Flip the table and divide the family property! Take his wife and daughter into the mountains and eat

The main house of the Zhao family compound.

As soon as the heavy cotton curtain was lifted, a wave of heat carrying the aroma of stewed meat rushed out, instantly dispelling the bone-chilling cold that had been emanating from Liu.

Inside, the fireplace was blazing hot, and the pine wood in the stove crackled and popped. A large pot of sauerkraut and pork belly simmered, releasing enticing steam.

"Mother, please come inside. Don't stand at the door."

Zhao Shanhe closed the door behind him, then took the tattered bundle from Liu's hand and placed it at the end of the kang (a heated brick bed).

Liu, however, appeared uneasy.

She stood on the doormat by the door, twisting the hem of her old, patched cotton-padded coat in both hands. Her cloth shoes were soaked through, from squatting in the snowdrift for half a day. Now that the snow had melted, they were covered in mud and water.

She looked at the spacious and bright house, and at the clean cement floor. She hesitated, afraid to even take a step, lest she leave her dirty shoes on the floor.

"Shanhe... I'll just... I'll just squat by the stove for a while, don't get the ground dirty..."

Liu's voice was so soft it was like a mosquito's hum, a habit formed over many years of beatings and scoldings from Lin Dapao, making her feel that she was not worthy of stepping on the ground properly.

"Mother! What are you saying!"

Lin Xiu, who was coaxing her child on the kang (a heated brick bed), suddenly had tears in her eyes and quickly got off the bed.

She didn't say much, but walked straight over and took her mother's hands, which were as rough as tree bark from the cold:

"This is your daughter's house, how can you make her sit on the stove? Come on up to the kang! I've already warmed it up for you!"

"Show off... Mother's body is dirty..."

Liu wanted to shrink back even further.

Without saying a word, Lin Xiu pressed her mother down to sit on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed).

She squatted down and looked at her mother's single cloth shoes, which were frozen stiff and wet, and tears instantly streamed down her face.

"Mom, are your feet all frozen?"

Lin Xiu reached out and grasped the pair of icy shoes, warming them with her palms.

"It's not cold...it's not cold..." Liu tried to pull her feet back, but her daughter held them tightly.

Lin Xiu carefully helped her mother take off her shoes and socks, which were already soaked.

When the socks were taken off, the feet inside were covered in chilblains, and the heels were cracked all over, a shocking sight.

Lin Xiu didn't say anything, but turned around and took the hot towel that had been prepared in advance, carefully wiping her mother's feet, cleaning away the mud and cold little by little.

Then, she lifted her mother's legs onto the warm kang mat and covered them with a quilt.

"Grandma! Grandma!"

At this moment, Niu Niu, who was playing with kala-ha on the kang (a heated brick bed), saw Liu Shi come onto the kang and clapped her hands with joy.

The little girl was wearing a new red cotton-padded jacket with floral patterns, and her hair was tied in two pigtails. Her cheeks were rosy, and she looked like a New Year's picture doll.

She clumsily crawled over and held a piece of candy to Liu's lips:

"Grandma, eat it! It's sweet!"

Looking at her beautifully sculpted granddaughter, and then at her daughter who was wiping her feet and heading to fetch water, tears welled up in Liu's eyes, but she stubbornly held them back, afraid of spoiling the joyous atmosphere in the room.

"Oh...oh...Grandma, eat...Niu Niu is such a good girl..."

Liu held the candy in her mouth, the sweetness traveling from the tip of her tongue all the way to her heart, yet it was also so sour that it made her want to cry.

By now, Zhao Shanhe had already set up the kang table.

A pot of sauerkraut stewed with pork belly, thickly sliced ​​into three layers, with a layer of oil floating on top.

A pot of chicken stew with mushrooms—those are genuine hazel mushrooms.

There was also a bowl of snow-white rice, steaming hot.

"Mother, time to eat."

Zhao Shanhe handed over the bowl of rice:

"There's nothing fancy, just something hot. Try this pickled cabbage, it's freshly pickled, and the flavor is just right."

Liu's hands were trembling slightly as she held the chopsticks.

At the Lin family home, she always waited until the father and son had finished eating before she could eat some of the leftover soup or nibble on a couple of hard buns.

This treatment of being served food at the table, and even having her son-in-law serve her rice, felt like a dream to her.

She didn't dare to pick up any meat, only the small amount of pickled cabbage in front of her, and shoveled rice into her mouth in small bites.

Zhao Shanhe didn't urge anyone to drink or eat, nor did he shout or yell.

He ate a few bites, then, as if suddenly remembering something, turned around, walked to the cabinet, picked up a large bag, and placed it on the kang (a heated brick bed).

"I almost forgot."

As Zhao Shanhe spoke, he unzipped his bag and started taking things out.

A thick, dark blue corduroy cotton-padded coat with black fur trim at the collar; it looked very sturdy.

A pair of thick black woolen pants.

There was also a pair of woolen cotton shoes with leather soles.

He placed these things next to Liu:

"Mom, try this cotton-padded coat on later. This material doesn't let in the wind, so you won't feel cold when you go out to the well. And these shoes, they're lined with fur, they'll keep you warm."

Liu put down her chopsticks and bowl.

She stretched out her calloused hands and tremblingly touched the brand-new corduroy cotton-padded jacket.

The fabric was so soft and smooth, and it even smelled like new clothes from a department store.

In her entire life, apart from wearing a new cotton shirt on her wedding day, she had never worn anything so nice again.

"Wow, that's impressive..."

Liu's voice trembled with disbelief:

"This...this is for Mother?"

"It's for you, Mother."

Lin Xiu sat down next to her mother and took her hand:

"Shanhe specially went to the department store to pick it out. He said your old cotton-padded coat wasn't warm enough, and it would be inconvenient to take care of the baby in the future. A thicker one would be more comfortable to hold Niu Niu."

This sentence put Liu at ease more than any "I am showing you respect".

Making her do chores means the family needs her, and that she's not a freeloader.

Looking at the warm room, the white meat on the table, the new clothes, and then at her son-in-law who was peeling an egg for Niu Niu, Liu looked down at the room.

"Sigh...sigh..."

Liu lowered her head, tears falling onto her new cotton-padded coat. She quickly wiped them away with her hands, afraid of getting them dirty.

"Mother is blessed... Mother is so blessed..."

She was crying and laughing at the same time, the candy in her mouth still melting sweetly.

At this moment, there were no earth-shattering cries or shouts.

The only things that mattered were the warm fireplace, the bubbling sound of the stew in the pot, and the peacefulness of the family sitting together.

Outside the window, the cold wind howled, and the Lin family's dilapidated houses were probably as cold as iceboxes at that moment.

Here, the lights are inviting.