The Brick Bed Still Warm That Year [Period]

In an old courtyard house on a narrow alley in 1993, a brick bed and bamboo mat could not keep out the winter cold, but they could hold the warmth of a family of four.

She didn't understand the worry hidden in her mother's wrinkles, or the hurt that made her sister secretly cut up the uppers of her new shoes. All she knew was to race around with her sister, sneak bites of half a cold bun, and find fun among the coal briquettes at the mouth of the alley.

Life was like the old locust tree in the corner of the courtyard, its branches swaying in the wind and scattering little bits of bitterness. But the warmth of the family huddled in a drafty little room, drinking thin porridge with pickled vegetables, could always turn that bitterness sweet.

This story is purely slice-of-life, depicting life in the 1990s at an unhurried pace. The chapters connect closely. There are no fantasy elements such as being reborn, transmigrating, or having supernatural abilities.

Theme: In a poor little household, two sisters rely on each other and find warmth amid the everyday bustle of the 1990s.