Gu Qingcheng and her family of three first scoured the bustling commercial street in the west of the city.
When the extreme cold set in, it was the busiest time of night on the street, so most shops and households hadn't locked their doors, saving them most of the trouble of sneaking in and picking locks.
Although Lord Xia's army had begun cleanup operations, they had only started from the city center. Due to the cold weather, progress was slow, so this area remained untouched virgin territory.
The street in the west gate was quiet. With their unusual hearing, they listened carefully and found no suspicious sounds. To improve efficiency, they decided to split up as a family of three and notify each other with a whistle if anything happened.
One whistle meant a call for help; two whistles meant to gather.
After discussing their plan, the three of them resolutely went their separate ways.
Hu Lanfang and Gu Chaobei watched their daughter head alone towards the shops, exchanging a glance. They couldn't help but feel a sense of pride, like their daughter had finally grown up.
Then, the couple looked at each other again, knowing that every moment counted and there was no time to delay. They resolutely turned and began searching in other shops.
Gu Qingcheng felt that her family truly had a knack for banditry. In ordinary households, the place with the most iron was the kitchen. Wherever they went, their first target was the kitchen, collecting iron pots, hammers, sickles, cleavers, and other ironware.
The shops here generally had a storefront in the front courtyard and a backyard that could be used for residence, so most had kitchens for cooking. The ironware in the kitchen became the main target for the Gu family's search.
Iron pots were precious household items for ordinary people at this time because mining technology was backward, and the costs were huge. Therefore, iron pots and similar items had become valuable possessions passed down for generations.
It was common for an iron pot to be used for two generations. If a family had many poor sons, dividing just one pot during the division of property could be a trigger for conflict.
An iron pot wouldn't be thrown away even if it was broken; a professional mender would repair it. For ordinary families, buying a pot required saving money for several years, and the decision was made with great deliberation and caution.
In the blink of an eye, Gu Chaobei had collected a dozen iron pots and over a dozen cleavers. He used ropes taken from his storage cabinet to tie them by the handles and dragged them along the ground.
The snow was quite thick now, covering their ankles. Even dragging them on the ground didn't make a loud noise, only the "swishing" sound of friction against the snow.
Gu Chaobei's harvest was bountiful. After about half an hour, he blew two whistles.
After separating from her parents, Gu Qingcheng entered a small business. She collected all the iron pots, spatulas, and fire tongs from their kitchen.
As for the small amount of other foodstuff in the house, she let it go. There were still refugees alive in the city, and when they recovered, they would also know to collect supplies. She left it for them, as the supplies she had collected would be enough for her family to eat for three lifetimes.
Just as she was happily collecting from one shop after another, she suddenly heard one of her parents blow two whistles. She responded with two whistles and headed out to gather.
When she poked her head out to look on the street, she saw her parents waiting for her in the alley ahead. Each of them had over a dozen pots at their feet. She couldn't help but chuckle. Her parents were truly supportive, always unconditionally backing her, no matter the time.
Gu Qingcheng and Hu Lanfang had gathered a lot. In half an hour, the three of them had collected nearly a hundred catties of ironware.
Gu Qingcheng stepped forward and collected all the ironware.
"I remember the blacksmith shop next to the Yuelai Inn had good business and quite a bit of ironware. We can go there to collect more when it gets dark this evening. By then, Lord Xia's men should no longer be roaming the city," Gu Chaobei suggested.
They could only use a crude method to collect ironware now. Ordinary folk's homes only had a few iron items like pots and cleavers, but a blacksmith shop would definitely have the most iron.
"That's right, that blacksmith shop should have at least over 500 catties of ironware," Gu Qingcheng agreed.
"A city can't have only one blacksmith shop. The west gate was quite lively, so there should be one. Let's look for more," Hu Lanfang said patiently.
The three of them split up again.
Gu Chaobei and Hu Lanfang could only retrieve items that Gu Qingcheng had already placed in her storage cabinet. Once retrieved, they couldn't be put back.
They couldn't purchase directly from the mountain cat supermarket to store and retrieve, nor could they store external materials. Therefore, they could only use the cumbersome method of collecting first and then handing them to Qingcheng for storage.
During their search, some houses were locked. They smashed them open with axes. After the extreme freezing, the metal became brittle and lost its original sturdiness, easily damaged by force.
At the end of the street, Gu Chaobei spotted a blacksmith shop. A faded sign stood at the entrance, bearing the words "Forging Iron."
As if he had found a treasure, he quickly blew two whistles.
Gu Qingcheng and Hu Lanfang both responded and came over.
Upon seeing the blacksmith shop, Gu Qingcheng's eyes lit up, as if she had seen a luxury yacht. She didn't hold back at all, entering and collecting all the ironware inside.
Cleavers that had been forged, pots, plows, and even half a pot of molten iron in the furnace were all taken.
The blacksmith shop had no "ice sculptures," perhaps because the blacksmith had gone home for a meal.
After collecting for the whole morning, the three of them were hungry. Since there were no "ice sculptures" in this blacksmith shop, they felt more at ease and decided to eat there.
Gu Qingcheng took out hot water from her storage cabinet. All three were a bit particular about cleanliness. They extravagantly washed their hands with hot water, first applying soap, then rinsing with hot water. Gu Qingcheng took out hand cream and applied it to her parents and herself.
It wasn't that she was too fussy; in such cold weather, not applying hand cream would lead to chapped skin, making recovery more troublesome.
Gu Qingcheng took out three thermoses of soy milk and three steaming buns, handing them to her parents.
Taking a sip of soy milk and a bite of a bun.
Thanks to the thermoses, the soy milk didn't cool down too quickly, but the buns cooled completely within a minute.
Having learned from experience, the three of them ate ravenously, otherwise, they would have to eat ice shards.
After eating two buns and drinking a large cup of hot soy milk, Gu Qingcheng said with satisfaction that she was full. She asked, "Dad, do you want another bun?"
"No, it's cold and uncomfortable in my stomach. Let's eat a hot meal when we get home," Gu Chaobei replied.
"Your father is right. We'll just fill our stomachs for now, as long as we're not hungry."
Hu Lanfang also didn't like eating these "frozen" buns.
After they finished eating and rested for a while, Gu Qingcheng saw that they had finished their hot soy milk and put the empty thermoses into the storage cabinet.
Being southerners, they preferred sweet soy milk.
With the boost of sugar, they felt more energized and continued their important task of acquiring goods for free.
Gu Qingcheng sheepishly realized that she was more careless than her parents. They didn't even miss iron spoons, iron bowls, or iron chopsticks.
Even a sparrow has some meat.