Chapter 94: Still Alive!

The small courtyard was the same as before, yet different. Previously, it was a place no one entered, but now, it was frequented by Shen An's group of friends who were allowed to play in the front yard.

Moreover, because the children could learn some characters while playing with Shen An and Shen Ning, Chen Youtian took the initiative to make several small stools, so there was seating in the yard.

When Shen Jin and Shen Yin entered the courtyard, they found familiar friends – those with whom they had cleared land, carried stones, and peeled hemp. The brothers were welcomed without any strange looks.

Shen Tie, whose face was cleaned by Shen Ning, was already snacking on the sweet and sour crystal candy, his tears not yet dry and his sobbing not completely stopped. But that didn’t prevent him from carefully biting into the candy.

Shen An, who had disappeared into the house for a moment, came out and gave both Shen Jin and Shen Yin a piece of candy.

The cousins hadn’t played together since late September, for about a month and a half, probably knowing that getting too close would lead to Shen Jin being beaten. Previously, any treats for him were quietly delivered by Chen Xiaoya.

This was the first time they stood together since then. Shen Jin and Shen Yin felt somewhat awkward and uncomfortable, while Shen An, smiling, handed over the treats with a sincere thanks.

Others might not understand, but Shen Jin knew Shen An was thanking him for the warning he gave last time.

He felt a mix of emotions, realizing that his warning had resulted in his parents being sent to work on the road construction...

Shen Jin hesitated to take the offered crystal candy, but Shen Yin had no such reservations. Since everyone welcomed him without any strange looks, and peers like Shitou, Ah Xu, and San Niu even excitedly greeted him softly, Shen Yin was overjoyed.

He grabbed the two pieces of candy from Shen An’s hand, smiling brightly: “Thanks, second brother.”

Then, keeping one for himself and giving the other to Shen Jin, he said, “Big brother, this one’s for you!”

Shen An laughed, and the group resumed their enthusiastic reading.

Those who read well could recite to their parents and grandparents at home in the evening. Not only were they likely to receive praise, but they might even earn rewards like an egg. Moreover, the activity was as fun as playing house, so even though the children didn't fully understand what they were reciting, they enjoyed it immensely.

Shen An was the most eager to teach everyone to read because he was learning too. The more he taught, the better he remembered. Fearful of teaching incorrectly, he read several times every evening with his sister-in-law, learning and teaching simultaneously with great enthusiasm. He now called everyone to sit down.

Each child had their own little stool. Huzi brought a wooden stump for Shen Jin, pulling him over, “Come here, you sit on this.”

Shen Yin also got a small wooden stump from a friend, while Shen Tie, the most comfortable of all, was given a small square stool by Shen Ning from inside the house.

The reading session resumed, this time with extra attention to the three new members, led again by Shen An starting from the first sentence.

Shen Jin, holding his piece of candy, sat on the stump, watching Shen An shake his head and sway, teaching earnestly with a scroll made of bamboo in his hand.

He observed peers like Huzi laughing and reading aloud, his lips moving hesitantly at first. But when Shen An reached the phrase “as winter fades and summer comes,” prompted by a nudge from Huzi, Shen Jin started to read aloud, albeit quietly.

After a few sentences, it seemed to get easier for him to join in.

When Sang Luo returned with a bundle of dry reeds, she saw this scene from outside the courtyard. Without making a sound or entering, she quietly carried the reeds to the chicken coop.

With each day growing colder, the chicken and duck nests needed extra padding, and thick woven reed mats were necessary for the walls and roof. A shelter for the geese was also needed in their run, as their down alone wasn’t enough to withstand winter; it was waterproof but not windproof, and they would freeze in the cold wind.

In the courtyard, there were small stools, and outside several large stones were added, likely brought by Erniu, Huzi, and the other older children as makeshift seats. Sang Luo sat on one of these stones, weaving reed mats.

Weaving reed mats wasn't particularly difficult. Listening to the children's reading voices from inside, she quickly turned a large bundle of reeds into three thick mats. Sang Luo first added two of them to the duck coop roof and the third to the chicken coop roof, then went back to cutting more reeds.

After the children finished their reading session and saw the changes to the chicken coop, they each returned home, fetched their sickles, and set off to cut reeds in groups. When Sang Luo was weaving her second batch of reed mats, the children, each carrying a large bundle of reeds, came to deliver them.

