Bai Fumei in the 70’s

Time flows like water, and lively times always fly too fast. The precious spring break was coming to an end, and the black market in G City was gradually opened up.

Zhao Lanxiang's parents had already returned to work, but little Huzi had not yet started school. However, little Huzi was not willing to go to his grandfather's house. After Zhao Lanxiang returned home from the army compound, Feng Lian had to hand her son to her and hurriedly said, "I have class this afternoon. You look after little Huzi."

Zhao Lanxiang nodded.

Little Huzi hugged her arm and asked her, "Sister, where did you go just now? I haven't finished the soy milk."

As he said that, he was sticking to his big sister like brown sugar, as if in this way he can escape the catastrophe and not be sent to his grandpa's house. Zhao Lanxiang tore him off her, feeling dumbfounded, and asked in a low voice, "Do you want something delicious?"

Little Huzi nodded vigorously.

Zhao Lanxiang took little Huzi to the hotel where He Songbai stayed.

In his room, He Songbai opened the box, and the delicate gold and silver dial reflected a little stream of light. In addition to Longines, these little guys also mixed a few Omegas, as well as ordinary Sima and Tissot. Not many people go to department stores during the Spring Festival. To not attract attention, He Songbai did not only buy Longines or other watches.2

G city is worthy of being a first-tier city in the south. The economic development is far from comparable to small places. He Songbai has brought most of the pork sales money that he and Li Zhong had saved, and took the risk and replaced it with these delicate things.

He also bought a silver chain for women, which was delicate and weak in his hand, as if it could be crushed with force.

Zhao Lanxiang and little Huzi knocked on the door for a long time before the door finally opened. He Songbai's hair was soaked in sweat. He was standing silently by the door and wiping his sweat.

"Why... you brought him too?" He Songbai looked down at the child beside Zhao Lanxiang and asked in surprise.

Little Huzi saw the familiar brother, and his eyes lit up. He stared straight at him with his head raised. But because her eldest sister was next to him, he only stared at the person shyly.

"What's your name?"

He Songbai squeezed the child's delicate face with his rough thumb. The other hand hooked his girlfriend's hand and closed the door.

He Songbai squatted down and said lightly, "My name is brother-in-law, would you call me so I can listen?"9

Little Huzi couldn't clearly understand what "brother-in-law" meant and didn't know that he was being taken advantage of. He called him innocently.3

Zhao Lanxiang looked at He Songbai's bold behavior. Was it because he saw her mother once, and his self-confidence swelled?

Zhao Lanxiang glared at He Songbai and corrected her younger brother wisely, "His name is Brother Bai, you have to call him Brother Bai, you cannot call him brother-in-law now."

" Brother Bai!" Little Huzi changed his call crisply.

He Songbai took out some candy from his pocket and gave it to the child.

He tore the wrapping paper and handed it over. He suddenly remembered that Zhao Lanxiang fed candy to Sanya half a year ago. He Songbai prepared a bag of candy for Little Huzi long before he came to G city. The moment he saw little Huzi, He Songbai finally understood the saying "to love a house is to love the crows too." He looks very much like his sister.3

This made He Songbai wish to hollow out his pockets to please the child. Moreover, little Huzi is not afraid of anything. He is as enthusiastic as his sister, lively and active. Playing with him for an hour, the child can remember him for several days.

Little Huzi soon got acquainted with He Songbai. He rolled on He Songbai's bed, making noise everywhere.

Zhao Lanxiang looked at the tidy bed in the room and looked at the sweating He Songbai, and she whispered to him, "Did you just come back this early morning?"

He Songbai nodded and took off his coat. He went to the bathroom to fetch water to wash his face and also washed the noisy child on the bed.

He said vaguely, "I just went out and bought something."

"Why did you come to me suddenly?"

Zhao Lanxiang said, "Tomorrow I will go back to the country. I plan to make delicious food at home. Do you want to come to my house for dinner?"

He Songbai's face rubbing motion obviously stopped for a moment, and it took him a long time to say, "This...isn't it?"

Zhao Lanxiang asked angrily, "What's wrong, don't you still owe me a book?"

"Didn't you think about this when you borrowed the book? I don't believe it..."

He Songbai felt choked by her words. The woman already spoke, so he could not say anything at all.

Zhao Lanxiang dragged little Huzi out of bed. "Will you come, or are you afraid of my dad?"

He Songbai was indeed scared, but his gaze fell on the well-kept book in the cabinet. He took his gaze away from his girlfriend's face with difficulty.

He promised, "I will go on time in the afternoon, but you shouldn't buy food. I will bring it to you on the way when I go..."

Zhao Lanxiang answered sweetly.

She took little Huzi out of the guest house, and he asked her, "Where is the delicious food?"1

Zhao Lanxiang went to buy some fruits along the way. After the spring break, farmers grew more varieties of fruits. Zhao Lanxiang picked a few to buy: pear, orange, and hawthorn. When she saw potatoes, she chose a few large ones as usual and bought one small basket worth. She spent two pounds of sugar tickets on the black market.

After they returned home, little Huzi took a chair and sat by the door of the kitchen, waiting for his sister to cook.

Zhao Lanxiang smiled, rinsed a pot, and washed the fruit skillfully. She put the sugar that she bought into the pot and boiled it. There was still some temperature in the coal stove. Zhao Lanxiang turned the nozzle of the stove up, and the coal quickly heated up. The flame licked the bottom of the pot little by little.

She was going to make candied fruits for her younger brother. During the winter and spring, it can be stored for a long time without it being spoiled or wasted. Little Huzi likes to eat such sweet and sour things.

Earlier, she bought rock sugar, which would be brittle and not sticky when boiled. It is sweet and fragrant. Boiling sugar is a complicated skill. Zhao Lanxiang stared at the pot and boiled it until the chopsticks could pull out the syrup, and the cooled sugar was crisp and hard. She stopped the fire and pierced the fruits with a toothpick to gently rotate it on top of the sugar surface. The fruits were covered with a thin layer of syrup.

The air was full of the scent of boiled sugar. Little Huzi held his chin and watched his sister spin out the beautiful candied fruits like magic. One by one, the bright and round candied fruits fell on the cold board, and his saliva had already fallen.

Zhao Lanxiang made a full board of candied fruits and lined it neatly. It could hardly fit on the board. Zhao Lanxiang took out all the plates in the house to hold candied fruits. The sugar in the pot was almost used, but there were fruits left. She washed her hands and took a pear to eat.

Little Huzi looked at the crystal clear candied fruits that were drying. It was hot, and he stole one to eat. A mouthful of melted sugar could be licked from the dried candied fruits, some of which are crisp and refreshing. The warm heat made him squint.

Zhao Lanxiang said: "Wait a while, wait a while to eat it."

But little Huzi could not wait. The spring was cold, and the cold wind from the window caused him to shrink his neck, but he was eating the freshly made candied fruits around the warm stove, and felt the sweetness in his heart.

Many years later, little Huzi still deeply remembers the taste of his childhood, which was the sweet taste of candied fruits, each of which contains the love of his sister.