Hu saw Zi Qing leaning on the kang, holding a piece of clothing and placing it on the brazier to warm up, and smiled: "This little stove is indeed small and exquisite, easy to carry wherever you go."

  "Not really, elderly people in our area all like to use this, and I also find it convenient when going out. Please have a seat on the kang, sisters-in-law, what brings you here?"

  "There's nothing serious going on here, the two of us just came to chat with my younger sister. It's her first time coming home, so don't be shy at all. If you want to eat something, want something, or want to do something, just speak up, don't hesitate. Although we've only met once, after all, we're still family." After Hu said this, she sat down on the kang with her legs crossed, and Ma also sat down along the edge of the kang.

  "Thank you, both sisters. Everything else is fine, but this icy and snowy weather is really cold. It would be great if the house could be a bit warmer," said Zi Qing.

  "This is easy to say, I'll get your second brother to help you warm up the kang later. This house isn't often lived in, it won't be warm for a while, and since it's a side room, it's a bit colder." Madam Ma said.

  Zi Qing listened and hurriedly thanked her. Hu Shi hastily said, "Don't be so polite, sister-in-law, it's really tiring to keep saying thank you. Where are you from? What does your family do?"

  "My home is in a small village in the south, and my family are also farmers."

  "Oh, looking at your face doesn't seem like you've suffered, speaking and acting like a rich family's child. Look at this skin, so tender and delicate." Mrs. Hu said as she specifically pulled Zi Qing's hand to take a closer look. "Look at these fingers, they're not those of someone who does farm work. Ten fingers, just like scallions that have been peeled, really nice to look at. Unlike us, like burnt wooden sticks, can't compare."

  Zi Qing's hands were busy making wedding clothes for the past year, and the heavy household chores in the back mountain were handed over to Zi Yu. The farm work was all done by hired laborers, so this year Zi Qing's hands were still well-maintained, slender fingers. Lin Kangping loved to hold and play with them whenever he had nothing to do.

  "What has Third Brother been doing all these years outside? Has he made a fortune? Just looking at you, I can tell you're spoiled. Third Brother saw that you don't like to eat staple foods, so he bought two bags of rice at once. Look at the silver bangle you gave to Hong Xia, it's worth more than half a tael of silver! Tsk, tsk, look at how you do laundry, Third Brother is still afraid you'll catch a chill and wants hot water, he really dotes on you." said Mrs. Ma.

  "It's nothing much, we usually plant paddy rice on our side, I'm used to eating rice. Kangping is also just messing around, at least there's food to eat." Zi Qing said.

  "So are you planning to come back in the future? As for me, it's better to be outside. At home, we can only manage a few acres of land, and it's already good if we can just fill our stomachs. There are more opportunities to make big money outside. Otherwise, can Sanma support you?" Madam Ma said.

  Zi Qing finally understood the intentions of the two, smiled and said: "We have settled down in the south and bought a few acres of land. This time we came back to worship our ancestors and also to introduce me to my family members. After all, Uncle and Aunt are the closest relatives of Kangping."

  Hú shì and Mǎ shì listened to each other, smiled at each other, just about to say something, Lín Kāngpíng came in, carrying a basket, saying he wanted to take Zǐ Qíng out for a trip. Zǐ Qíng put on thick cotton padded clothes, then wore sheepskin coat, Lín Kāngpíng held her hand, thought for a moment, and stuffed a small hand warmer into her hand, taking her out the door through a poplar forest, to the burial ground outside the village.

  Ziying found that the tombs in the north were all a mound of earth like a steamed bun, with a solitary stone slab engraved with names. Lin Kangping led Ziying to kneel down, set up offerings, and kowtowed three times. Letting Ziying get up first, he knelt down and said: "Dad, mom, I'm Kangping. The son is unfilial, it's been a long time since I came to see you. This time the son will burn more paper money for you, don't be reluctant to spend it. Now that I've married my wife, today I brought my wife to see you. It's cool on the ground, so I let my wife get up first. Don't blame her, she's very good to me, and I like her a lot. She's someone who will accompany me all the way."

  Ziying saw the busyness and knelt down, saying: "Dad, mom, you can rest assured that I will take good care of Pingge. You also need to bless him with a lifetime of health and peace, free from illness and disaster." In the past, Ziying had always scoffed at talk of ghosts and gods, but now that she had inexplicably arrived in this world, all she could say was that there must be some kind of power beyond human understanding. Her heart was filled with reverence for this power.

  Lin Kangping quickly helped Zi Qing up and said, "Qing'er, don't kneel on the ground, be careful not to catch a chill. You've forgotten that your body is still not clean, you can't get cold. My parents have already seen you, they must be delighted, they won't blame you. I like you, they will definitely like you too. Let's go back. We'll come again next time to see them."

  The two returned home, where the family was waiting for them to eat dinner. Yu Shi knew they had gone to sweep the tomb and was somewhat unhappy, but didn't dare make a fuss, only muttering a few sentences, which Lin Kangping ignored.

  Dinner was eaten on the kang, one person per low table, men and women separated, sitting cross-legged. Zi Qing had to sit sideways. The staple food was rice, with two large basins of sour soup made from bones, one basin on each side. It smelled quite appetizing and tasted not bad either. Zi Qing drank two bowls of the sour soup and felt warm all over. With many people in the household, everyone ate quickly, and if you were a bit slower, the dishes would be empty.

