Chapter 106

The first snow after the start of winter arrived as promised. Overnight, Suxi Township seemed to have donned a layer of pure white wedding dress. The world suddenly became quiet; except for the snow rustling down from the branches, not a single sound could be heard, not even the crowing of roosters or the barking of dogs.

The wind had stilled, the water had stilled, and the world suddenly seemed to have frozen, filling one's heart with infinite melancholy.

Last night, I drove the motorcycle back from Laoyingzui, my stomach full of cold wind. When I returned to the township government, I felt light-headed and dizzy. I went back to my room, lay down, and didn't get up again.

Waking up in the morning, everything I saw was white. Wrapped in my quilt, I jumped out of bed and pushed open the window to see the whole world covered in silver. A sparrow hopped on a branch outside the window, flapping its wings and disturbing the quiet snow, which drifted down and merged into the whiteness of the earth, disappearing.

My heart was filled with surprise. In Hengyue City in the south, it was becoming harder and harder to see snow. In my four years in Suxi Township, this was the first time I had seen snow, and such heavy snow at that, a full three feet thick, which made me feel infinite emotion while being surprised.

Snow is a generous gift from Heaven to man; because of snow, we can perceive holiness; because of snow, we can be grateful for life!

My eyes blurred, and waves of sadness surged from the bottom of my heart.

After watching for a while, I felt a rumble in my stomach and remembered that I had barely eaten or drunk anything since last night. I felt my eyes getting a bit blurry, my head was too heavy to lift, and the air I exhaled was scorching between my nose and throat. I knew I had caught a cold, so I quickly found medicine in the drawer, swallowed a few pills with the warm water from the thermos, climbed back into bed, and wrapped myself tightly in the quilt.

The Little New Year's Eve passed while Liu Hongyan was in the hospital. The original plan to spend the Little New Year together at Pan Xiaoqin's supermarket had completely fallen through. They hadn't returned yet, and I didn't know how things were going. I felt a panic in my heart and prepared to call Hao Qiang.

The sound of a car horn came from outside the window. I recognized it as the minibus from Sun Demao's family. With such heavy snow, would anyone still go to Chunshan County? I muttered to myself, then heard a bustling crowd of people outside. I poked my head out and discovered that many villagers had come to the large courtyard, with bags and bundles piled all over the ground, dismembering a perfectly good snowy field into pieces.

Feeling annoyed, I simply buried my head in the quilt, curled my body into a ball, and endured the protest of my hungry stomach.

The end of the year had arrived, and it felt as if everything had come to an end. People like to hand over unfinished business to the coming year at this time. I recalled the events of this past year and felt as if it were a dream. First, Liu Quan was transferred, then Zhu Shizhen took power, followed by Guo Wei's parachute arrival, and I entered the Party School for study, and two days ago, I inexplicably met my cousin. Now electricity was connected, the road was connected, and it seemed there were no more major events in Suxi Township; everything had returned to how it was four years ago.

This year, I had harvested love!

Thinking of this, a smile appeared on the corners of my mouth. Xue Bing's voice and smile appeared in my mind, and tenderness like water washed over my whole body.

I had to get up. I said to myself. The township government canteen still followed the old ways; no one cared about breakfast. I wanted to go to Pan Xiaoqin's supermarket, where she also had a small restaurant. Asking Pan Shurong to make me a breakfast, I thought, was not too much to ask.

Just as I was calculating, there was a knock on the door, and Zhao Yu'er's milky voice came from outside: "Godfather, Godfather, it's Yu'er."

I was startled and quickly sat up. Zhao Yu'er's voice touched the fragile nerves in my heart. I didn't know what kind of relationship existed between him and me, but as long as I saw him, I would feel that life could be infinitely beautiful.

Opening the door, Yu'er threw himself into my arms, hugged my neck, and kissed my face. My heart felt sweet, and I poked him with the stubble on my chin, making him giggle.

Jin Ling was holding a bowl of steaming noodles, with bright red chili and emerald green scallions floating on a layer of greasy oil. She understood me; I had a habit: whenever I had a cold, as long as I drank a bowl of noodles with scallions splashed with hot chili oil, I would be fine immediately.

"Yu'er, get down and let your Godfather eat." Jin Ling called to her son, placed the noodles on the table, and said with a smile, "Eat quickly. I know about what happened last night."

I said apologetically, "You got up so early. It's cold, be careful not to let Yu'er catch a cold."

"It's fine. This little thing is tough. After recognizing you as his Godfather, his health has been incredibly good; it's impossible to even give him a headache or a fever."

"With such heavy snow, why did you come out?"

"Xiaoqin isn't in the shop, and it's New Year's, so many people are coming to buy things. I came to look after it."

"Aren't you going home to prepare New Year's goods?"

"Yu'er's dad has already prepared them."

I picked up the noodle bowl and ate it fiercely. The chili oil and hot soup nourished my poor stomach. Before long, fine sweat appeared on my head, and a layer seeped out on my back. With something in my stomach, my brain turned faster. I put down the bowl and chopsticks, picked up Yu'er, and said, "Godfather will take you to build a snowman, okay?"

