The snowfall was light, with occasional flurries swirling in the wind. It didn't last long and left no trace except for a slightly slippery road. Li Mingwei's shoes were not slip-resistant, and she nearly slipped as soon as she stepped outside. Fortunately, Dong Lei supported her as they returned home. As they entered the backyard, they caught a whiff of a pungent smell.
Dong Lei pinched his nose and exclaimed, "Oh, Mom, what's that smell? It's so stinky!"
Li Mingwei recognized the odor of mutton and headed straight for the kitchen. As expected, Wang Chunhua was cooking lamb soup.
"Chunhua, why did you suddenly decide to make lamb soup today?"
Lamb meat was not cheap, and this large pot meant that Wang Chunhua had splurged today.
Wang Chunhua was quite proud of herself. "It snowed today, didn't it? This is the first snow of the year. By having lamb soup, we'll stay warm throughout the winter."
She uncovered the pot, letting out the steam, and scooped up a large spoonful of meat to show Li Mingwei. "As soon as it started snowing, I rushed to buy the meat. That's how I managed to snatch such a big piece of meat and two bones. Many people missed out on them."
"Ah," Dong Shan was tending to the fire. He looked up and said, "This year's snow arrived earlier than usual. No one expected it to snow these past couple of days, so the lamb meat vendors weren't prepared. I reckon quite a few people won't be able to have lamb soup today."
"That's not good."
Unknown to them, having lamb soup during the first snow was a tradition in their small town. If they couldn't have it, it wouldn't bode well for them.
Moreover, with the snow arriving earlier this year, it might be colder than usual. Winter was the harshest season, and who knew how many people would suffer and endure.
Xinghua Village didn't have this tradition, but since Wang Chunhua had married and moved here for several years, she had gotten used to it and even learned from the neighboring women, so she could make a decent lamb soup.
After preparing the soup, she first served Li Mingwei and Dong Lei a small bowl. "Quick, taste it. How is it?"
Li Mingwei took a sip and found it quite good. It wasn't gamey at all, so she praised, "It's delicious."
Dong Lei also nodded. "It's delicious!"
Wang Chunhua was satisfied. "You two go ahead and enjoy it. Warm your hands, and I'll prepare a couple of dishes before we eat."
"Okay."
At some point, Dong Shan had gone to the front yard to take a look and returned to the backyard. "Chunhua, I noticed that Aunt Meng next door probably couldn't get any lamb meat. Why don't you pack some for them and take it over?"
Aunt Meng was Yun Sister's mother, a fairly gentle person. She lived next door, and Li Mingwei got along well with Yun Sister, so her relationship with Aunt Meng was also good.
"I'll go."
"Sounds good."
Wang Chunhua filled a large bowl for her. "Be careful, it's hot."
"Okay."
Li Mingwei carefully carried the lamb soup and went to the next door, but she couldn't free her hands to knock on the door. She could only rudely kick their courtyard gate a few times and called out twice.
"Yun Sister, Yun Sister."
"Hey!"
"Lamb soup?"
Yun Sister quickly opened the door and was pleasantly surprised to see Li Mingwei with the lamb soup. They hadn't been able to buy any lamb meat today, so they didn't expect to have some ready to eat.
Li Mingwei received the large bowl and said, "Thank you so much. My mother just mentioned that it's inauspicious to not finish the lamb soup and asked my father if we should go buy some lamb meat tomorrow morning to make up for it."
"Thank me for what? It was Yun Sister who made it."
Yun Sister smiled and said, "Thank you for bringing it to me, and please thank Chunhua Sister for me too."
"Alright, go back quickly. It'll get cold soon."
Li Mingwei made a note of it and assured her that she would pass on the message. She also closed the courtyard gate on her way out.
As she turned back home, everyone else had already taken their seats. Wang Chunhua had prepared the meal and even served her a large bowl of soup. She sat in her designated spot and Dong Shan started eating with his chopsticks.
"Start eating, start eating."
"Mmm."
It had been a long time since Li Mingwei had eaten lamb meat, and Wang Chunhua had cooked the lamb soup perfectly. Combined with the cold weather today, her appetite was wide open, and she ended up drinking two large bowls of soup in a row.
Wang Chunhua proudly said, "It seems like my cooking skills are pretty good, huh?"
Dong Shan, not one to mince words, gulped down a large bowl of soup and said, "Mmm, it's delicious. We should drink more of it to keep warm throughout the winter."
"Yes." Suddenly, Wang Chunhua thought of something and put down her chopsticks. There was a hint of resentment in her tone as she said, "After this winter, Yun Sister will be getting married."
Yun Sister had been engaged to Dong Shan when he had gone to help with the autumn harvest outside. Neither Dong Shan nor Li Mingwei knew about it, as Yun Sister would frequently visit Li Mingwei to do needlework, but never mentioned this matter.
"It's confirmed?"
"Mmm, it's confirmed."
Seeing his wife's less-than-joyful expression when talking about this, Dong Shan hesitated and asked, "Is it not good over there?"
"Sigh, what's good or not? We're just ordinary folks anyway," Wang Chunhua replied with a bit of bitterness.
To be honest, Yun Sister's family actually had a few more acres of land than Dong's family. The only difference was that Yun Sister had two younger brothers and a younger sister, and with children who had good appetites, the income from the land was barely enough to cover the expenses. When everything was taken into account, Dong's family was actually better off.
Whenever he had free time, Dong Shan would go up the mountain to hunt rabbits or wild chickens, but they never ate them. He would sell them to taverns and restaurants, earning more money than Yun Sister's family, making their lives a bit better.
"Then why are you looking like that?"
Wang Chunhua sighed and shook her head. "Their place is too far away. Haven't you noticed that they've never come here even once? Once Yun Sister leaves, who knows when we'll be able to see each other again."
They were already engaged, yet they had never visited even once. That was truly strange. Li Mingwei was puzzled and asked, "So they got engaged without meeting each other?"
"What's the big deal? There are plenty of couples who only see each other for the first time when they lift the bridal veil."
Wang Chunhua was used to it, but Li Mingwei couldn't agree. Although she and Murong Yu weren't childhood friends, they had known each other since they were young, and they had some understanding of each other. However, it wasn't deep enough, which was why their previous marriage had failed.
At that time, when the late emperor fell seriously ill, they got married early to fulfill his wish and also to bring some good luck. Otherwise, if they had taken more time to get to know each other, Li Mingwei might have listened to her family and not married him.
Now it was too late for regrets. The next time they got married, they would have to spend more time together and get to know each other well before making a decision.
"I haven't even met him, and now I'm supposed to marry him. What if the groom isn't good? We can't fully trust what the matchmaker says," Wang Chunhua nodded in agreement. Especially since Yun Sister's matchmaker was Chen Matchmaker, who has a reputation for twisting the truth and presenting bad situations as good ones. We need to be cautious.
"But it's too late now. The marriage is already arranged, and they have even sent the betrothal gifts. You have no reason to object. If you break off the engagement, you'll have to return double the gifts. Aunt Meng can't afford to pay such a large sum of money. They married Yun Sister off so far away because they were enticed by the high bride price offered there."
"You don't understand. Yun Sister's two younger brothers are reaching the marriageable age soon, and they will need to find brides as well. Their family is running out of options."
Is it possible that they are sacrificing Yun Sister's lifelong happiness for the sake of money?
Li Mingwei felt a surge of anger. "How can Uncle Meng and Aunt Meng be like this?"
Wang Chunhua shrugged. "No matter what, it's their family matter. What can we do? Our family doesn't have the money to help them find brides."
