The roof of the Old Su family's house was not particularly sturdy, unable to withstand the heavy snow.
In previous years, when it snowed heavily, the three Su brothers would clear the snow from the roof.
The elders of the family were all busy with their own affairs and couldn't attend to the snow accumulation at home.
Su Shouwen, as the eldest brother, took the initiative to lead his younger brothers in the task.
The young men were more agile than Su Laoda and the others.
When Su Laoda and Su Lao Er left one morning, Grandma Su was still worried that no one would clear the snow from the roof.
Seeing Su Shouwen and his brothers doing a good job now, she felt much more at ease.
Su Xiaotian wanted to help, but her brothers firmly objected.
"You go and warm yourself on the kang. There's no reason for little girls to do this kind of work," Su Shouwen said naturally.
His demeanor made Su Xiaotian feel as if he were a father. Remembering the love her brothers had for her in her past life, she couldn't help but her eyes well up.
Fortunately, her brothers were all going to college, and with such good results, their future was bound to be bright.
None of them noticed Su Xiaotian's unusual behavior.
"Shouwen, you brothers be careful, the snow is very slippery," Grandma Su called out, watching the brothers on the roof with concern.
Su Shouwen walked cautiously on the roof and said, "Grandma, don't worry, we know what we're doing and we'll be fine."
Despite her grandson's assurance, Grandma Su stood in the yard, her hands clenched with anxiety.
About an hour later, it was still snowing, but there was no more snow on the roof of the Old Su family's house.
Su Shouwen and his two brothers climbed down the wooden ladder.
Seeing the children's faces red from the cold and standing on the roof, it must have been uncomfortable.
Grandma Su felt heartbroken.
"Quick, get on the kang and warm up!"
Su Xiaotian had prepared hot sugar water for her brothers and urged them to drink it to warm their bodies.
"I boiled it with two slices of ginger. It can help drive away the cold."
Su Shouwen took the ginger sugar water from Su Xiaotian and drank it in large gulps.
After finishing the ginger sugar water, he felt warm all over and spoke, rubbing his hands.
"Let's go and check on Grandpa Chi and Aunt Taohua's place too."
Grandma Su smiled and said, "That's right. Aunt Taohua's family doesn't have anyone capable. Xiaogang is too young, and Teacher Shen isn't good at this kind of thing."
Although Teacher Shen had lived in a cowshed for several years, at heart, he was still a scholar and didn't understand such matters.
Su Ciliang said while drinking the warm ginger sugar water, "Grandma, when we go, we can invite them over for a meal, so we don't have to invite them separately."
"Alright, you go ahead! Shouwen, you keep an eye on your brothers!"
Grandma Su was happy that her grandsons knew to help proactively, but she was still worried about their safety.
Kind-hearted elders are always happy to see children being helpful.
"Grandma, it's okay, we know what we're doing!" Su Ciliang said with a smile.
Su Xiaotian quickly expressed that she wanted to go too.
But Grandma Su firmly disagreed.
"That won't do. The roads are slippery outside. Sweetheart, don't run around. Stay home and help Grandma cook."
Su Xiaotian thought that she couldn't leave Grandma alone to do all the work, so she agreed.
The older Su children went to help, while the younger ones stayed at home, chattering with Grandma Su about what to eat today.
In the middle of winter, there wasn't much good food. Fortunately, the Old Su family's conditions were pretty good now.
There were plenty of cabbages and radishes, as well as some mountain goods like mushrooms and wood ear fungus.
All in all, it was quite a lot.
Finally, the grandparents and grandchildren decided to stew a pot of chicken soup and make some dumplings.
Su Xiaotian felt that hot pot would be the best for this kind of weather, but the conditions weren't right; they didn't have hot pot cookware at home.
Fortunately, the country was about to open up. When that time came, she would definitely have a set of cookware custom-made so they could eat hot pot on cold, snowy days.
The other boys had no idea what hot pot was. They were very happy to hear about dumplings and busied themselves helping.
"Grandma, I'll chop the meat filling!" Su Sisi volunteered.
But Grandma Su dared not, fearing that Su Sisi, being young, wouldn't know how to use a knife and would injure himself.
"I'll chop the meat. You go with Xiaotian to wash the vegetables, or if not, go to the well and fetch water," Grandma Su stopped him.
