Snow Storm

Xiaoguo was really resistant to winter here, so by making this trip, she was prepared to survive on what she has until the new year.

Xiaoguo bought more cabbages that could be stored. They were delicious when stir-fried and stewed. She also bought a lot of other types of vegetables.

There was a lot of chicken and duck meat in the fridge. Xiaoguo was intending to buy some pork bones and pork meat during this trip.

Mrs. Yang had also planned to buy some meat. Perhaps because she had seen Xiaoguo stocking up on food, Mrs Yang subconsciously bought a lot of meat eventually. Looking at the large piece of pork, she said helplessly, “How can we finish this?”

“In any case, the meat would not spoil under such weather conditions. We can bring it back and take our time to finish the food.”

As Xiaoguo spoke, she tied up the pile of pork. There were no more sausages at home, so she was going to make some more. This was the reason why she had bought a lot of pork this time. She will bring the meat back and consume it slowly.

After buying the food, Xiaoguo bought a jar of white wine. She could use it for cooking and marinating.

Next, she rushed to the medicinal shop.

“Xiaoguo, who’s feeling unwell?” Mrs. Yang asked worriedly as she watched the donkey cart stop at the medicine shop.

“No one is sick. I wanted to get some medicine for colds, just in case.” With that, Xiaoguo asked Mrs. Yang to look after the cart before entering the shop. After all, she had heard from the vegetable seller that there would be heavy snow. She was afraid that Zhuang Zhuang would fall sick, so she had to prepare some medicine just in case. It would be best if she had no use for it. But if there was a need, at least there was medicine on stand-by.

After hearing Xiaoguo’s words, Mrs. Yang felt that it made sense. She called out to Xiaoguo to get a few packs for her. She wanted to buy some back too.

Xiaoguo nodded and went in.

Mrs. Yang didn’t have to wait long before Xiaoguo came out with many bags. She got on the donkey cart and handed Mrs. Yang her items before putting the rest behind.

“Why did you buy so much?” Mrs. Yang looked at the pile of things she had bought and asked curiously.

“These are not just for colds. There are also some commonly used Chinese medicines here. Just in case.”

Xiaoguo steered the donkey cart towards their next destination.

“Sister-in-law, come in with me.”

Xiaoguo stopped at the entrance of the noodle shop and invited Mrs. Yang in.

Mrs. Yang shook her head. She did wish to follow Xiaoguo, but what about the things they had bought? In the end, she shook her head and looked after the cart while Xiaoguo went in.

Xiaoguo thought for a moment and nodded. She would be back shortly.

In any case, she had come here to tell Qin Anming about Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday. It was better to have more people around on his birthday.

As expected, in winter, nothing could compare to a bowl of hot noodles in herbal soup.

The noodle shop was already bustling with activity. Due to the herbal cuisine, there were even more diners. At this moment, everyone in the shop was busy. Xiaoguo avoided the crowd and found the busy Qin Anming. She patted his shoulder.

“Xiaoguo?” Qin Anming turned around and called out in disbelief when he saw that it was her.

“Why are you so surprised?” Xiaoguo pouted unhappily. She had said that she was going to hibernate, but she wasn’t a real animal. She will come out when there is a need to.

Seeing that the shop was so busy, Xiaoguo did not disturb the others. She briefly told Qin Anming about Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday and left.

Seeing that it was getting late, Xiaoguo did not delay and drove the donkey cart home. She wondered if Zhuang Zhuang had woken up. Recently, under her influence, he had become unwilling to leave his bed.

When she got home, Zhuang Zhuang had already woken up. He even showed her his task sheet for the day. It turned out that he had already completed everything.

“You are good, I can’t fall behind.” After looking at his list carefully, Xiaoguo returned it to Zhuang Zhuang and cheered him on confidently. She was the one who suggested this. Even he was more enthusiastic than her. She couldn’t be the weaker link.

“Mother, you have bought too much meat.”

Zhuang Zhuang curiously poked at the pork on the table with his finger. There should be at least half a pig here. How long would it take for them to finish it?

