew he had finally fallen asleep, so she gently turned over and drifted off to sleep herself.

----

On the thirtieth day of the twelfth lunar month, before dawn, the Chen family's house was already bustling with activity.

Chen's mother was the first to get up, wearing a cotton-padded coat and shuttling back and forth between the kitchen and the main room, constantly giving instructions. Her voice wasn't loud, but it carried the efficiency of a matriarch, keeping the still-dazed young people running around in circles.

"Xiaoyin, where are the candies you bought earlier? Quickly bring them out and put them on the table!" Chen's mother walked into the main room, touched the fruit plate on the table, glanced at the dust on the windowsill, and then turned around to pull out a rag from behind the door.

Su Xiaoyin was chopping cured meat in the kitchen when she heard her mother-in-law's voice. She quickly wiped her hands on her apron and replied, "Mom, I'll go get it. It's in the cupboard." She went to the cupboard, opened the door, and took out a paper package. Inside were colorful candies—orange candies, peanut candies, sesame candies, and a few hard pieces of rock candy—all bought from the market a few days ago after much searching. She arranged the candies one by one in a fruit bowl; the red, green, and yellow ones looked festive. She then took out a packet of dried persimmons from under the cupboard and arranged them on another plate.

Su Xiaoqing was also busy, emptying the peanuts and melon seeds from the sack, picking out the shriveled and broken ones, and putting the rest into two large plates. The golden peanuts and grayish-white melon seeds were piled high, and she also grabbed a handful each of the hazelnuts and walnuts that Su Xiaoyin had roasted yesterday and placed them in the small dishes next to her.

The children had long been awakened by the aroma. Shi Tou was the first to run into the main room, his eyes glued to the fruit plate. He swallowed hard, then grabbed a handful of melon seeds. Aji and Afu followed behind, tiptoeing to look at the table. Afu, the shortest, hopped along the edge of the table, shouting, "I want candy!" Qingqing followed quietly, waiting for Su Xiaoyin to hand her a piece of sesame candy before smiling with pursed lips.

"Eat less, you still need to eat breakfast later," Chen's mother said with a smile, but she didn't really stop her.

The four children sat around the table, their little mouths never idle. Shi Tou cracked sunflower seeds with lightning speed, Aji focused solely on peanuts, and Afu clutched a piece of orange candy, licking it back and forth, reluctant to chew it. Qingqing slowly peeled hazelnuts, collecting the kernels in her palm. When she had enough, she popped one into Afu's mouth, making Afu squint and smile.

Chen's mother peeked out from the kitchen doorway and called out to the backyard, "Old man, go kill the chicken, I'll stew it now. If it's stewed too late, it won't be tender, and it won't be chewy enough for the New Year."

Father Chen was putting up couplets in the yard, with Chen Dashan standing on a ladder to hold them up, and Chen Xiaohe below handing him paste. Hearing Mother Chen's call, Father Chen handed the couplets to Chen Xiaohe, clapped his hands, and turned to go to the backyard to catch chickens.

Chen Dashan climbed down the ladder and followed his father. "Mom, I'm going to kill a chicken. Dad and Xiaohe, finish putting up the couplets first, and then put up the 'Fu' character too. Make sure to put up the front door, the back door, and the storeroom door, don't forget any of them." He rolled up his sleeves to his elbows and followed his father to the backyard.

In a corner of the backyard, a small plot of land was enclosed by a bamboo fence, where several chickens were kept. These were all brought from the village by Chen's mother, to be eaten during the New Year. Chen's father bent down and went in, his eyes sharp and his hands quick, grabbing the fattest speckled hen and pulling it out by its wings. The chicken flapped its wings and clucked a few times before Chen's father pressed it to the ground and stepped on its claws.

Hearing the noise, Su Xiaoyin brought out a large bowl from the kitchen, filled it with a little water and a pinch of salt, and squatted down next to Chen Dashan. Chen Dashan took the chicken from his father, pinched its comb, plucked a small piece of feather from its neck, and with a light cut, the chicken blood flowed into the bowl. Su Xiaoyin quickly stirred it with chopsticks to dissolve the salt.

"This chicken is really fat, its belly is full of oil." Su Xiaoyin stood up with the blood bowl in her hand, looked at the heavy hen in Chen Dashan's hand, weighed it in her hand, and said it must weigh at least four or five pounds. "You don't even need to add lard to stew the chicken, the chicken fat alone is enough to coat the pot."