Li Qingxia got up early to boil water. Looking at the gray sky outside, he sighed.
It was September in both places, but he felt much more comfortable spending September in Northern Xinjiang than here. If he hadn't made this trip, he would probably have been cleaning fish at this hour, wouldn't he?
There was a two-hour time difference. Here, the sun was up after eight; over there, dawn had only just broken.
Boiling water on the small honeycomb coal stove felt wrong to Li Qingxia in every way-why couldn't he use a big pot on a proper stove? But firewood and coal were hard to buy here.
He just had to bear with it a little longer, then he could return to Northern Xinjiang.
He found it strange himself. He had lived here for sixty years, so shouldn't this be the place he was used to? He had lived over there for less than three years. Why did it feel more comfortable?
After thinking it over, he realized it was because supplies were plentiful there, he had more money, and food and drink were never a concern. Besides, both his sons in Ma County had comfortable homes that lacked practically nothing.
Here, it was different. Before he had left for those two-plus years, he could put up with not having certain things. Now, he found it rather hard to bear.
He didn't know that two sayings summed it up: "Going from frugality to luxury is easy; going from luxury to frugality is hard."
He simply cooked some cornmeal porridge and stir-fried some Chinese cabbage, eating them with baked flatbreads bought the day before. The flatbreads back home really were delicious. Once his business was finished and he headed back, he would have to take some for his children and