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On the afternoon of the second day after New Year's Day, a young man wearing a military overcoat and a cotton hat walked into Taoshu Village from outside.
After entering the village, Li Hongjun looked up in the direction of his home and wiped his face with his hand, scraping off the ice that had formed on his eyelashes. He was almost there.
He had set off from his unit on New Year's Day, ridden on a train all night, transferred to a bus after getting off the train, and finally made it to the county town. With no transportation available from the county town to Taoshu Village, he had no choice but to walk back.
Hearing the knock on the door, Qiu Shuping, who was playing with her grandson on the kang, called out to her daughter, "Xianghe, go open the door and see who has come?"
"With so many people at home, why am I always the one called upon to do anything and everything? Can't I get a day of rest?" Li Xianghe said reluctantly, but she obediently went to open the door anyway.
