"Alright, don't bother with the dishes. Just take your sister back and tidy up the room so you have a place to sleep tonight."

"We'll do a thorough cleaning tomorrow."

The slightly tipsy Mo Changyou waved his hand at Mo Jingchun, urging him to head home.

The auntie who was tidying up the dishes also smiled and said to Mo Jingchun, "Go on, head back."

"Well… Candy and I will finish and leave first then."

In the village, there were no street lamps on the road, let alone the privately constructed cement paths, which were pitch black.

Under the light of a mobile phone flashlight, Mo Jingchun, carrying his sister and dragging a suitcase, walked at a leisurely pace.

It was too dark, and the little one was easily frightened. Mo Jingchun simply left the stroller at Uncle's house, carrying Candy directly.

As for the stroller, he'd come back to fetch it during the day tomorrow.

What Mo Jingchun hadn't expected was that the weeds on both sides of the cement road had been cleared, and there weren't many fallen leaves on the cement.

Clearly, it had all been cleaned up.

"It must have been Uncle who did it," Mo Jingchun murmured to himself.

Seeing that familiar house, Mo Jingchun was instantly filled with a sense of security. Excitedly, he opened the door, flipped the circuit breaker, and turned on the lights in the hall.

For half a year, the house, which had been dark at night, was lit up again that day, filled with a sense of life.

The little one in his arms squinted, still not quite accustomed to the sudden brightness.

Mo Jingchun carried his sister, Candy, upstairs and downstairs, noting the marks left by cleaning here and there. His nose tingled with emotion.

A house that had been sealed away for half a year was cleaned up once again just because of a phone call, with Uncle simply sweeping through it.

Even though it was just a simple cleaning, Mo Jingchun understood that further cleaning would be much easier now.

In the second-floor bedroom, everything remained as it was. Mo Jingchun just changed the bed sheets and added a thick quilt. The only downside was the absence of air conditioning.

Mo Jingchun decided to get a phone number from Uncle tomorrow and have an air conditioner delivered and installed by the seller in town.

He could put up with it, but he couldn't let his sister Candy freeze.

In this area, not many families had air conditioning. Due to being in the mountains, it wasn't very hot during the summer, and even cooler at night, often requiring a blanket.

In winter, everyone would gather together to bask in the warmth and chat.

Back then, Mo Jingchun's favorite thing was sitting by the stove with his mom, listening to her and his aunts talk about everyday matters.

Whose daughter was dating someone from the big city, whose child was about to get married…

They talked about everything, like the intelligence organization of the village, with all kinds of news at their fingertips.

Unfortunately, he could only envy others from now on.

Mo Jingchun didn't do much but was still exhausted after a whole night's work, dealing with backaches and soreness.

Sitting on the bed, Mo Jingchun dipped his feet into a bucket of warm water, closing his eyes comfortably as the warmth seeped in.

Soaking his feet was incredibly soothing.

"Ah~"

The little one watched the steaming water in the bucket with excitement, prompting Mo Jingchun to open his eyes, watching Candy who wanted to dip her hands in the bucket.

Had Mo Jingchun not been holding her, the little one, eager to climb, would have fallen head first into the water.

Recalling the counselor's instructions, Mo Jingchun remembered to send a text to the class president.

"Made it home safely." Along with the message, Mo Jingchun included a photo of himself soaking his feet, with the little one reaching out to play with the water, and sent it to the class president, Yang Xiaoyu.

Yang Xiaoyu: ???

"Is your home that far? You're just getting there so late."

Mo Jingchun wouldn't admit he had forgotten.

Silently, Mo Jingchun replied with two words, "Yes, it is."

"Alright, as long as you're home safe."

——————

After spending a whole day on the bus and a busy evening, an exhausted Mo Jingchun washed his feet and got into bed. He fell asleep not long after with the little one.

"Xiaochun, quickly grab a diaper for your sister. She's had a runny one, even after just changing her! I haven't fed her anything odd these days."

Mo Jingchun, who was doing his homework, sighed and reluctantly got up to grab another diaper for his sister, giving her a stern look.

"Shoo, don't scare your sister. She's still so young, and you're already fussing."

While changing Candy's diaper, Mo Jingchun's mother said, "When you and your sister were her age, you weren't as well-behaved."

"I couldn't let go—whenever I put you down, you'd wake up."

"Back then, we didn't have store-bought diapers but used cloth ones made from old clothing."

"Do you know how many cloth diapers I had to wash for you when you were little?"

It seemed Mo Jingchun's mother had found an audience, and she kept talking.

"Your father was busy earning money, constantly out working. I was the only one at home, managing household chores, tending to the garden, and taking care of you without neglecting anything."

"Who dared to speak badly of me?"

"Your father too, kept pushing himself. Now look, he drove himself to his end."

As she spoke, Mo Jingchun's mother paused and quietly began to weep.

The homework Mo Jingchun was working on was forgotten, as teardrops from his eyes left small circles on the paper.

Thud thud thud~

"Xiaochun? Xiaochun?"

"Haven't gotten up yet?"

Opening his eyes, Mo Jingchun found them sticky with tears.

He seemed to have dreamed of something last night, but he couldn't remember what.

"Xiaochun."

"Coming, coming."

Mo Jingchun threw on a down jacket and slipped into woolen slippers his mom had painstakingly knitted, jogging downstairs from the second floor to the main entrance.

Upon opening the door, he saw Mrs. Li, her face full of wrinkles, standing there with a bag in hand.

"Didn't wake the little one, did I?"

Mo Jingchun smiled and said to Mrs. Li, "No, the little one sleeps very soundly."

"Your garden hasn't been tended to since you weren't home. There's nothing to eat when you get back, so I brought some things over."

"Just some white radishes and pickles I made myself. The pickles might be a bit sour."

Mo Jingchun took the bag of vegetables from Mrs. Li and hurriedly invited her inside for a cup of hot water.

"No, no, I still have to go to the dendrobium base to plant dendrobium."

"When the vegetables run out, just come and get more. White radishes are stored in the cellar and aren't worth much."

Throughout the morning, Mo Jingchun's door was knocked on a dozen times.

The kitchen now had over a dozen brightly colored shopping bags.

Each was filled with a variety of vegetables.

Frost-tinted greens, slender carrots, round white radishes…

Every year before the New Year, it was always mom who gave vegetables to those returning home for the holidays, but this year, it was the opposite.

"Once the house is cleaned up, I'll take Candy to the back hill to visit mom and dad."

"I'm sure they miss Candy very much."

PS: (๑╹ꇴ╹) Wishing everyone a wonderful start to the new year!

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