Chapter 106: The Heavy Snow Arrives

Chapter 106: Chapter 106: The Heavy Snow Arrives

After cleaning the entire house and yard, Ji Huan led Dabao by the hand for a leisurely visit to the Hu family.

The Hu family was bustling with activity. In fact, all of Dafeng Village was filled with the cheerful atmosphere of cleaning house to welcome the Lunar New Year.

Besides washing their tools and laundering their bedding, some people even hauled tables, chairs, benches, and large bed frames down to the river to scrub them clean.

Speaking of washing the bedding, Widow Xie was overjoyed.

"It’s all thanks to you and your clever idea for that... what do you call it, a duvet cover. It keeps the quilt completely covered so it doesn’t get dirty. You just have to take the cover off and wash it. It’s so much easier! Not like other families who have to take their quilts completely apart..."

At the time, the concept of a duvet cover didn’t exist. People simply slept directly under their stitched quilts. At most, they might sew a strip of cloth to the head of the quilt, and when it got dirty, they would just detach that strip and wash it.

But that only protected a small area; the inner lining still got dirty just as easily. Before long, they would still have to take the whole quilt apart to wash the outer fabric and the inner lining.

If you came across a slovenly family, they might be too lazy to take their quilts apart to wash for two or three years. You can just imagine how filthy they would become.

Ji Huan didn’t know how to stitch a quilt herself, and she couldn’t very well ask someone else to do it every time it needed washing. So, she just described the idea to Widow Xie with a few gestures and had her help make a few duvet covers.

Widow Xie saw how practical they were and made a few for herself. Now, as she watched the other wives down at the river beating their laundry, knowing they would have to starch and iron it all when they got home, the benefits of her duvet covers became crystal clear.

After sweeping away the dust, the twenty-fifth of the month was for papering the windows.

Paper-cuts for the windows could be put up ahead of time, but the couplets had to wait until New Year’s Day.

Ji Huan didn’t know how to make intricate window paper-cuts, but she did cut out a good number of "Fu" characters for good fortune. She mixed half a bowl of paste for Dabao to carry, and the two of them ran all over the front and back yards, sticking the characters everywhere.

’What a pity,’ she thought. ’So many "fu" characters, but no phone to scan them with...’

She’d heard there was also a custom of making tofu, but not everyone knew how. Ji Huan, in particular, found it too troublesome, so she simply ordered two large slabs from Uncle Fu. Anything they couldn’t finish could be made into frozen tofu.

The twenty-sixth of the twelfth lunar month was mainly for slaughtering pigs and sheep, preparing the meat for the New Year’s feasts.

Nearly every household in the village raised pigs. Although most were for selling to make money, slightly better-off families would slaughter one for the New Year, like the Ji Family.

The Ji Family was especially celebratory this year. To commemorate Ji Liantang’s acceptance into the county school, they slaughtered two pigs.

In an agrarian society with a developing economy, ordinary people often only got to eat a bit of meat during the New Year festival. A grand gesture like the Ji Family’s naturally caused a stir. It was said that half the village went over to partake in the fresh pork feast.

Ji Huan, of course, wouldn’t go, and the Hu Family was naturally not on the guest list either.

A good number of families in the village didn’t raise pigs. They usually went to the market to buy their meat for the New Year.

However, they had already bought plenty when they were out shopping for New Year’s goods. When a neighboring family also slaughtered their New Year pig, they bought some more, planning to cure whatever they couldn’t eat into preserved meat.

The twenty-seventh of the month was the last market day, a chance to pick up any New Year’s supplies they hadn’t managed to buy or had forgotten.

Ji Huan had had enough of the crowds, so she didn’t go. Hu Liang went instead, taking his younger siblings and two nephews with him.

Widow Xie stayed home to slaughter a chicken, and Ji Huan helped pluck it. Afterward, her hands smelling of poultry, she playfully reached out to pinch Dabao, who dodged her with a look of disgust.

’For a moment, Ji Huan felt the pang of a long-suffering mother...’

But then, halfway through turning away, Dabao turned his face back toward her, offering his cheek with an air of reluctant acceptance.

Ji Huan immediately broke into a grin.

She also spent the twenty-eighth at the Hu family’s home. It was a leisurely day; aside from playing with the children, she helped get the dough started for rising.

The next day was for steaming buns. Unlike on a normal day when they only needed enough for a day or two, this time they had to steam enough to last from New Year’s Day all the way to the fifteenth. It was a massive undertaking, so the two families decided to tackle it together.

When she pushed the door open the next morning, the sky was somber, filled with dense, leaden-gray clouds. Before, the wind had been bitingly cold yet retained a hint of softness. Now, it had become a sharp blade, lashing her face like a knife.

After breakfast, Ji Huan took out two thick, homemade scarves and wrapped both herself and Dabao up snugly before daring to step outside.

But the moment his foot crossed the threshold, the wind knocked Dabao right off his feet, and he landed on his bottom with a THUMP. It was a testament to the wind’s sheer force.

