Spring Breeze Twenty Years

Chapter 1063 Slowly, he won't come back.

"That's quite a lot. The city government only gives a hundred yuan as a form of relief, and sometimes they don't even give any money, just a bag of flour and a small can of oil. This has been going on for a long time." Xiao Hong came out of the house with her hands behind her back. "It's nothing, we didn't need to do anything. They took care of it themselves."

Xiaowei's mother stood there looking at Liu Liu's house and said, "Things change so fast. It's only been a few days, and Liu's house was built right after ours. We even borrowed a thousand yuan from Xiaohong's family. And now, it's all gone."

Xiao Wei said, "People have to move forward and look ahead. Stop being so sentimental, Mom. It's not like we're going to die. Aren't we living a better life now?"

Xiao Wei's mother sniffed and laughed, scolding, "You're even arguing with me about words now. You haven't even studied as much as I have."

This is Xiaowei's Achilles' heel; he didn't respond at all.

Xiao Hong said, "Xiao Wei went to school right after the New Year. Auntie, please don't bring up Xiao Wei's schooling anymore, it's so discouraging. Just keep it to yourself."

Xiao Wei's face showed anger, but his mother ignored him and waved her hand, saying, "Go and get on with your business."

Xiao Hong giggled and pulled Xiao Wei out of Liu Liu's courtyard. She went to call Xiu'er and led Zhang Bing into the village along the road covered with thick ice and snow.

The village is concentrated along the river. Originally, the village was only this big, but later, when people started building red brick and tile houses, the families who wanted to separate moved out to find other places, and that's how they built their houses on this side of the river, making the village much bigger.

Back then, the village seemed very prosperous and was getting bigger and bigger. The team leader even walked with a swagger.

Only a few years later, with the economic recovery, people started moving out again. The outside world is bigger, and there are more opportunities to make money. No young people are willing to work the land anymore. This is the wound of progress.

After Xiaowei's family moved away, several other families moved to the town or county.

Back then, people were arranging to buy Xiaowei's house, but now everyone is watching, and many houses in the village are already empty.

As darkness fell, the wind picked up, and the surrounding mountains, like giant beasts crouching in the darkness, glared menacingly at the village. The glistening white snow, like the streetlights, illuminated the earth. People turned on their electric lights, their dim yellow glow spreading across the darkness, bringing a touch of warmth to the harsh winter.

Zhang Bing breathed on his hands and turned his face toward Xiao Wei, walking backwards in the snow to avoid the cold wind blowing in his face. "Second Brother, who lives in our house now?"

Xiao Wei said, "No one lives here, it's empty."

Zhang Bing said, "We should have sold it in the first place. It's such a waste to leave it empty. Won't it collapse if no one lives there for a long time?"

Xiuer said, "Who would buy? Your family, Uncle's family, Liu Liu's family, Gazi's family, Kexin's family, and even my family, the village is almost half empty. People are moving around now, everyone's heading out, who would still buy houses in the village?"

Xiao Hong said, "Once this generation of older folks passes away, the village will probably be gone too, right? Will anyone of our generation still be farming in the village?"

Xiuer said, "Yes, but only when they come back from the busy farming season. They usually go to the county or city to do odd jobs and earn money. But I feel that they will definitely stop coming back eventually. A year of farming is not as profitable as a month of working outside. Now that grain can be bought easily, who would want to go through that kind of hardship?"

Xiao Wei straightened Zhang Bing's hat and said, "If no one farms anymore, where will the grain come from?"

Xiuer said, "Mechanization, of course. We're not a grain-producing area. The little bit of land we grow is just for our own consumption. How much grain can we produce? The money is what it is. In grain-producing areas, you only make a few hundred yuan a year."

Zhang Bing said, "We've already paid for the large portions, that's money, isn't it? You're making it sound like we've been working for nothing."

Xiao Wei said, "Indeed, we've been paying too many miscellaneous fees lately, and there's not much left in our hands."

The group of people went to the homes of elderly people in the village while chatting, as if to offer early New Year's greetings, and left some money for each family.

Those who were doing well kept 200, those who were struggling kept 300, and three families without able-bodied members kept 500 for Xiaowei, which was almost equivalent to the annual income of an average family.

After circling around, the bright moon was high in the sky, and the wind had subsided. The world in our eyes was shrouded in a bluish light, making it seem like we could see everything, but upon closer inspection, we couldn't make out anything clearly. Occasionally, someone's big dog would trot past us, its green eyes scanning over us.

The air was crisp and cold, carrying the smell of burning sorghum stalks. It was so quiet you could hear the wind blowing up the mountain. The crunching sound of footsteps on the snow carried far. Most houses had already turned off their lights. Electricity was chargeable, so everyone tried to save as much as possible.

Walking back to Uncle Si's courtyard, they opened the large iron gate, a rare sight in the countryside at the time. It creaked open, and the geese in the yard squawked a few times before falling silent. Uncle Si's half-grown black dog ran over, wagging its tail and sniffing at the group, then rubbing against Xiu'er's legs.

As soon as the door opened, Fourth Aunt came out and turned on the eaves lamp above the door, instantly illuminating the courtyard.

"Why are you only getting back now? Aren't you guys hungry?"

Preparations for slaughtering the pig have been made in the yard. The locust wood chopping board and the large iron pot have been placed on the stove in the corner of the yard. The chimney pipe has also been installed, and firewood, sorghum stalks, and other materials have all been prepared.

Xiao Hong said, "What delicious food did you make? Just hearing that makes me hungry."

Auntie said, "Hurry inside, drink some hot water to warm up, and then eat."

The four of them ran into the house, hissing and laughing. Xiao Hong and Xiu'er took off their shoes, climbed onto the kang (a heated brick bed), and buried their feet in the mattress. Xiao Wei and Zhang Bing went to the stove to warm themselves, added firewood, and waited for the water in the pot to boil. The food was already in the pot; once the water boiled, it would be hot.

Zhang Bing stretched out his hands to warm them by the fire, looked around, and said, "Want to roast some potatoes?"

Xiao Wei lifted the pot lid and looked inside, saying, "I have stewed green beans and pork ribs, stewed dried eggplant and potatoes, scrambled eggs, and some sausages too. Is this enough for you?"

Zhang Bing said, "It's been quite a long time since I've had the taste of roasted potatoes."

Xiao Wei said, "Then you can cook two. I see there's still some chili sauce. You can cook them right in the stove, right?"

Zhang Bing said, "Yes, there's a brazier. I'll go take a look." He got up and went inside.

A moment later, Fourth Uncle came out, laughing and saying, "This is nonsense. What kind of potatoes are you cooking in the middle of the night? You've just eaten too much good food all day." As he spoke, he went to clean up the brazier.

Xiao Wei said, "No need to do it. I thought you had a brazier burning in your room, but if it's not, just let him tinker with it in the stove."

Fourth Uncle said, "Come on, setting up a brazier doesn't take much effort. If you extinguish the stove, won't people be able to sleep at night?"

Xiao Wei smiled and stood up to help his fourth uncle with the brazier. He used a small shovel to clear some of the embers from under the stove and put them into the brazier, then added more firewood.

In fact, most families don't bother with the stove at night; they just leave a little embers to save firewood.

This whole ordeal will require at least one more meal's worth of firewood.

Gathering firewood can only be done in winter, and the amount of firewood needed for one meal seems small, but it takes two people half a day's work. Farmers really have a hard life.

Xiao Wei asked, "Fourth Uncle, why don't you use a coal stove? It's not hard to haul some coal from the county. You have to go up the mountain to gather firewood, don't you?"

(End of this chapter)