Chapter 49 Oh, I can’t tell

It turns out to be her!
Soon, Li Guoqiang discovered that the crying sound came from Zhang Chunyan, who was lying next to him, and a look of realization flashed across his face.

He knew that the little girl must be missing home.

Adding to the long journey and the uncertain future, it was normal for Zhang Chunyan, who was so fragile, to cry secretly.

Listening to the intermittent crying, Li Guoqiang felt a little uncomfortable. At the same time, he thought of his family far away in Beijing, especially his good sister who said in a gentle but firm tone that she would wait for him to come back.

I don’t know how they are doing now?

After thinking blankly for a while, he suddenly saw that the light outside the window had slightly brightened, so he hurriedly and carefully turned over and sat up from the kang.

Perhaps she realized that he had woken up, and the crying stopped all of a sudden.

He didn't care about it. He just got down from the kang quietly and put on his cotton-padded jacket and shoes very quickly.

Then, without paying any attention to the quilt and bedding roll on the kang, he turned around and walked towards the outer room.

"Hey, kid, why are you up so early? It's just dawn now! Are you hungry? Then sit on that little stool and wait for a while. The corn cakes and cornmeal porridge will be ready soon!"

When Tian Guixiang saw Li Guoqiang coming out of the inner room, she hurriedly greeted him with a warm look on her face.

As she spoke, she pinched the corn dough and kept sticking it to the upper edge of the big iron pot.

At the bottom of the iron pot, there was a large pot of slightly sticky cornmeal porridge rolling around.

Obviously, this was breakfast specially prepared for Li Guoqiang and others.

Li Guoqiang smelled the fresh fragrance of corn in the air, swallowed unconsciously, and then hurriedly said thank you.

"Thank you, Auntie! I have to say, these corn cakes and cornmeal porridge you made are so delicious that my mouth is watering."

"Haha! You're not exaggerating! I think you're just hungry. Our place is not as good as your city. We only have a few things to eat every day. We're almost sick of them. You kids just came here and you may think it's fresh. Once you stay here for a while, you won't think so anymore!"

When Tian Guixiang heard Li Guoqiang's straightforward praise, a happy smile immediately appeared on her face.

Upon hearing this, Li Guoqiang just smiled and didn't respond, then asked another question.

"Oh, aunt, where is my uncle? Why isn't he home so early?"

"Oh! Him! It was still dark this day, and he saw it was snowing outside, so he said he was going to find the brigade custodian Ma Changshun, planning to help you kids move the rations from the brigade warehouse to here first, so that you don't have to run back and forth in the snow."

Tian Guixiang was slightly stunned, then she laughed and started to explain.

After saying that, she had just finished making the pancake and then closed the lid on the pot.

When Li Guoqiang saw Tian Guixiang trying to squat down to put firewood into the stove, he hurried forward and offered to help.

"I'll do it, I'll do it. You should go and take a rest first, but don't get tired!"

"Okay, then you light the fire and don't let it go out!"

Upon hearing this, Tian Guixiang did not refuse Li Guoqiang's kindness, and she also made a joke.

Li Guoqiang smiled awkwardly, then hurriedly picked up some chopped firewood and poked them into the stove one by one.

The next moment, the fire in the stove weakened at a speed visible to the naked eye, and he was so scared that he hurriedly pulled out all the firewood he had just put in.

At the same time, he also secretly glanced at Tian Guixiang who was busy filling a large jar with pickles on the other side. He was relieved to find that she had not noticed what had happened. Then, he became more cautious and careful. He took the firewood and slowly put it into the stove one by one. When he saw the fire weakened, he stopped and waited patiently for a while, observing what was going on.

no way!
Although he had helped to light the wood stove at home when he was a child in his previous life, that was more than 20 years ago. It was inevitable that he was a little unfamiliar with it now.

Before long, he regained the feel of the wood stove in his hometown and began to become more proficient at it, and no longer had to stare at the stove all the time.

"Oh, I never knew you could actually light a wood stove like the ones we have in the countryside!"

I don't know when, Tian Guixiang was standing next to Li Guoqiang, and then she suddenly praised him, which almost scared Li Guoqiang.

After saying that, she didn't care about Li Guoqiang's reaction. She just walked forward, reached out to open the lid of the big pot, and then stood the lid up and leaned it against the wall.

Then she waved her hand again to disperse the white steam rising from the pot.

When Li Guoqiang came to his senses, a steaming corn cake was stuffed into his hand.

"Eat quickly! There's more!"

Seeing that Li Guoqiang was a little dazed, Tian Guixiang couldn't help but give him some advice in a gentle voice. Then she hurriedly turned around, picked up all the remaining corn cakes in the pot, and put them in a large enamel basin.

Li Guoqiang looked at Tian Guixiang busy at the stove and suddenly remembered his childhood. Every time his mother cooked at the stove, he would run over and look at her with a greedy look on his face. When his mother saw his greedy look, she would pick out a little with a spatula and let him taste it first with a displeased look on her face.

Once upon a time, he always thought that was the most delicious thing in the world.

It’s a pity that when he grows up, he will never be able to taste that flavor again.

As he thought about it, his nose couldn't help but feel a little sour. He quickly lowered his head, opened his mouth and took a bite of the orange corn cake.

In an instant, his tongue was enveloped by the rich, sweet aroma of corn, and at the same time, he successfully suppressed the sadness that had just surged up in his heart.

After a while, he finished eating a corn cake that was half the size of his palm, and a faint sense of satisfaction surged in his heart.

"Here, this cake is a little dry, you should have a bowl of cornmeal porridge to ease your stomach!"

When Tian Guixiang saw that Li Guoqiang had finished eating the corn cake, she immediately brought him a bowl of soft and glutinous cornmeal porridge.

Seeing this, Li Guoqiang silently reached out to take it, then put his mouth to the edge of the bowl and drank it in small sips.

Before he finished drinking, Shao Ruian, Shang Xiuzhen and others came out from the inner room one after another.

Seeing this, Tian Guixiang hurriedly smiled and invited them to come over to eat some cakes and drink porridge.

Shao Ruian and others first looked at Li Guoqiang, who was squatting in front of the stove drinking porridge, with different expressions, then hurried forward to take the corn cakes and cornmeal porridge from Tian Guixiang, and did not forget to say thank you.

Soon, the sound of gurgling porridge could be heard in the room.

Li Guoqiang finished the porridge in a short while. Then, while standing up to put down the bowl, he took out a dime and a national food coupon with a denomination of one catty from the pocket of the lining of his cotton-padded jacket and quietly placed them under the bowl.

Afterwards, he did not go to get the corn cakes to eat, but went straight into the inner room to pack his quilt and bedding.

When he had packed up his things and brought them out, he suddenly heard a donkey's bray coming from the yard outside the house, and immediately realized that it must be Xu Guangfu returning.

So he hurriedly put his bedroll and quilt on top of his bag, then quickly walked to the door, pushed it open and walked out.

The next moment, he was greeted by a biting cold wind and a vast expanse of white snowflakes between the sky and the earth, which made him shiver instantly.

(End of this chapter)