Chapter 68 pt 1

The whole village was shrouded in white, as if wearing a silver suit. A thick layer of snow fell on the roofs of the trees, and long ice skewers formed under the eaves.

At this time, most villagers do not go out, and most of them are surrounded by a kang in winter at home. After working for a whole year, they can finally spend a few days free in the winter. Many people will prepare some snacks such as fried beans and melon seeds, sitting on the kang surrounded by quilts, and it is almost impossible for the gods to change them.

At this time, Xue TingRang was the same. He was wearing a thin jacket and sitting on the kang with a quilt on his legs, which was placed under the kang table. There are several small dishes on the table of the Kang, which contain fried melon seeds, fried fennel beans, fried peanuts, etc. There is also a small bamboo basket for the shells of the seeds.

There was a teapot placed on a small stove on the table. It was boiled by Xue TingRang himself. It contained sour plums, oranges, and frozen pears. It looked weird, but it tasted delicious. It is sour and sweet, warming the stomach and helping with digestion.

Recently, Xue TingRang has gained a lot of weight, and his cheeks have bulged up to the extent visible to the naked eye. He was born fair and handsome, but now he looked a bit fleshy, and he was developing some baby fat on his face.

What he hates most now is Zhao’er squeezing his face. Because Zhao'er always has this itch, every time she sees him, she wants to come up and squeeze his cheeks, just like she did to Heizi when Heizi was young. But now Heizi does not have this kind of treatment. Zhao'er thinks that Heizi has grown up, and its fur is not as soft as before.

Heizi was sitting next to Zhao'er at this moment, watching the roasted sweet potatoes in the brazier intently.

For the country folks to keep warm, except for the kang, there is the brazier. Some people who are particular about it even make a clay pot or something, while others use bricks to find a place and build one. When the winter is over, they move the bricks away and there is no delay in their other tasks.

Zhao'er likes to do this.

At this time, the square table in the middle of the room was moved away and replaced with a large brazier measuring half a meter square. Around the brazier was a stool made with bricks, and a layer of cotton cushions were put on top, making it very comfortable to sit on.

The sweet potatoes in the brazier were already cooked, and a special sweetness filled the air.

Xue TingRang's eyes looked over from time to time, and Heizi was even more impatient, so he wanted to catch one with his claws directly. Before the Heizi fully reached out his paw, he was slapped back by Zhao'er.

"Look how anxious you are. Are you not afraid to singe your fur?"

Heizi stuck out his tongue and spit out two breaths. The dog's face was shameless and seemed to be saying it’s okay if it is singed as long as I get to eat first.

"Wait a little longer. It’s not fully cooked yet." This sentence was for the dog and the person. For the job of roasting sweet potatoes, Zhao'er knows the heat just by smelling it with her eyes closed.

She turned over the sweet potatoes with fire tongs. The sweet potatoes cannot be put directly on the charcoal fire, because they would just become burnt. Instead, place them on the edge of the brick pot and cook it slowly. It won't be mushy and will still be fragrant. This is why Zhao’er likes to use a brick brazier. It can roast a sweet potato or be used for hot pot, which is very convenient.

After a while, the sweetness became even stronger, and Zhaoer picked up a few sweet potatoes from the brazier.

One was thrown on the ground, and the others were placed in a bamboo basket on the side and carried to the kang.

"Come and taste it."

"Are you cold? Come sit."

Two voices sounded at the same time. Zhao'er smiled and said: "How can I be cold in front of the brazier."

“ It’s still not as warm as the kang."

Zhao’er couldn't refute him, so she could only go to the opposite side of him and tuck her legs into the bedding under the kang table. As soon as she entered, her feet were invaded by two domineering legs. Xue TingRang put her feet under his legs and tucked the quilts around them.

But after a while, Zhao'er's cold legs and feet became warm.

At this time, the sweet potato was not as hot as it was before. Zhao'er took one and broke it in half, and the orange-red flesh was suddenly exposed, exuding a tangy aroma.

"Here."

Xue TingRang took it, took a bite and said, "The roasted sweet potato is sweet."

He finished eating it in two or three bites and went to get another one. Zhao'er blew out her breath from how hot the sweet potato was, wondering how TingRang’s mouth was grown to be able to eat without feeling the heat.

"Don't eat too much. You will have dinner later tonight."

At this time, the bedding was dragged by someone, and the two of them looked over and realized that it was Heizi.

Heizi's potato has already been eaten. And he was still craving for more, so he came over to Zhao’er.

"Look at how you've been fattening recently. If you eat more, CaiHua ¹ won’t like you anymore." Xue TingRang scoffed at it.

Heizi didn't bother looking at him, and continued to act coquettishly to Zhaoer.

A person without a wife cannot be compared to a dog with a harem. When Heizi went out, there are countless little female dogs clinging to it. And he is just a little rookie who still can't deal with his wife and only knows to pretend to be pitiful.

Heizi, with a sense of vicissitudes that it should not have, exhaled and licked his mouth, acting like a baby.

He looks like a village mutt and is a stubborn dog. It's not energetic, its head is slumped, and it looks frustrated when it tries to be coquettish. But this act actually works on Zhaoer. Zhao’er was amused by it and laughed, rubbing its big head with affection and handing a sweet potato from the bamboo basket to it.

Heizi went away with a sweet potato in his mouth, and he gave Xue TingRang a look before leaving as if saying, look, this is skill, incomparable to some people.

Xue TingRang with jealousy said to Zhaoer: "Look at that ugly thing. Only you treasure it."

"Heizi is not ugly. Look at how energetic he is!"

As she was talking, Heizi stretched its head up again and bumped Zhao'er's palm with his nose. Zhao'er rubbed it before it continued to eat its own delicacy.

One person and one dog were so much in harmony, and the one left out who hadn't been taken care of was feeling too sour.

Xue TingRang was so angry that he stopped eating sweet potatoes, flopped down under the quilt and fell asleep. Zhao'er glanced at him and knew that the little man was angry again.

This person is growing bigger, and his learning is getting better, but his maturity hasn't grown. He's still like a child.

It's also recently that the two have been seeing each other a lot, and Zhao’er doesn’t value Xue TingRang as much, and there is always a feeling of annoyance towards each other. Zhaoer used to see him every other day, so everything was always prioritized for him and she often coaxed him, but now the coaxing has occurred too many times, and Zhaoer has become tired.

She finished eating the sweet potato in her hands, took the cloth towel next to her, and wiped her hands. Xue TingRang is very particular. He wants to clean his hands after eating. But he was too lazy to go to the kang, so she put a cloth towel next to him.

After wiping her hands, Zhaoer took out the account book and abacus. She was learning arithmetic recently, and her teacher is naturally Xue TingRang. She pondered over the arithmetic formulas in her heart and moved her fingers one after another on the abacus.

1. name of a female dog in the village. Probably one of the many in Heizi’s “harem” ↑