Chapter 4
The three brothers returned home dejectedly with a turtle in a bucket. Granny Li was smoking her pipe in the kitchen, and when she saw her grandsons coming back with their heads hanging low, she couldn't help but grin, showing her missing teeth. "So, you didn't catch any fish, huh?"
Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei nodded sullenly and put the bucket down in the kitchen. "We only scooped up a turtle, and we don't even know if it's dead or alive." Granny Li got up to take a look in the bucket and burst out laughing. "Well, catching something is still good enough. Tomorrow, I'll make dumplings for you. Let's celebrate Xiaonian properly."
The disappointment on Li Mingnan and Li Mingbei's faces vanished immediately. They threw their heavy winter coats on the cabinet and ran to the eastern room to tell Wang Sufen the good news. Li Mingxi, being the oldest, started feeling something was off the more he thought about it. After returning to his room, he approached Li Mingdong, who was reading, and couldn't help asking, "Brother, why do you think Grandma is being so nice today?"
Li Mingdong glanced up from his book and shot Li Mingxi a look. "We haven't had this much meat in over three months. Plus, tomorrow is Xiaonian. Even if you brought home just a bucket of water, Grandma would still make dumplings for you."
Li Mingxi groaned with regret. "We've been tricked by Grandma again. You don't know how close I was to freezing my brains out this afternoon on the ice."
Granny Li entered with her cane and overheard him. She immediately smacked Li Mingxi's backside with her cane. "Who's tricking you? Stop talking nonsense about me behind my back!"
Li Mingxi yelped, jumping two meters away while laughing awkwardly as he ran out. "I'll go check on my little sister!"
Granny Li chuckled, watching him run off, then sat down next to Li Mingdong. "Mingdong, didn't your Fourth Uncle say in his letter last month when he'd be home? Wasn't it on Xiaonian?"
Li Mingdong opened a drawer, took out a letter, and glanced over it. "No, he's leaving after Xiaonian and won't arrive until the 28th of this month."
"Didn't bring his wife home when he got married, didn't bring his kids back either. Now, after so many years, he finally comes home and drags it out this late." Granny Li grumbled angrily, "Sometimes I think he doesn't care about his old mother at all."
Seeing the sadness flash across Granny Li's face, Li Mingdong quickly comforted her. "It's because he lives far away, Grandma. Plus, Fourth Uncle is busy over there, and train tickets aren't easy to get."
"Alright, alright..." Thinking about her youngest son she hadn't seen in nearly ten years, Granny Li's expression softened slightly, and she weakly waved her hand. "As long as he's coming home, that's enough. Tomorrow, go heat the kang (heated brick bed) in the back room again. They aren't used to this kind of cold in Bing City."
"Don't worry, I'll go heat it first thing in the morning," Li Mingdong promised.
Relieved, Granny Li tapped her cane, reminded him of a couple more things, and left.
On the morning of Xiaonian, Granny Li, who usually got up the earliest, was still in bed. Li Mingbei, who had spent the night dreaming about dumplings, leapt off the kang. "Grandma, look! It's already bright outside!"
Granny Li, still half-asleep, was so startled by his loud voice that she nearly had a heart attack. Clutching her chest with one hand and grabbing her cane with the other, she smacked Li Mingbei twice. "What are you yelling about so early in the morning? Get out there and light the stove!"
Li Mingbei quickly put on his winter clothes and ran to the kitchen to gather firewood. He added wood to all the kangs in the house and then started a fire in the kitchen stove.
In Beicha, winter lasted nearly five months a year. So during the cold season, the Li family never let the fire in their stove go out. The stove also connected to the kang to keep it warm. By the time Li Mingbei was done, the whole family was awake.
The noise also woke little Zhenzhen. She couldn't hold it and wet the bed. Embarrassed to death, she wanted to pound the kang in frustration: Bedwetting is so humiliating! She whimpered helplessly until Wang Sufen got up to change her diaper.
Feeling hopeless about her situation, Zhenzhen sighed softly, murmuring to herself, Life is so hard.
Hearing her daughter sigh, Wang Sufen laughed and poked Zhenzhen's little face. "Look at you, sighing already! You're the happiest in this family—sleeping and eating all day." With that, she lifted her shirt to feed Zhenzhen.
Zhenzhen had already gotten used to eating and soon drifted off again after being full. Before falling asleep, she thought: Mom's right. Eating when I want and sleeping whenever I like is true happiness. I think I can sleep a little longer...
Moments later, Zhenzhen was sound asleep again. Wang Sufen put her in the hanging cradle and got dressed to help prepare for the festivities.
Seeing Wang Sufen come out to knead dough, Granny Li stopped her with a sharp look. "You think this house won't run without you? Xiulan will be here soon. She and Guihua can handle everything. You just rest."
Wang Sufen protested, "Helping make food doesn't tire me out. Sitting around all day feels worse than working."
"Not knowing how to enjoy your blessings," Granny Li muttered in disgust. "If you're really that restless, carry Zhenzhen around the house. You're still recovering. If you tire yourself out and make my granddaughter lose weight, what will I do?"
Liu Xiulan entered just in time to hear this and laughed. "It's clear you love granddaughters, Mother. Back when we were having sons, you weren't this worried. Good thing I have a good temper. Anyone else would've been upset."
Granny Li grinned. "Upset or not, I just love granddaughters. It's not my fault you can't give birth to girls."
Guihua came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands on her apron, and greeted Xiulan. "Third Aunt, have you eaten? Want me to grab you a corn cake?"
"No need. I already ate." Xiulan handed Guihua a basket with ten eggs and a piece of meat. "The eggs are for Sufen to recover, and the meat is for Mother."
As they prepared food and chatted, Granny Li mentioned her hopes to arrange a marriage for Mingdong and Guihua next year, which made Guihua blush and smile shyly.
The family was abuzz with preparations, and as the days passed, they eagerly awaited the arrival of Fourth Uncle, Li Mulin. Finally, on the 28th, Li Mulin returned, reuniting with his brothers after ten years, bringing his family along—a moment that both warmed hearts and sparked the family's curiosity about city life.