In the evening at the household where everyone was staying, each person contributed two yuan to enjoy a home-cooked rural meal. The village chief's home conditions were quite decent; there was corn broth porridge, large pancakes, a big plate of cured meat stir-fried with garlic shoots made for the New Year, scallion and egg, as well as a bowl of cold vermicelli and dried long beans. Everyone felt much more settled after the meal.
Li Xianglu and the group of women stayed at the village chief's eldest son's house, the western room, which had a large heated brick bed that was aired out before bedtime.
Li Xianglu washed her feet and climbed onto the bed. However, there weren't enough blankets, so two people had to share one. Chairman Xu's spouse weighed over 180 pounds, quite plump; sharing a blanket with her wasn't realistic. Thus, she ended up sharing with Chou Xue.
