Reborn in 1985, starting from the mountains of Northwest China

Chen Feng took it and examined it carefully by the light.

This character is written in a very distinctive way!

Each stroke, carefully and deliberately made ugly.

Chen Feng placed the paper on his lap, and Xiao Yue held down one corner.

"Hand out."

Xiaoshan paused for a moment, raised his eyes, glanced quickly at his father, and then lowered them again.

He stretched out his hand, palm up, his five fingers a little black, and you could tell at a glance that he had rolled around on the ground a lot.

Chen Feng grasped that hand and turned it over.

There's a small ink stain on the side of my index finger, and a small cut that's just scabbed over on my fingertip. I don't know when I got it.

Chen Feng clenched that hand, then released it.

"She has quite a bit of strength."

Xiaoshan blinked, not understanding what this meant.

Chen Feng took something out of his pocket and placed it on the outstretched palm.

It is a small knife.

It's folded, the handle is made of ox horn and is shiny from being soaked in sweat, and the blade is still about 70% new.

This is Chen Feng's most treasured knife!

Xiaoshan's eyes widened suddenly.

"father--"

"This isn't for you to play with," Chen Feng interrupted him. "It's time to sharpen arrows in the spring; use this to do that."

Xiao Shan gripped the knife tightly and nodded heavily. His father really liked him!

Xiaoyue rolled over on Chen Feng's lap, leaving red marks on her cheek. She opened her eyes a crack, drowsily glanced at the thing in her brother's hand, and then closed them again to fall asleep.

After finishing the last stitch, Lin Xiuna placed the sole of the shoe on her knee, wrapped the thread around the needle twice, pulled it tight, and then bit it off.

She looked up, glanced at her son clutching the knife, and then at the man.

He didn't say anything, just smiled and lowered his head to tidy up the sewing basket.

"Mother!" Xiaoshan suddenly called out, his voice a little shrill, startling Xiaoyue in Chen Feng's arms.

Lin Xiu looked up.

Xiaoshan held up the knife to the light: "Mom, look, Dad gave it to me!"

"I saw it." Lin Xiu stuck the needle into the small ball of cloth in the basket. "Keep it safe, don't cut your hand."

"Um!"

Xiaoshan examined the knife from all angles, then carefully closed it, stuffed it into his pocket, took it out again, and put it in another pocket.

Finally, he took out the knife, held it in his hand, ran to the long table in the corner where miscellaneous items were stored, opened the drawer, rummaged around for a while, found a piece of blue cloth, wrapped the knife up layer by layer, and put it under his pillow.

Chen Feng watched him bustling about, his heart already overflowing with joy.

Xiaoyue was fast asleep, and her drool soaked a small patch of his work clothes.

After finishing her needlework, Lin Xiu got up and went to the kitchen. After taking a few steps, she turned back and said softly, "Dinner will be a while longer, you should rest a bit more."

Chen Feng nodded.

Lin Xiu went into the kitchen, and soon the sound of chopping vegetables could be heard, thump thump thump, fine and even.

"Mother, firewood."

Lin Xiu's voice came from the kitchen: "Put it there."

Xiaoshan didn't go in; he just stood at the entrance and looked inside.

"What are you looking at?"

"What are you making, Mother?"

"Your dad's back. He's making noodles. Your dad loves them."

Xiaoshan swallowed hard, wanting to say that he loved to eat it too.

Why does Mother only remember Father?

The words caught in his throat, but he swallowed them back down.

He suddenly remembered that last month, when he had a fever and was delirious, his mother had made him some noodles.

Two eggs were poached in the bowl of noodles, the scallions were finely chopped, and an extra spoonful of lard was added compared to usual.

He ate it, sweated it out, and felt better the next day.

Mother still loves him the most!

Xiaoshan squatted at the door of the kitchen, his chin resting on his knees, watching his mother's back.

