The very next morning, preoccupied with the thought of preparing vegetables for the camp, Chen Lan couldn't sleep and woke up early. After a quick wash, she went to the kitchen to prepare breakfast for the family.
Since there were quite a few things to do in the morning, Chen Lan simply made a pot of fragrant, steaming hot Hu La Tang for breakfast.
She then set up a steamer over another pot and steamed several batches of the mixed-flour steamed buns and flower rolls she had prepared the day before. For Wen Kai, Wen Qi, and the other little ones, she prepared two bags of xiaolongbao purchased from the system.
Chen Lan didn't wait for everyone to wake up to eat together. She ate a flower roll and a bowl of Hu La Tang in the kitchen, which filled her up. The Hu La Tang warmed her body, making her nose sweat.
After breakfast, she washed her face and applied a bit of moisturizing cream bought from the system.
Glancing at the system time, it was just a little past seven o'clock. The twin siblings wouldn't wake up this early; they usually woke up around eight-thirty every morning.
Chen Lan didn't linger at home. She put on her coat and left by herself.
Stepping out of the courtyard gate, the sky outside was still hazy. Dawn had only just broken, and the sun hadn't fully risen, only peeking half its head over the horizon.
A layer of frost had fallen again that morning, and everything was shrouded in a misty haze, with very low visibility. She couldn't see far.
The weather outside had grown colder, and the little north wind blew with a whistling sound, a chill striking her face. Chen Lan couldn't help but shiver.
The season had truly arrived, and the temperature difference between indoors and outdoors was quite significant.
With many tasks to attend to that morning, Chen Lan couldn't afford to worry about much else and quickly headed towards the cabbage field.
Upon reaching the cabbage field, the napa cabbages that hadn't been taken back yesterday were covered in a layer of white frost. The pile of snake-skin bags filled with radishes, which everyone had worked overtime to pack the previous night, also had a layer of frost on them.
Chen Lan was anxious about the vegetables and had no time to pay attention to anything else. She quickly took out all the vegetables from the system warehouse. These were three thousand catties of celery, three thousand catties of cauliflower, two thousand catties of carrots, five hundred catties of chili peppers, five hundred catties of eggplant, and five thousand catties of onions, all purchased in the system the previous evening.
Chen Lan felt that the variety of vegetables was too limited, so she opened the system with her mind and purchased another five thousand catties of cabbage, also known as round cabbage.
She arranged these vegetables neatly next to the pile of radishes.
After finishing everything, she touched her hair and coat, damp from the dew. She looked up at the sky, which was still misty. The sun had already revealed its full head on the horizon. Using her mind, she checked the system time; it wasn't even eight in the morning.
There was a lot of fog today, so she estimated that the people sent by the camp would arrive at the valley no earlier than nine in the morning, probably around the same time Zhang Er Zhuang arrived yesterday.
While everyone hadn't arrived at the field yet, Chen Lan took advantage of this time to browse the system at will, looking for any promotional activities by vendors.
If there were any promotions, she might be able to snag a great deal! Chen Lan flipped through the pages with her mind.
She spotted a direct-selling cured meat platform with a good reputation, one she had patronized several times in her previous life, having a promotion. The discount was quite substantial: buy three hundred, get one hundred free.
Chen Lan thought, "This is so cheap? This is a rare opportunity!" She knew that the cured meats from this shop were delicious but not cheap. In her previous life, she had only bought them when she was extremely craving them.
Seeing how cheap it was today, she impulsively placed an order. Once she started, she couldn't stop. She bought a total of thirty thousand yuan worth of goods, including cured pork, cured sausage, cured duck, and cured fish – four types of cured meats.
The additional ten thousand yuan worth of goods she received, she chose entirely as cured pork.
Just as she had finished arranging the cured meats from the system warehouse, she heard voices. Many people were walking towards the cabbage field. As they got closer, she saw Uncle De and Uncle Fu, each carrying something. She couldn't see clearly what it was from afar.
When they reached her, she saw that Grandma, Mama Liu, Mama Cui, Lin Mai, and the members of the sewing society had all arrived. Each of them had a large woven basket on their back, tightly covered with a small cotton quilt.
Even more absurdly, Xiao Shuan was carrying two large iron pots from the kitchen. Xiang Dong, Xiang Xi, and Er Hu each carried a large water bucket. Xiao Shan and Lin Mao each carried a large bundle of firewood, and Uncle De and Uncle Fu each carried a sack of flour.
The others put down their things, leaving only Lin Mai and Xiao Shuan to dig pits and build stoves.
Chen Lan looked at them in confusion. Seeing Chen Lan's expression, Grandma explained, "This was Mai Zi's idea, and I agreed. We started preparing last night. The baskets are filled with mixed-flour steamed buns steamed fresh this morning. They are now preparing to make a large pot of Hu La Tang, using two pots interchangeably, all for the soldiers coming to transport the vegetables."
Chen Lan gave Grandma a thumbs-up, and Grandma smiled happily.
Not seeing any bowls, she asked, "Grandma, did you forget to bring the large bowls?"
Grandma slapped her hand loudly and said, "Indeed! In the rush, I forgot about that. I'll go home quickly to get them."
Chen Lan quickly stopped her, "Grandma, no need to run back. I have twenty-five large bowls here. Will that be enough?"
Grandma immediately said happily, "Enough, enough, more than enough. If not, we can wash the bowls and drink later; washing a few bowls won't take much time."
Chen Lan immediately used her mind to take twenty-five large bowls and a pair of chopsticks from the system warehouse, which she had just ordered.
After all the preparations were done! Just like yesterday afternoon, the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law worked together to pack the napa cabbages, with their old leaves removed, into snake-skin bags.
Ming Wei and Cui Qiao, along with the members of the sewing society, also helped in the cabbage field, packing the napa cabbages with their old leaves removed into snake-skin bags.
Soon, Uncle De and the others finished cutting the cabbages from five mu of land. Turning around, everyone worked together to pack the napa cabbages into snake-skin bags.
Everyone worked without delay. Just as they finished tidying up three mu of land, the soldiers sent by the camp to transport the vegetables had arrived.
Uncle De and Uncle Fu immediately stood up to greet them.
Uncle Fu inquired about the leader, who was a platoon leader. Uncle Fu smiled and said, "Comrade Platoon Leader, we have almost everything prepared. We just need to pack the cabbages from two mu of land into bags.
The soldiers have traveled such a long distance since early this morning, they must be hungry! We have prepared steamed buns and Hu La Tang for the comrades. Let the soldiers rest for a while, have a steamed bun, and drink a bowl of hot Hu La Tang before heading back; it's not too late."
The platoon leader hesitated when he heard this. While he was still undecided, Commander Zheng and Xu Mingxuan arrived in time.
Commander Zheng asked about the situation and was deeply moved. He just tightly clasped the hands of Uncle Fu and Uncle De, unable to speak a word.
Without saying anything, he turned around, took a large bowl from a basket next to the pot where Hu La Tang was being cooked, scooped himself a large bowl of Hu La Tang with a ladle, and began to drink it, blowing on it and making slurping sounds.
Lin Mai quickly took a mixed-flour steamed bun from the basket covered with a small quilt and handed it to him.