Chapter 739: One-day tour of the Great Northern Wilderness
When He Yushui lowered her head to add noodles to Yang Huaiqing, she heard Wang Jianguo talking about the interesting stories of the commune's land reclamation with saliva flying.
Yang Xiaohua was amused and laughed from time to time, while the Yang Huaixi brothers ate noodles silently, with warmth in their eyes and brows.
The noodles in the ceramic bowl gradually dried up, leaving only the golden soup swaying gently in the bowl. Wang Jianguo wiped his mouth, picked up the bowl and drank the last mouthful of hot soup, letting out a satisfied sigh.
When He Yushui was cleaning up the dishes, Yang Xiaohua took the dirty bowls on her own initiative. The two of them were talking in low voices beside the stove, and occasionally there were the sounds of dishes colliding and suppressed laughter.
Yang Huaixi looked out the window at the dark night, and suddenly felt that the cold night in the Great Northern Wilderness was no longer long and unbearable.
When the aroma of hot soup noodles, the strange yet friendly voice of introduction, and the flickering fire in the stove are intertwined together, even the fiercest wind and snow seem to be melted by such warmth.
The wick of the kerosene lamp in the main room crackled, and the sparks splashed on the edge of the clay basin, illuminating the last bit of noodle soup golden.
He Yushui took off her blue apron, her fingertips stained with flour from kneading the dough, and raised her chin towards the three people sitting around the table on the kang:
"Eat it while it's hot. There's still some noodle soup simmering in the stove."
As she spoke, Yang Huaiqing was scraping the sauce from the bottom of the bowl with chopsticks, and the chopsticks made a crackling sound as they collided against the coarse porcelain.
Yang Huaixi's fingers holding the bowl trembled slightly, and the rising heat blurred the lines at the corners of his eyes.
The initial awkwardness was like a thin layer of ice covering their movements. Yang Huaixi's chopsticks were suspended in the noodle soup for a long time before he picked up half a noodle coated with chili oil.
Yang Huaiqing broke the steamed bun into small pieces and secretly glanced at Wang Jianguo who was slurping the noodles.
When the first mouthful of hot soup mixed with shredded mustard greens slid into my throat, my empty stomach made a gurgling sound.
Being restrained was like snow encountering fire - Yang Huaixi picked up the bowl and put the noodles into his mouth, making a slurping sound.
Yang Huaiqing buried his face in the bowl and swallowed the noodles and soup very quickly, with a chili seed stuck to the tip of his nose.
"Eat slowly, no one is going to take it away from you."
Wang Jianguo smiled and put pork belly into Yang Huaiqing's bowl. The skin of the pork was shiny under the light.
“I was like this when I first arrived in the Great Northern Wilderness.”
He Yushui passed the hot water over and saw Yang Huaixi wiping the bottom of the bowl with a steamed bun. He said softly:
“That’s how I ate when I was a kid.”
Yang Huaiqing burped, leaned on the edge of the kang and gasped for breath, the buttons of his cotton jacket were stretched to a shine.
Wang Jianguo wiped his mouth and took out a cigarette case from his cotton jacket:
"Are you full? Come on, I'll take you for a walk!"
Yang Huaixi and Yang Huaiqing stood up immediately, but stopped when their fingers touched the cotton-padded jackets hanging out to dry - the clothes were still stained with dust from the black market.
Wang Jianguo pulled over two half-worn cotton coats:
"Wear mine. It's snowing hard outside."
Yang Huaiqing took the clothes and smelled the scent of tobacco mixed with herbs, like the embrace of an elder brother.
When he reached the door, Wang Jianguo suddenly slapped his thigh, turned around and walked back:
"Look at my memory!"
He dragged Yang Huaixi and his brother back, their cotton shoes leaving deep footprints on the snow. When he got back to the door, he shouted to the kitchen:
"rainwater!"
He Yushui was washing dishes in front of the stove, and the sound of water splashing was loud.
"rainwater,"
Wang Jianguo was holding onto the door frame, and the white breath he exhaled condensed into a ball in the cold air.
