On the seventh day of the twelfth lunar month, heavy snow fell and the temperature outside dropped to dozens of degrees below zero. Lu Shiyi lit the kitchen stove in advance so that Su Jin would not have to freeze when she came to the kitchen to cook.

He lit the stove to boil water, walked out of the kitchen, picked up the broom beside him, and started to clear a path.

The house was built with bluestone bricks and tiles. Although there was no need to sweep the snow, Lu Shiyi still took a broom and started sweeping it. He was worried that when the snow melted, icicles would appear on the eaves and hit Su Jin.

In less than half an hour, he cleared the snow off the roof, jumped down from the roof, and after cleaning up the snow on the ground, he went to the kitchen and scooped water from the water tank until the wood stove was full. He also took some firewood and put it aside.

After he had packed up, he pushed open the gate and went to exercise.

Su Jin slept until 7 o'clock, stretched herself, and remembered that tomorrow was Laba Festival, and she still had a lot of work to do. She quickly put on her cotton-padded clothes and went to the greenhouse with an enamel basin to pick the vegetables for today's meal.

After getting along with Lu Shiyi, she knew that he was a quiet man who would do all the work silently.

In the kitchen, the hot water in the pot had boiled. Su Jin first poured the hot water into two thermoses and then washed the rice with warm water. She put the rice into the pot to cook porridge and saved the water for washing dishes.

"Is breakfast ready?" Lu Shiyi appeared at the kitchen door, holding a large package in his right hand. "My comrades sent it from Sichuan Province. Do you think it's what you wanted?"

Su Jin looked at him in surprise: "If it's mailed, it won't arrive until after the New Year?"

"Today, there happened to be a car from Sichuan Province delivering documents. He asked someone to bring the things over with the car. I just ran to the county town to get them back." Lu Shiyi made arrangements early.

Every Chinese New Year, Sichuan Province would send a batch of documents and sausages. Of course, Northeast China would send back some prey such as roe deer.

The armed forces on both sides also exchanged gifts and gave each other gifts as annual presents. Even if the higher-ups knew the details, they would not be able to find any evidence against them.

"Really?" Su Jin looked at the packed peppercorns, star anise, and plenty of dry goods for stewing meat. On top were a few fruit-bearing vegetable seedlings wrapped in oil paper and cotton. "Are all the peppers in there?"

There are three plants of each kind: bell pepper, chili pepper, okra pepper and string pepper.

"Ayi, take these and plant them. Plant the three seedlings from each cotton bag in a grid, with a little more space between them." Su Jin smiled, "These can probably be used to make a lot of delicious food."

The oil used at home is rapeseed oil. Lu Shiyi eats in the cafeteria all year round, which has saved a lot of oil coupons. She calculated the amount of oil that can be exchanged. Based on the current oil consumption, it is enough for the two of them to eat for two or three years.

Su Jin looked at his back and smiled. The villagers didn't like to use rapeseed oil, so they went to the county town to buy pork fat to make oil.

"Xiao Jin, have breakfast before planting. There are several families in the village who want to press oil. They can get 5 jin of rapeseed oil, which is 10 cents in total. Would you like to take it back?" Lu Shiyi went outside to get something and happened to pass by the mill.

Several aunts in the village went to grind flour and asked the mill to help them squeeze rapeseed oil and sell it in exchange.

"Yeah!" Su Jin took out a dime from his pocket, "Help me get it back. I don't like eating lard."

Lu Shiyi followed Su Jin's instructions and rushed to the mill with the oil barrel in his hand. He had a few dollars in his pocket and was wondering if there was anything else to eat at the mill.

"Xiaoyi, you really came to buy oil!" The captain of the mill was a relative of the Lu family. Seeing Lu Shiyi coming over with an oil barrel, he asked in surprise.

"Now that we have a stove at home, Xiaojin's cooking is so delicious that I don't even go to the cafeteria to eat anymore," Lu Shiyi nodded. "She's from the city, where they use more rapeseed oil and rarely touch lard."

The captain of the mill was very surprised after hearing this. Everyone in the village liked to buy lard to press oil, except for a few who could not afford lard.

Vermicelli and rapeseed oil are always available for exchange in the mill. Some people pay directly for them, while others exchange them for food.

"Sixth uncle, give me another sack of vermicelli." Lu Shiyi thought that Su Jin liked to eat vermicelli, and a bag of vermicelli cost 7 cents, so he just bought it.

We make roasted sweet potatoes for her to eat. The weather has been cold these days, so she often roasts the sweet potatoes and takes them out to eat after dinner.

"Are you sure?" Lu Liu looked at Lu Shiyi and asked, "I've been watching you since you came back."

"Sixth uncle, Xiao Jin is that person. It's good that life in the village is peaceful, but I'm afraid that if there is chaos in the provincial capital, this place will also suffer. Don't use money to exchange these things in the future." Lu Shiyi reminded Lu Liu.

The Lu family is a big family in the village, and there is no guarantee that no one will target them for power. The situation outside is getting more and more serious, which may cause some reaction.

"Don't worry, I know what I'm doing. I won't be exchanging money after the New Year." Lu Liu nodded. "Xiao Er is back from the provincial capital for the winter break. He won't be going back after school starts, so he'll stay at home and work."

"That's a good thing. It's easy to get caught up in danger in the provincial capital. It's better to come back and feel safer." Lu Shiyi understood. "Even if you're at home, don't give up on your books. They'll come in handy someday."

Lu Shiyi has been staying in the imperial capital for many years and knows the situation better than them. Lu Liu decided to go back and tell his sons.

If a family has a learned person, it is also an opportunity to bring honor to the family.

After Lu Shiyi bought the things, he turned around and walked home.

As soon as he entered the house, Su Jin called him to have breakfast, which included hot multi-grain porridge and flatbread, as well as a few cold side dishes.

"Ayi, eat quickly!" Lu Shiyi had just washed his hands and sat down when he heard a loud noise coming from outside.

Lu Shiyi took the bowl and took a few gulps, then stuffed half a piece of bread into his mouth and picked up some food with his chopsticks.

Su Jin also quickened her eating pace: "Let's go check it out after breakfast."

Lu Shiyi was stunned for a moment: "Stay at home, I'll come back and tell you if there's anything."

"It doesn't sound like a small matter. I'll go with you." Su Jin didn't want to be criticized. "Reputation is important. You're a soldier."

After breakfast, the two of them walked towards the village one after the other wearing their military coats.

It turned out that almost every household in the village lived in a thatched house. The men in the family did not like to work, so it was the women who did all the work in the house. The snow on the roof was too thick, so the house collapsed directly.

Lu Shiyuan ordered the villagers to rescue the people in the house first. It was breakfast time now. Some families had two meals in winter and would get up late in the morning.

"With such heavy snow, if we don't come out to sweep the roof in advance, it's no wonder that the house collapsed." Lu Shiyuan said as he looked at the thick falling snow.

"Uncle, how many houses collapsed?" Lu Shiyi asked.

"Three families!" Lu Shiyuan frowned.