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The cries of the Wolf Child and the comforting presence of Big Wolf deeply moved everyone present. One Egg had a poor impression of Big Wolf; during their first encounter, if not for the intervention of Wolf Child, he would have been torn apart by the pack led by Big Wolf. During their second meeting, he had been besieged alongside Sister Ye. What frustrated him most was that Big Wolf always regarded him and Sister Ye with hostility, and even after being seriously injured, it remained on guard. If Sister Ye hadn't whispered something in its ear, Big Wolf wouldn't have even drunk the water he offered. It truly felt heartless! But seeing it embrace and weep with Wolf Child made tears well up in his own eyes; he felt like crying too.
Little Fan ran over to Wolf Child, extending his chubby hand to wipe away her tears. "Wolf Sister, with your painted face, Big Dog will laugh at you!" One Egg thought ignorance was a kind of happiness. If Big Wolf were really a dog, it wouldn't allow Little Fan to wipe away Wolf Child's tears. The adults couldn't help but smile at Little Fan's innocent words.
Wolf Child dried her tears and struggled to carry Big Wolf while holding Little Fan's hand as they entered the house. One Egg was ready to lend a hand at any moment, both in front and behind them. Black Treasure couldn't hold back any longer; he shouted as he staggered forward to lift Big Wolf, saying that if it was about heavy lifting, it should call him since he was the expert.
Zhang Doule exclaimed, "The Ye family is much more exciting than the county zoo!" Lin Haitao nodded with a smile, while Aunt Zhou and Zhou Village Head warmly pulled the two back into the house to sit down.
Wolf Child, Little Fan, and Big Wolf sat together in one corner of the heated bed, while One Egg sat outside, watching the lively antics of Wolf Child and the gentle gaze of Big Wolf upon her as they howled together. Little Fan giggled non-stop. In another corner of the heated bed sat Zhang Dou, Lin Haitao, and Village Uncle, who chatted while occasionally glancing over at Wolf Child and sharing knowing smiles.
Aunt Zhou went to the kitchen to help Yezhi cook since Zhang Dou and the others were in a hurry to return to town. Yezhi initially planned to simply stir-fry some fried rice and grab some pickles for a quick meal, but Aunt Zhou wouldn't hear of it!
Aunt Zhou quickly prepared a chicken, cleaned its insides, and while Yezhi watched intently at the innards, she suddenly thought she could stir-fry chicken giblets. Without hesitation, she grabbed some sauerkraut and ginger. She tossed chicken intestines, liver, heart, kidneys, and mountain mushrooms soaked in hot water into the pan for a stir-fry. The sour aroma wafted through the air, making mouths water from afar.
"Hey, what delicious food are you making? It smells so good!" Aunt Li and Mei Zi walked into the kitchen carrying baskets. "Did Chunhua also kill a chicken? My husband didn't say anything about Little Chicken Stew with Mushrooms that I cooked for him!"
"Aunt Li, Mei Zi, you're just in time! Auntie, I'll stir-fry some shredded radish and boil some white vegetable soup; three dishes and one soup should be enough for guests!" Yezhi smiled as she spoke to Aunt Zhou.
"You!" Aunt Zhou put down her knife and took the basket from Aunt Li's hands before presenting a fragrant golden Little Chicken Stew with Mushrooms.
Soon enough, three dishes and one soup were served on the table. Although there weren't many varieties, there was plenty of food. Wolf Child dropped her clumsy chopsticks and dug in with her hands, getting greasy all over her mouth. One Egg followed suit but was about to drop his chopsticks when Yezhi shot him a warning look; he could only sulkily continue eating rice.
Zhang Dou pointed at two ink test papers posted on the wall of the heated bed. "Yezhi, I didn't expect you scored full marks in math! How did you get such a brain?" Yezhi looked up and blushed instantly; it was too showy! Aunt Zhou had actually posted the test papers right where everyone would see them upon entering.
"Auntie, why did you put my test paper on the wall?" Yezhi complained unhappily. Village Uncle chuckled and said, "That's a good idea! Yezhi, you really brought honor to our village chief!"
Aunt Zhou was not modest at all. "Of course! My daughter scored 100 points—first place! How could I hide that?" Lin Haitao looked like he wanted to laugh but held it back while Zhang Dou shook with laughter nonstop. Yezhi felt trapped by Aunt Zhou's decision; tearing it down wasn't going to be easy.
At this time, Aunt Ren Er, Flower Sister, Uncle Zhou, Cart Master, and other villagers began to visit one after another. Some brought dishes to add to the table, some carried Mountain Goods, and those who couldn't bring anything still didn't come empty-handed, forcing two eggs into their hands while exclaiming, "Don't reject them!" Yezhi had long gotten used to this and only said to Wolf Child, "Wolf Child, remember these people from Zhoujiatun who brought you food!" Wolf Child didn't quite understand, but during her time in the hospital, many humans had also brought her things. It seemed that humans weren't as scary as Big Wolf had said.
"Yezhi, why are you saying all this?" Village Uncle said with an unhappy face. Why make it so formal? Yezhi also felt she was being overly sentimental and just smiled foolishly at Village Uncle.
Yezhi packed three large bags of Mountain Goods given by the villagers for Xiaobinzi and Zhang Dou. "Xiaobinzi, I have a favor to ask. Please take this blue bag to the hospital and give it to Xiaofan's parents. Also tell them: I will take good care of Xiaofan. If there are any difficulties, just let me know!" Yezhi sighed lightly.
"What's wrong?" Lin Haitao asked with concern. Yezhi shook her head and handed back the keys to the Lin family to Xiaobinzi.
