Although Sangsang twisted his body and yelled that he didn't want to study, Ningxia turned a deaf ear to him. He let Lin Yi hold Sangsang down while he leaned close to Sangsang's ear and read aloud the strings of vowels. He laughed out loud as he read.

Taking advantage of Ningxia's distraction, Sangsang turned over and pressed against Ningxia. Lin Yi tried to pull her away, and the three of them laughed so hard that they almost fell off the sofa in a ball.

That night, Ningxia was awakened by the heat. She sat up and listened carefully. The sound of rain outside had stopped at some point. The sudden surge of heat caught her off guard but was also unexpected.

The room was incredibly hot and stuffy, and the side of Ningxia's body that was touching the quilt was completely damp. She estimated it to be around 37 or 38 degrees Celsius, which was still quite warm, considering the rain had just stopped and there was still a lot of moisture left.

Ningxia went to the kitchen and fetched a kettle of patchouli leaves. She woke the brother and sister in bed. The temperature had suddenly risen, and she was worried they might have heatstroke. However, Ningxia, who had been feeling a little weak, was completely unaware of the discomfort after this profuse sweating.

Lin Yi was easily woken up. Feeling the scorching heat in the room, he asked, "Sister Xia Xia, has the rain stopped?"

Ningxia nodded, then remembered that it was pitch dark and the other party couldn't see her, so she answered, "Well, drink the patchouli water and change into clean clothes. It's almost dawn anyway, so don't sleep anymore. We have to pay attention to the dishes at home."

"It's so hot, Xia Xia, and the tea is so bitter, can I not drink it?"

Ningxia took off Sangsang's slightly warm clothes and handed the patchouli tea to her without saying anything: "Drink it and you won't feel hot. If you don't drink it, you'll get sick."

Ningxia waited until the girl had finally finished a large drink before letting her go and heading to the bathroom with a candle. The scorching summer heat had just begun, and the large pots of green plants were a little listless, but still in good condition.

"Starting tomorrow, these vegetables only need to be exposed to the sun for one hour during the day, taking turns. Water can only be poured in the evening and morning before the sun comes out. Water must be poured thoroughly. Don't let the water in the tray under the flowerpot dry out. Let's keep an eye on it at all times." Ningxia said as he looked at the growth trend of several pots of vegetables. The growth of Lieyangyue must have slowed down, but as long as it can be kept alive, there is no problem.

Ningxia looked at the leeks that had been divided into three pots and three large pots of Chinese cabbage attentively, and said, "You must do your best. The vegetable supply for us three siblings in the next few months depends on you."

Lin Yi wrote down Ningxia's words carefully. Ningxia took the two of them out of the gate. As soon as they arrived in the yard, a wave of heat hit them in the face. There was no wind at all, and the surroundings were filled with scorching heat.

Ningxia went to the right to check out the Sichuan pepper tree. It hadn't been raining for a few days, but it was surprisingly still growing. The peppercorns were a delight to behold. Lin Yi hadn't forgotten about it while taking care of the family's vegetables; it had everything we had. Ningxia wasn't worried about it dying in the scorching sun; after all, it was a wild, age-old Sichuan pepper tree, and it wouldn't die easily.

After escaping from the scorching yard, the three returned home and closed the door tightly to temporarily isolate themselves from the heat.

Ningxia had no intention of returning to the bed, so she put the huge rubber rug in the bedroom to good use. She spread it out on the floor and sat down, feeling the cool air rising from her butt, making her feel much more comfortable.

However, Ningxia also knew that the comfort at this moment was only temporary. After a few days of heat, even the coolness under his body would disappear.

I invited the two children to sit beside me and planned the future. Life would definitely be nocturnal, with daytime temperatures four or five degrees higher than nighttime, and the sun burning the skin. For the next three months, the highs would reach 45 degrees, but only on rare occasions. Most of the time, the temperature would remain around 40 degrees.

This temperature might not sound like a big deal at first, but it's been three months of constant, scorching sun, day and night. There's been no wind, and rain is out of the question. Cold drinks, fans, ice, or air conditioning are out of the question. Just sit still and you're sweating.

The three of them sat on the gum carpet, and the cool granite through the carpet brought a little comfort to the three siblings.

Ningxia calculated whether the candles at home were enough for the daytime and nighttime consumption. She definitely couldn't touch that big bag of scented candles, as she would have to go to the trading point to exchange them for food for the winter after the Fiery Sun Month.

He tried hard to hold Sangsang's little face and prevent her from falling asleep: "Sang, don't sleep anymore, otherwise you won't be able to sleep during the day. Let's take a break and bring the mushrooms and bamboo shoots from the attic to the yard."

Ningxia waited until the heat subsided a bit before heading up to the attic. The sun hadn't come out yet, so the temperature on the second floor was about the same as on the first. Once the sun came out, the entire second floor would surely feel like an oven.

The wild mushrooms, already beginning to dry, looked wilted. Ningxia found a large bag and slowly filled it with them. She had gathered over a hundred pounds of mushrooms, but after just two days of drying them, they had already shrunk to around a hundred pounds. Ningxia estimated that if she could completely dehydrate and dry them, she would still have about fifty pounds left.

Ningxia felt her back sweating again after just moving a mushroom. She took it directly to the courtyard under the old locust tree and spread it out to dry. If it weren't for the continued high temperature and no rain during the scorching sun month, people would probably think she was crazy drying mushrooms in the middle of the night.

The old locust tree can also block some of the sunlight, so that the mushrooms will not be exposed to the scorching sun right away, providing a buffer period.

On the other side, Lin Yi brought out a large basin filled with pre-boiled bamboo shoots he had just pulled out of the water. He was shaking them out one by one, carefully spreading them out. The moonlight was so bright that even the need for a candle in the yard was enough to see clearly.

"Have you poured out the water used to soak the bamboo shoots?" Ningxia had already processed the mushrooms and came over to help dry the bamboo shoots.

Lin Yi shook his head: "No, there are several large basins. It would be a shame to pour them out. I'll keep them for watering the vegetables."

Ningxia smiled slightly: "That's exactly what I want."

The unpeeled bamboo shoots harvested from the bamboo forest weighed around 300 kilograms. Ningxia had been sick the past couple of days while picking mushrooms, so she hadn't bothered to peel them. Lin Yi, on his own, peeled around 200 kilograms, blanching and soaking them in cold water, just waiting for a time like today to unearth and dry them.

There are less than 100 kilograms of unpeeled bamboo shoots at home now. Ningxia was quick and peeled them before dawn today. Otherwise, in this weather, they would have gone bad if they were delayed for another day. The bamboo shoots have already been kept for two days.

The brother and sister each spread the bamboo shoots while the other peeled them. Sangsang was responsible for collecting the moist peeled bamboo shoots and spreading them out under the corner of the yard wall, waiting for the sun to come out tomorrow to dry them for a day. This way, they would have a good fire-starting tool for this winter.