Quick Wear: Under the Skirt, All Beings Are Equal

After Changqing returned to the village, apart from helping his relatives' children with their homework, he spent the rest of his time at home sitting around the fire and talking with his grandmother. Or, if he saw a family getting married, he would reluctantly leave his warm home to attend the banquet.

"Grandma, I'm leaving first."

With his grandma's insistence, Changqing wrapped himself in a thick cotton coat. His handsome face appeared from under the furry hat, revealing a pure smile.

"Grandma, I'm going to the banquet and then visit grandma. I won't have dinner with you tonight."

Grandma was making dumplings, she looked up at her and said, "Take the box of apples in the house, and the tofu that I just made a few days ago. Your grandma was sick a few days ago, and I didn't want you to worry, so I didn't tell you. Last time I ran into her on the street, she was receiving an IV drip, and she asked when you would be back. You should spend more time talking to them.

"Okay, I understand." Chang Qing nodded.

Knowing that Changqing was going to visit his grandmother, Su's mother took out a few hundred yuan from her bag and stuffed it into Changqing's pocket.

"Give this to your grandmother. I'll go see her after Xiao Wenqin's family has finished hosting the banquet."

Changqing walked between the ridges of the fields, looking at the barren land around him. A layer of dead grass covered with frost and snow lay on the ground. When he looked over there, it seemed as if the sky was also stained with frost and snow, and even the wisp of smoke rising from the cooking stove became dim.

Chang Qing quickened his pace only when he saw the old house with gray-green tiles.

"grandmother."

Grandma sat alone at the door of the old house, with her back hunched. The wrinkles on her face looked like frost and snow on tiles, having gone through countless springs, summers, autumns and winters.

Hearing the voice, grandma tried hard to open her drooping eyelids, as if she wanted to see clearly who was in front of her. Perhaps because she hadn't seen him for a long time, she couldn't remember after looking for a few seconds.

She just said, "Oh, you're here."

Grandma's house was not very big. It was filled with things but the house was very cold. There were some bacon and smoked tofu hanging on the wall. Coal was piled in the corner next to the cabinet. There was a pit underneath where soil and coal ash were mixed, which was used as coal bar for burning coal. Even though she couldn't remember its name for the moment, she was very happy to poke open the not-so-warm stove with tongs, and a faint blue flame immediately jumped out.

"Grandma, it's too cold. You need to make the fire bigger."

"Little one, I live alone, so I don't need much." Grandma's voice was calm, as if she remembered Changqing's name, and asked again: "When are you going to have your holiday?"

"The first two weeks."

After asking this question, grandma didn't know what to say, so she asked about Su's mother and father. After the polite and somewhat restrained inquiries, the surroundings became quiet.

Grandma just looked at Changqing, and then took out a lot of things from the house and wanted to stuff them all into Changqing. She kept saying, I remember you like to eat this, I remember you also like this, grandma saved this for you.

When the firecrackers sounded, grandma looked outside reluctantly and said, "It's time to eat. Remember to come over and play after you finish eating. Come over and warm yourself by the fire. It's very cold outside."

"Come over and play after you finish eating."

When Changqing stepped out of the door, grandma stood up and said this again, which made Changqing couldn't help but turn around and look at the old woman's earnest eyes, feeling very sad.

My grandmother had a hard life. She lost her husband when she was young, and raised four children alone. My eldest uncle died suddenly a few days before he was to get married. My youngest uncle was very hardworking and was very famous in the area when he was young. However, after he married a powerful wife, he suddenly became addicted to gambling and lost all his money. He hid away from debt collectors for many years and had no news for him. My second uncle fell from a construction site while working. He broke his leg and had to recuperate in bed for more than a year. He then became ill intermittently and was finally diagnosed with cancer. He passed away last year.

My grandmother's four children either died or disappeared, and now only my mother is left. My second uncle and my youngest uncle do have wives, but their wives are not easy to deal with. They dislike this old man who is over 80 years old and often curse him at the door of the house.

After paying the gift money, Changqing came back to talk to his grandmother. He first helped her carry a basket of coal from outside, and then helped her fill the water tank with water.

"Yeah, that's enough for me. I don't need much."

Chang Qing filled up the other buckets. She knew that her grandmother just felt sorry for her. When Su He was little, he had some very fond memories here. His uncle was still alive at that time and always doted on him. His second aunt was busy performing rituals and praying to gods every day. Whenever she saw him, she would ask him to come home for dinner.

When she was about to leave, grandma came out with a cane and stood outside to watch Changqing leave, all the while asking her to come over and play when she had time. The heavy snow blurred her grandma's face, and one could only see her looking at her under the solitary lamp, leaning on her cane, with her body slightly bent.

There is no moon tonight, and I can only rely on the light from the white snow to barely tell the way.

Chang Qing walked forward slowly until the heavy snow blurred her back. Looking at the occasional lights in the darkness, Chang Qing stopped and looked for two seconds, then walked forward slowly again. The faint shadow swayed, occasionally hiding in the shadows of the woods by the roadside, and occasionally reappearing, accompanying her all the way.

The cold dew was very heavy at night, and the wind made people feel cold all over. Chang Qing rubbed her hands gently, put them on her lips and blew a breath, but the warmth she had just felt was instantly swallowed up by the biting cold. She didn't know why she suddenly smiled.

He was so approachable, as if he was right in front of me, within reach, chatting with the people around him about family matters, but his eyes were so cold. His sudden smile was like a fleeting snowfall between his brows, which ended without a trace, and then disappeared without a trace. It was as if others could not reach him even if they crossed thousands of mountains and rivers, which made people feel despair.

Changqing looked at the lights of thousands of homes, but not a single one was lit for him.

She narrowed her eyes slightly, not knowing what she was thinking, until the sky was filled with fireworks, and at midnight, every household on the street was filled with the sound of cannon fire, the laughter of children on the street, and the voice of the host of the Spring Festival Gala on TV...