"Bang, bang bang..."

  In the howling cold wind, a thinly dressed little boy nervously knocked on the door of a house.

  It was New Year's Eve, and ughter could be heard from ihe courtyard.

  "Bang, bang bang..."

  After waiting for a while without any respohe little boy raised his hand and grabbed the door handle, gently knog a few more times.

  "Hoo..."

  It was too cold, so after knog on the door, he immediately put his hand to his mouth and exhaled, warming himself up.

  Not only his hands, but his feet in straw shoes were also numb from the cold.

  "Who is it?"

  Fortunately, at this moment, someone in the courtyard finally responded.

  The little boy's face brightened.

  "Sed U's me."

  He quickly replied.

  "Squeak..."

  Not long after, the courtyard door opened, and a middle-aged man with a kind face stuck his head out from the crack.

  "Oh, it's Taiping. What's the matter ing so te?"

  The middle-aged man asked the little boy.

  "Sed... Sed Uncle... We ran out of charcoal at home. I want to borrow some charcoal from you and I go to the mountains to chop firewood in the ing spring. I will definitely repay you."

  The little boy said with a hint of embarrassment, avoiding eye tact.

  "How much is a few pounds of charcoal worth? Just wait here, I'll get it for you!"

  The man waved his hand and readily agreed.

  "Taiping, have you eaten?"

  After taking a few steps, the man suddenly stopped and turo ask the little boy.

  "I... I... I have eaten... but Grandpa... Grandpa hasn't..."

  The little boy tightly held onto his clothes, and his voice became almost inaudible towards the end.

  Seeing this, the middle-aged man sighed lightly, then smiled and said, "Taiping, wait here. Sed Uncle will be right back."

  "Okay."

  The little boy nodded gently.

  At this moment, anust of cold wind blew by, causing the little boy to shiver, but he didn't feel as cold inside.

  "Taiping!"

  Not long after, the middle-aged man came out with a dustpan in his hand.

  "Take it."

  With a breath of white air, Sed Uncle walked quickly to the courtyard gate and stuffed the dustpan into the little boy's arms.

  The little boy looked down and saw that besides a few pounds of charcoal, there were also four steaming white steamed bread in the dustpan.

  "Sed Uncle, I..."

  Looking at those big white steamed bread, the boy felt a bit anxious, but after ing for a day, he couldn't help but swallow his saliva when he saw those white steamed bread.

  "Take it!"

  The middle-aged man smiled kindly.

  "Erniu, why are you still lingering in the courtyard?"

  Just then, a sturdy woman walked quickly to the courtyard gate.

  Whetle boy and the middle-aged man saw this woman, their faces ged.

  "Taiping... Taiping came to borrow some charcoal."

  The middle-aged man smiled awkwardly at the woman, avoiding her gaze, full of fear.

  "Sed... Sed Aunt."

  The little boy called out to the woman.

  The woman first gred at the middle-aged man, then looked at the little boy, and finally her gaze fell on the dustpan in his hands.

  When she saw the steamed bread pced on the charcoal, her face immediately darkened.

  "These steamed bread were left for Little Hu. You 't eveo eat them yourself, but you're beiravagant!"

  The woman gred fiercely at the middle-aged man, then angrily grabbed two steamed bread.

  "Mom, is the roast goose ready? I want to eat roast goose, not pin steamed bread!"

  At this moment, a chubby boy wearing a new cotton jacket walked out of the house. When he saw the steamed bread in the woman's hand, his face immediately turned displeased.

  "Son, why did you e out? It's cold outside, quickly go baside and don't catch a cold."

  The woman hurriedly walked towards the chubby boy with a worried expression.

  "Mom, I don't in steamed bread, I want roast goose!"

  The chubby boy stomped his feet unhappily, as if he was about to cry.

  "Alright, alright, alright, the roast goose will be ready soon. These steamed bread are for Huang."

  The woman coaxed the chubby boy with a doting expression, then casually threw the two steamed bread uhe eaves into the dog cage.

  "Ah..."

  Seeing this se, the middle-aged man frowhen sighed helplessly.

  The little boy looked at the steamed bread being gnawed by the dog, bit his lip, then hugged the dustpan with charcoal tightly, and looked up at the middle-aged man with a smile.

  "Sed Uhank you, I'm leaving."

  "Be careful on the way, remember to leave a cra the window when burning charcoal at night, and help yrandpa cover him with a b."

  The middle-aged man waved his hand.

  "Xu Erniu! If you don't e back to the house, don't even think about sleeping on my kang tonight!"

  The scolding voice of the woman came from ihe house at this time.

  "ing, ing!"

  The man quickly responded, smiled awkwardly at the little boy, and then closed the courtyard door.

  After the courtyard door closed, the st trace of light in the snowy ground disappeared, and the whole world was engulfed by the darkness of the night. Only a small light could be seen in a thatched cottage not far away to the east.

  "With this charcoal and two steamed bread, Grandpa will definitely get better."The little boy in the night didn't feel scared. He huddled his head, murmured a senteh a smile, and then tightly held a basket of charcoal and two white steamed breads, hopping and skipping towards a small earthen house lit in the night.

  ***

  In front of the small earthen house.

  "Squeak......"

  The little boy pushed open the door.

  "Taiping......is that you?"

  As soon as he ehe door, an old, hoarse, and somewhat weak voice came from the room lit by the mp.

  "It's me, Grandpa."

  The little boy rubbed his frozen face hard, mao squeeze out a smile, and then quickly walked to the door, lifted the curtain a in.

  As soon as he ehe room, a strong smell of herbs hit him in the face.

  Because there was no fire, the temperature ihe room was no different from outside.

  At the far end of the room, there was a bed made of several wooden boards. Uhe worn-out quilt that revealed the cotton stuffing, an old man who was so thin that only skin and bones were left curled up.

  "Grandpa, Sed Uncle lent me a few pounds of charcoal and gave me two white steamed breads. We'll roast them ahem ter."

  The little boy Taiping poured the charcoal into the stove while speaking joyfully to the old man on the bed.

  "Good......good......"

  The old man nodded with a smile.

  Although the old man was exuding an aura of dee, his cloudy eyes regaiheir luster as soon as he saw the little boy Taiping.

  "Taiping......these years......with Grandpa......you've suffered."

  The old man looked at Taiping with a loving gaze, and murmured with difficulty.

  "Grandpa, I'm not suffering, not at all."

  Taiping, who had lit the charcoal stove, looked up, gri the old man and shook his head.

  "Silly boy, such a silly boy......if it weren't for you taking care of me these years, Grandpa would have been gone long ago......"

  The old man reached out and touched Taiping's little head, sighing with a face full of pity.

  "Grandpa, don't say these unlucky things, you will definitely live a long life."

  Taiping shook his head vigorously while roasting the steamed bun.

  "Taiping, have you ever heard of Immortals?"

  The old man suddenly asked Taiping.