Meng Yan's Transformation

Chapter 357 Reading "My Crystal Palace"

"Cousin Daven, I'm not hungry. Don't you love eating rice crust? You can keep it for yourself."

While Zhan Mengyan was speaking, her stomach started to play, with growling sounds coming one after another, like a symphony of hunger.

"You're still being stubborn. Didn't you eat again at night? Your stomach is growling with hunger. Come eat. I'm going back to the main house. If your third cousin finds me in your house, he will scold me again. Oh, sister Mengyan, I feel that your little house is too cold. If you feel that you can't stand the cold, you should come with me to the main house and sleep with us. Or I will burn some more firewood for your small kang. When I was burning the kang at night, your third cousin complained that I burned too much firewood. Now this house is not warm at all, mainly because I didn't burn enough firewood for the kang. The wall of this little house is thin, and the north wind will blow through it. I will burn some more firewood for your small kang..."

As Yundawen spoke, he put down the rice pot and turned to get some firewood.

"Second cousin Daven, I can't sleep in the main room. It's too crowded. Don't heat the kang for me. If we wake up my third cousin, we won't be able to eat. We will all be scolded. I'm not cold at all. I've been to Heilongjiang and have developed the ability to resist cold. Can you lend me a flashlight? I haven't finished my composition yet. It's due tomorrow. I have to finish it tonight."

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she looked at Yun Dawen pleadingly.

"Okay, I'll leave the flashlight with you. When you finish writing, go to bed early. I'll bring you a mattress later. You can lie on it to keep warm. And when you hear your third cousin getting up at night, turn off the flashlight. If he knew I lent you the flashlight, he would be so distressed. He himself would be reluctant to use a flashlight when he gets up at night. He would walk along the wall by feeling his way because he was afraid of wasting the batteries."

After Yundawen finished speaking, he returned to the main house in a hurry.

Zhan Mengyan covered herself tightly with a quilt, lay on the bed with a flashlight, and continued to write "My Crystal Palace" with the faint light of the flashlight.

When Zhan Mengyan was almost done writing her composition, Yun Dawen brought her a mattress.

With a "thump", Yundawen fell to the ground.

"What's that sound? Second brother, is that you?"

As Yunhan spoke, she dazedly touched the empty seat next to Yundawen.

"Dad, it's me. I got up to go to the bathroom and fell down because I didn't see the road clearly. It's okay, it's okay..."

As Yun Dawen spoke, he touched the edge of Zhan Mengyan's kang.

"You hold a flashlight when you sleep at night, but you can fall down when you get up at night to hold the flashlight. I have never fallen down when I get up at night in the dark."

While Yunhan was talking, she turned over and went back to sleep.

Zhan Mengyan crawled out from the bed.

"Sister Mengyan, why are you holding the flashlight and covering yourself up so tightly? There's no light at all. I thought you were asleep."

While Yun Dawen was speaking, he covered Zhan Mengyan with the mattress.

"Second cousin Daven, are you hurt? If you don't cover yourself tightly and let the light out, what will happen if my third cousin gets up again and finds you borrowing my flashlight?"

While Zhan Mengyan was speaking, she stood up to check if Yun Dawen was hurt.

"No, I'm not hurt at all. I'm a grown man with thick skin and tough muscles. It was just too dark and I couldn't see my feet clearly, so I tripped. Sister Mengyan, have you finished writing your composition? If you've finished, give me the flashlight, so that your third cousin won't find out."

As Yundawen spoke, he reached for the flashlight.

"I'm almost done. Take the flashlight back. I'll color it and revise it tomorrow during morning self-study."

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she put the flashlight in Yun Dawen's hand.

"You're almost done, so you might as well finish it."

As Yundawen spoke, he stuffed the flashlight into Zhan Mengyan's hand.

"No need. I was also nervous holding the flashlight. I was afraid that my third cousin would find out."

While Zhan Mengyan was speaking, she returned the flashlight to Yun Dawen.

"Second brother, who are you talking to in the outer room?"

When Yunhan was talking, I could vaguely hear the sound of voices.

Yun Dawen and Zhan Mengyan's hearts were in their throats and they were too scared to speak.

Zhan Mengyan gestured with her hands, signaling Yun Dawen to leave quickly.

Yundawen nodded in understanding.

"I didn't talk to anyone. I came back..."

As Yundawen spoke, he hurried back to the main house.