Shen An was the junior teacher, but Sang Luo was the real teacher, as all the children knew. Their parents and grandparents always reminded them to be observant and helpful, and to do more chores around the house.

Cutting reeds wasn't a strenuous task, and Sang Luo accepted it graciously. She thanked the children, declined their offer to help weave the mats, and told them to go play, continuing her work alone.

After a busy day, both the chicken and duck coops were upgraded for winter. She also dismantled a section of the goose run, cleaned the bamboo poles in the mountain spring, and built a two-square-meter goose shelter next to the courtyard wall. Except for a small door, it was surrounded by bamboo poles and double-layered thick reed mats, with wooden planks on the ground to keep out dampness, making it a luxurious warm room.

The three geese watched their owner dismantle their old home, curious and puzzled. But they soon saw her construct a new one.

A new home!!!

While Sang Luo was still laying dry reeds inside, the geese couldn’t resist exploring their new dwelling. As soon as she moved aside, they filed in line into their new home. Compared to their old shelter, which lacked a roof and was drafty, this was a huge upgrade.

They each found a cozy spot to nestle in and didn't come out.

No more envy for the neighboring little ones with their houses. They had long coveted those houses but couldn't fit through the small doors. Now they had their own even more luxurious abode, proudly puffing out their chests!

Seeing the geese's warm reception of their new shelter, Sang Luo was also pleased. She had built a door for the goose house but didn't use it. Though snakes were hibernating, the geese were still vigilant against strangers and animals, their keen hearing vital for guarding the house, so keeping the door open wouldn't restrict the geese from alerting to dangers.

Sang Luo’s preparation of warm shelters for her chickens, ducks, and geese was quite timely. As late November approached, the cold became biting, even for those wrapped in thick coats. Most people preferred staying indoors to weather the winter.

Sang Luo's house was well-prepared for the winter, though she hadn't done much herself. They had plenty of rice, grain, salt, and oil. As for firewood, ever since the children started reading with Shen An, every few days the families would bring wood to her house. There were bundles of firewood, large split logs, and kindling pine needles. Sang Luo's backyard now boasted a full woodshed.

The three families also delivered baskets of dried vegetables as if they had agreed in advance, which Sang Luo stored in empty jars.

In her own backyard vegetable patch, the cold-resistant vegetables had reached the stage where they could be harvested, allowing Sang Luo to comfortably settle in for the winter.

The first snow of the winter arrived in the middle of the night on November 22.

Sang Luo woke up feeling cold in the middle of the night and was surprised to see some light outside the window. Thinking she had overslept, she quickly sat up in bed.

On closer inspection, she saw the gentle flurry of snow dancing in the small patch of sky outside her window.

She put on a coat, got out of bed, and cracked the door open slightly to peer outside, finding the courtyard already blanketed with a thick layer of snow.

Sang Luo was somewhat astonished. In her previous life in the south, snow was a rare occurrence, seldom accumulating on the ground, often only seen through friends' social media posts.

Could it really snow this heavily in the south in this timeline?

Feeling a mix of delight and excitement, her first thought was to wake Shen An and Shen Ning to see the snow, but seeing them sleeping soundly, she resisted the urge. She watched the snow through a narrow slit in the door for a while, careful not to let in the cold wind, before closing it and returning to bed.

Shen An and Shen Ning, accustomed to waking up early to make tofu, got up at their usual time, noticing the unusually bright light outside the window. Hearing Sang Luo's cheerful announcement of the snowfall, they excitedly dressed and rushed outside.

It was a bit cold at first, but as milling tofu is a physically demanding task and those not milling were busy keeping the fire going, they didn't feel too cold. The siblings, while grinding the beans, eagerly planned to play in the snow with their friends after daybreak.

……

A first snowfall brings joy and a beautiful scene for families well-prepared for winter, but for those less prepared, it's a season of endurance.

About seven or eight households in the village relied on enduring the cold. Many had only one or two pieces of cotton clothing, and their coats and quilts were stuffed with ineffective reeds and cattails, mixed with chicken and duck feathers they collected around the village.

Indeed, those who couldn’t afford poultry often found feathers dropped by the village's chickens, ducks, and geese. These feathers, constantly in motion and often fighting, would shed, and the poor children treasured each one they found. Over a year, they couldn’t collect much, but combined with reeds and cattails, even a little extra warmth was valuable.