  Ma was slurping the vegetable soup into his mouth, and said vaguely: "Delicious, really delicious, not enough to eat yet? Mother, stew two more bowls tomorrow. I see that San Diemei is also eating very deliciously."

  "Even the fragrance can't stop your mouth, tomorrow is a big gathering, I and your father still need to go buy things for the new year, you and your sister-in-law stay at home and grind the tofu, don't forget to soak the beans later."

  Yu said to Zi Qing: "Third sister-in-law, you're from the south, tomorrow go with us to our northern market and see if there's anything you want to buy? Let third brother accompany you. There are also two aunts at home, you should take a walk too, it's not easy to come back once. And third brother's older sister is also married in a nearby village, you don't know the way, let fourth brother accompany you."

  Zi Qing nodded and said, "That's right, coincidentally tomorrow is the big market day. We can buy some things to take a look. If there's anything we don't understand or can't think of for the time being, Auntie will teach us."

  Back in the house, Ziyun only then realized that Lin Kangping also didn't remember the two aunts, having never seen them since being sold. Now he didn't even know what their circumstances were like. Ziyun put several taels of loose silver and some silver ingots into her purse, preparing for any unexpected needs.

  The next day, the sky was just brightening, and Yu Shi was already calling outside. Zi Qing got up in a daze, and last night's kang was still warm. She had slept very sweetly, and it was the first time she had slept soundly since leaving home. Unfortunately, she was woken up so early. With her eyes closed, she washed her face while muttering to herself. Lin Kangping smiled as he helped her put on her clothes.

  The market was ten miles away in the town, Lin Yaoyu and Lin Kangyong each carried a pair of bamboo baskets, Yu Shi carried a basket of eggs, and Lin Hongxia also carried a basket of eggs to follow. Zi Qing happened to ask about the situation of the two aunts' families with Lin Hongxia, and learned that the conditions of the two aunts' families were generally average, with little land at home, barely enough to eat their fill. Her sister's husband's family was slightly better off, having just divided the house, with two children.

  As they walked, Zi Qing couldn't keep up with their pace, and carrying things on her body made it even more inconvenient. Her waist and back ached, Lin Kangping saw this and immediately wanted to carry her on his back. However, seeing the many people passing by around them, Zi Qing really didn't want to lose face. Lin Kangping could only let them go ahead first, and hailed a rickshaw for Zi Qing.

  From a distance, I saw people swarming around, shouting and hawking, carrying poles, driving carts, and pushing wheelbarrows. It felt bigger than the market in front of Ziying's old house, with more people. After observing for a while, I found that villages in the north are generally larger than those in the south, with more concentrated populations. Unlike in the south, where sometimes just one or two households in a mountain area can form a village, and you can often see a small village every few miles. Ziying's East Tang Village was quite good, with over a hundred households.

  As they entered the market, Lin Kangping held onto Zi Qing's hand, saying he was afraid that with so many people, she would get lost and not be able to find her way back home. As they walked through the stalls, Zi Qing noticed that there were no green vegetables, only cabbage and radishes, and occasionally a few families selling potatoes. It seemed that this area had not yet widely adopted the new crops. However, corn was available, and surprisingly, Zi Qing even found a couple of vendors selling sweet potatoes. After finishing their tour of the vegetable section, the two turned to the aquatic products area, where they found no live fish, only frozen fish, which was not cheap at eighteen cents per pound, two cents more expensive than pork. As they walked around in circles, they came across a vendor selling window decorations and doing on-site paper cutting. Zi Qing crouched down beside him and watched for a long time, mesmerized by how amazing it was that he didn't need to think about the design at all - with just a few casual snips of his scissors, he would open up the paper to reveal small animals that seemed to come alive before her eyes. Zi Qing spent twenty cents on several of them, but in the end, Lin Kangping had to drag her away.

  The two of them finally found the fabric seller, and on the way, they had already discussed that each family would send some practical items, naturally clothing and food were the top choices. Ziqing bought a piece of floral cloth and a piece of light gray cotton cloth for each of the three aunties, so both children and adults could use them. After thinking about it, Ziqing also bought a piece of floral cloth and a piece of blue cloth for Lin's family's several kids, as well as a few hair flowers. After all, it was a new year, and especially the first one, she couldn't not show some courtesy. At least now the big kang in her house was warm and convenient for both others and herself.

  Lin Kangping pulled Zi Qing to buy a few more pastries, and also bought a whole slaughtered pig. Seeing Zi Qing's surprise, Lin Kangping said: "Aren't we going to visit relatives? Plan to go back and give one pig leg to each family, leave the rest for ourselves to eat, and there is still half a month's time, even if it is thrown in the snow, it won't spoil. This place is not like the south, food can be left outside for a long time, besides, according to my mother-in-law, at home, it is unlikely that we will have meat every day, so you can't help but make some concessions, but I also cannot compromise too much on your behalf."

  Lin Kangping hired a donkey cart to carry things and went to buy several fish, walnut dates and other snacks, then found Yu Shi and his family.