By the time the convoy arrived at Nianzishan Village, it was already past two in the afternoon.
It had taken them nearly seven hours to cover a distance of over 300 kilometers!
The main reason for the delay was that, once they entered Qing Shan County, the snow on the road hadn’t melted at all. With the vehicles plowing through snow half a foot deep, they simply couldn’t pick up speed.
Upon returning to the village, Li Yi saw that the entire village was blanketed in snow.
Since the snow had only just stopped, most of it hadn’t melted yet; the fields, rooftops, and quiet paths were all covered in snow.
Nianzi Mountain Village seemed unusually quiet after the heavy snowfall; perhaps because it was so cold, not a single person was to be seen on the main street.
Apart from the wisp of smoke drifting from every household’s chimney, the entire village showed no signs of life; the scene looked as if it had been frozen in time.
Once they entered the village, Li Yi instructed the bus driver and the truck carrying supplies to drop off Feng Kai, Zhang Tongfu, and the others one by one, while the Li family headed straight for their new house.
Soon, the convoy arrived at the Li family’s new residence.
Stepping off the bus, Li Yi, bundled up in a down jacket, couldn’t help but shiver.
Man, it was freezing out here—it must have been at least minus thirty-five or thirty-six degrees.
Don’t be fooled by the similar latitude to Beijing—it’s only about 300 kilometers away—but the temperature difference is at least five degrees.
On one hand, big cities have their own built-in greenhouse effect; on the other, Nanzi Village sits right in the path of the fierce northern winds of the Great Wall region. Every year, the Siberian cold fronts brought by these gales freeze the place into a completely different world.
Stomping his feet, Li Yi pulled out his keys and prepared to open the door.
However, when he reached the front gate, he was stunned by the scene in the courtyard.
Outside the courtyard, the snow was half a foot deep, but the Li family’s yard was spotless, not a single snowflake in sight—clearly someone had meticulously cleared it.
Just then, Li Shankui got out of the car. Seeing Li Yi standing frozen at the gate, he immediately walked over and asked, “What are you just standing there for? Why aren’t you opening the door?”
Li Yi snapped out of his daze, opened the door, and said to his father, “Dad, look at the yard!”
Li Shankui looked up and froze in surprise.
“It must have been Xiaogouwa who cleaned it up. We left him the house keys when we left, asking him to keep an eye on the place and feed the animals while he was at it!”
As Li Yi opened the gate, he said, “Then it must have been him!”
Once the gate was open, Li Shankui said again, “Xiao Yi, go open the front door. I’ll head to the woodshed to get some hemp stalks and corn cobs. We need to get the stove going right away, or the kids won’t be able to stand the cold once they come inside!”
Li Yi knew that if a house was left unoccupied for a long time, it would become cold and damp.
Especially in winter—even if the fire hadn’t been lit for just a single day, the house would feel like an ice cellar.
“Alright, I’ll go in first!”
With that, Li Yi headed toward the courtyard!
He opened the door, and sure enough, the room was as cold as a freezer. Even though he was wearing a down jacket and thick cotton pants, Li Yi could feel the cold seeping right through his clothes.
Li Yi immediately grabbed a feather duster and gave the kang a quick sweep to remove the fine dust. Then he pulled two mattresses from the pile of bedding and laid them on the kang, so the children wouldn’t have to play on the cold surface when they came in later.
Just as Li Yi was about to go outside to meet Jiang Xue and the children, his elderly father, Li Shankui, walked in carrying a basket of corn cobs and a bundle of hemp stalks.
As soon as he stepped inside, he said, “There’s quite a bit more split firewood over by the woodshed—it must have been brought by that little rascal. That kid is truly a good soul.”
Hearing his father’s words, Li Yi felt quite moved.
Though sweeping the yard and delivering some firewood weren’t exactly major favors, it showed that Xiaogouwa remembered his kindness—and that was enough.
“Father, you stoke the stove. I’ll go out and bring the children inside!”