Mother's arm moved rhythmically, her sleeves rolled up to reveal a section of her wrist, on which hung an old, faded red ribbon, a gift her father had bought years ago.

He suddenly remembered that the hair tie on his mother's hand seemed to have never been changed.

The firelight from the stove reflected on my mother's face, flickering and making it difficult to discern her expression.

But the corners of her mouth were slightly curved, and they had been curved ever since her father said "she has quite a bit of strength" and hadn't gone down.

Xiaoshan buried his face in his knees and rubbed it against them.

Forget it.

If Dad likes to eat it, then Dad likes to eat it.

He stood up, dusted himself off, and walked towards the main room.

I walked to the door and stopped.

Chen Feng looked up.

"Dad," Xiaoshan said in a low voice, afraid of waking his younger sister, "when will you teach me archery?"

Although Xiaoshan said he knew a few tricks, he still wanted to learn more from Chen Feng.

Chen Feng looked at the back of his son's head; the stubble had just been shaved, revealing a pale scalp.

"First, write the characters neatly."

Xiaoshan turned around, his expression serious: "You'll only teach me if I write it neatly?"

"Teach me if I write it neatly."

"Then we'll start teaching in the spring?"

Chen Feng picked up the enamel mug and took a sip of the cold tea.

"Let's talk about it in the spring."

Xiao Shan persisted, walking up to Chen Feng, squatting down, looking up at him with eyes so bright they could reflect a person's image: "Dad, I've written it correctly, really. You teach me to draw the bow, teach me to draw the bow first, I'll sharpen the arrow myself, and then you can teach me to aim—"

Chen Feng extended a finger, tapped it on his forehead, and gently pushed it back.

Xiaoshan sat down on the ground and grinned.

Xiaoyue was awakened by the laughter. She opened her eyes, looked around groggily, climbed off Chen Feng's lap, staggered to her brother's side, and plopped down in his arms.

"Brother is smiling."

"I wasn't laughing at you."

Xiaoyue didn't believe him. She stared at his face for a long time, then suddenly reached out and grabbed his ear.

Xiao Shan exclaimed "Ouch!", picked her up, carried her on his shoulder, and spun her around the room.

Xiaoyue giggled and tugged at his hair, shouting "Giddy up!"

Chen Feng watched as the two younger ones finished their herbal tea and placed the enamel mug on the table.

Inside the kitchen, the rolling pin made a series of thumping sounds as it rolled.

Outside the window, the shadow of the jujube tree stretched even longer, diagonally covering half of the room.

A sparrow landed on the wall, chirped twice, and then flew away.

Chen Feng leaned back in his chair and closed his eyes.

All I could hear was Xiaoshan's panting, Xiaoyue's laughter, and the sound of dough being rolled in the kitchen.

"father."

"Um."

"Hungry."

Chen Feng picked her up, and Xiao Yue nestled on his shoulder, her drool soaking a patch of the ground.

Xiaoshan had been squatting at the kitchen door for a while, not going in, just watching his mother roll out the dough. The dough was spread out on the cutting board, sprinkled with dry flour, rolled over with the rolling pin, rolled up, spread out again, and rolled again.

Lin Xiu moved her arms back and forth, rolling up her sleeves to her elbows to reveal a section of her shapely forearm.

Xiaoyue lifted her head from Chen Feng's shoulder and looked drowsily into the kitchen.

"daughter."

"Why."

Xiaoyue struggled to get down, but Chen Feng put her on the ground. She held onto the wall and slowly moved to the kitchen doorway, where she squatted down next to her brother.

Two little ones, one on the left and one on the right, squatted at the doorway watching.

Lin Xiu didn't turn her head: "Wait, it'll be ready soon."

Xiaoyue stared blankly at the dough on the cutting board.

Xiao Shan swallowed hard and turned to look at his father.

Chen Feng remained seated, without moving.

Inside the kitchen, the water was boiling, bubbling and steaming.