It snowed…
On the third day after the spies were captured and Lin Zhen left, the first heavy snow of the year quietly arrived in the north.
In just one night, the temperature dropped to a point where no one wanted to venture outside. Everyone bundled up in thick coats and started heating their kangs.
In such weather, the animals at home adapted quite well. Their fur felt noticeably thicker to the touch.
Even the youngest eaglet seemed to be wearing a fluffy, downy coat, making it look even rounder.
Song Wei was sewing herself a pair of gloves. The outer layer was made of deerskin, lined with a layer of soft fur.
Once finished, they fit perfectly and looked quite stylish.
“Here, these are for you.”
Of course, she hadn’t just made them for herself. With plenty of deerskin and rabbit fur to spare, she’d made a pair for Little Hei Dan too.
“One of these days, let’s use these pelts to make a few pairs of boots.”
Rabbit fur was naturally warm and fluffy, while deerskin was waterproof and durable—perfect for making snow boots that were both warm and waterproof.
“Sister Song Wei, you’re the best!”
Hei Dan eagerly took his gloves and put them on right away.
“Go play with Wolf One and the others. I’m going to make a pair for Big Brother and Uncle too.”
Though it was fine for Big Brother to wear them often, Uncle couldn’t—he could only wear them when no one was around.
Maybe she could disguise them and have Uncle Yu find an excuse to give them to him?
After pondering for a moment, she decided to set the thought aside for now and focus on making a pair for Big Brother first.
She made them according to Lin Zhen’s hand size—the three of them had similarly large hands.
Outside, heavy snow fell, and the entire brigade grew quiet. Few people ventured out on snowy days.
They’d have to wait for the snow to stop.
The snow continued until the afternoon. After a full night and morning, the snow had piled up to shin height.
Song Wei grabbed a shovel and started clearing the snow from the yard and the roof.
If the snow accumulated too heavily, it could collapse the roof.
The wolves and foxes at home tried to help, though their “help” mostly involved playing around and making a mess.
Song Wei shoveled the snow into a pile and called Hei Dan over to build a snowman.
A round belly, a round head, scraggly twigs for arms, and a carrot for a nose—a classic snowman design.
“More, more! This one is my brother. Let’s make one for Sister Song and Hei Dan too.”
To make the snowman resemble his brother more, Hei Dan ran into Lin Zhen’s room and brought out his dark brown scarf to wrap around the snowman.
Song Wei humored him and used the remaining snow to build a slimmer snowman.
The clever little Hei Dan even braided two large pigtails out of straw and stuck them on.
“This is Sister Song.”
He grinned, showing off his neat white teeth, beaming with joy.
Song Wei couldn’t help but laugh. “Alright, so it’s a bit ugly. At least you can tell the gender at a glance.”
Finally, beside the two large snowmen, Hei Dan made a smaller one.
After thinking for a moment, Hei Dan fetched his old hat from last year and placed it on top.
“This is Lin Ping’an.”
“Awoo, awoo~”
Wolf One, Wolf Two, and the wolf pups circled the snowmen, howling and glancing expectantly at them.
Hei Dan immediately understood. “Sister Song~”
Song Wei: “……”
She spent some more time building a few snow sculptures that vaguely resembled wolves, and didn’t forget the little fox and the chubby eaglet either.
The chubby eaglet was simply a round, plump body with small black stones for eyes and a beak—finished in no time. It was placed directly on Wolf One’s head.
Soon, the entire yard was taken over by all kinds of snowmen.
Little Lin Ping’an was also panting from exhaustion.
But he clearly had a great time playing.
Over the next few days, the heavy snow continued.
It snowed for four or five days straight before finally stopping.
The yard at Lin Zhen’s house was now more than just snowmen.
Song Wei had a sudden idea: she used the snow to make ice bricks and built an ice sculpture slide.
With so much snow, the slide turned out quite large and looked truly spectacular.
As soon as the snow stopped, Hei Dan cheered excitedly, climbed up the ice slide, and then slid down its winding track sitting in a wooden basin.
“Hahaha… This is so much fun! Sister Song, come join me!”
Why not?
Song Wei, equally intrigued, climbed up the slide and slid down on a wooden plank.
“Hey, this is really fun!”
It might seem a bit childish, but for adults, it was just right!
Amid the cheers of Song Wei and Hei Dan playing, someone came visiting.
Song Wei slid down the slide to open the gate. The elderly women who arrived widened their eyes at the scene in the yard.
“Oh my, what’s all this?”
“What is this? Educated Youth Song, you’re something else! You built such a huge thing out of ice, right?”
Just then, Hei Dan slid down the ice sculpture slide. The elderly women had never seen anything like it and immediately looked eager to try.
“Can we give it a go? This looks like fun!”
Song Wei: “……”
Better not. They were all getting on in years—what if they got hurt?
“This is great! I’ll go back and tell my lazy sons who have nothing to do to build one too. The kids at home can play on it.”
After all, snow was everywhere now, and they were worried about where to dump it all.
Song Wei invited them inside to chat.
“Aunties, did something happen in the brigade again?”
Even though she hadn’t gone out, she had plenty of gossip buddies. Whenever something happened in the brigade that she didn’t know about, these friends would come to fill her in.
Seeing how they’d all arrived together today, she guessed something must have occurred.
“I was wondering what you were up to at home. Turns out you were building this kids’ plaything and didn’t go out. You probably don’t know—Lin Dahai is back.”
The trouble Lin Dahai got into wasn’t exactly severe.
After all, both the man and woman involved were willing participants.
He was just detained for reform through labor for a year or so.
Now Lin Dahai was back, but his job in the city was undoubtedly gone.
After being released from the labor camp, Lin Dahai returned to Ping’an Brigade shivering in thin clothes.
Song Wei’s eyes lit up. “He’s back? Did any drama unfold?”
His return wasn’t exactly good news for him. After all, he now had two burdens at home.
“Of course! Serves him right, if you ask me. Now he’s not only been through the labor camp but comes back to find his wife gone, his son’s leg broken, and his mother paralyzed.”
“I saw him. Lin Dahai looks terrible—much older and so thin he’s just skin and bones. I almost didn’t recognize him at first glance.”
“As soon as he got back, Fourth Lin started making a scene, demanding that he take care of his son himself. Old Lady Lin also expects him to support her.”
“This time, Second Lin didn’t foolishly side with Lin Dahai. He stayed silent, probably agreeing with the situation.”
“How can Lin Dahai refuse? When Old Lady Lin was well, everyone saw how she doted on Lin Dahai’s family. Now that she’s like this, he has to take responsibility.”
“Lin Dahai doesn’t even have a house to live in anymore. He’s now squeezed into a small room with Lin Youfu.”
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