“Ping’an, come here too.”
After smoothing the cream onto Lin Zhen’s face, Song Wei also helped Lin Ping’an apply some snowflake cream.
Hmm… the whole family was now neat and uniform.
The snow was heavy outside, and this year, she couldn’t go out to play in it.
With such a large belly, Lin Zhen wouldn’t allow it.
But Lin Zhen and Lin Ping’an built snowmen outside together.
Again, two large ones and one small one.
They even made snow sculptures of the animals at home, though they were a bit abstract.
Song Wei was bundled up in thick clothing, a snow-white scarf around her neck, and a warm furry hat.
She looked entirely cozy and fluffy, and when she smiled, her eyes curved beautifully.
Seeing her smile made Lin Zhen especially happy.
After the snowfall, aside from needing someone to keep an eye on the vegetable greenhouses, everyone tried to stay indoors as much as possible.
The snow fell continuously for several days before finally stopping, turning the world into a blanket of white.
The day after the snow ceased, Lin Zhen rode his bicycle to town and returned with two packages.
“Are these from Big Brother and Uncle?”
When Lin Zhen returned, Song Wei was walking around the house, supporting her lower back.
She didn’t dare venture outside—her range of activity had severely shrunk.
“Mm.”
Song Wei immediately became interested and opened the packages.
“This one’s from Big Brother. There’s even a can of milk powder and some canned food.”
Milk powder was exceptionally hard to come by these days. Typically, only pregnant workers in large factories received subsidies for milk powder coupons.
But even with a coupon, securing a can of milk powder wasn’t easy. As soon as milk powder became available, those with inside information would snap it up almost instantly.
Those without connections had to rely on luck.
Aside from the milk powder, the various canned goods were particularly appealing.
“Canned yellow peaches, canned pineapple, and canned lychees.”
Among these, Song Wei was most familiar with canned yellow peaches.
Not only was she familiar with them, but probably few people across the country weren’t.
Compared to other canned fruits, canned yellow peaches were famously popular and sold well, available almost everywhere in the nation.
She hadn’t seen canned pineapple or canned lychees in syrup around here—they were likely specialty items sold in the city where her brother was stationed.
Besides canned fruit, there were also canned meats.
There were three types of canned fish and even a jar of shrimp paste.
Song Jing had probably bought every type of canned food available there, and in considerable quantities.
There was also some fabric. The moment Song Wei touched it, she could tell it was exceptionally soft and skin-friendly, perfect for a baby’s delicate skin.
There was a letter as well.
After unpacking her brother’s package, Song Wei didn’t rush to read the letter. Instead, she turned to open their uncle’s package.
“There’s milk powder here too!”
And not just one can—two cans, along with two baby bottles.
Besides the milk powder, there was also a package of beef jerky.
Song Wei frowned. “It couldn’t have been easy for Uncle to get these. He’s being a bit reckless.”
Lin Zhen opened Feng Tingxuan’s letter and handed it to her. “Read the letter first.”
Song Wei sat down in a chair and began reading.
The further she read, the more her furrowed brow relaxed.
It turned out that Little Boss had played a part in helping him obtain this beef jerky.
While herding cattle on the grassland with him, Little Boss had discovered an injured yak. Later, he, Uncle Yu Wei, and Hasanmu worked together to kill the wounded yak.
They quietly processed the yak into beef jerky right there on the grassland and secretly transported it back.
Feng Tingxuan’s portion of the yak jerky had been stored by Uncle Yu Wei.
Thinking of Song Wei’s pregnancy, he had directly asked Uncle Yu Wei to mail it over.
The milk powder had also been obtained through Uncle Yu Wei’s help.
Toward the end of the letter, he wrote that he couldn’t offer much help and could only do his best to send some things, hoping to meet her and her children someday.
Song Wei: “Once the baby is born, I’ll take photos and send them to them.”
Her brother’s letter also contained some greetings and mentioned that he would try to find time to visit Ping’an Brigade next year.
“With Uncle’s situation, what if he never finds a partner?”
Feng Tingxuan wasn’t much older than the siblings, as he was the late-life child of the Feng family.
However, he had always been absorbed in academic research and never sought a relationship.
He was only thirty now.
But being thirty and still single was considered quite old for this era.
Given his special circumstances, finding a partner was difficult.
Song Wei sighed, hoping her uncle would be rehabilitated and return soon.
Here she was, a niece, worrying about her uncle’s lifelong matters.
But at his age in this era, it was indeed a concern.
Song Wei wasn’t trying to rush her uncle into marriage. If he didn’t want to find a partner, she would support that. What she feared was that he wanted to but couldn’t.
…………
With the snow keeping her indoors, Song Wei was truly bored.
She was so bored that she even felt like picking a fight with Lin Zhen.
And she did, but Lin Zhen always yielded to her, making it feel pointless after a while.
Seeing her like this, Lin Zhen tried every way to keep her occupied without overexerting herself. He also went all out in preparing delicious food for her.
“Lin Zhen, I want to eat pickled chicken feet.”
Lin Zhen: “Tell me how to make them.”
Song Wei couldn’t cook edible meals, but she knew plenty of recipes.
Song Wei: “We need chicken feet, lots of chicken feet.”
“Oh, by the way, did you slaughter the pig in the valley? What if it freezes to death if we keep raising it?”
One moment she was talking about pickled chicken feet, the next she veered off to another topic.
She had been like this since becoming pregnant, and Lin Zhen was used to it.
“It won’t die that easily. I’ll find time to check on it.”
“If we need a lot of chicken feet, our brigade might not have enough. I’ll go to town and see.”
“With such cold weather and heavy snow, maybe you shouldn’t go. I was just thinking out loud.”
Food wasn’t as important as his safety, even though she was craving it.
Lin Zhen: “It’s fine. The first batch of greenhouse vegetables needs to be sold. I’ll go along and buy some if available. If not, it’s okay.”
Only then did Song Wei nod.
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