He Fang started to pack the old lady's luggage. She wanted to just bring a few coats for the winter, but the old lady disagreed. She didn't want to come back.
"Living in a nursing home with someone to serve you. How nice," the old lady said with a smile. "We didn't have this in the past, but now we have it."
"Mother, what are you thinking about? I'll go back with you." He Fang wanted to control her tears, but in the end, she couldn't hold it in. "Don't worry about the child. Let Erhe look after him at home."
The old lady shook her head. "Even if you want someone to keep you company, it won't be you. This is your brother's business. If he doesn't do it, people will curse at him. Otherwise, I'll be alone. It'll be quiet."
He Fang said, "What era is it? Sons and daughters are the same."
"It's different in every dynasty." The old lady put a pillow under her head and said with a smile, "I've been dreaming of your dad for a few nights. Don't you think it's weird? I didn't even see him when he died.
There's no river in front of our old house, but I dreamed of pulling a cart of bean dregs to cross the river. When your dad saw me, he asked me, 'Why are you so old?'
I said angrily, 'So what if you don't like me?'
He's still the same. He lowered his head and didn't say anything. I wanted to talk more, but I don't know why he woke up. "
As she spoke, she began to laugh.
"Our dad is gentle." He Fang laughed too.
The old lady said, "Sigh, people say that northeastern men are violent. He's a big man, but he's not like a man at all. He's gentle and slow. Sometimes I think that if he beat me up, maybe he'll stop. He's just too indulgent."
He Fang said, "My dad is a good man who doesn't like to fight with women. Maybe he wants to reason with you."
"I'm a reasonable person …" The old lady laughed even louder.
After the children's holidays, the Li and He Families finally started their journey up north.
The old lady struggled to stand, so she basically relied on He Long and Li He to take turns carrying her.
The plane landed in Bingcheng. Through Wang Yuan's connections, Li He rented two helicopters from the forest and flew directly to Huma.
It was minus 34 degrees Celsius. This was the temperature given by the official weather forecast. The Greater Khingan Mountains was the coldest region in China.
Li He couldn't care less about his own shivering. Together with He Fang, they each carried a child and boarded the carriage driven by the Fang family's son-in-law. Even when they wanted to go to the toilet, they had to hold it in.
"When did it start snowing?" The old lady, on the other hand, was suddenly in high spirits. She tore off the scarf wrapped tightly around her head, shook off the ice shards on it, and chatted with the son-in-law of the Fang family.
"Cover your throat. Don't let the cold air enter your throat." The Fang family's son-in-law looked at the old lady lying on the handcart and felt very upset.
It was a world of ice and snow everywhere. Although Li He was so cold that he was not in the mood to look at it, he still noticed that this border town was different from before. At least, it was more popular. There were many tourists from other places, and many restaurants were doing very well.
The He family's house in the county town was bought by Li He when he visited them for the first time. The two houses were connected and had a very large area, enough for two families to live in.
When they heard that the old lady was coming back, the He family's relatives helped to tidy up the house in advance. In the warm house, Li He instantly breathed smoothly. He felt like he had come back to life.
Li Yi and Li Lan did not seem to be afraid of the cold. When they saw the other children going out to play, they could not stay at home anymore. Li He had no choice but to accompany them to go sledding.
Fang Quan pulled the rope in front while the two children sat on it. Li He followed behind, one step at a time.
Fang Quan was tired and was afraid that he would lose the rope to his brother, Fang Li, so he walked side by side with Li He. "Brother-in-law, I'll treat you to fish at a restaurant tonight. The winter fish is delicious."
"What kind of fish?" Li He asked curiously. After saying that, he pulled his scarf tighter. Even though there was no wind, his skin felt as if it was being cut by a knife, so he had to wear a large mask or scarf to protect his face.
Fang Quan said, "We locally call it Potato Fish. It melts in the mouth and tastes like soft tofu. Many tourists come for this fish."
"It's so cold at night. I'd better not go out. I'll just stay at home." No matter how hungry Li He was, he did not want to go to a restaurant in the middle of the night. He was afraid that he would not be able to come back alive.
Fang Quan said, "Then I'll go into the river to dig."
"How do you do that?" Li He asked.
Fang Quan said, "I'll dig a hole in the ice with an icicle. There's a net entrance and a net exit. It's manual labor. It's very simple."
Li He said, "I'll go with you tomorrow morning."
He was still interested in fishing.
Plans could not keep up with changes. Early in the morning, he had just boarded the horse carriage. Before they had even traveled two miles, he was already freezing. His tears and snot had turned into ice shards.
"You guys go ahead. I'll go back."
He was wearing the best down jacket from Canada, used by the international mountaineering team. How could it not be as cold resistant as these locals?
"Then you wait at home." The son-in-law of the Fang family laughed heartily. He turned the horse carriage around and sent Li He back.
It was either fish or meat every day. Not to mention that the children could not stand it, even a carnivore like Li He found it a little tasteless. There were not many vegetables, only maojie melon and winter melon.
Just like that, they endured until the Spring Festival.
They celebrated the Spring Festival at home. Looking at the endless stream of relatives who came to visit, Old Madam He was happier than any other Spring Festival.
She was very generous. She gave all the juniors who came to visit a hundred dollars.
She still couldn't get out of bed and ate very little. She pulled the blanket on the kang closer to her and let her grandson, He Hu, come up and lay on it. She smiled and said to He Long, "From what I can see, you two don't take after your father."
"Isn't my father afraid of you too?" He Long was still afraid of his wife.
Old Madam said disdainfully, "How can you compare to your father? He gives in to me and spoils me. He doesn't want to argue with me. Even when his leg was broken, he refused to accept it. I cried and begged him to give in.
He listened to me his whole life except for this. He stubbornly carried it.
I just didn't expect that he would be able to get through this and be killed by pneumonia.
You, you have ten percent of your father's backbone. I can rest assured even with my eyes closed. "
He Long said awkwardly, "It's the Spring Festival. What are you talking about?"
"Do you know why I like your brother-in-law?" Old Madam asked.
He Long said, "Brother-in-law has always been taking care of us."
Old Madam said, "Sigh, that's part of it. The main thing is that your brother-in-law is like your father, especially that stubbornness."
"My brother-in-law is so lazy." In terms of diligence, He Long thought that he was better than his brother-in-law.
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