December 12, 2023, Tuesday.
Han City, Shangqian Village.
Six thirty in the morning, and it was still dark outside.
The small village on the Southern Hebei Plain lay silent. Only the occasional scattered bark of a dog drifted over from afar, making the winter dawn seem even colder.
Qian Lele woke from her dreams right on time.
Without lingering in bed for even a moment, she efficiently put on the thick clothes draped over her quilt and stepped out of her tiny bedroom.
She first loosened up in the frost-covered courtyard, doing a few stretches to completely chase away the last traces of sleepiness.
In the main room, the honeycomb coal stove was puffing out heat with a "whoosh, whoosh," but the old house had no insulation, so the actual temperature inside remained low.
Her father, Qian Yong, was already up. Leaning on his smoothly worn cane, he was slowly yet stubbornly practicing his rehabilitation walking indoors.
"Dad, you're up."
"Lele—wh-why are you up so early again? Why not sleep a little more?"
Having suffered a cerebral infarction, Qian Yong's speech was slurred and unclear, but Lele could understand him.
"I've slept enough. I'm not tired."
Smiling, Lele hurried over and skillfully picked up the fire tongs. She helped her father clear out the burned coal ash from the stove, then carefully added several fresh pieces of coal.
The sky was still a deep, inky black.
Over the next hour, she became like a tireless spinning top, launching into an efficient flurry of work.
First, she filled two large basins with water from the tap wrapped tightly in old cotton quilts, then mixed in hot water until it was the right temperature.
Then, in the cramped bathroom, she scrubbed the whole family's clothes with great effort, spun them dry in