Sweet Wife in My Arms

"You will tidy up that room of ours which we do not use and put a board on the brick bed first to let burn it for a few days." Changsheng's mother thought about it and said to her son.

"Ma, what are you doing all that for?" Changsheng raised his head. Why were they clearing out the old room without rhyme or reason? They were not going to live there. If they were not living in it, why were they tidying it up? Moreover, he had to heat up the entire brick bed.

"It's to give to that girl you brought back." Changsheng's mother scooped another big bowl of rice for her son. She said, "No matter how our family situation is again, we also do not lack the food to feed another mouth. I can see that girl is also not having it easy on her own. She gave us the firewood we had today. I can see that she is someone who knows gratitude. You saved her and brought her back here. Then in that case, we will be good people to the end. In any case, at the very least, she won't be able to freeze and starve to death this winter."

Changsheng ate without tasting the food. Maybe he thought of something. After a few mouthfuls, he stuffed all the remaining food into his mouth. Then with a roll of his sleeves, he walked to the unused room in their own house. His Big Aunt previously stayed in the room whenever she came back. But since his father had passed away, his relatives in the family also visited a lot less. Big Aunt also moved far away in the previous years and had not come back for more than a few years. The room had been empty all this time. It was also good to tidy it up now.

In fact, he wanted to do so a while ago. But, he was afraid that his mother would not agree. After all, an outsider had come into the family. And she needed to eat and drink. Moreover, he was also afraid that his mother's impression of the girl was not good. Now that it was his mother who put forth the idea, he was relieved. Worst comes to worst; he would do more work in the future. He could still earn back the money to feed the extra mouth.

He took out all the things inside the empty room, and then put them aside. Then he cleaned and tidied. He dusted and aired the room. He even laid the bricks properly on the surfaces to avoid any big amount of dust falling.

Changsheng's mother was very satisfied with her son's diligence. This son of hers was naturally good. It was only that their family's conditions were not good, and the village did not even have a school. So, most of the lads as old as Changsheng in the village would travel down the mountains to go to school. The back and forth travel would take up a few hours of time. It was also dangerous if the wind was strong and it was raining. As a result, few people went to school and Changsheng was illiterate. But he was strong and also very hardworking. He also had brains and was smart. He would often take some things from the mountains and go outside to sell. He had heard that the people outside value the type of dry goods and so on found inside the mountains as a rarity. It was really hard to walk on these mountain roads. If the roads could be repaired, then the lives of the people in the village would be better. The children could go to school and learn some culture. Once they expanded their knowledge and experience, unmarried women would be willing to marry into their village and the village would not have so many bachelors.

And she was now most worried about the matter of Changsheng's marriage. The village only had this many girls. Those who were young were already married. Those who were not married were still too young. She was just looking at the child of Li Shuang's family in the east end of the village. She was only thirteen years old. The young girl's appearance was nice and diligent with her hands and feet. If she waited a few more years, she would be of a marriageable age and can discuss marriage.

Except, the current situation was many families were knocking on the door of the family with one good daughter. She did not know when it would be her Changsheng's turn.

She sighed again. At the sight of her son busily setting up the brick bed, she could not help smiling.

Indeed, why was she letting her imagination run wild? How could anyone not know her son's character? As long as they had good judgement, they would naturally pick her family's Changsheng. Her family's Changsheng was the best in the entire village.

Changsheng was currently busy and basically did not know at all what his mother had in mind was all about his marriage. He did not have the time to think about these things now. He only thought to quickly set up and heat up the brick bed, to let it burn so that she could live in it when the weather got colder.

It never stopped snowing outside.

Yan Huan took her bedding and spread it to the side of the stove. Although that side was quite dusty, it was warm and also convenient so that she did not have to get up several times in the middle of the night to come over here, for fear that the fire in the would be extinguished. If she messed it up and became sick, then she could only wait to die. But she did really feel that she was tough enough not to die so easily.

She was in the water for so long and had not fallen sick once. Her living conditions were so bad. All she had to eat all the time was rice porridge and she drank unboiled water. And yet she was still alive. If it had been in the Sea City, she might have catch a cold several times. But now she was unexpectedly alive and doing well in her survival.

She laid down and the hot air from the stove gave some warmth to this spot. Although she could still hear the whistling wind blowing over here from outside, the tiny trace of warmth here could let her sleep for a good while.

Until when the night came, she was freezing, and it was almost like a world of ice and snow inside the house. Even the quilt covering her body also felt hardened into ice and was stiff frozen.

She hastened to wear her clothes well. The moment her clothes touched her body, she almost gasped from the cold. It was really cold. The wind blew against the window frame and it even made crashing sounds from time to time. It seemed that it was about to blow down the outside window. The sounds of ghost-like wailing and howling filled everywhere outside. It felt very sinister, accompanied by the wind at this time.

Yan Huan felt for the box of matches on one side, and then she felt around blindly to touch the heap of dry wood. She managed to build a fire and the house was also brighter because of the light from the fire. Piles of firewood could be faintly discerned around the room, as well as the dust and smoke in the air which were rising.

Yan Huan carefully put the firewood inside the stove, and then she hugged her legs. In this way, she was no longer sleepy with the little warmth that she had.

She did not know when the dawn would come. She did not know when the winter would be over. She did not know when she could go home.

She touched a cup to put it aside. As a result, when she touched the cup, that kind of cold caused her to quickly retract her hand. It was truly very cold.

She put her fingers near her mouth and blew warm air on her finger a few times before she took the cup again. She brought the cup to the front of her eyes. She remembered that she had poured some water inside before she went to bed.

She brought the cup to her mouth and poured into her mouth for a while, but no water came out.

Where was the water? She shook the cup, which felt somewhat heavy inside. It was unlike its usual weight. She put the cup in front of her eyes, which made her feel like crying as a result. But in the end she did not shed tears.

The water in the cup was frozen into ice.

She put the cup on top of the stove until the ice inside melted little by little into water before she brought it to her lips. At that moment, the cold water sent chills to her throat and lungs.

So cold, it was really very cold.