Qi Yuqing waved with a smile. "I've already eaten, you guys head back to your meals now. It's freezing out, the food will get cold soon."
After saying that, she winked at Xiao Mandong and turned to walk into the apartment building.
Auntie Ma had just helped Ma Juan to her feet, and when she looked up, she caught sight of Xiao Mandong and a strange man walking away with their backs turned. The corners of her mouth curled downward. Sure enough, this new girl was never one to stay put. She had just moved into the family compound, and already she was bringing random men back to her place.
As soon as Xiao Mandong stepped inside, she was greeted by a cold, drafty room. Gu Jianghan couldn't help frowning as he glanced out the window. There was no firewood or coal stoked anywhere in the yard. He had no idea how this little girl had managed to get through the entire winter here.
He handed the breakfast over to Xiao Mandong. "I've already eaten. I passed by the state-run restaurant on my way here and specially bought these for you. They should still be warm, eat them while they're hot." He had kept the steamed buns tucked inside his coat the whole way, only taking them out right when he reached her doorstep.
Xiao Mandong had just taken the buns and hadn't even had time to say thank you when Gu Jianghan picked up a broom, pushed the door open and headed out to the backyard to start sweeping the snow off the ground.
Diandian got excited at the sight of the stranger, dashing around Gu Jianghan with its tail wagging nonstop. Wherever Gu Jianghan swept, Diandian bounded over, every now and then pouncing at the broom, acting as if it was helping even though it was clearly just messing around.
When Gu Jianghan got a little annoyed, he would chase Diandian around with the broom for a bit. The man and the dog ended up having a total blast playing together.
Xiao Mandong sat by the table, nibbling on her buns slowly as she watched the scene unfolding outside the window, and the corners of her lips curled up into a soft smile.
Thud, thud, thud.
A series of knocks broke the quiet of the room. Even though everyone had been busy since early that morning, it was still only a little after seven o'clock. She had no idea who could be knocking at such an early hour.
She stuffed the last bite of bun into her mouth and hurried to open the door. Standing outside was Auntie Ma, holding a broom, wrapped up tight in her cotton-padded jacket, with another woman beside her who looked faintly familiar.
"Doctor Xiao, you're new here, so you probably don't know the rules of this family compound. When it comes to shoveling snow in winter, everyone pitches in. Every household has to send one person out, twice a day. There are lots of elderly folks and kids in the yard, we can't let the ice build up and cause anyone to slip and get hurt."
As Auntie Ma spoke, her eyes kept darting inside the house. She had only seen the man's back earlier, and she was dying to get a look at what he actually looked like.
"Doctor Xiao, it's you," the woman next to her recognized Xiao Mandong.
"Your mom just moved into Dr. Liu's place with her kid, did you know that? Word is the place she's staying is freezing cold, the kid got sick from the cold, and now she's latched onto Dr. Liu for dear life. Ugh, it's a good thing you cut ties with her. Otherwise, you'd be stuck with a mom like that, what a nightmare that would be."
Xiao Mandong then remembered that this woman was a nurse from the gynecology department. She had met her twice when Wang Meixia was giving birth. She smiled and said nothing. Wang Meixia's business had nothing to do with her, and she didn't care to get involved.
"Auntie Ma, I have a friend over at my place right now, and we're heading out soon. Would it be okay if I come back and do my part of the snow shoveling this afternoon? You can even leave the section assigned to me untouched, I'll get to it as soon as I'm back."
She thought of how Gu Jianghan had waited for her the whole morning, and was out there now shoveling the snow in her yard for her. If she went out to join the group snow shoveling, Gu Jianghan would definitely step in to help too. She couldn't keep letting him do all the work for her, that just wouldn't feel right.
"Oh, now listen to what you're saying," Auntie Ma's voice suddenly rose sharply. "We're all out here shoveling the whole yard, and you want us to leave your section for you? How is that even supposed to work? Besides, you still have to come back and shovel it this afternoon anyway. Didn't I just say we have to do this twice a day? Once in the morning, once in the afternoon. Everyone else is already hard at work, so hurry up and get out here. You could have already finished your section in the time you spent talking."