Su Sisi held the knife and refused to let go, "Grandma, how old am I? Why don't you trust me?"
Grandma Su gave her grandson a look and said, "How old? In my heart, you're still just a little child!"
"I've really grown up, Grandma. If you don't trust me, just watch me."
Grandma Su thought that it made sense, so she took out the flour basin, kneaded the dough, and watched Su Sisi chop the meat.
It had to be said that Su Sisi was quite skilled at chopping meat.
Slowly, Grandma Su became more at ease.
Su Taohua arrived quickly, bringing Su Xiaomei with her.
"Xiaotian, come, I'll help you!" Su Xiaomei saw Su Xiaotian washing vegetables as soon as she entered and rolled up her sleeves to help.
After putting down the basket in her hand, Su Taohua went to wash her hands and then walked up to Grandma Su.
"Auntie Ga, let me do it. There's so much dough."
Grandma Su was not young anymore, and kneading so much dough would surely be strenuous.
Grandma Su didn't stand on ceremony and pushed the basin of dough to Su Taohua, preparing to stew the chicken herself.
"Taohua, when are you going to Beijing?" Grandma Su asked casually.
Su Taohua smiled faintly, her face full of gentleness, "Zi Zhen and I have discussed it, and we'll go after the New Year."
"That's wonderful! Then we can celebrate a lively New Year together," Grandma Su said with a beaming smile.
"Zi Zhen said that Xiaomei is going to college in Beijing, and the school will start after the New Year. It will be just the right time to go then."
"Xiaomei applied to a university in Beijing. I heard about that."
"Shouwen, Ciliao, and Sangong will also go together then, so they can look out for each other!" Su Taohua said this without any pretense, her tone and attitude as if they were her own children.
Su Xiaotian smiled upon hearing this, "With Aunt Taohua looking after my brothers, Grandma can be even more at ease."
Grandma Su nodded, "That's true. With Taohua there, I have nothing to worry about."
After saying this, Grandma Su sighed and said, "I was worried before, I didn't want the children to go to Beijing, fearing no one would look after them."
"Now you can rest assured, Grandma. I will definitely be able to take care of them," Su Taohua promised.
At this time, Yu Ruiyuan and others also arrived, with snow falling on all four of them.
"Quick, come inside and sit by the fire," Grandma Su said with a smile.
Yu Ruiyuan, however, insisted on coming to the kitchen, saying, "I'm not a guest. We're all family."
Hearing her say this, Grandma Su no longer stood on ceremony.
Chi Ge and Du Tonghe went to the main hall to find Grandpa Su. Chi Yiyuan also quietly went to the kitchen and squatted beside Su Xiaotian, talking with her.
The two little ones squatted together, whispering secrets, which were, in fact, rather trivial.
But for some reason, they were both talking very happily.
Su Xiaomei, listening from the side, couldn't help but chuckle, thinking that children are indeed children.
Su Shouwen and the others arrived with Shen Zizhen and Su Xiaogang around noon, saying that they had already cleared all the snow.
Grandma Su urged them to go inside and warm up, and said, "Dinner will be ready soon. We'll have chicken soup and dumplings for lunch."
This heavy snowfall lasted for three consecutive days.
The Old Su family's house had been reinforced this year, and the snow on the roof was cleared promptly every day, so there were no problems.
However, the roofs of some houses in the brigade collapsed under the thick snow.
Roofs that were already not very sturdy due to years of disrepair, combined with the laziness of some people who let the snow accumulate layer by layer, could no longer bear the weight and collapsed.
When Su Changjiu heard this news, he was furious.
How lazy could they be?
Did it kill them to get up from the kang and clear the snow?
Now, the snow had even collapsed the roofs. Where would they live in this snowy weather?
Su Changjiu grumbled and cursed, but he still went to check on these families one by one.
Two families were relatively okay; a corner had collapsed. After an emergency clearing and covering with wood and grass, they could still manage to live there.
But for the others, it was difficult; they were completely uninhabitable.
These people cried and wailed, especially the women, who cried the most miserably.
Su Changjiu scolded, "What were you doing before? Lying on the kang like corpses? Didn't you know to go out and check how thick the snow on the roof was?"
He was frustrated by their lack of effort. If these people had been even a little bit more diligent, they wouldn't have ended up like this.
