Reborn back to college to have a love affair

Early in the morning, before daybreak, Mom and Dad had already gotten up and started working.

Xia Qing put on her clothes, folded the quilt, cleaned the house, opened the door and walked out.

The cold air accompanied by the smell of burning coal suddenly penetrated her nose. It was a familiar smell. She didn't know if it was because she had been used to this smell since she was a child. Every time she stood outside and smelled the white smoke rising into the sky from the chimneys of every household mixed in the air, she thought it smelled very good. It was the smell of home.

She opened the door and saw her father bending over and chopping wood with an axe.

"Girl, come inside quickly. You're freezing this morning." Dad Xia persuaded him to stay inside while swinging an axe to chop wood. The white breath he exhaled quickly disappeared in the cold air.

"Dad, I'll help you chop the straw. I'm not cold and want to stay outside for a while." Looking at the frost on the straw stacks and dry branches in the distance, a layer of condensed white frost lightly covered the ground.

"It will be ready soon. Your mother will stew meat and fish later. She will need two pots and cook them over a big wood fire until they are delicious."

"Then I'll go pick up my grandma later. The big slope in grandma's backyard is frosted this morning and it's slippery."

Xia Qing looked at the ditch surrounding the village in the distance and suddenly wanted to skate. "I'll skate over there. The ditch just leads to grandma's backyard."

"Then be careful, don't fall~"

"Don't worry, I've been skating since I was little, nothing will happen to me."

Xia Qing walked quickly towards the ditch in the distance, passed through a dead forest, and came to the riverside. The riverside was full of unwanted reeds. After pulling aside the dry reeds in the reed marsh, what came into view was a narrow ditch. Because the water was not flowing, the narrow river surface was frozen with a thick layer of ice.

The thickness of the ice layer can be clearly seen from the white air bubbles in the frozen layer below the ice surface.

Xia Qing slid along the creek. If it weren't for the leaves and fallen reeds frozen to the ice in some places, hindering her sliding, she could have slid a long way.

When she was a child, she and a group of friends in the village would skate along the river to go to and from school. A group of friends would slide on the ice and pull the skaters along.

Sometimes when I saw fish under the ice, I would throw down my schoolbag, go to the shore, find a stone and start smashing the ice.

Although they couldn't catch any fish every time, because the fish would feel the heavy blow from the upper layer before breaking through the ice, they would cleverly swim away. A group of friends would quickly hold up stones and search for the escaped fish on the ice and hit it again.

Repeatedly, never tired of it.

Sometimes, even if I didn’t catch any fish, I would still break a big piece of ice and take it home. My gloves, cotton shoes and clothes would get wet, and I would inevitably be scolded when I got home, but I would still come next time.

But now Xia Qing walks on the ice. There are no stones on the ice, and there is no need to worry about ice holes. This is because there are fewer children now and they have a stronger sense of danger. Unlike when they were young, children were left to roam freely. Fortunately, all the little friends have grown up safely and healthily.

Following the stream around the west end of the village, Xia Qing turned and came to the back of the street. She walked to the backyard of her grandmother's house and looked up at the old house on the big slope. The terrain of this part of the street was much higher than the east and west ends.

There were locust trees, elm trees, stinking sumac and short mulberry trees growing on the slope. Xia Qing rushed up the slope in one go and came to the backyard of her grandmother's house.

The backyard of my grandma's house is very big and long, with a jujube tree and a cherry tree.

These two trees were once Xia Qing's main source of snacks during the spring and autumn seasons.

Through the backyard

Xia Qing opened the door of her grandmother's house and saw her grandmother cleaning up the dishes.

When she saw her coming, grandma smiled so hard that her eyes were invisible.

"Hey, my granddaughter is here. Has she eaten yet?"

"No, grandma, I'm here to pick you up and take you to our place. I'm afraid the slope at the back is slippery, so I came."

"My granddaughter still cares about me, an old woman. Wait for grandma to bring you food."

"No need for milk, I'm not hungry."

"How can you not eat breakfast? I'll feel bad if you starve yourself. Just wait, I'll make you some salty food, you'll be fine in a moment."

Xia Qing hurriedly stopped her. Grandma had already cleaned up and she didn't want to bother her anymore. Grandma cooked in a big pot with fire and firewood, and there was no gas stove.

"Grandma, I see there's cake on the counter. I'll just eat the cake."

"That was brought by your aunt when she came to visit at the beginning of the twelfth lunar month. It has dried up over time and it makes my throat choke when I eat it."

"By the way, I have black sesame paste here. I'll make some for you."

"I'll come, you stay here"

Xia Qing found the kettle and the large bowl in the cupboard as if she was familiar with the place and brewed a large bowl of black sesame paste.

I sat on the wooden chair next to the cabinet and started eating the somewhat dry cake.

Grandma looked at her with a smile.

"Are you tired of school?"

"Not tired"

"You've lost weight. You don't want to spend money on delicious food outside, right?"

"No, I always go out with my roommates to eat delicious food, and then we split the bill."

“You must eat well.”

"Yeah, it tastes good." Xia Qing responded to her grandmother's concern while chewing the cake.

After eating, Xia Qing washed the dishes, put a scarf on her grandmother, closed the door, and went to their house with her grandmother.

We chatted about family matters along the way.

"Qingqing, have you met any nice guys in college?"

Xia Qing didn't know how to tell her grandmother for a moment. After thinking for a while, she decided to wait until she and Jiang Shao were stable before telling her family.

"Mother, not yet," she said a little shyly.

"Don't worry, take your time. I'm waiting for you to find a husband-in-law for my eldest grandson!" Grandma patted her hands and comforted her.

"Okay, I will definitely find one that you like." Xia Qing said proudly.

"Oh, silly girl, find someone you like. If you want to be in a relationship, of course you should find someone you like. It won't work if someone else likes you."

"Hmm," Xia Qing thought of Jiang Shao in an instant, feeling happy.

I don't know what he is doing. I will harass him when I get home, hehe.

Then I got home, helped grandma take off her cotton shoes, asked her to sit on the kang, and turned on the TV for her.

"Grandma, watch some TV. I'll go see if my mom can help me."

"Go ahead, don't worry about me"

I found my mother, who was cooking meat. She first boiled the pork she bought in hot water in a pot, then took it out and let it cool. At this time, the super large pieces of pork were not cooked. After cooling, some of it was prepared to be made into elbows and some into strips of meat.

Xia Qing watched her mother brush the sauce and prepare the dressing, and helped her mother get the seasonings and pass things from time to time. She put the dishes on the pot and continued to steam them over high heat for about 2 hours.

After finishing one thing, my father had already prepared two big carps after chopping firewood. Northerners like to eat crucian carp and carp in winter.

Mom looked at the time and thought it was about time, so she asked Dad to light a fire.

Mom poured freshly squeezed soybean oil into the pot, and when the oil was warm, she slowly slid the fish into the pot.

With a crackling sound, the fish was soon fried until both sides were golden brown. Mom poured in a pot of prepared sauce, mixed it with seasonings, covered the pot, added firewood, and started stewing the fish over high heat.

Xia Qing wanted to help light the fire, but her father didn't let her.

She went into the house to watch TV with her grandmother and sent a message to her hidden boyfriend.