That morning, the sky showed a rare sign of clearing up. Under Luo Sheng's supervision, Xiao Yunying wrapped herself up tightly and went out to shovel snow with everyone.

Luo Sheng was pushing the snow in the yard out the door with a cart when he suddenly stopped and listened to what was happening.

Seeing his expression, Xiao Yunying asked, "What sound did you hear again?"

"The sound of the village chief's gong probably means someone's house has been crushed again. I'll go see if we need any help."

"Go ahead, but take care of yourself."

The others continued to clear the snow in the yard, but before the yard was completely cleared, snowflakes began to fall again.

Xiao Yunying planted her shovel on the ground and looked up at the sky, saying, "God, can you please stop raining? If it keeps raining like this, I don't know how many people and livestock will freeze to death."

She complained a few times in exasperation, and before the snow fell heavily, she simply cleared the snow from the yard and moved it outside.

Not long after, Luo Sheng returned. Xiao Yunying handed him a cup of ginger tea and casually asked, "Whose house collapsed under the weight of the snow this time?"

Luo Sheng took the cup and said, "It's at the home of that young girl who often comes to see you."

Xiao Yunying was stunned for a moment: "Who? Duan Yingying's house collapsed?"

"right."

How is he?

"The woman was protecting her child when she was hit by the piece of wood, which pinned her leg down. Fortunately, they reacted quickly and hid their upper bodies under the table, so they only suffered minor injuries."

Xiao Yunying thought for a moment. Duan Yingying's house seemed to be one of those wooden houses with mud filling the gaps, just like the house she had lived in at the beginning. It was quite good that it had lasted this long.

"Her house completely collapsed?"

If she remembered correctly, there should be two living rooms, a storage room, and a kitchen over there.

"There's still half a kitchen left."

Xiao Yunying: "...You could have just said it was all collapsed. No one can live in even half of the kitchen."

Those houses that collapsed under the weight of the snow either only had one or two rooms collapse and the rest of the houses are still habitable, or people have moved to relatives' houses.

But the Duan family were outsiders, and they had no relatives here to stay with.

"How did the village chief arrange things for the Duan family?"

"They said there was an uninhabited house to the south, but it was a bit dilapidated and simple, so they could stay there for a while."

Xiao Yunying frowned and said, "How can anyone live in a house that has been uninhabited for years without cleaning it up?"

Needless to say, the sanitation is terrible. It's so difficult to clean in this weather, not to mention that if the roof and walls are dilapidated, they can't be repaired now. It's not much better than living outside.

It's no wonder that no one was willing to take them in.

With the Lunar New Year approaching and grain prices so high, and with no idea how long the snow will last, we need to conserve as much food and firewood as possible. Nobody wants to have two more mouths to feed.

Xiao Yunying thought for a moment: "Luo Sheng, I'd like to bring them here to stay for a while, is that alright? A house that has been uninhabited for years can't be lived in without being cleaned and repaired. Duan Xiaoxiao is still so young, she'll get cold."

Luo Sheng said directly, "Then I'll go and bring them over now."

Xiao Yunying smiled broadly and said, "Thank you for your hard work."

Luo Sheng said softly, "It's not hard work."

While Luo Sheng was out to pick someone up, Xiao Yunying called Zheng Yunwan and told her about it. The two of them tidied up a new room together, and when they had made up the bedding, they heard Luo Sheng's voice coming from the courtyard.

"Yun Ying, the person has been brought back."

Xiao Yunying came out the door and waved to them: "I'm over here, come in quickly."

There was a lot of snow on the road, so Luo Sheng carried Duan Xiaoxiao back. As a man, he didn't want to talk too much with the mother and daughter, so he put the little girl down and went back.

Duan Yingying's mother's eyes reddened as soon as she saw Xiao Yunying. She went into the house and pulled Duan Xiaoxiao to kneel down before her.

"Xiaoxiao, quickly kowtow to your Aunt Yun."

Xiao Yunying hurriedly helped her up: "Hey, what are you doing? Get up quickly, we don't do this in my family."

Duan Yingying's mother was petite and frail, and not as strong as her. She was supported so that she couldn't kneel down: "I went to see the house over there. The roof is leaking, and there's no way to fix it now. I can hold on, but Xiaoxiao can't. Thank you for taking us in."

Zheng Yunwan had already poured two cups of ginger tea over: "Drink some ginger tea first to warm yourself up."

Xiao Yunying touched the cold cotton-padded clothes on her body. The snow on her body had melted the moment she entered the house, soaking their cotton-padded clothes.

She looked at the small bundle they were carrying: "Your clothes are all wet, did you bring any changes of clothes?"

Judging from the size of the bundle, it doesn't look like it contains a thick cotton-padded coat.

Duan Yingying's mother said somewhat shyly, "The things were all buried under the roof beams and snow, so we couldn't get them out. We only found this little bit of thread."

As if afraid of causing trouble for others, she grabbed Duan Xiaoxiao and hurriedly made a promise: "We don't need to change our clothes, just give us a place to stay. As for food... we have grain at home, it's just covered up. Let Xiaoxiao wait here, I'll go find some grain right away."

Xiao Yunying grabbed her arm: "Don't worry, it's snowing outside again, and the wind is so strong you can't even open your eyes. Don't worry about food, we have enough at home."

As for clothes… Yunwan, you're about the same size as Aunt Qin, could you get her a set to change into? But for Xiaoxiao, a dress might be a little small.”

Zheng Yunwan said, "I just made new cotton-padded clothes for a few children. How about I alter Luo Li's clothes and give them to Xiaoxiao to wear first?"

Duan Yingying's mother looked flattered: "No need to trouble yourself, it's warm in the house, these clothes will dry after you take them off."

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