"Aren't you afraid the snow outside will bury your entire family? Didn't you come out to see?"
The snow in the yard hadn't been swept and was almost piled up from the entrance.
The people being scolded dared not continue crying, but they still wiped their tears.
After scolding them, Su Changjiu felt much better, and his tone gradually softened.
Fortunately, there were no casualties, which was considered a great fortune amidst misfortune.
Those houses were truly uninhabitable, so he had to find another solution.
There were only so many available houses in the brigade, and they couldn't accommodate several families. In the end, he had to clear out the primary school to house these families temporarily.
The primary school didn't have many rooms either. Each family got one room, barely enough to shelter them.
"Team Leader, a whole family can't fit in one room!" someone raised an objection.
This remark angered Su Changjiu again.
"What, do you want me to build a palace for you? This is the best we can do. If you want to stay, you can; if not, then leave."
Su Changjiu had no intention of spoiling these people. They were so lazy and still dared to be picky, it was too much!
These people almost dared not speak. Su Changjiu then leisurely left.
Two days later, the weather cleared up, and Su Changjiu led the brigade members to help these families repair their roofs.
These families had a common characteristic: laziness, and they never bothered to help others.
Now that the team leader was asking for help, some people were naturally not very satisfied.
"Team Leader, they've never helped me once, why should I help them?"
"Exactly, Team Leader. I asked Er Niu for help a few days ago, but his family refused."
...
Su Changjiu wanted these families to have a place to stay for the New Year, but now, other members of the brigade disagreed.
Su Changjiu had to scold these families again and then asked them to personally invite other brigade members to help.
These people were initially unwilling, but Su Changjiu directly scolded them.
"Do you think you're the sun? Do you expect everyone in the brigade to revolve around you? If you don't want to go, that's fine. When the New Year comes, if you're still squeezed into this shabby place, don't blame others."
"I've never seen people like you. You look like humans, but you're so lazy you're practically shitting yourselves. Are you even considered human? I feel ashamed to ask for help for you!"
These words from Su Changjiu were heard by many brigade members.
Those people were genuinely worried about not having a place to live for the New Year. Even if they were unwilling, they had to go and beg everyone for help.
The people in the brigade were not petty. Seeing that these people had shown their attitude, they all went to help.
Su Changjiu and the men of the brigade worked until the tenth day of the twelfth lunar month before they managed to make the roofs of these houses barely habitable.
Su Changjiu didn't bother with the rest.
At this time, Hongxin Brigade finally received some earth-shattering good news: they had received six university admission notices in one go.
Six admission notices caused a sensation throughout the entire county.
After all, it was unprecedented.
No one in the county had heard of any brigade receiving five university admission notices.
Some people who took the exam in other communes had failed.
However, an unknown Hongxin Brigade had produced six university students in one go.
Even that wasn't all. The most important thing was that four of them had been admitted to top universities in Beijing!
The remaining two were a normal university in the provincial capital and a third-tier normal college in Beijing.
This was also considered good. After graduation, they could become teachers and secure a stable job, which many people envied.
In front of Su Xiaotian were five admission notices. Her eyes were almost squinting with joy.
That's right, five.
Of the admission notices received by Hongxin Brigade, Su Xiaotian had not taken only one to examine.
This one belonged to Kang Yiye.
It had to be said that Kang Yiye didn't like to work and had a questionable character, but her studies were good.
Although she hadn't been down from the mine for long, she had managed to get admitted to a junior college.
However, many outsiders didn't know Kang Yiye's character, but the people of Hongxin Brigade were very clear about it. Therefore, not a single person was happy for Kang Yiye.
Most were just relieved that Kang Yiye was finally leaving.
This woman had caused trouble for countless families in the brigade. It was good that she was leaving!
Su Xiaotian caressed each admission notice before putting it down, making everyone else chuckle.
"Xiaotian, admission notices are rare, but you don't have to be so reluctant to part with them!" Su Xiaomei said with a giggle.
Su Xiaotian smiled and said, "My brothers and sisters are all amazing! I need to learn from you!"
She didn't say that she was celebrating that everything was different from her past life!
[Author's Note]
Happy New Year's Day! Don't forget to support Shiguang during the New Year's Eve countdown. Mwah, love you all!