"When Brother Shuzhuo comes back, tell him that I am taking Brother Huaixi to the commune to report, and we will also take a look at the foundation of the clinic!"
"understood--"
He Yushui's voice floated out from the steamy kitchen, with a hint of anger at being disturbed, but also clear and decisive.
"Be careful on the road, don't let Brother Huaixi fall!"
Wang Jianguo then rubbed his hands in relief and put on his felt hat again. The red pompom on the brim swayed gently in the moonlight.
Yang Huaixi looked at the warm yellow light coming through the crack of the kitchen door, and vaguely saw the flour on He Yushui's apron when she turned around.
Suddenly I felt that this cold night in the Great Northern Wilderness was no longer dead silent.
When the aroma of hot soup noodles, Wang Jianguo's hearty laughter, and the response with a sense of fireworks from the kitchen intertwined together, the snow underfoot seemed to be less cold.
The light from the commune office in the distance was like a guiding star, illuminating the direction where they were about to take root.
The moonlight after the snow covered the ground like a silver velvet carpet. The three of them walked towards the commune in ankle-deep snow, and the ice chips under the soles of their cotton shoes made crisp "crunching" sounds.
When the wooden door of the stable was pushed open, the morning light slanted through the frosted window frames, casting a layer of silver on Wang Jianguo's felt hat.
As soon as he put the reins on the old horse's neck, the medicine stains seeping from Yang Huaixi's cuffs came into view - the wound cut by the wild rose had not yet scabbed over, and the edge of the bandage had been soaked into dark brown by blood.
"What are you doing with the horse?" Yang Huaixi placed his palm on the old horse's mane, his fingertips rubbing against the frozen stubble.
"Douzi and I want to take a walk."
He looked at the ridges of fields divided by snow ridges in the distance. The morning sun was dyeing the eastern hilltop honey-colored, and the water vapor seeping from the cracks in the frozen soil condensed into white mist in the cold air.
"I haven't had a good look at the land since I came to the Great Northern Wilderness."
Yang Huaixi came out wrapped in a half-worn cotton coat, the bandage exposed at the cuffs still had faint stains of medicine - that was the wound caused by being scratched by thorns when he was picking herbs the day before, and at this moment, it was causing slight pain with his movements.
"Brother Huaixi, your injury hasn't healed yet!"
Wang Jianguo straightened up, and the red pompom on his felt hat swept across the icicles on the stable beams.
"Take the carriage, and the wound will not burst open."
The old horse seemed to understand what was said. It swung its tail and snorted, and its hooves made a dull sound on the frozen ground.
Yang Huaiqing was stuffing roasted sweet potatoes into his arms. Hearing this, he stuck his head out. The hot steam from the sweet potatoes came out from the seams of his cotton-padded jacket and condensed into white mist in the cold air.
Yang Huaixi waved his hand and stroked the old horse's rough mane:
“It’s out of the way.”
He looked at the snow-covered earth slope in the distance. The morning sun was peeking out from behind the slope, dyeing the sky orange.
"Douzi and I just arrived in the Great Northern Wilderness and wanted to take a look around."
Before he could finish his words, he was interrupted by Yang Huaiqing. The boy was stuffing the roasted sweet potatoes into his cotton-padded jacket, and hot air was coming out of the holes:
"Brother Wang, my brother said that walking can help wounds heal faster!"
Old Ma seemed to understand the argument and lowered his head to nudge Yang Huaixi's injured arm.
Yang Huaixi deliberately took a big step. The wound caused sweat to form on his forehead, but he smiled openly:
"Look, it's all right."
Wang Jianguo stared at the wet marks gradually spreading on his cuffs, and finally threw the reins back to the stable, his cotton shoes leaving deep marks on the snow:
"Go! Don't cry out in pain if you fall!"
The three of them walked towards the commune in knee-deep snow. With every step Yang Huaixi took, his wound hurt, but he just clenched his fists calmly.
Seeing this, Wang Jianguo deliberately slowed down his pace and pointed at the branches on the roadside that were bent by the snow:
"Look, that's sea buckthorn. You can pick the fruit in the spring. It's so sour that it makes your teeth fall out."