Back to 1984: I built a chicken farm on a barren mountain.

Chen Shouyi was sneezing; he had caught a chill while taking a shower last night.

Chen Wenfeng had originally bought a large bathtub for his family, but he felt it would be a waste to fill it with hot water, so he found a stone trough instead.

However, the stone trough was too small and could not hold much water. The water cooled down when I was halfway through washing.

I wanted to take a hot shower, but I ended up taking a cold shower in the dead of winter.

There weren't any hair dryers in Chenjiazhuang at the moment, but luckily his hair was short, so it dried quickly under the covers after he wiped it with a towel.

But since he got cold while taking a shower, he still has some drooling and watery eyes, and sneezes from time to time.

Wang Guizhi spent half a day yesterday trying to persuade Chen Shouyi not to use that stone trough, but Chen Shouyi was too stubborn. Now that he's caught a cold, she's too lazy to pay attention to him.

Wang Guizhi braved the snow to sweep the snow in the yard, but it piled up again as soon as she finished, so she stopped sweeping.

At noon, Wang Guizhi specially made noodle soup with three poached eggs, one for herself and two for Chen Shouyi, the patient.

To cure her cold, Wang Guizhi specially added a lot of shredded ginger to the noodle soup.

Chen Shouyi originally disliked eating ginger, but he let his daughter Xiaofang eat ginger as well.

He wouldn't mind putting a little bit in the food, but his wife put in way too much today. It felt like half noodles and half ginger in the noodle soup...

Seeing that his wife had made him a poached egg again, he tried his best to drink two bowls of soup.

After finishing two bowls of extra-rich ginger noodle soup, Chen Shouyi broke out in a sweat, his nose cleared, his mind became clearer, and he felt much better.

He stood on the kang (a heated brick bed) and looked through the window at the heavy snow outside. He clamored to go and shovel the snow, but Wang Guizhi politely stopped him with a feather duster.

Chen Shouyi then sat obediently on the kang (a heated brick bed), sitting there in a daze.

Wang Guizhi likes to eat ginger. She felt that the noodles today were very much to her liking, so she went to get another bowl. As she was drinking it, she heard shouts outside.

Wang Guizhi only heard it once, but she knew that the person who came was Zhang Caifeng.

Zhang Caifeng's voice and tone are unique in Chenjiazhuang.

Wang Guizhi put down her chopsticks and bowl and went out to greet them.

But it turned out that Zhang Caifeng wasn't alone; Zheng Dali had also arrived, and the one standing next to him, who looked exactly like him, was probably Zheng Erli.

It's been so many years, Zheng Erli looks really energetic.

"Come in quickly, Caifeng and Dali. This must be Erli's first time here. Remember before we separated our families, we used to go to that courtyard more often."

Zheng Erli politely greeted his sister-in-law and then carried the dumplings into the house.

Wang Guizhi and Zhang Caifeng entered the house arm in arm.

Zheng Dali, like a background figure, followed them in carrying a bag of apples.

Once inside, Zheng Erli greeted Chen Shouyi and put down the dumplings.

Zheng Dali then handed the apple to Chen Shouyi.

Zhang Caifeng, being straightforward, said to Chen Shouyi:

"Brother Shouyi, why are you curled up on the kang in the middle of the day? Oh, we've come at a bad time, are you just having lunch?"

"Hey, don't even mention it. Shouyi caught a chill while taking a shower last night. He just had some ginger noodle soup and he's feeling much better now. He wanted to go shovel snow, but I stopped him."

"Caifeng, would you like to eat something more together?"

"No, you guys eat. Oh, by the way, I brought you some dumplings, they should still be warm. I always said I'd bring those apples but always forgot, so I brought a whole bagful this time. You know, my apples are better than yours."

"That's because the land in your orchard was divided at the best time."

Wang Guizhi picked up her chopsticks and took a dumpling. Wow, there's so much meat in it! No wonder they're a family that sells meat.

The room was cold, so after a few polite exchanges, Zhang Caifeng and the others took off their shoes and got onto the kang (heated brick bed) at Wang Guizhi's hospitality.

Wang Guizhi went outside and got three more bowls of noodle soup, a plate of peanuts, and a roast chicken.

These were all brought over by Chen Wenfeng a few days ago. Since there was never a shortage of food at home, Wang Guizhi kept them and didn't let Wenshui and Xiaofang eat them all.

Chen Shouyi also took a bite of the dumpling. It was indeed delicious. The skill of the cook was secondary; the main thing was that there was a lot of meat, and more meat made it more fragrant.

Zhang Caifeng also liked ginger. She started eating the noodle soup that Wang Guizhi had brought, and ate more than half a bowl in just a few bites, saying:

"Takashi, how much ginger did you put in? I love this."

Wang Guizhi was very happy and said:

"Yes, but in my family, only I like to eat. The three of them can eat a little, but not much. As for Xiaofang, she doesn't eat a single bite..."

Zheng Dali's taste is somewhat similar to Chen Xiaofang's; he doesn't want to eat a single bite of ginger. However, when Zhang Caifeng adds ginger, he is too embarrassed to say anything and can only try his best to swallow it. Gradually, he is able to eat some.

This time when making dumplings, Zheng Dali used the excuse that Zheng Erli didn't like ginger to ask for less ginger. Sure enough, with less ginger, the dumplings tasted much better.

What Zheng Dali didn't expect was that Zheng Erli's tastes had changed after so many years away. He now particularly liked the noodle soup with lots of ginger shreds from Chenjiazhuang. He didn't know if it was because he missed home, but he often missed that taste.

After Zheng Erli finished his first bowl, Wang Guizhi served him a second bowl, and Zheng Dali sensed Zhang Caifeng's murderous aura.

Didn't you say Erli doesn't like ginger? What's going on here!

If they weren't at someone else's house, Zheng Dali felt Zhang Caifeng would jump up and grab a knife to attack him...

Zheng Dali swallowed hard, then quickly changed the subject, saying:

"Shouyi, I heard from Caifeng that she and Guizhi have arranged a marriage between their two children."

As Chen Shouyi was tearing the roast chicken apart and distributing it to everyone, he clearly paused upon hearing this; he didn't know that.

Seeing the confused look Chen Shouyi gave her, Wang Guizhi smiled and said:

"Shouyi doesn't know, I don't want him to brag to everyone, so I didn't tell him, hahaha!"

Zhang Caifeng laughed heartily upon hearing this, truly a sisterly bond!

Zheng Dali suddenly felt much more at ease; he had found out about it even later than I had!

Chen Shouyi felt like the four men were looking at him like he was a fool, and he was at a loss for what to do...

......

On Jiming Mountain, Chen Wenfeng took a sound afternoon nap.

He filled a large tub with hot water, took off his clothes, and soaked in it. It felt so good!

With heavy snow blocking the mountainside outside and a hot bath inside, is there anything more pleasant than this?

When the water in the tank cooled down a bit, Chen Wenfeng called out:

"Hey Niu Da, are you up? Could you get me some water?"

After hearing this, Niu Da ran over, grabbed a water jug, and poured a lot more water into the vat.

"Are you done washing?"

Chen Wenfeng noticed Niu Da's wet hair and asked.

"After I finished washing, I felt that using this big tub to take a bath was a waste of hot water, so I used that big basin. But the water got cold halfway through the bath."

"Achoo!"

Chen Wenfeng was speechless and said:

"You're not allowed to use big basins for bathing anymore. Reheat the water only after you've used it up. Only a fool would do something like that and catch a cold."

......

......