Chapter 28
The snowstorm in Qingshi Town was even bigger than Li Mingwei had imagined. The Dong Family's house was quite old to begin with, and the storeroom she was staying in had hardly been maintained at all.
The last time her door was broken, Dong Shan had helped reinforce all the doors and windows, and she thought there wouldn't be any more problems. But as she was sleeping, she was woken up by the cold.
She wrapped herself tightly in her quilt, and faint light coming in through holes in the window paper illuminated the room. Gusts of cold wind also blew in through the holes, so she quickly put on her winter clothes to try to find something to temporarily block the holes.
There was nothing useful in the room, so she opened the door, and the accumulated snow outside immediately slid into the room, giving her a fright and causing her to quickly close the door again.
"The snow last night was really too big!"
The snow in the backyard of the Dong Family house had accumulated to her knee height. She didn't dare open the door now, and cold wind kept blowing into the room. After enduring it for a while, she had no choice but to open the window and call out to Wang Chunhua's room several times braving the wind and snow.
"Sis! Sis!"
"What's the matter?"
Wang Chunhua got up and opened her door, and the accumulated snow similarly rolled into her room, even falling onto her feet. She kicked the snow, trying to get it out of her room.
"Oh my, so much snow! It's really cold!" She looked towards Li Mingwei leaning out of the window, "The wind is so strong, why are you leaning on the window? Come back into the room quickly!"
Li Mingwei said aggrievedly, "Sis, my window paper is broken."
"Huh? How has the window paper broken again?" She complained while looking at Dong Shan, urging him to quickly get up, "Didn't I tell you to check things out for her properly when you were fixing the door last time? If anything wasn't right you should have changed it for her early on. How did you inspect it!"
Dong Shan also felt wronged, "It wasn't broken last time I checked it. The wind was just too strong last night."
Wang Chunhua glared at him, "Fine, hurry up and clear a path in the yard, the snow is so thick."
Only then did Dong Shan realize that after just one night, the snow had accumulated so deep. He put on his clothes and changed into leather boots, essential for going up the mountain, then strode out with a shovel to clear snow.
Wang Chunhua took a broom and followed behind him sweeping snow. She told Li Mingwei, "Don't stand there blowing wind anymore, go back under your quilt for a bit. We'll clear a path, then you can squeeze in with little Lei for now since the shops selling window paper won't be open yet."
"OK."
The husband and wife quickly cleared a small path leading to each room in the yard. The yard was so small, and with so much snow in winter they had no idea where to sweep it, they could only barely manage to clear a way to walk.
Li Mingwei waited until they had cleared a path before opening her door. Wang Chunhua saw some melted snow water in her room, and realized she must have opened the door earlier.
Dong Shan examined the window paper, the hole torn in it was quite big, "It'll have to be replaced. I'll go buy a new sheet when it gets bright. You make some paste in the meantime."
"Alright." Wang Chunhua helped carry her quilt to Dong Lei's room, "Squeeze in with little Lei for now."
The sleepy Dong Lei was roused and rolled over on the bed to make space, then closed his eyes to go back to sleep. Wang Chunhua spread the quilt for Li Mingwei to lie down.
Li Mingwei still felt a little embarrassed, although Dong Lei was only six he was still a boy. She hadn't slept next to such a young boy before.
After blowing wind for so long she was wide awake now, and couldn't sleep anymore either. She lay next to Dong Lei, not daring to move a muscle for fear of disturbing his sweet dreams.
It was too cold at home, so after changing the window paper with Wang Chunhua, Li Mingwei decided to go to Mr. Jin's academy to warm herself by his stove. She held Dong Lei's hand and carried his small bag to help him with his things.
"Sis, I'm taking little Lei to school, and I'll copy some books before coming back."
"Alright, remember to come back for lunch. Little Lei paid so he gets lunch, you don't!"
"Okay, okay."
Liu Yizhu had come early to help Mr. Jin shovel snow, so when Li Mingwei stepped into the academy the yard was very clean. She had originally wanted to ask if they needed help, but it turned out Mr. Jin was hale and hearty despite his old age.
Maybe because he was getting older and had trouble sleeping, he had woken up early to tidy the place.
After Liu Yizhu finished sweeping the backyard, Mr. Jin's mother had just bought vegetables and carried them to the kitchen out back. She forcibly washed all the vegetables for her mother before finally going upstairs to read under her urging.
Sitting by the stove, Li Mingwei started feeling drowsy and could barely hold her pen. Liu Yizhu quietly walked over behind her and took the pen from her hand, gently smiling as he watched her sleeping face.
The desk was occupied so he took a book he had brought and leaned against the bookshelf to read.
"Mm~"
Sleeping hunched over was uncomfortable. Li Mingwei soon woke up, feeling the numbness in her hand. She moaned softly, shaking her hand and stretching lazily. Only then did she notice there was someone else in the room.
Liu Yizhu held his book staring at her, "Awake?"
Li Mingwei blinked, this wasn't a vacation month! Why was he here?
As if reading her mind, Liu Yizhu explained, "The academy is on annual leave."
"So early?" The academies in the capital only got about a month off. There was still more than a month until New Year, and another half month after New Year. Their vacation was really long!
"No choice, if I didn't come back now I'd be spending New Year outside." Liu Yizhu had specially asked around about her situation. Knowing she was from the south, she might not understand the northern climate very well, so he patiently explained to her.
"You've been to the county town right?"
"Yes."
"There's a few mountains on the road from Qingshi Town to the county town. Too much snow accumulation blocks the roads, so I had to rush back before heavy snow shuts the mountain passes. Otherwise I wouldn't have been able to return."
The continuous heavy snow over the past few days made him feel more and more uneasy. Two years ago he had delayed coming back for New Year and ended up imposing on another family for over a month.
This year no matter what, he didn't want his mother to spend New Year alone again. So he applied for early leave and came back ahead of time. Aside from students whose homes were in the county town itself, they could apply for leave in advance.
Li Mingwei's eyes widened slightly. So if he couldn't come back then they wouldn't be able to leave either?
"So that means we're stuck in town for now?"
"You could say that. For the next month or so it really would be quite difficult to leave. It'll be fine next spring when the snow melts."
What on earth! Li Mingwei felt a bit desperate. For the first time she regretted choosing this place. Not only was the wind and snow severe and freezing cold, they would also be cut off from the outside world for practically two whole months each winter.
What if, what if something happened to her grandfather and the others during this time, how would General Tang notify her?
Li Mingwei sank into the depths of despair.
Liu Yizhu saw her lost in thought and waved his hand in front of her eyes, "What are you thinking about?"
"Nothing..." Li Mingwei shook her head blankly, and asked again, "Is it really impossible to leave or for anyone to enter?"
"Very difficult, quite dangerous too. Otherwise I wouldn't have spent New Year at a classmate's home two years ago. That was my first time spending New Year outside since I was born!"
My first time spending New Year away from home too. New Year celebrations were banquets in the imperial palace. Now I can only be trapped in this broken down place!
But then anywhere was pretty much the same as a prisoner.
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