Once the sweet potatoes were steamed, Xu Lai lifted the lid, used chopsticks to take them out, and placed them in a winnowing basket to cool them down quickly.

After it cooled down a bit, Grandma took a kitchen knife, picked up the sweet potato, placed it in her palm, and cut it open.

Xu Lai watched with trepidation. She had tried cutting like that before, but she was afraid she wouldn't be able to control the pressure and would cut her finger.

She pressed the sweet potatoes onto the cutting board, cut them into four pieces, and put them on the tree to dry. The peach and plum trees had all lost their leaves, so they were perfect for drying sweet potatoes.

It took drying two whole trees to finish drying all the sweet potatoes. And you know what? The dried sweet potatoes added a touch of color to the trees that had lost all their leaves in autumn.

After lunch, Grandpa carried his machete up the mountain, and Xu Lai, having nothing else to do, went with him.

The purpose of going up the mountain today is to chop firewood. Grandpa plans to take advantage of the good weather and bring the firewood back to dry for a few days so that when winter comes, we won't have to worry about not having firewood to burn in the stove.

Xu Lai also brought a machete, but she couldn't cut down the trees that were as thick as a bowl, so she picked up the smaller branches to cut.

Grandpa piled all the big ones together, then tied them up with a rope, and stacked the small ones together, then carried them home on a shoulder pole.

Xu Lai volunteered to carry the load of firewood, while her grandfather carried the large bundle of tree trunks on his back. The mountain was quiet; if she were alone, she definitely wouldn't dare to come.

After returning home with her grandfather and resting for a while, Xu Lai continued working. She needed to gather the firewood and pile it up in the corner so it would be easier to retrieve later.

Grandma came out and said, "These firewoods underneath got wet from the rain and are a bit damp. We need to clean them out and dry them."

Xu Lai nodded. Although it was almost winter, the temperature was still between 28 and 30 degrees Celsius today. She was wearing a coat, but after all that running around, she was still a bit hot, so she took it off and put it on the chair.

The firewood was a bit prickly, so she put on a pair of gloves and gathered all the firewood from before and put it in the yard to dry for half a day.

When she got to the very back of the room, she felt something coiled up there. Because she was slightly nearsighted, she couldn't see what it was clearly yet. Xu Lai moved closer and saw that it was a snake with very bright patterns, which looked venomous.

She screamed in fright, and her grandmother looked over, startled, "How come there's a snake in there!"

Grandpa heard the noise and rushed over to check. It was a venomous snake. He poked it with a stick, and the snake lazily moved.

Xu Lai was so frightened that she hid behind her. Her grandfather scooped it up and threw it outside, sending it flying far away.

After seeing that thing, Xu Lai dared not clean up the remaining firewood. Her grandfather continued cleaning, saying, "It must be because the snake saw that this pile of firewood hadn't been touched much and decided to make it its home here."

She got goosebumps, but didn't leave; she stayed there rummaging through the firewood.

When she folded it to the other side, she found another snake, but it was already stiff and had probably frozen to death. Seeing this, Xu Lai couldn't stay any longer.

After Grandma cleaned up the pile of firewood and swept it with a broom, Xu Lai went over to tidy up the firewood.

After stacking a pile, Grandpa also chopped up the large pieces of wood. Xu Lai picked up a bundle and ran back and forth many times.

After a busy afternoon, the small area outside the kitchen was piled high with firewood, which looked very reassuring.

She rested for a while, and it was almost time for dinner. Xu Lai went to the vegetable garden to pick some vegetables to take home and eat.

Many vegetables in the field were wilted, but this one tasted particularly sweet because the sugar had been solidified.

She picked a few Shanghai bok choy, a handful of garland chrysanthemum, a handful of cilantro, and a handful of garlic sprouts.

When she got home, she peeled off the outer leaves. The ducks saw the green leafy vegetables in her hand and kept quacking. Xu Lai deliberately teased them by making a fake gesture.

The ducks thought she was going to throw it away, so they all opened their mouths to grab the food, only to find they had missed.

She moved the vegetables to the left, and the duck's eyes followed, making Xu Laile play in the same spot for a long time.

Only after some of the ducks turned away to drink water did she throw the vegetable leaves down.

She planned to make a fish hot pot for dinner. Actually, it wasn't really a hot pot; she would just boil the fish bones first to make the broth, and then cook the fish and vegetables as she wanted.

She gutted the fish first. Today she bought a grass carp weighing about three pounds. She originally wanted to buy a black carp, but she was too late and the stall only had fish weighing about four or five pounds left. She couldn't finish it, so she settled for the grass carp. Anyway, the taste would be about the same.

Xu Lai finished preparing the fish in just ten minutes. She cut it in half, sliced ​​the belly into fillets, and chopped off all the bones.

Rub the fish fillets with salt to remove the slime, then rinse them with clean water. Marinate them with cornstarch, salt, chicken bouillon, pepper, scallions, and ginger. The result is exceptionally tender fish that is less likely to fall apart when cooked.

It was already dark when she started cooking. She cut the garlic sprouts into sections and stir-fried them with pork belly to make twice-cooked pork. She learned how to make it by watching a video and thought it looked delicious with rice.

Once one dish is cooked, she brings the fish soup to the table. The induction cooker is already set up; all she has to do is put the pot on it and start cooking.

Xu Lai put the fish slices in, and after scalding them for a few dozen seconds until they changed color, they could be taken out.

She made a dipping sauce, otherwise eating the fish alone would be a bit monotonous.

The pot was bubbling away. Xu Lai put all the fish slices in, then brought the greens to the table. Once the fish was cooked, she took it out and added the greens.

She put a big bunch of cilantro in the pot. Her grandparents also eat cilantro, so she didn't think too much about it once it was in the pot.

After they had eaten and drunk their fill, there were still some vegetables left in the pot, which was fine since they were all homegrown. It was okay to waste a little. The main problem was that the three of them were so full that they couldn't eat any more.

Grandpa didn't drink much alcohol today; he was too busy drinking fish soup.

He also said that tomorrow he would use his electric battery to go to the stream and catch some small fish and shrimp to eat.

Xu Lai laughed and said, "I'm afraid you won't be able to catch them. It's cold now, and all the fish are hiding."

She washed the dishes and sat down at the table to warm herself by the fire. The table was covered with a cloth, and underneath was the charcoal fire. The coal briquettes at home were all gone, and the coal seller hadn't come yet, so she bought a few boxes of charcoal instead.

When Zhao Qingyun arrived, Xu Lai was eating sunflower seeds and watching a variety show with great interest.

He carried a chill, and even though the two houses were so close, some cold air still seeped into him.

Xu Lai slapped his hand away, "It's cold, warm it up first."

Zhao Qingyun placed her hand under the table, where it was filled with warm, cozy steam.