"I wonder if the river will dry up."

Lin Yi pursed his lips and spoke carefully: "That shouldn't be the case. Didn't Uncle Li Gang say he wouldn't do it? They came back to the riverside after several scorching sun months and were fine."

"I'm afraid the river has already dried up but he doesn't know it, and when he comes back he'll see water gushing out from the back." The weather is hot, and it's only to be expected that the water source will become smaller. As long as there is no problem with the springs in the deep mountains, the river should not dry up.

Ningxia looked at the two-meter-wide river. When she first arrived, it was up to her neck at its deepest point, but the heavy rain had raised the water level considerably. Now, it was down to her shoulders. In just one month, the water level had dropped by nearly a third. It was hard not to worry.

Lin Yi frowned and touched his head: "How about...we hurry up and get some water back?"

Ningxia shook her head. "It's still a month or two away. We don't have a water cellar, so the water we pump back will evaporate. Besides, we don't have a container at home that can hold two months' worth of water." Ningxia suppressed her worries and offered comfort. "Don't worry, the water's still deep. It won't dry up anytime soon. By the time it dries up, the scorching sun moon will be almost here."

They called Sangsang and Maomao who were still lingering in the water and didn't want to leave. The three of them and Maomao set off to return home, and started their new day under the sunset.

However, the issue of water source still left ripples in Ningxia's heart. Life had to go on, and she quietly hid her worries in her heart.

"Come, try it on." Ningxia stretched the clothes in her hands. Her second cotton coat was also completed after ten days. This one was made for Lin Yi.

It was much larger than Sangsang's, but the color was the same khaki. There were only five dolls left, so Ningxia thought for a moment and neatly sewed four flattened doll "cakes" together at the back of the dress, forming the four corners.

There is still one "Mantis Swordsman" doll left, which was very popular before the disaster. Ningxia did not go so far as to change it into a doll "cake". Instead, he generously restored it to its original appearance. A majestic "Mantis Swordsman" has regained its former glory.

Ningxia had sewn it onto the cuffs of her cotton coat. Lin Yi obviously recognized it, his eyes gleaming brightly. "Swordsman!" He blurted out the anime-inspired name, and Lin Yi rubbed his head sheepishly. "I mean, I didn't expect to see a Mantis Swordsman."

Beads of sweat covered his forehead in the candlelight, but his eyes gleamed with surprise. Ningxia pursed her lips and smiled. Knowing the nationwide fame of this "Swordsman Master," she had quietly sewn it and presented it only at the last moment. Indeed, a surprising achievement had been achieved.

Sangsang looked at the emerald green mantis in bright red clothes, and obviously couldn't understand why her brother was so happy. She stood up and ran to the wardrobe, touched her doll's cotton-padded jacket, and smiled with relief.

After carefully folding the cotton-padded clothes and putting them in the closet, Lin Yi sat back down next to Ning Xia: "Sister Xia Xia, let me help you."

Ningxia has already started sewing mattresses. The old cotton at home is just sitting there, so it's a good idea to prepare some for keeping warm in winter.

Lin Yi was already very skilled at sewing, and he even knew two more stitches than Ningxia, all learned from books at home. So Ningxia didn't refuse, and let him finish mending the other end.

There were only two thick quilts in the house, both two meters long. They'd add a blanket on top during the coldest months, and a charcoal brazier would be enough. The two thick quilts were stored on the top shelf of the bedroom wardrobe. Ningxia had taken them out early to dry in the sun and then put them back in.

There were three other quilts, all of medium thickness. The ones that had been placed in the bedroom and the children's room were no longer usable. Even so, the three siblings had already sorted out the cotton that was still usable. Half of the cotton used for mending now came from these two quilts. The one in the attic was still usable, and Ningxia had been put away.

Ningxia was now making do with mattresses to cushion her body against the cold. Both beds had mattresses, the kind you could just put a sheet on, so there wasn't even a single quilt to use. But the cold months weren't enough; if you were cold underneath, no matter how thick you covered yourself, it wouldn't help.

Ningxia planned to compact the cotton and sew it into small squares of fabric separated by thread, just like a cotton-padded jacket. This would prevent the cotton from escaping and would be more evenly distributed. However, it was a major project, and Ningxia was a meticulous sewer. She was lucky enough to finish two mattresses for the bedroom and loft in a month.

The sewing machine at home was electric, but now it was just a piece of scrap metal, so we had to do everything by hand. As for the children's room, the half-meter-high mattress was half spring, and when turned over it was a soft cushion with velvet and cotton, so we didn't have to worry about it too much.

As the days passed, the three of them lost weight due to the excessive heat. Ningxia took stock of the family's food reserves. The cassava they had dug up had been completely consumed, but there was still a lot of coarse grains left, about ten pounds of fine grains, and more than half of the flour and other items left.

The wild chrysanthemums were consumed quickly, and half of the patchouli Ningxia had gathered was gone. The jam didn't keep long, and within two weeks of the arrival of the scorching sun month, the three siblings had devoured it all, with most of it ending up in Sangsang's stomach.

The dried fruit was gone, and since the two children had poor appetites, Ningxia didn't restrict herself to food at home; she took whatever she wanted. The bacon on the beams and the dried meat snacks they'd baked later were gone, too. Their only source of meat now was the dried meat they'd exchanged at Dawn Base and the dried fish fillets they'd found along the way, but that wasn't much. Ningxia wasn't worried either; after all, the Sun Moon was less than a month away.

It's worth mentioning that even though the vegetables in the bathroom are all wilted, they haven't stopped growing. The original three leeks have now grown into six, and Ningxia has since branched out into three more root systems. Although they're not growing very well, they're still quite pleasing to the eye.

The small peppercorns in the yard also survived tenaciously. Not only that, despite the hot weather, the spirit of the small peppercorns was getting better day by day. Except for the few hours in the sun at noon when they looked a little wilted, the rest of the time they were waiting in the yard in full bloom.

"Sister Xia Xia, what should we do?" Lin Yi looked at the river water that was barely above his calves. Ning Xia was not the only one worried, but he was worried too. At the beginning of the Fiery Sun Moon, he could still soak up to his arms in the same spot. But two months later, the water level had dropped to his calves.

"The spring in the mountains is still fine, but the water output here will definitely not be able to keep up with our needs. Let's go home and not sew quilts tonight. Let's gather any water containers at home and get ready early."