Lin Haitao didn't take them. "Keep them!" he said before getting into the jeep. Zhang Dou leaned out of the window, smiling at Yezhi and shouted, "Yezhi, my sister will come looking for you soon! Don't spoil her! Ahem... If there's something delicious, don't forget to ask her to bring some for me!" That must have been Zhang Dou's real intention; Yezhi nodded happily.
Back home, Aunt Zhou had everything tidied up. Wolf Child and Xiaofan were sleeping on the kang while One Egg and Black Treasure were wrestling. Niu Niu cheered for Black Treasure with "Woof woof," and Big Wolf lay on the kang, deep in thought like a sage.
Only then did Yezhi have the leisure to carefully observe the New House. After walking around, she found that the thing she was most satisfied with was that her home finally had a proper toilet, and the kitchen was larger than before. "The villagers all came to help, gave money, and everyone didn't want anything in return! What do you think about that?" As soon as Aunt Zhou finished speaking, Yezhi felt a headache coming on; hadn't she already owed enough favors?
...
After work, Lin Haitao came to the hospital carrying a bundle. Xiaofan's father wasn't there; he only saw Xiaofan's mother with her head down, seemingly crying! Lin Haitao wasn't good at comforting people; he placed the bundle on the bed. "This is from Yezhi; she asked me to bring it to you and said not to worry—she will take good care of Xiaofan."
Xiaofan's mother wiped her tears and raised her head. "Comrade Lin, I will find time to pick up Xiaofan; I won't trouble Yezhi for too long!" They didn't have many relatives, but she still felt uncomfortable bothering others.
"Xiaofan's mother, Yezhi said if there are difficulties, just let her know," Lin Haitao said seriously. Xiaofan's mother felt deeply moved and choked up as she replied, "Yezhi is really a good person. Comrade Lin, thank you! But I really can't accept this bundle!" Lin Haitao shrugged his shoulders. "I'm just responsible for delivering it!" With that, he turned and left.
Aunt Qian called out curiously, "Xiaofan's mother, open it up and see what good stuff Yezhi sent!"
Xiaofan's mother opened the bundle and was stunned by what was inside: there were items Wolf Child had shared with Xiaofan—a taste of Oat she had tried before—two ginseng roots, a bag of shiny green rice, some Yam she had also tasted before, various dried mushrooms whose names she couldn't recall, dried wild vegetables, mountain fungus, Asian Pears, and Red Dates.
"Oh my! Is that ginseng? It's a bit thin but still worth several dozen yuan!"
"Yezi is really generous; this club has been around for at least six or seven years!"
"Yezi is from Zhoujiatun, right? Isn't Zhoujiatun a well-known poor village in the county? How did they get all these things?" The people in the hospital room were discussing animatedly. Xiaofan's Mother looked at the items that added up to at least a hundred dollars; she couldn't bear it and decided to pick up Xiaofan the day after tomorrow and return the items.
Xiaofan's father walked into the hospital room, clutching his stomach, weak and powerless. "What happened?" As Xiaofan's Mother showed him the items, she explained her decision.
...
Wolf Child had only been in Zhoujiatun for two days when he defeated Yezi, the Popularity King, and Black Treasure one after another, rising to the top of Zhoujiatun's popularity rankings. The Yezhi family was bustling every day. Fortunately, she had two new rooms; otherwise, in this cold weather, there wouldn't even be a place to sit.
Aunt Zhou, Barefoot Aunt, Aunt Li, and Aunt Wu sat on the kang, warming themselves by the fire pit while chatting and smoking large pipes. Yezhi entered the main room with a basin of delicious Frozen Pears. The light smoke swirled around the room, and Yezhi was quite surprised. Of course, she had seen women smoking before; she just couldn't accept the image of Aunties puffing on long pipes, which reminded her of somewhat harsh and sharp-tongued landladies.
"Look, this girl is stunned!" Barefoot Aunt laughed loudly. Aunt Li and Aunt Wu were more reserved, smiling without speaking. Aunt Zhou teased, "Oh dear, my girl hasn't seen much of the world; everyone should stop laughing at her!" After saying that, she burst into laughter herself.
"Dear Aunts, smoking is harmful to health; you should eat more pears," several Aunts readily complied and began enjoying the sweet Frozen Pears.
Yezhi took another basin of Frozen Pears to Er Niu, One Egg, Wolf Child, and Xiaofan's room. Er Niu was teaching Wolf Child how to play a game called Galarha. Yezhi initially thought it was similar to the sandbag game she played as a child. In reality, it involved using pig or sheep leg bones to create Galarha by tossing a bag into the air and arranging the bones into as orderly a formation as possible before the bag fell. The greater the difficulty, the more points scored upon successful arrangement. Yezhi found it challenging; it was much harder than throwing sandbags. However, Wolf Child played exceptionally well and even surpassed expectations; Er Niu admired his skills. Xiaofan lost just like Yezhi did and could only clap her hands to cheer for Wolf Child.
Life in the countryside during winter is quite poetic; it's often referred to as "cat winter." There isn't much farm work to do outside in the freezing cold; even a quick trip outside could result in freezing instantly. People tend to stay indoors chatting idly or gathering together to play cards or leaf games. Yezhi used to call these cards "long cards," which are played similarly to Mahjong and feature illustrations of the 108 heroes from Water Margin. Aunt Zhou and others were playing them inside.
Meanwhile, Yezhi was busy in the kitchen making snacks because life should have food, drink, and fun to be fulfilling.
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