Chapter 26: First Meeting with Chen Mama

  The weather is getting colder and colder, no matter how thick you wear, after one class, your feet are icy. At that time, there was no heating, the school put a small coal stove next to the podium in each classroom, which could be used to boil water and warm up. In those years, every household would store vegetables for winter, when the living committee started collecting two yuan per person, Zhang Yue knew that winter had really come. Sure enough, after just a few days, a large sack of radishes appeared in the corner of the classroom. The living committee added another task, during class breaks, they would wash and clean the radishes, take them to the boiler room, and the master who burned the boiler temporarily became a chef, helping each class cut radishes every day, and then boiling radish water to drink.

  I don't know when it started, but every year at this time, each school and class would boil turnip water in the classroom, asking students to bring their own cups, and pouring it for them to drink during breaks. It's said to prevent colds and not get a fever. Zhang Yue has never liked the taste of turnips since she was young, let alone boiling them all day on the stove, filling the entire classroom with that smell! The feeling is absolutely torturous. So, Zhang Yue dislikes winter the most, it's cold and stuffy, the windows in the classroom are closed all day, with over 50 people suffocating inside.

  The prolonged morning exercise has also come to an end. With Zhang Yue's small body, in such weather, she still exercises, and if she stays outside for a while, she will catch a cold. She herself doesn't dare to take risks, after all, the weather is too cold, and getting sick is too painful.

  That day, Zhang Yue had just returned home when her grandmother called out from the kitchen: "Yueyue, your uncle has come back from a business trip to Hubei and brought back a lot of purple cabbage. Look how tender it is!" Zhang Yue quickly ran into the kitchen and saw that there was a big bunch of fresh, tender, and juicy purple cabbage in the vegetable basket, as if it still had water droplets on it. "That's great! Uncle must have taken pity on me and known that I love to eat this. Grandma, did you stir-fry some today? Add some lard!"

  "Knowing you love to eat, can't you stir-fry it?" Grandma gave Zhang Yue a scolding look and continued: "Last time your classmate's mother gave us such a big bottle of chili sauce, I looked at it and it was oily and fragrant, absolutely authentic good stuff. We can't just take other people's things casually? I just divided some seaweed sheets, this thing may not be worth much money, but here it is precious. Before the sky gets dark, you send some to your classmate's house?"

  "What's wrong?" Zhang Yue was a bit unhappy, originally going to Chen Zhigang's house to deliver things, what should she say when they met? "I don't want to go. It's almost dark, Grandma, I'm tired, I've had classes all day, can I take a break?" Zhang Yue was making puppy eyes on the side.

  "Don't make excuses!" Grandma interrupted directly: "Either you go now or you take it to school tomorrow, choose for yourself."

  Take it to school? The classmates in the class still don't know what kind of wind is spreading! Anyway, Zhang Yue resignedly started getting dressed and took out a basket full of seaweed snacks from the house.

  The door was opened, and unexpectedly Chen Zhi's mother was also there. Seeing Zhang Yue at the door, Chen's mother warmly invited her in. "Zhang Yue? Auntie hasn't seen you for over a year, you've really grown into a big girl!" We met before? Zhang Yue thought hard in her mind, but still couldn't figure out why.

  "You've forgotten? I went to attend a parent-teacher conference for Zhi Gang before, and you guys were the ones standing at the entrance. Now you're even taller than me by a head!"

  Upon hearing this, Zhang Yue smiled and said, "That was a long time ago, who still remembers?" Zhang Yue sweetly called out "Auntie" and took out the dishes that her grandmother had asked her to bring over for them to taste. After finishing speaking, she prepared to take her leave.

  Mrs. Chen grabbed Zhang Yue and said, "Yueyue, I've been wanting to find you all along. It's just right that you came, I was originally going to go to your place to thank you."

  "Auntie, what's going on?" Zhang Yue was confused by what was said.