Age: My Small World

November in Beijing is quite cool; to be precise, it's already winter.

Although no snowflakes have been seen yet, the Frost's Descent solar term arrived early. The students, who were unprepared, couldn't help but shiver as soon as they got off the train.

"Even the grasslands aren't this cold. It looks like it's about to snow."

"Yes, thankfully my dad brought my coat."

Some people went to the grasslands with padded coats, while others braved the cold in only thin clothes. Now their lips have turned blue from the cold.

"Everyone should hurry home and return to school the day after tomorrow."

Teacher Liu rubbed his hands together and then told everyone to go home.

Yang Jun quickly exchanged a glance with Wei Ran before leading Cheng Xiaoyu and Jiang Xueying out of the station.

Because they lived quite close, Yang Jun not only wrote letters to Jiang Xueying, but also visited her several times in the past few months, and they almost developed a tacit understanding.

"Same as usual, send Jiang back first."

Jiang Xueying brushed a strand of hair behind her ear, smiled and shook her head: "No need, I can take the bus back by myself. There's a bus stop right next to my house."

She still planned to go home for a visit and didn't rush to stay in the school dormitory.

After a few months, Jiang Xueying still missed her mother quite a bit.

Yang Jun nodded upon hearing this: "Okay, then Jiang, take it easy."

The three waved goodbye.

Once the person next to her was gone, Xiaoyuer immediately scurried over and wrapped her arms around Yang Jun's waist, pressing her face against his chest and pouting, "Brother Xiaoshan, I miss home so much, let's go home quickly."

"Okay, let's take the car back now." Yang Jun gently pinched her little nose.

When I got home, I found that my mother and second sister were not there.

That's true. It's only noon now, and Mom and my second sister should still be at work. They usually don't come home for lunch; their workplaces provide meals.

"Oh my, home is the best! It's so comfortable at home."

Since the two had nothing better to do, they decided to take a nap.

Once inside, Xiaoyuer immediately collapsed into the blankets, the gentle touch making her exclaim how comfortable it felt.

Life on the grasslands has its own unique charm, but it can never compare to the feeling of home, not to mention that ordinary families wouldn't need so many cotton quilts that Yang Jun provided.

The blanket Cheng Xiaoyu used on the grassland was the kind that was really heavy. It was said that there was a layer of cowhide inside. If you accidentally got your face covered by the blanket at night, you might suffocate.

There's nothing we can do about it. On the grasslands, having a cowhide quilt to cover yourself with is already a blessing, as cotton is indeed hard to come by these days.

After lying down for a while, Xiaoyuer couldn't help but get up again.

"Brother Xiaoshan, what do you want to eat for lunch? I'm going to buy groceries now."

We should have gone grocery shopping in the morning or evening, but since the two of us were coming back around noon, we could only try our luck.

Moreover, she wasn't just preparing lunch for two people; she also planned to prepare dinner in advance so that her mother and second sister could have a hot meal when they returned.

"I can just have some noodles, I don't need to buy any vegetables."

"By the way, there probably isn't any meat left in the market. I'll go to my friend's place later and get some meat."

"Alright, let's split up." Little Fish chuckled, picked up her basket, and headed out. Yang Jun, on the other hand, went out for a stroll.

"Oh? When did the college student come back?" Aunt He Yu from the Lin family saw Yang Jun again.

Her husband works in a factory to support the family, while she stays home doing simple housework and even small jobs like pasting matchboxes to supplement the family income. Her two sons also look for work here and there. The eldest son, Lin Yun, is doing well, as he has an internship and is working as an apprentice. Lin Yi, on the other hand, can only bring home a pittance every day.

In Beijing, most working-class families are like this: one worker's job is enough to support the whole family, while the others can only occasionally earn some extra income and have nothing to do the rest of the time.

Of course, housework is very hard for women, especially washing clothes and cooking. Their hands will get raw from washing, and they'll twist their backs from kneading dough. There's no reason to say that housework is easy.

Perhaps it is precisely because there are too many idle people that the younger generation in Beijing often likes to get together with a group of people to fight, and they will even fight for the sake of saving face.

For example, many young people who had nothing to do at home joined Du Quan's team. These people were extremely ruthless in fights, and their reckless behavior was astonishing. Who would have thought that some of them came from happy working-class families?

"Auntie, have you eaten yet?"

Yang Jun greeted him with familiar words.

"Not yet, it's just been made. Would you like to come in and have something to eat, college students?"

Then she laughed and said, "I'm just afraid your young lady won't agree."

He Yu chuckled, knowing that Yang Jun had gotten married, which made the teasing quite amusing.

Women at home often amuse themselves with playful banter; as the saying goes, a group of women together can be a veritable intelligence hub.

"Hehe, no, I'm in a hurry to go out and buy some things, so I won't keep you from cooking, Auntie."

Yang Jun gave a few perfunctory replies and slipped away, causing He Yu to shake his head; young people really do run fast.

In other words, Li Xiaohua had explained before that Yang Jun's university needed to send students to the countryside, otherwise there would have been outrageous news circulating that Yang Jun was dead somewhere.

"Tsk tsk, the aunties and grandmas in this courtyard are really troublesome."

As Yang Jun stepped out the door, just as he was about to leave, he unexpectedly ran into a postman.

"Are the Yang family members in the backyard? Any news?"

Yang Jun raised an eyebrow: "I am Yang Jun, and I live in this backyard. You must be referring to my home."

"Oh, it's you. I just happened to have a letter for you."

Yang Jun was surprised that someone would actually write to him and send it to Tangli Street; this was quite an achievement.

After the postman found the letter and handed it to him, Yang Jun waited until the postman left before opening the envelope.

"It was actually Liang Xing who wrote the letter."

He couldn't help but feel a little happy. It has to be said that he and Liang Xing got along quite well during their short time together, and they even wrote to each other afterward.

He quickly looked at it after opening it.

The letter contained a lot of words, filling three whole pages.

In short, this guy was just showing off.

"He finally beat the best guy on their team and even got promoted. Not bad, not bad."

Now that Liang Xing has become a platoon leader and even won third place in the all-army skills competition, he might even become a company commander soon. Naturally, he excitedly told Yang Jun about all this, basically showing off a bit, perhaps because he couldn't find a better place to express his desire to share, so he made sure to tell Yang Jun everything. (End of Chapter)