“Wait a moment. It’s too cold inside. Let the kids stay in the cart for a while before coming in!”
Then Li Shankui added, “Go call your mother and your second sister in first. Have them start cooking right away—I’m sure everyone’s hungry!”
“Okay…”
After about ten minutes of fiddling, the stove in the house finally caught fire, and Mother and Second Sister had boiled half a pot of water.
The steam from the pot instantly warmed the room, and only then did Li Yi carry Jiang Xue, his eldest sister, and the children inside.
At the same time, he invited Zhang Ziqiang, Zhang Feng, and the drivers in charge of the vehicles into the house.
After offering everyone some water, his mother and second sister went into the kitchen to prepare the meal.
Everyone was starving, so there was no time to prepare anything too complicated. After some discussion, his mother decided to make the local specialty, pot-stirred noodles, for everyone.
Just as his mother and second sister were busy in the kitchen, Li Yi heard the familiar jingle of a bell outside the front gate.
Li Yi immediately pushed open the door and stepped outside. Sure enough, he saw a slightly frail figure leading a mule and a horse, walking into the courtyard.
It was none other than Xiaogouwa!
Upon seeing Li Yi, Xiaogouwa strode over immediately, exclaiming happily, “I knew it had to be you, Brother Yi! No one else would make such a big fuss!”
“Were you out walking the mule and horse?”
“Yeah, it snowed all day yesterday, so I didn’t take them out. Now that the snow has stopped, I thought I’d take them for a walk. You can’t keep big animals tied up in the pen every day!” Xiao Gouwa said.
Looking at Little Dog’s gaunt face and his somewhat thin clothing, Li Yi sighed and said, “It’s so cold out here—aren’t you afraid of catching a chill?”
“It’s fine, Brother Yi. I’m used to it…”
Just then, the big red mule behind Xiaogouwa let out a series of “neighs,” then walked past Xiaogouwa to Li Yi’s side and began rubbing its large head against Li Yi repeatedly, looking very happy.
Li Yi immediately burst out laughing. “You still remember me!”
With that, Li Yi took the reins of the big red mule from Little Dog’s hands and walked toward the nearby corral.
After tying up the mule and horse, the two of them added some hay to the troughs of the two large animals before returning to the house.
However, no sooner had Li Yi and Xiaogouwa stepped inside than someone else arrived at the front door.
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be Dongzi’s mother, carrying a large iron basin and accompanied by Jingzi.
Seeing this, Li Yi immediately went out to greet them!
“Sister-in-law, Jingzi, what brings you here?”
“Da Lei told me you hadn’t eaten yet. We just finished frying some pastries at home, so I brought them over for you—and so the guests can try our Nianzi Mountain pastries too!”
Li Yi knew Dongzi’s mother’s temperament well, so he didn’t stand on ceremony. Smiling, he said, “Hahaha, I was just wondering what to eat. Thanks a lot, Sister-in-law. Come on in…”
Dongzi’s mother handed the bowl of fried cakes to Li Yi and said, “Since you have guests at home, I won’t go in. I’ll come by later to see you!”
With that, before Li Yi could say a word, she turned and walked out with Jingzi!
What Li Yi didn’t expect was that this was just the beginning.
Not long after Dongzi’s mother left, Qiangzi’s father arrived, bringing Li Yi two plump wild rabbits and two pheasants.
Then Juanzi’s mother arrived, bringing Li Yi a basket of eggs.
One after another, villagers began to arrive. They all acted in perfect unison: they didn’t come inside, but simply set down their gifts and left.
Before long, the floor of Li Yi’s home was covered with gifts from the villagers—all kinds of delicious food—leaving Zhang Ziqiang, Zhang Feng, and the others completely speechless.
Li Yi, too, was deeply moved by the villagers’ gestures. Though these items might not seem valuable, they were the very delicacies these simple-hearted villagers usually couldn’t bring themselves to eat.
Now they had given all of these to him, and it warmed Li Yi’s heart…
…….