She rolled her eyes and muttered under her breath, "Typical bourgeois attitude, making such a big fuss over a little bit of work. It's just snow shoveling, with so many people out here we'll be done in an hour, and here you are haggling over every little thing."
Ma Qiaoling looked Xiao Mandong over carefully. She really did look seventy percent like that woman. What good could come out of a family raised by a mother like that? A crooked top beam makes the lower part of the wall straight no more. She had thought Xiao Mandong was nice at first, but now that she knew she was that woman's daughter, the more she looked at her the more disagreeable she seemed.
"Auntie Ma, you better watch what you say. My employment records are all on file at the hospital. If my family background was considered problematic, the hospital would never have given me a formal position. What right do you have to make up rumors about me?"
"In every other family compound, if someone has a prior commitment, they're allowed to swap their snow shoveling shift for another time. Even if you're the building manager, your job is to help everyone sort out their problems, not stir up trouble between people."
Xiao Mandong's words were sharp and to the point. She could tell that Auntie Ma was targeting her on purpose. Under normal circumstances, it was totally acceptable to swap shifts and make up the shoveling later, even if more snow fell in the afternoon, you could always make up for it the next time. No one would ever be this unreasonable about it.
She had no idea what she had done to offend this woman when they had only just met that day.
"Fine, you don't need to lecture me about all that nonsense. Organizing everyone to shovel the snow is my job. If you want to swap shifts, you can find someone yourself to do your part. You're right, I'm just the building manager, I can't control a big shot doctor like you."
With that, Zhou Qiaoling turned and left. The young nurse gave Xiao Mandong an awkward little smile and hurried to follow after her.
Zhou Qiaoling's chest felt tight with resentment every time she thought about how her husband had gone out of his way to help Wang Meixia with her work.
Xiao Mandong stared rigidly at Zhou Qiaoling's retreating back, so angry her chest was heaving. She just wanted to live her life in peace, so why did all these annoying people keep popping up to mess with her?
"What's wrong?" Gu Jianghan pushed the door open and stepped inside, carrying a gust of cold air with him.
He had seen the visitors through the window a little earlier, and had been hurrying to finish clearing the snow, so that in the afternoon he could bring back some firewood and coal to make space for them to store.
Xiao Mandong took a deep, steadying breath. "The building manager wants me to go out and shovel the snow..."
"Then we'll go shovel it together," Gu Jianghan said. "I'm off work today. After we finish the snow shoveling, I can go visit Xiaoli, and we can even have lunch together at noon."
He had been hoping to find an excuse to spend more time with her, and now one had practically fallen right into his lap.
She gave a faint, strained smile. "I'm so sorry. You came over and haven't even gotten a chance to sit down and rest. First you cleared the snow in my backyard, and now you're going out to help shovel the compound snow. I keep putting you to all this trouble."
"Our families go way back, there's no need to be so polite with me. The two of us, we're tied together by fate that started in a snow pile." As he spoke, he patted Diandian on the head.
Diandian shook the snow off its fur vigorously.
Xiao Mandong couldn't help but burst out laughing. "That's really true. Wait here a second."
Xiao Mandong walked into the bedroom, where she actually pulled Gu Jianghan's scarf out of her personal space. "I was going to wash it before I gave it back to you, but it's freezing outside, you'd better put it on now."
Gu Jianghan took the scarf and wrapped it right around his neck. A faint, soft fragrance drifted up into his nose, making him catch his breath for a second, and his heart started beating faster.
"Let's go, time to shovel the snow." He said as he picked up the broom and walked out of the door first. Once he was outside, he took a deep breath of fresh air and patted his own chest, trying to calm his wildly thumping heart.
Xiao Mandong arrived at the section of the yard assigned to her, and saw Qi Yuqing standing there holding a small iron shovel, completely motionless, her eyes fixed straight ahead.
