Chapter Forty-Five: Little Sister’s New Padded Coat

"That won't be necessary. The wolf pack is in the back mountains; let them fend for themselves. We’ll head into the mountains just as we always do." Zhang Huacheng gave a sharp "click" as he chambered a round. In his hands, the Springfield rifle was an instrument of death—whoever he aimed at, he hit.

He had one Springfield and one Arisaka, plus Ergou’s Type 54 rifle. As long as they didn't run into a massive wolf pack, there was no reason to worry. Large packs in the Changbai Mountains rarely wandered into the peripheral regions unless something extraordinary occurred.

"Huacheng." Wang Lin approached him.

"What is it?" One look at her, and Zhang Huacheng knew she had something on her mind.

"Well, could you take Dou Dou and me to the county seat tomorrow morning? I... I’d like to go to the department store to buy a few notebooks..." She hesitated, then added softly, "Dou Dou has never been to the county seat before..." Wang Lin lowered her head as she spoke.

Zhang Huacheng understood exactly what she was thinking; she wanted to visit her parents.

"Of course. We’ll go together tomorrow morning. Should we bring Hualing? If she wants to go, invite her too. She’s been clamoring for wire hairpins; she can have some fun in town while we're there." It was time to visit Wang Lin’s parents anyway. Life was better now, and he had promised her he would reconcile with them.

At the mention of Hualing, Ergou, who was busy cleaning his gun, perked his ears up.

"I’ll go get Hualing!" Wang Lin ran off, delighted.

"Don't bring Xiao Ya, don't let her hear!" Zhang Huacheng called out in a hurry. Bringing Xiao Ya meant adding a hundred pounds of dead weight; with her around, even the well-behaved Dou Dou would start acting out.

Whether she heard him or not, Wang Lin was already out the door.

After a long silence, Ergou stammered, "How about we hunt an extra red deer tonight? I’ll tag along tomorrow to broaden my horizons."

*Listen to this guy,* Zhang thought. *If we bag an extra deer, can you even carry it back? Are you really going for the "broadening of horizons"?*

"Fine, we’ll go together tomorrow," Zhang Huacheng said, deciding not to expose his little scheme.

Half an hour later, Hualing came running over, brimming with excitement, carrying a parcel.

"Why the parcel? Are you running away from home or heading to the county seat to play the village girl?" Zhang Huacheng asked curiously.

"Brother, you’re so annoying! These are three sets of cotton-padded clothes and two pairs of cotton shoes. They’re all finished." Hualing placed the parcel on the *kang*.

"Finished?" Zhang Huacheng stood up, pleased, and went over to take a look.

Tiezhu stood up hurriedly as well. These were for his older sister and two younger brothers. Because there was so much to do, the whole family had worked tirelessly to get them ready.

He opened the parcel; they were made of printed cotton fabric, very pretty, just like the ones Dabao and Xiaobao wore.

"Brother!" Tiezhu grinned.

"Carry a bamboo basket and take them over," Zhang Huacheng patted Tiezhu on the shoulder.

"Yes!" Tiezhu nodded vigorously.

"Brother!!!" Xiao Ya’s voice rang out. Zhang Huacheng turned to see her charging in, her face flushed red. She hugged his leg and asked, "Can you take Xiao Ya to eat noodles tomorrow? Noodles with shredded meat!" She had remembered him mentioning the county seat had meat noodles.

Zhang Huacheng looked at Hualing.

"I want some too!" Hualing nodded repeatedly.

"..." I wasn't asking if you wanted to eat. I was wondering why you brought this little burden along!

It seemed Linlin hadn't heard his warning; she must have been too happy. Outside in the yard, Dou Dou’s laughter could already be heard—Linlin had brought her back too.

"Eat, eat, everyone goes to eat tomorrow!" If you're going to shepherd one sheep, you might as well shepherd the whole flock. Let them all go!

