Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang walked ahead, while Da Ye and Qingsong carried the two thick quilts Chen Lan had given them. They meticulously checked every snow pit, ensuring the ventilation holes were clear, and then gave the two quilts to the younger children who slept together. Afterward, they each returned to their respective snow dens.
In the silent mountain forest of winter nights, only the howling of the cold wind could be heard. The snow dens were even quieter. Having traveled and sledded all day, everyone was exhausted and sleepy. Chen Lan and Xu Mingxuan fell asleep soon after lying down.
When they woke up the next morning, Chen Lan pushed open the door of the snow den to a sky full of heavy snow. Xu Mingxuan and the others had already built a bonfire in front of the snow dens and were roasting something to eat. Seeing Chen Lan emerge, they called out, "Lan'er, hurry over! The sausages are just ready. Eat them while they're hot."
Chen Lan took a sausage, bit into it, and then asked, "Mingxuan Ge, with all this snow, do we still need to keep traveling?"
Xu Mingxuan nodded and replied, "Yes, that's right. We need to keep moving forward. It's currently the ice-sealing period of the Songhua River. We're in a hurry, so we'll travel along the Songhua River. We'll reach Fuyu before tonight, then head to Harbin tomorrow. From there, we'll go east along the Songhua River to Jiamusi. Once we reach Jiamusi, we'll be close to our farm."
Qingsong chimed in at this point, "Sister-in-law, heavy snow is a good thing. Winter hunting is best after heavy snow. Once we reach our destination, we can start hunting. We can catch a lot of good things now."
Everyone was very curious, wondering why heavy snow was good for hunting, and they looked at him expectantly for an explanation.
Qingsong cleared his throat softly, took a bite of a brown sugar steamed bun, and explained, "When it snows heavily in the Northeast, some cold-intolerant pheasants and wild birds freeze to death easily. We can just pick them up under the trees. Also, with heavy snow, animals like wild boars, deer, and roe deer can't run well in the snow, making them easier to catch."
Everyone suddenly understood. They had thought there was some special reason.
The next day, after breakfast, they extinguished the bonfire with snow and set off with their belongings. Chen Lan was still responsible for carrying the two thick quilts.
Qingsong and Da Ye were puzzled. Qingsong whispered to Xu Mingxuan, "Mingxuan, I have to tell you, we carried them yesterday. Those two quilts are not light, probably around fourteen or fifteen jin. Such a long journey, and uphill too. Why do you always make your wife carry such heavy things? Can't you split the quilts among everyone to lighten her burden?"
Xu Mingxuan smiled and said, "It's fine. My wife is strong. Three things this heavy are nothing to her. Oh! Let's stop talking. Look, they've already gone far ahead. Let's hurry!"
Chen Lan opened the system's search function with her mind and quickly found the direction they needed to go. The Songhua River was below the mountain. Chen Lan looked at the route displayed on the system screen and slid downhill on her skis.
As soon as she reached the surface of the Songhua River, Chen Lan was stunned by the sight. She saw countless flowers "blooming" on the frozen river. Chen Lan couldn't help but marvel at the craftsmanship of nature, which had created crystal-clear ice flowers on the Songhua River. The shape of the flowers resembled the patterns on preserved duck eggs, which was probably why the river was called the Songhua River!
Thinking of this, Chen Lan recalled another theory about the origin of the Songhua River's name. This theory suggested that many pine trees grew along the banks of the Songhua River. In autumn, when the pine flowers bloomed, they would cover the entire surface of the river, creating a beautiful scene of fallen flowers filling the river. Thus, people named the river the Songhua River.
Everyone marveled for a while, just like Chen Lan. Because they had a heavy travel schedule for the day and needed to reach Fuyu as planned, they packed away their excitement and set off again.
To make up for lost time, they didn't eat lunch. They finally reached Fuyu as darkness fell. Qingsong and Da Ye found a suitable location, and everyone immediately set up camp.
Chen Lan decided to cook a good meal for everyone that night. While they were diligently digging snow dens, she went out for a walk and quickly hunted six roe deers and several pheasants. Chen Lan stored three roe deers and several pheasants in the system's warehouse for temporary safekeeping, as she felt carrying too much game would be a burden.
Upon seeing the game, everyone knew they would have meat for dinner. Although sausages were also made of meat, they weren't satisfying enough. So, they all became immediately excited and dug the snow dens with even more vigor.
Xu Mingxuan handed his and Er Zhuang's daggers to Qingsong and Da Ye to clean the roe deers. The two happily took the daggers and went off, while Xu Mingxuan and Er Zhuang took charge of leading everyone in continuing to dig snow dens.
A grand feast that evening was inevitable. After everyone had eaten their fill and rested well for the night, they all woke up early the next day. Breakfast naturally consisted of leftover roasted meat from the previous night, eaten with brown sugar steamed buns. Wasting food was shameful in those days and would lead to criticism.
After breakfast, they extinguished the bonfire and continued their journey.
Traveling along the Songhua River on sleds was fast. They spent another day and reached Harbin. From Harbin, they were not far from Jiamusi.
Similar to their journey back to the valley with Xu Mingxuan, Chen Lan and the others took a little over five days to reach the mountains near their farm.
The members of the hunting party were all eager to showcase their skills and have a great time.
Chen Lan discussed with Xu Mingxuan, Qingsong, and Da Ye. They all agreed that after several days of travel, they should take some time to rest and have a good meal tonight before officially starting the winter hunt tomorrow.
Chen Lan naturally had no objections. She had come with them to help them hunt, so she would follow their arrangements and focus on contributing to the hunt and safely returning everyone to the valley.
Thus, everything proceeded as usual. Qingsong and Da Ye were responsible for finding a campsite and digging snow dens, while Chen Lan was responsible for hunting and collecting firewood.
With the system as a cheat, hunting was incredibly easy for Chen Lan. In a short while, Chen Lan had hunted another six roe deers and several pheasants.
Chen Lan still stored three roe deers and the pheasants in the system's warehouse. Then, carrying three roe deers and a bundle of firewood, she returned.