The north wind blew with a biting chill, so harsh that one could describe it as the air freezing into frost and water turning to ice. Snow blanketed the land, turning valleys into a vast expanse of white, a world of ice and snow as far as the eye could see.
The sky had turned gloomy again, suggesting another snowfall was imminent. The weather forecast had predicted several days of snow, likely lasting another two days before the skies cleared.
The snow on the ground was frozen hard and slippery, making each step a precarious slide. It was easy to lose one's footing and take a nasty tumble.
Chen Lan quickly called out to her mother-in-law and mother, who were walking ahead with a slippery gait: "Mother-in-law, Mother, slow down. The ground is too slick, be careful not to fall."
It was a stroke of luck that everyone was wearing the snow boots they had recently purchased from the system. The boots had a toothed, anti-slip sole. Otherwise, walking back with two babies in her arms would have been quite a challenge.
Despite the anti-slip soles of their snow boots, the ground was still extremely slippery. The three of them – mother-in-law, mother, and daughter-in-law – continued their slow, cautious journey home.
Seeing that the twins were asleep, Chen Lan quickly stopped her mother, who was a few steps ahead: "Mother, wait a moment. It's inconvenient for me to carry the twins. Could you help me zip up my down jacket a bit? The little ones have fallen asleep."
Her mother quickly stopped and helped zip up the jacket. Then, she whispered, "Will this smother them?"
Chen Lan whispered back, "No, Mother! Their faces are leaning against me on the side."
Her mother remained worried. She peeked under the collar and saw the twins nestled against their mother, sleeping soundly. Only then did she relax.
The three continued their slow walk home. Just then, the sound of a sled approached from behind, and it quickly slid up to them.
Chen Lan recognized it as Chuncao, pulling a sled with Xiao Douzi. Xiao Douzi was also bundled up in Chuncao's thick cotton coat, with only a small head peeking out. Unlike the twins, he was wide awake, his big eyes darting around. He grinned and called out, "Auntie!"
Chen Lan quickly replied, "Yes! Good boy! Are you cold!"
She then said to Chuncao, "Sister Chuncao, it's too cold. Don't let Xiao Douzi freeze. You take Xiao Douzi and head back. You don't need to wait for us. We'll walk back slowly; it'll be warmer."
The weather was indeed very cold. Chuncao didn't insist on waiting. After greeting the mother-in-law and mother, she powerfully pushed off the slippery ground with her feet, and the sled shot forward a considerable distance.
Chen Lan thought to herself, Chuncao was a native of Changbai Mountain, and her sledding skills were truly exceptional. She was so skilled! How could her feet be so agile, controlling both the speed and direction of the sled?
Chuncao pushed off a few more times, and the sled whooshed forward again, quickly disappearing from sight.
Chen Lan, carrying the twins, walked slowly and cautiously home with her mother-in-law and mother.
By the time the three reached home, they were exhausted and sweating. After a brief greeting to her mother-in-law and mother, Chen Lan prepared to go upstairs.
Chen Lan couldn't afford to delay any longer! The twins were her priority. She hurried upstairs to her room and carefully removed the coats, hats, and gloves of the twins, who were sleeping like little piglets. She tucked them into the warm covers.
They must have been exhausted from playing today. No matter how Chen Lan fussed over them, the twins remained fast asleep.
Since she had taken them out to play today and had been pulling the sled herself, Chen Lan had worked up a sweat. While the twins were asleep, she quickly took out some clean clothes and went to the washroom for a hot bath.
Just as she finished her bath, her mother came into the room.
Her mother asked softly, worriedly, "How are the children?"
Chen Lan looked up and gestured with her chin towards the sleeping twins on the bed, whispering, "They're probably tired from playing today. They're sleeping soundly. They won't wake up no matter what."
Her mother walked to the bedside, rubbed her hands together, felt that they weren't cold, and then touched the twins' foreheads. Their temperatures were normal, and she finally felt at ease.
She kept muttering, "Good. That's good."
Chen Lan quickly said, "Mother, you were out in the cold wind today. Why don't you take a hot bath in the washroom here!"
Her mother thought about how much she had sweated today and felt sticky. A hot bath was indeed in order.
So, she returned to her adjacent room to get clean clothes and went into the washroom for her hot bath.
While this was happening, Chen Lan quickly went downstairs to the kitchen. She cleaned the pre-soaked tremella, lotus seeds, lily bulbs, and goji berries that she had prepared before leaving, placed them in a large clay pot for soup, and added more than half a pot of boiling water from the thermos.
Thinking that there were quite a few people at home and she might not have enough, Chen Lan added another half thermos of water, covered the pot, and prepared to start simmering.
She sat down, opened the stove door, pushed aside the embers, and tossed in a handful of pine needles. The fire in the stove quickly caught. She first added some fine twigs. Once the fire was burning strongly, she added a few thicker logs, closed the stove door, and let it simmer slowly.
Habitually, she checked the system time. It was almost noon, close to twelve o'clock. Uncle De and Uncle Fu must have exerted themselves shoveling snow all morning.
It was too late to prepare anything else. For lunch, they would have steamed buns and flower rolls, along with a hearty stew.
At this point, her mother-in-law and Chuncao both came into the kitchen to help. Since it was getting late, Chen Lan didn't stand on ceremony.
She instructed, "Sister Chuncao, I'll be steaming the buns and flower rolls. You help light the fires in both stoves later. Mother-in-law, please go to the cellar and get two large cabbages, two large radishes, some pumpkin, green beans, and several large potatoes. Just get whatever you think is suitable. We'll make a big stew for lunch."
Chuncao and her mother-in-law quickly agreed. Both immediately set to work. Her mother-in-law took a basket and left the kitchen to go to the cellar behind the house for the vegetables.
Chuncao opened the stove door and began to prepare the kindling. While Chen Lan was placing buns and flower rolls into the steamer, she mentally opened the system and ordered a large piece of pork belly, pig's blood, dried tofu sheets, fried tofu puffs, and sweet potato noodles.
She also ordered six types of braised delicacies from her usual卤味 (luwei) shop: braised beef, braised peanuts, braised pig trotters, braised duck, and braised dried tofu sheets, which they all loved.
This would give the men, who had been out shoveling snow all morning in the cold, something to warm them up with a drink of liquor.
Just as she took out the items she had bought from the system warehouse, her mother-in-law came in with the vegetables.
The mother-in-law and daughter-in-law washed and chopped, and soon all the preparations were complete.