***

At the Fuzhuang Brigade, Wang Fugui was mixing mud to patch a small crack around the window frame. With the *kang* burning, the room wasn't cold; if he tried doing this outside, the water would freeze the moment it hit the ground.

"Wait until spring, then we'll get some timber and hire a carpenter to make two new windows," Wang Fugui said with a grin. Thanks to Tiezhu’s daily contributions, their family was living a hundred times better than before.

"Mother, Brother is here!" The eldest sister sat on the *kang*, watching the yard. She caught sight of a familiar figure and jumped down to put on her shoes, overjoyed.

"Brother!"

"Awoo!" The two little ones shrieked with excitement upon hearing this and ran toward the door barefoot.

Zhao Xianglan rushed out to open the door, and Tiezhu arrived, carrying the parcel.

"Mother!" Tiezhu grinned.

"Hurry, come in!"

"Brother!"

"Big Sister!"

Soon, the house was filled with cheers. Zhao Xiangyu looked at the bundle of cotton-padded clothes and the two pairs of small cotton shoes, her eyes turning red. Finally, the two children wouldn't have to run around bare-bottomed every day.

"Xianglan, let the children wash their feet before they put them on. Get out the cotton socks we bought." Wang Fugui hurried over to help.

Soon, the two little ones were dressed in new cotton pants, jackets, and shoes. They were two sizes too big, but that was intentional so they could still wear them next winter.

The two little ones, who had never worn clothes before, stood on the *kang* awkwardly, jumping up and down in delight. The eldest sister had changed into her new outfit as well; it was a bit loose, and she kept looking at herself in the mirror, beaming.

"Mother, I want to build a snowman!" Clad in her new jacket, she no longer feared the cold.

"Build a snowman!"

"Awoo!!!"

Whether at Tiezhu’s house or Zhang Huacheng’s, everyone was in high spirits. Ergou even lingered, refusing to leave, claiming it would be more convenient to head into the mountains at night. His little schemes couldn't hide from the perceptive Zhang Huacheng.

Hualing had been coming early and leaving late for days, practically living there. She called it "helping to watch the children"—but was she really watching the children?

Chen Biao, back at home, had thrown a fit for half the day to no avail. Finally, he shifted his resentment toward Chen Qiuyang, the man who had caused this whole mess, gritting his teeth and vowing to find a chance to beat him up. Little did he know that Chen Qiuyang was currently urinating blood and could barely get off the *kang*, yet he was still too proud to tell his family.

That afternoon, Chen Biao grabbed his gun and donned his tattered fur coat to find Ergou, only to find Ergou’s door locked. After pacing around for a while, he had no choice but to check Zhang Huacheng’s house.

"We’re heading into the mountains tonight. You coming?" Ergou sounded reluctant as he stepped out upon hearing Chen Biao was looking for him.

Chen Biao’s face turned dark. "Ergou—no, Captain—there’s a wolf pack in the mountains! We should just patrol the village entrance. People die in those mountains!"

*Are they crazy? Going into the mountains to feed the wolves?*

"We aren't afraid of death. If you’re too scared to enter, stay at the village entrance and patrol. Huacheng and I are going in to drive the wolves out. Oh, and whoever bags the game keeps it. You have no objections, right?" Ergou was already sick of him.

"Fine! That’s only fair!" Chen Biao had no objections. Patrolling the village entrance was easy; he’d just put on a show and then go home to sleep.

*Into the mountains? That’s just feeding the wolves!* As for the game, that was laughable. In the dead of winter, even the veteran mountain guards couldn't catch a rabbit. They wanted to go hunting?

Chen Biao left quickly, fearing Ergou might change his mind. By tomorrow, he’d likely hear the news that Zhang Huacheng and Ergou had been eaten by wolves.

*If Zhang Huacheng dies,* Chen Biao thought, *doesn't that make the little stutterer a young widow? With no one to protect them, they’d be at his mercy.*