However, these feather-stuffed coats and quilts were uncomfortable to use, as most rural households could only afford coarse hemp cloth, which couldn’t prevent the feathers, mostly quills rather than down, from poking through and itching.

But who would mind the discomfort? In those times, any warmth was a blessing.

For the poorer households, a major concern in the middle of the night was their roof. If the snow got too heavy, there was a risk of the roofs collapsing.

As soon as it was light, the first task was to clear the snow – sweeping it from the ground and from the rooftops. In the morning, everyone would clean the snow in front of their own houses and climb ladders to clear their roofs.

By the afternoon, Zhou Village Chief would make rounds to each household, rallying men who had coats and could go outside. They would help clear the snow from the roofs of homes without male labor, those only inhabited by the elderly, women, and children. For those houses with deteriorating straw roofs, they needed to gather more straw and make tight straw mats for replacements.

Going from house to house, by the time they reached the last one at the entrance of the village, it was already time for the midday meal.

Chen Youtian, Zhou Lai Zi, and Old Man Chen, being older, worked on making the straw mats on the ground. Younger and nimbler villagers like Zhou Sanlang and Lu Sanlang climbed the ladders to the rooftops, while slightly heavier men like Shi Erlang, Lu Dala, and Zhou Dala climbed the ladders to hand up the straw mats.

As Zhou Sanlang took a straw mat passed up by Shi Erlang and turned to place it on the roof, he caught sight of four figures approaching in the distance, each carrying what looked like a bundle or something similar.

Zhou Sanlang paused, alerting the other youths on the roof and Lu Dala on the ladder, “Look, are those strangers?”

The Zhou family, influenced by Zhou Village Chief, were always vigilant about strangers.

Hearing this, everyone turned to look. As the figures drew closer, Shi Erlang’s eyes began to widen in shock!

“That is, that is…”

He rubbed his eyes for a clearer look. The man’s hair was disheveled, his beard unkempt, and he seemed to be wrapped in hastily donned animal skins, but he really looked like his older brother!

"My brother, it seems like my brother!"

He scrambled down the ladder, nearly leaping off the last few steps if not for holding back at the last moment.

Everyone was stunned. Lu Sanlang on the roof suddenly also shouted, “Brother, brother, it's my second brother!”

Suddenly, those on the roof and the ladder hurriedly descended. Even the elders like Old Man Chen, Chen Youtian, Old Man Lu, and Zhou Village Chief, who were weaving straw mats, quickly realized what was happening and turned to run towards the group of people approaching.

The scene was total chaos.

Some rushed into the village to spread the news, others embraced their returned relatives and sobbed loudly, and more came running to see what the commotion was about.

Shen Lie glanced over but couldn't spot his family. Anxious, he quickened his pace towards his home, still carrying his bundle.

Zhou Village Chief finally recognized him, grabbing him by the arm: “Ah Lie, is that you? You're still alive!”

He had grown so tall, his features more defined, his entire demeanor had changed drastically. Zhou Village Chief hesitated to match this man with the youth he remembered.

Shen Lie nodded, his gaze repeatedly shifting towards his home, wondering if Shen An and Ah Ning had heard the noise and if they had come out yet.

"Yes, Uncle Zhou, I must go check on Shen An and Ah Ning first."

Before Zhou Village Chief could respond, villagers crowding around interjected, “Ah Lie, you're still alive! Everyone thought you were dead. Your brother and sister have been separated; they’re now living in your old house.”

Shen Lie's pupils narrowed, a flash of sharpness crossing his gaze, “What did you say? Where are Shen An and Ah Ning?”

He directed the question towards Zhou Village Chief.

Zhou Village Chief hurriedly explained, “In the summer, your third uncle and aunt arranged a marriage for you. Not even half a month later, Shen An and Ah Ning, along with your bride, were separated to live on their own. Now it’s like two separate households.”

Shen Lie barely registered the mention of a wife; all he could hear was that his nine-year-old brother and sister had been separated to live on their own since summer, in that rundown shack in the mountains?

He nodded hastily and briskly made his way through the crowd towards the direction of his old home, breaking into a near run after a few steps.

Approaching from the opposite direction were Chen Popo, Qin Fangniang, Gan Shi, Lu Popo…

Shen Lie paid no attention, his ears filled with the sound of the wind and the faint murmurs of village gossip.

“Shen Lie is still alive? Shen San is finished now.”