“It’s not too much. We can take our time to finish it. It won’t spoil in winter.”

Xiaoguo took a kitchen knife from the kitchen and divided the pork into smaller pieces. This way, it would be easier to eat.

She set aside a few pieces of pork to make cured meat.

After lunch, Xiaoguo got ready to make the cured meat. When Zhuang Zhuang heard her plans, he decided to miss his nap and stuck by her side to help.

The cured meat was easy to make. Before lunch, Xiaoguo had marinated the pork in soy sauce in the other space. She preferred cured meat that was marinated this way. When Zhuang Zhuang was washing the dishes, she took the opportunity to bring it out and left it to air-dry.

Seeing that there was nothing else to be done, Zhuang Zhuang eagerly rushed to hang up the cured meat. Xiaoguo followed behind him. The rope was so high that Zhuang Zhuang was unable to reach it, so he still needed her help.

—-

The landscape now looked like an overnight spring breeze had made the pear blossoms bloom all together.

When she woke up in the morning, everything outside the house was covered in snow. Xiaoguo had just lifted the curtain when her eyes caught the glare of the glistening snow. She had to rub her eyes a few times to ease the discomfort. She shook her head helplessly. Just one look at the snow was enough to freeze her over. She quickly put on a few more layers of clothes. She shall forget about completing any tasks and focus on keeping warm instead.

“It was almost Zhuang Zhuang’s birthday, but the weather was really strange. Before Zhuang Zhuang was born, it also snowed heavily for several days before it stopped. Would it be the same this time round?”

Xiaoguo thought to herself. If it happened again, then it would be too much of a coincidence.

Looking at the heavy snow outside, the snow at her feet was as thick as the soles of her shoes. Judging from this, the snow should have started falling before dawn.

Xiaoguo wrapped her clothes tightly around herself and walked out carefully, afraid that she would slip. She was traumatized by the snow. Previously, during snowy weather, she would always slip and fall on her butt whereas the people around her were usually unaffected. Therefore, she always tried to stay indoors whenever it was snowing.

But she had a small child to feed at home, so Xiaoguo had no choice but to get out of the house. She took a few steps and arrived shortly after.

It was a cold day, so she wanted to eat something warm. Coincidentally, Mrs. Yang had received a bag of cornmeal two days ago. She heard that her family had planted it. After milling the corn, Mrs. Yang gave her a bag. After cooking with the cornmeal, she realized that they tasted pretty good, so this time, she would take more cornmeal from Mrs. Yang.

Xiaoguo looked at the stove and thought about making some corn porridge and cooking some eggs. Now that she had a soupy dish, she should think about what to eat for the main course.

Xiaoguo looked around and lifted the gauze on the basket. There were still a few steamed buns inside. She would heat them up above the corn porridge later.

“Done!” Xiaoguo put on the steamer and covered the pot. This would be their breakfast.

“Mother, it’s snowing heavily outside…”

“Why are you up?”

Xiaoguo was curious. Zhuang Zhuang had actually woken up.

Zhuang Zhuang shook the snowflakes off his body. “Mother is already up. How can I continue sleeping?”

Smelling the unfamiliar fragrance in the air, he looked curiously at the pot. He leaned over to her and asked with a smile, “Mother, what are we eating?”

“Porridge.”

“No, porridge doesn’t smell like this…” Zhuang Zhuang looked at Xiaoguo.

“Smart boy.” Xiaoguo pinched his little nose and explained, “It’s corn porridge. It’s delicious.”

Only then did Xiaoguo realize that Zhuang Zhuang had never tasted corn porridge before, so he didn’t know the taste.

“Corn porridge?” Zhuang Zhuang tilted his head and asked with a smile. “Does it taste good?”

“It’s…” Xiaoguo teased him and deliberately dragged out her voice. Just as Zhuang Zhuang was holding his breath, she finished her sentence. “It’s quite delicious!”

“Hahahahahaha.”

Zhuang Zhuang was amused by Xiaoguo.

“Done.” Xiaoguo stroked his head. “Wash your hands and eat.”

“Yes Madam!”