Meng Yan's Transformation

In early winter, like a beautiful, noble and reserved princess, she dances with her magical veil, bringing gusts of cold wind and heavy snow.

The cold made the river lose its former liveliness, and it seemed to be sleeping peacefully; the howling northwest wind made the big trees sway in the wind, and the branches whipped in the air like dancing whips... Silver-helmet-colored clouds galloped in the sky, and the cold current attacked, brewing a heavy snow.

After the heavy snow, the white snow and the blue sky complement each other, creating a sense of layering. At first glance, it is a vast expanse of white, like a huge soft wool blanket covering the vast Liaoxi Plain, shining with cold silver light. People walking in the snow make a "crunching" sound. No matter how thick the cotton-padded clothes are in winter, they can't stop the shivering all over the body. The face is frozen red and purple, the little hands are swollen like bread, and there are bright red wounds on the fingers. My family heard some folk remedies from somewhere, saying that if you wash your hands with water boiled with the dried stems of eggplant vines, your hands will not be frozen next year. Even more terrifying is to use hemp to wash the brains of sparrows to scrub the frostbitten areas. In the end, no matter what method was used, it never worked.

Zhan Mengyan went to school after the snow. In the grove beside the road, every tree looked like a work of art carved out of ice. The trees were covered with crystal ice crystals, standing quietly in the cold wind, exuding a cold beauty. It was as if she had become an elf in the world of ice and snow. When the sun shone through the gaps between the branches and sprinkled on the snow, the scenery was as beautiful as a fairy tale. Looking at the white and crystal snow, sparkling under the sun, Zhan Mengyan couldn't help but secretly taste it. She carried a schoolbag on her back, holding a dung basket and dung shovel in one hand, and a basket filled with corn cobs in the other.

Every morning, when Zhan Mengyan opens the classroom door, she will light the stove first. She will make the stove burn vigorously before the students come to warm the classroom. Corn cobs are used as kindling. Zhan Mengyan prepares corn cobs in advance every night. If the corn cobs are damp, it will be difficult to deal with. I remember one time, Zhan Mengyan forgot to install the corn cobs in advance last night. She had no choice but to go to school early with the damp corn cobs. She came to the classroom and poked the stove with an iron stove hook to remove the ash and slag in the furnace. With the dust flying, Zhan Mengyan held a newspaper, lit it and threw it into the furnace. The flame was extinguished instantly, and the smoke rose. At this time, Zhan Mengyan quickly stuffed the corn cobs and re-ignited the fire, but unfortunately, the flame went out again, and thick black smoke came out. Seeing this, Zhan Mengyan hurriedly bent down and blew hard at the vent of the stove, trying to expel the choking smoke. However, she soon started coughing and her tears flowed uncontrollably. The head teacher and classmates came to the classroom one after another and were at a loss whether to laugh or cry when they saw Zhan Mengyan's appearance. She was like a little devil.

When the fire was burning brightly and the classmates had not yet arrived, the snow scene outside the window formed a sharp contrast with the warm classroom, making her feel the warmth and tranquility of winter.

On the way to school, Zhan Mengyan saw some frozen horse manure balls on the road. She was delighted and immediately picked them up with a manure shovel and put them in the manure basket. It would be even better if they were freshly pulled horse manure balls that were steaming hot. These days, the school collects manure and weighs it. Fresh horse manure is very heavy. Zhan Mengyan had to hand in more manure than ordinary students because she was the class monitor. This made it difficult for Zhan Mengyan. She got up early every day to pick up manure. She picked up manure after school and went home when it was dark and she couldn't see the road clearly. Her father didn't let her turn on the light when she went home to do homework. She used to do homework by moonlight occasionally, but now it is a common thing to do homework by moonlight.

Originally, the school had to hand in manure by basket. Some students carried manure baskets to the vicinity of the school and propped up the manure in the baskets with branches and sticks at the bottom of the baskets. Dry cow dung slices were the easiest to prop up. Half a basket of half-dry cow dung slices could become a full basket with the support of branches and sticks. This practice deceived many teachers who were responsible for collecting manure. When Lv Zhigang handed in manure with a manure basket, he cut in line and had an argument with the student behind him. During the fight, Lv Zhigang's manure basket was accidentally kicked over by the student who was arguing with him. In full view of the public, Lv Zhigang's cheating with the manure basket was exposed. In addition to being criticized by his head teacher Zhao Jinglei for fighting, Lv Zhigang was also punished for cheating with the manure basket and was required to hand in an extra 300 kilograms of manure.

Since the school started to collect manure and weigh it, dry cow manure is no longer "favored" by students, but horse manure and donkey manure are more "favored" by students. Students get up in the morning to pick up manure baskets. Most of the manure picked up in the morning is newly pulled, or frozen not long ago, so such manure is heavier. Some students sleep in the morning and can't get up. The parents of the students feel sorry for their children and can't bear to wake up their sleeping children, so the parents have to work hard to pick up manure. The mornings in western Liaoning are particularly cold in winter. When you walk on the road with a manure basket and a manure fork, white air will rise to the sky as soon as you open your mouth and exhale. After a while, even your eyelashes are covered with thick frost. Sometimes, the sky is full of white, and people walking in it can't see anything clearly. A gust of cold wind blows in your face, like a knife cutting, making people shrink their necks, bury their heads, and walk forward with gritted teeth, feeling cold all over.

When the get out of class was over, the classmates secretly made a small snowball, and when the classmates were not paying attention, they stuffed it into her neck. Her skin suddenly felt cold, and she quickly retracted her neck, reached out to take it out, and threw the snowball at another classmate. The classmate dodged lightly and avoided the attack perfectly.

After the snow, the eaves will form many crystal clear icicles, which are also called "glaze". When the snow falls on the roof, the temperature of the roof is higher than the melting point of ice, and the snow will melt. The melted snow water flows down along the roof and drips on the eaves. The temperature of the eaves is lower than the freezing point of water. The snow water that flows to the eaves solidifies into ice again before it has time to drip. This is how icicles are formed, also known as ice glaze. Solidification occurs from top to bottom, and later the snow water will flow over the solidified ice in front, and solidify outside when it encounters cold. Ice glaze is usually larger on the top and smaller on the bottom. People commonly call it "ice cone" or "icicle". The long icicles hang in front of the eaves like crystal daggers. Zhan Mengyan and her friends often knock them down with a long wooden stick, blow off the dust, put them in their mouths, and make a "crackling, snapping..." sound, eating them as popsicles.