Zhan Mengyan picked up the rice and chewed it hard: It smells so good! It's crunchy and sticky...

After eating a ball of rice, Zhan Mengyan felt much warmer. The feeling of hunger and cold was much less. People feel colder when they are hungry. When they are full and warm, they don't feel that cold anymore...

Zhan Mengyan slowly fell into a dream without realizing it.

The next morning, everyone got up except Yundawen who was still sleeping soundly.

"What's wrong with the second brother today? He's sleeping like a dead pig and can't even make breakfast for us. Third brother, fourth brother, you two should get up quickly, or you'll be late for work. You can buy some breakfast on the way to work. I'll go to the barber shop to eat."

While Yunhan was talking, she covered Yundawen, who was sleeping soundly, with a blanket.

Zhan Mengyan got up earlier than everyone else. She opened the lid of the iron pot on the stove next to the kang. Inside was a pot of sorghum rice cooked the day before. She had eaten half of it, but the remaining sorghum rice had frozen as hard as a rock. She knocked with a wooden stick, trying to knock off a piece to take with her for lunch and dinner, but failed. She had no choice but to turn the pot upside down, put it on a plastic bag, and poured hot water that her third cousin used to wash his face on the bottom of the pot. A piece of frozen sorghum rice fell from the iron pot onto the plastic bag. She also took out a few salted radish strips that she had pickled a few days ago from the pottery jar, put them in the plastic bag, and put them together in her schoolbag.

"Zhan Mengyan, your sorghum rice has become like a rock. Can you still chew it? Besides, you cooked the rice a few days ago. It has already gone bad. Be careful not to get a stomachache if you eat it!"

While Yunhan was talking, she was brushing her teeth and watching Zhan Mengyan packing the "meal" skillfully.

"Uncle, don't worry. The sorghum rice will melt by noon and won't be so hard. I always cook a pot of rice for three or four days. The rice is frozen into lumps, like it's in a natural refrigerator. You won't get an upset stomach no matter how many days you eat it. It's just that I didn't break open the lumps of rice today, and I brought a little too much rice, so I can eat my fill."

As Zhan Mengyan spoke, she happily patted the "food" in her schoolbag.

"You have a really good appetite, kid! You're not picky about food, and everything tastes delicious..."

While Yunhan was speaking, she looked at Zhan Mengyan and thought to herself: How can such a delicate girl be so able to endure hardship?

Zhan Mengyan said goodbye to her third cousin and ran to school with her schoolbag on her back.

The morning after the snow is quiet and solemn, making the world pure and flawless. The sun shines through the treetops and sprinkles on the snow, forming mottled light and shadows. The snow is glittering. Birds are singing on the branches. The cold wind blows, and the snowflakes on the branches fall gently, like elves dancing in the sky. The air is filled with a faint chill, making people feel the charm of winter and the purity of snow...

During morning self-study, Zhan Mengyan finished writing "My Crystal Palace" and she repeatedly pondered and revised it.

After the Chinese class, the students handed their compositions to the Chinese class representative.

During the evening self-study class, the tutor is the Chinese teacher Liu Zhen.

"Classmates! I took a quick look at the essays submitted by the students in Chinese class today. Several of them wrote very well. The most outstanding one is "My Crystal Palace". This essay not only has beautiful words, but also has vigorous content, showing the author's positive and optimistic spirit in fighting against the severe cold! I plan to recommend "My Crystal Palace" to be published in our school's special issue "Young Swallow", and then recommend this essay to the city and provincial high school essay competitions."

As the Chinese teacher Liu Zhen spoke, he looked at Zhan Mengyan with excitement.

The students followed the Chinese teacher's gaze and looked at Zhan Mengyan in confusion. Zhan Mengyan blushed and lowered her head.

"Teacher Liu, who wrote My Crystal Palace? Ask her to read this masterpiece to me."

"Who in our class wrote this?"

"It seems that our class is really full of hidden talents!"

"Teacher Liu gave this essay a really high evaluation!"

"..."

The students were whispering to each other in their seats.

"Students! Please be quiet. Do you want to listen first?"

Teacher Liu Zhen asked excitedly.

"think!……"

The students answered in unison.

"Okay, now let's talk about Zhan Mengyan reciting her "My Crystal Palace"!"

Zhan Mengyan stood up shyly amid the applause of her classmates:

I built a small house at my cousin's house as my temporary residence.

Every winter, my little house becomes a "Crystal Palace"...