Zhao Yu'er clapped his little hands, hugged me, giggled, and clamored to go out.

Jin Ling said reproachfully, "You just broke into a sweat, you should lie in bed and rest. Otherwise, if you get hit by the cold wind, it will worsen your cold."

I patted my chest and said, "I'm strong, I'm not afraid."

Jin Ling covered her mouth and chuckled, saying, "Of course you're strong."

I could naturally hear the subtext in Jin Ling's words. I pretended to be ignorant and said, "Let's go together."

Jin Ling's face turned bitter, and she said, "Is it okay for me to go? On such a snowy day, going to build a snowman with you, what would others say?" She rejected my suggestion, tidied up the bowls and chopsticks, and said, "I'm going to the supermarket first. Come to the supermarket for lunch. The food from last night's Little New Year's Eve dinner hasn't been touched; my family didn't touch it, and the supermarket's hasn't been touched either."

I agreed readily and carried Zhao Yu'er out. Jin Ling turned into a small alley, deliberately keeping a distance from us.

Zhao Yu'er lay on my shoulder, clapping his hands and calling for his mother.

The township government had already quieted down. Except for the staff on duty, the cadres were all preparing to go home for the New Year. Cadres who lived nearby had left after the ribbon-cutting ceremony yesterday, and those who lived far away were packing their luggage, waiting to eat breakfast before hitting the road.

Two crooked tire tracks stretched into the distance in the government courtyard, and messy footprints marked the pure white earth, just like a bowl of ink splashed on a piece of clean rice paper. Like a faint landscape painting, it had a hazy artistic conception and deliberate restraint.

No pedestrians could be seen on the road. A few dogs ran happily on the snow, leaving strings of plum-blossom footprints behind them. They were flaunting and galloping with vivid life. The world of snow was quiet, so quiet that the world almost stopped turning. All restless moods would calm down in front of the snow, and the lingering desires in the bottom of one's heart would be washed away by the snow's purity.

I found an iron shovel. Just as I shoveled the first shovel of snow, I heard the chugging sound of a car. Looking up, I saw Guo Wei's jeep slowly coming over the bridge along the tire tracks of Sun Demao's minibus. It stopped in front of me, the door opened, and I saw Xue Bing climb out, exhausted, smiling at me with fatigue.

Zhao Yu'er ran over unsteadily, threw himself into her arms, and stretched out his little hands, clamoring to be held.

Then Guo Wei came out, looking at the iron shovel in my hand with great interest, and asked with a smile, "Preparing to build a snowman?"

I nodded, stuck the iron shovel into the snow pile, and took a cigarette out of my pocket, preparing to offer him one. Guo Wei waved his hand to refuse my kindness. Good men don't smoke! But men who don't smoke have no masculine charm, Xue Bing told me, they all told me. They said that watching a man smoke is disgusting, but not being able to smell the tobacco on the man they are close to is even sadder!

Some say men who smoke but don't drink are hypocritical! Men who drink but don't smoke are stingy! Men who don't smoke or drink are terrifying! Men who both drink and smoke are open and honest!

I compared myself and found that I actually belonged to the hypocritical category. This discovery made me unhappy for a long time. How am I hypocritical?

I kicked the snow under my feet, and a cloud of snow mist flew up.

I said, "Is Secretary Liu okay now?"

Xue Bing smiled weakly and said, "Thanks to you for discovering it. Acute appendicitis, it could have been fatal. It's not a major illness, but it's terrifying." She looked like she still had lingering fears, and then asked me with infinite concern, "You froze last night, didn't you?"

I stretched my arms and legs and said, "It doesn't matter, just a small cold. I broke into a sweat, and I'm fine."

Guo Wei stomped his feet and said, "You guys chat, I'm going back first to catch up on sleep." He then said to Xue Bing with concern, "Teacher Xue, you should go sleep too. Everyone stayed in the hospital all night last night, cold and hungry, it was hard work."

Guo Wei climbed into the car, started it, and drove directly into an abandoned small shed in the township government, locked the door, and went straight to his room. I touched Xue Bing's hand, which was exposed outside her clothes; it was ice-cold to the touch. I said, "Go to Xiaoqin's supermarket and drink some hot soup."

Xue Bing was still hesitating, and I said, "Your sister is there."

As I spoke, I took Zhao Yu'er from her hands and took the lead in walking toward the supermarket.

Xue Bing hesitated for a moment but still followed me. I turned my head and said to her, "Wife, eat something and then go to your room to sleep. I'll arrange lunch, and I'll call you when it's ready."

Xue Bing puffed out her cheeks coquettishly and said, "I'm not going to sleep, the quilt is freezing."

I said ambiguously, "Don't worry, I'll warm the quilt for you."

She heard my ambiguity and gave a shy, sweet smile. This shyness of Xue Bing's could often dismantle me directly. Although we were like husband and wife and had explored all the mysteries of men and women, her unchanging shyness could still take me from the valley to the clouds, making me willing to let myself be shattered to pieces without a single complaint.