Seeing Dabao’s dazed and bewildered expression, completely clueless as to what had just happened, Ji Huan felt a mix of amusement and sympathy. She simply crouched down, hoisted him onto her back, and headed for the Hu family’s house, leaning into the wind.

The dough was already proofed, and since making basic steamed buns wasn’t very technical, Hu Liang and Widow Xie were already at work. They waved off Ji Huan’s offer to help.

When the first batch of big, round, plump steamed buns came out of the steamer, Ji Huan and the children happily busied themselves dotting the top of each one with a small red mark.

After the dots were all applied, Ji Huan’s hands were itching to do more. She asked Hu Liang to toss a few sweet potatoes into the pot to cook as well.

Once the next batch of buns was steamed, she fished out the sweet potatoes. After letting them cool, she peeled them, mashed them into a puree, and mixed in a bit of white sugar.

She cut off a piece of dough from the basin, placed it on a kneading board, and rolled it into a long log. Then, she cut the log into small, evenly sized portions.

She took each portion, rolled it into a ball, and flattened it. Then she scooped a large spoonful of the sweet potato filling into the center and sealed it, rolling it back into an oval shape.

Using a spoon, she pressed a fishtail shape into one end and then made a small cut with a knife to define it. She then used the back of the spoon to gently shape the other end into a fish head.

Finally, she used the tip of a knife to press fin shapes onto the top and bottom, used the edge of a spoon to create the impression of scales, and placed small red beans for the eyes.

A remarkably lifelike little fish took shape.

Dacheng, Ximei, and the other children were absolutely ecstatic. They all started pointing at the finished fish on the board, claiming them as their own.

"This one is mine..."

"That one is yours! This one is obviously mine..."

Even Hu Liang thought they were festive and adorable, and he eagerly put them in the steamer.

When they came out of the steamer, each child held their little fish-shaped bun, comparing whose was bigger and whose was prettier. They became so fond of them they were reluctant to take a bite.

When they finally brought themselves to take a bite, they immediately cried out in delight.

"Sister Wan, this sweet potato filling is delicious!"

It was Ximei’s first time eating something with a sweet potato filling, too. It was sweet and soft, and she adored it, but she wasn’t as boisterous as Dacheng.

She rolled her eyes at Dacheng, who was jumping and shouting, a look of exasperation on her face. ’Her own brother wasn’t even as well-behaved as Dabao.’

’Look at Dabao, sitting there and eating so quietly in small bites. He doesn’t look like someone who’s never seen anything nice before.’

Little did she know, Dabao was quite used to sweet potato filling. Ji Huan was always at home, creatively coming up with all sorts of meals for him. It was the kind of food most children loved.

’Actually, if they had pumpkins, she could have mixed steamed and peeled pumpkin into the dough beforehand. Then she could have made little yellow fish buns.’

Next, with the help of a pair of scissors, Ji Huan made some rabbit-shaped buns, which were also a huge hit.

They had lunch at the Hu family’s home and kept busy until late afternoon, by which time all the steamed buns were finally done.

Widow Xie and Hu Liang helped carry Ji Huan’s share of the buns back to her house. Before leaving, they reminded her to bring in the duvet covers and clothes that were drying in the yard. The wind had been howling all day, they said, and it looked like it might snow.

As night fell, the wind showed no signs of letting up. Its HOWLING was right outside the walls. She could hear tree branches being whipped back and forth, followed by sharp CRACKING sounds as they snapped. Hiding in her room, she could almost picture it: the wind swirling through the mountains and over the ridges, a triumphant, menacing force. It was like an enraged tiger suddenly opening its maw to let out a soul-shaking roar.

On a night like this, few families could sleep soundly. Everyone was on edge, terrified that the wind would rip the roofs right off their houses.

Ji Huan clutched the corner of her quilt, eyes wide open, staring up at the roof beams in the darkness, even though she couldn’t see a thing.

There were very few things in the world that scared her, but violent, gale-force winds happened to be one of them.

While she wouldn’t say she was truly afraid anymore as an adult, she couldn’t help but feel a knot of tension whenever she was caught in such weather.

Her nerves were stretched so taut that it took her a moment to realize the bundle of blankets beside her was also moving.

"Dabao?"

Ji Huan called out his name, turning on her side to lift a corner of Dabao’s quilt and reach a hand inside.

Dabao was curled into a tight ball, his whole body trembling.

’She silently cursed her own carelessness. Weather like this spooks even me; how could a small child not be terrified?’

Tossing back her own quilt, she sat up in the dark and shifted over to Dabao’s bedding. She gathered him into her arms, patting his back with one hand while covering his ears with the other. At the same time, she used her own feet to warm his icy little ones.

"Don’t be afraid, Dabao. Your big sister is here. It’s okay, don’t be afraid..."

After being enveloped in warmth, Dabao’s little body finally stopped trembling.

The wind outside raged on, but the arms holding him were warm and safe. He burrowed into the embrace, clutching onto her tightly, not daring to let go.