Autumn, the season of harvest. Wen Qian had to gather all the fruits from around her home.
Every year there were many, so she planned to take some out to exchange. People in the Persimmon Cake Town were willing to buy them, so the grocery store owner would also take some to sell in the city.
Most of the time, Wen Qian wouldn't go that far, so she would let the owner make a profit. If Wen Qian needed to take the children to the city for a checkup, she would sell or trade them herself.
For important crops, if there wasn't enough time to process them into pure grains during the autumn harvest, Wen Qian would first store them in the Space, and process them the following summer when the sun was good.
The temperature difference between morning and evening gradually increased. Wen Qian paid extra attention to how the children were dressed, as they were prone to getting sick around this time.
She would take them out when the sun was good, and while she was harvesting, the children would be in a cradle or chair nearby.
Fortunately, during the autumn season, Wen Qian harvested everything she could. What needed to be processed, she did so in the yard.
The children were kept indoors, while she threshed the wheat outside, then continued to grind it into flour.
However, she usually scheduled the grinding during the winter before, when she didn't have the task of hunting for marten, so she would pedal a bike while grinding flour during the low-activity winter.
After taking on winter tasks, she would schedule the grinding for rainy days when she couldn't go out.
Now she scheduled it for times when she needed to interact with the children, so they wouldn't cry from not seeing her, and she could also get things done.
This autumn ended rather abruptly. The day before, the weather was still nice, and the noon sun was warm. But the next day, the temperature dropped significantly.
She hadn't nailed plastic sheets to her windows and doors yet. The strong wind outside caused the indoor temperature to drop a lot, so Wen Qian started burning the heater.
The heater warmed up the house, so Wen Qian began covering the windows with plastic sheets. The frames she had nailed before had grooves, so she only needed to insert the rubber strips to hold the thin film in place each year.
This way, the film could be reused without damage.
With the heater and plastic sheets, the indoors became warm again, and the children could move around safely inside.
In the oven of the stove, Wen Qian would still put in small sweet potatoes and small potatoes. The children smelled the aroma and drooled a lot.
However, the children couldn't eat too much, so Wen Qian ate more, and stored the leftovers in the Space.
The cold persisted for two days, then remained low temperature, so Wen Qian mostly stayed indoors, as she had enough firewood.
But one day, a child from the Big Jin Family came knocking on her door.
His eyes were red, as if he had been crying. He came to report a death.
During those few cold days, although his family had also started burning firewood, his grandmother had passed away in her sleep.
The one who usually got up early, when family members found her not getting up and not responding to knocking, they thought she was sick, but discovered she had passed away.
After hearing this, Wen Qian then recalled that the grandmother was quite old, and the elderly really did have a hard time during winter.
Passing away in her sleep, she probably didn't suffer.
The child came to inform them that today they would bathe and dress the body, dig a grave site the next day, and bury her the day after that.
So he was notifying Wen Qian to come on the third day for the burial.
This was Wen Qian's first time attending a funeral since the natural disaster, and the process was similar to her hometown, except the time was much shorter.
By now, there was no way to follow such lengthy procedures, let alone have many people attend the funeral, not to mention having the main family host a feast.
They notified the neighbors, hoping they would come to see the elderly off on her final journey.
The child still needed to notify other families, and after waiting at Wen Qian's door for a while, his face was already reddened from the cold.
The child was still calling for her inside, so she closed the door and turned to go back in.
After warming herself by the heater, she went to hug the child.
The little child didn't know what death was and understood nothing, only wanting to see her.
The two children from the Big Jin Family had a deep bond with their grandmother, so it was understandable they were saddened by this sudden event.
And having lost family members before, Wen Qian knew that this wasn't the most difficult time yet.
After the funeral, perhaps on an ordinary day, the child might come across an object related to their grandmother, suddenly recalling memories, and then realizing she was gone, that would be the most sorrowful moment.
Although the weather was cold, there was no ice yet, so the next day they dug a grave site behind the mountain.
On the third day, people from the three nearby families all came.
Since it was a ground burial, the family had prepared the wood materials for the elderly earlier, but out of concern for upsetting the family, they didn't make the coffin in advance, only cutting the boards to the appropriate size.
The second day, they assembled the wood, placed the body inside, and on the third day when the neighbors came to pay respects, they carried the person up the mountain.
At this time, they didn't have large white cloth, only tying white cloth strips around the head.
Wen Qian put the child in a backpack carrier, with a hot water bottle inside, and a blanket draped over the top to prevent wind from blowing in.
She carried the child this way and slowly walked to the Big Jin Family's home.
Old Liu's two family members also came, apparently because of the cold weather, Old Liu had returned from outside.
Ni Sha's whole family of three came. Her child came over to play peek-a-boo with the child in the backpack carrier on the ground.
The children laughed and giggled, unaware of the occasion.
But the adults' sorrows were dispelled a little by the children's voices. Yes, as some grow old, others are born anew. Death and new life occur at every moment.
Thinking this way, one doesn't feel as desolate.
After bowing, the few men helped carry the four-sided coffin up the mountain.
Wen Qian and Ni Sha each carried their children, following behind with everyone up the mountain.
As the first shovel of dirt was thrown onto the coffin, the two young men from the family started crying.
Although they were adults, everyone still treated them as children, so crying wasn't an issue.
The dirt gradually piled up until the coffin was completely covered. The burial site could see their homes down the mountain.
Wen Qian thought, if there were souls, the elderly lady could still watch over her home.
Afterward, the group returned to the Big Jin Family's home.
Originally thinking they would leave after the burial, unexpectedly the Big Jin Family had them stay for lunch.
So they all remained, with Big Ning cooking, and the children helping. The group gathered around the heater in the house and conversed.
The children played on the heated bed, so Wen Qian and Ni Sha watched nearby to prevent any falls.
Cooking a meal was very quick, Wen Qian had probably prepared the dishes in advance at her home.
They were all from their own hunting and farming, the quantity and variety had been arranged to the best of their ability.
Those present did not stand on ceremony, they all ate together. Big Ning came in and asked herself and her son to watch the children, allowing the two guests to eat.
Wen Qian declined politely but went to eat first.
At the table, Big Jin said some words of gratitude. Since there was no alcohol, they drank homemade fruit tea. He used the tea to express gratitude to the neighbors for attending the funeral.
The cold wind howled outside, the coming and going was very arduous, but everyone had come, and Big Jin could only feel grateful.
