Hard work after winning the lottery

I slept soundly, and when I opened my eyes again, the sun had already climbed above the window.

The heavy snowfall that fell last night stopped sometime ago, and now the light outside the window is dazzling. The sunlight isn't harsh, but it's incredibly clear, shining into the snow-covered yard like someone had spilled a box of tiny diamonds, refracting a light so bright it's almost blinding.

The entire Baixi Village was covered in silver, as tranquil as a landscape painting with ink wash and blank space, until three little dumplings broke the painting.

"Wow—! Snow! It's all snow!"

When Si Tao uttered his loud voice, the snow on the roof seemed to tremble.

Immediately following was a flurry of frantic dressing sounds. Hua Yun was about to go in to help when her mother, Li Guifen, pushed her out, saying, "Go and rest, I'll dress the kids. Your city way of dressing isn't warm enough!"

When the three children came out again, Hua Yun almost didn't recognize them.

Good guy!

These aren't children, they're clearly three moving red and green balls!

Everyone was wrapped in thick cotton-padded jackets and trousers, which Li Guifen had prepared in advance. The stitches were dense and the clothes were really warm, but it was a bit strenuous. Si Tao tried to bend down to tie his shoelaces, but after trying for a long time, he couldn't even touch his knees with his hands. In the end, he wobbled in place like a roly-poly toy and then sat down on the carpet with a "plop".

"Hahaha, little brother has turned into a ball!" Sile laughed so hard she almost fell over, but then she lost her balance and rolled into a ball herself.

Even Si'an, who is usually the most composed and burdened, had his cool guy persona sealed away by this outfit. He could only sigh helplessly and let his grandmother put the Lei Feng hat with two rabbit ears on him.

"Alright, let's go!"

The three little fleshy balls "rolled" out of the main room.

The moment I stepped into the snow in the yard, my snow boots made a crisp "crunch, crunch" sound that made my teeth itch, but also gave me a strange sense of pleasure.

"Uncle! We want to play in the snow! We want to... go skiing!" Si Tao, with her sharp eyes, spotted Hua An shoveling snow in the yard and immediately rushed over to hug his leg.

Hua An stuck his shovel into the snowdrift, exhaled a puff of white breath, and chuckled, "Skiing? That's a must! We may not have a cable car here, but your uncle has something even more exciting!"

After saying that, the kid turned around and went into his own storage room. After a series of clanging and banging noises, he dragged out a piece of old-looking wooden board.

Two smooth iron bars were nailed to the bottom of the board, and a thick hemp rope, as thick as a twisted rope, was tied to the front.

"What's this?" Sile asked curiously, poking the wooden board.

"This is my old 'chariot'!" Hua An said proudly, patting the dust off the board. "Come on, I'll take you to the threshing ground and show you what 'Baixi Village Drifting' really means!"

Hua An didn't hesitate and directly tied the homemade skis to the back of the pickup truck he used to haul goods.

That pickup truck is a bit old, but it's very durable.

The threshing ground is not far from the village entrance, and it is now completely covered by heavy snow, as flat as a block of tofu that has not yet been cut.

"Get on the bus! Hold on tight! Anyone who cries is a little dog!" Hua An waved his hand, looking quite like a general inspecting his troops.

The three children had never seen anything like it before. Their little faces flushed with excitement as they scrambled to climb onto the large wooden plank, sitting cross-legged and perfectly still.

Si'an sat at the back, stretched out her two short arms, and hugged Sile's waist tightly. Sile hugged Sitao in turn, while Sitao gripped the handle in front of the board.

"Are you ready? Let's take off—!"

Hua An climbed into the driver's seat, shifted gears, and accelerated.

The pickup truck roared to life, its tires kicking up a cloud of snow, and slowly started moving.

The wooden plank behind it jolted violently and then slid smoothly across the snow.

As the car picked up speed slightly, the exhilarating feeling of flying close to the ground instantly made the three children scream.

"Ah—! We're flying! We're flying!"

"Uncle, hurry up! Hurry up! This is too slow, like a tortoise crawling!" Si Tao, that kid, was incredibly bold, shouting loudly even as the cold wind poured into his mouth.

Hua An glanced in the rearview mirror and smirked, "Hey kid, you think it's too slow? Then your uncle will give you a 'Dragon Tail Swing'!"

The steering wheel was suddenly turned full circle.

The pickup truck drew a large S-shape across the wide threshing ground.

The skis behind were instantly flung up, and under the influence of centrifugal force, they drew a thrilling and exciting arc in this silvery-white world.

"Waaaaaah—!"

This time, the screams were a genuine mix of excitement and stimulation.

The crows that were originally perched on the old poplar tree by the threshing ground were startled by the commotion and took flight with a "whoosh," cawing as they soared into the sky, shaking off a branch full of snow.

This scene was witnessed by two elderly gentlemen who were sitting under the eaves drinking tea.

Grandpa Zhou Yinchuan is fully armed today.

He was draped in an incredibly expensive black mink cloak, which Zhou Yanjin had specially sent for him, saying it was to protect him from the wind. He also had a thick cashmere blanket over his legs, and he was holding a purple clay teapot in his hands. He was completely engrossed in the rattan chair, looking utterly comfortable.

He squinted at the string of tiny black dots swaying back and forth on the distant threshing ground, listening to the children's laughter carried by the wind. The smile lines on his face were so deep they could trap a mosquito, and a few tears even welled up in the corners of his eyes.

"Great, that's wonderful."

Zhou Yinchuan took a sip of hot tea, then turned to look at Hua Mutou, who was adding charcoal to the brazier with fire tongs. "Old Hua, look at those little rascals, how energetic they are!"

Hua Mutou was wearing an old-fashioned blue cotton-padded jacket that had been washed to a faded color. He didn't care about any fancy clothes. He sat cross-legged on a small stool. Hearing this, he looked up, grinned, and said, "That's right, just like his roots, tough and resilient."

"Looking at this snow..." Zhou Yinchuan's eyes were somewhat unfocused, as if he could see the distant Yalu River across the vast white threshing ground. "Back when we were in Korea, the snow was much thicker than this. We used to lie in the snowdrifts, not daring to move, our eyebrows and beards covered in frost."

Hua Mutou paused in his movements, tapped the fire tongs on the charcoal fire, and a few sparks flew up.

"Yeah," Hua Mutou said in a muffled voice, "I wasn't in the mood to play in the snow back then. I thought to myself, if I could have a hot roasted potato to eat, I'd eat all the snow in my life."

"I still remember that time you secretly hid a frozen potato and thawed it under your armpit before giving it to me," Zhou Yinchuan sighed. "Back then, I thought that if I could go back alive, I would definitely have a good meal in the snow and watch my children and grandchildren playing in the snow."

"Now we can eat and see what we want." Hua Mutou picked up a piece of red-hot charcoal. This winter was indeed cold, and the snow was heavier than in previous years. He originally thought it would just be a thin layer as usual, but he didn't expect it to fall so heavily.