Chapter 104

Mu Nan didn't know whether their trip was smooth, but the weather was obviously not good. Jian Chu and the others left in the morning. The weather was good at that time. Although there was a little wind and snow, it was not heavy. But by lunch time, the weather outside changed. The wind was howling and the blizzard was raging. The sky darkened at a speed visible to the naked eye. Mu Nan lay on the kang, lifted the curtain and looked at the sky outside through the small door on the side. He felt like the sky was about to collapse.

"Nothing will happen to them on the way, right? Things can change so quickly."

Qin Huai said, "It shouldn't happen. According to the distance, if they set out in the morning, they will reach Monkey Mountain at noon. Maybe they have already arrived before the weather changed. Even if they haven't, they should be not far away. Although the snow is strong, they are in the car. If they drive carefully, nothing should happen. Okay, move the kang, bring up the small table, and prepare to eat."

During this period, Qin Huai kept watch on him while he took his medicine. Although the three meals a day were light, they were not repeated to nourish his stomach. Finally, his stomach, which made him feel uncomfortable after eating, was healed a little. At least now he can eat normally, and the pain after meals has improved a lot. However, he still cannot eat spicy foods, but he can avoid noodles and porridge for a long time.

Qin Huai steamed a sea bass for Mu Nan. Mu Nan liked the potato and beef brisket he made last time, so he stewed another pot. The beef brisket was stewed until it was tender. Although it didn’t melt in the mouth, it was at least not difficult to digest. The only vegetable was a plate of stir-fried cabbage. Mu Nan liked cabbage better than bok choy.

As dishes were brought from the stove to the small dining table on the kang, Mu Nan could not help but say, "I feel like I've gained some weight around my waist." He lay on the kang every day, eating and sleeping, and except for going to the bathroom and taking a bath every now and then, he almost never got off the kang, and his bones had become lazy.

Qin Huai picked up some fish cheek meat, dipped it in a little soup and put it in Mu Nan's bowl: "Then start exercising again in the next two days. You haven't run for a while, so take it slow."

They hadn't finished their meal yet when the wind outside became even stronger. Some people had built some sheds on the roof, mainly to prevent snow from accumulating. Even though they were firmly fixed, they couldn't withstand such strong winds. The roof was blown over and hit the wall next to it, making a loud noise.

The house whose roof was blown over should be not far from Qin Huai's house. Mu Nan was picking up meat, and before a piece of beef brisket reached his bowl, he was scared by the sudden loud noise and it fell onto the table.

Qin Huai was one step faster than him and picked up the food on the table and put it in his own bowl, and then picked up another piece from the plate for him. Mu Nan wiped the table with a tissue and said worriedly, "Will the solar panels upstairs fail to withstand the damage?"

Qin Huai said: "No, the snow on the roof has not been cleared in the past two days, and the solar panels are pressed down. They will not be blown over, unless..."

Mu Nan asked quickly, "Unless what? Unless the strong wind blows away the snow?"

Qin Huai said: "Unless there is an unprecedented severe typhoon."

Mu Nan thought back to his previous life, but he only remembered that it was very cold, with strong winds and heavy snow almost every day. At that time, he was alone, living in a small single room, and even the window was a small ventilation window. Afraid that the cold wind would come in through the gap in the window, Mu Nan blocked the window with a small quilt. It was too cold to go out every day, and he didn't know much about the situation outside. He didn't know whether there had been a typhoon, but there was a period of time when the wind was very strong. During that period, there were fewer patrols of the private base, and nothing else happened except the strong wind. However, before it warmed up again, he experienced a very terrible low temperature. The temperature was so low that he was wrapped in a quilt and guarding the stove, but he was still cold all over. He almost thought he couldn't make it, but unexpectedly the temperature started to warm up.

So after hearing Qin Huai's guess and combining it with his own experience in his previous life, Mu Nan shook his head and said, "It shouldn't be like that. Typhoons are hot and humid air currents. Even if there are, they should only be in summer."

Qin Huai said: "Who said there are no typhoons in winter? There are many factors that cause typhoons. Moreover, with the current climate, we cannot use the common sense of the past. If a typhoon really comes, just blow it away. It is not worth risking your life for a little thing."

Mu Nan nodded repeatedly: "That's right, I saw a video on the Internet before. There was a typhoon and a man's car was blown away. He rushed to pull the car, but the car didn't move. He couldn't stand the wind and couldn't run away. In the end, he was blown against the wall and then crushed to death by his own car."

Mu Nan was about to take another piece of meat, but was stopped by Qin Huai: "Eat this much, don't eat too much, 70% full is enough, sit for a while, put on your clothes and go upstairs to water the plants, move a little, it's easy to get indigestion if you don't move at all."

Mu Nan put down his chopsticks and touched his belly. The little abdominal muscles he had trained before had returned to zero. Qin Huai collected the dishes and took the dirty clothes that the two had changed in the past few days to wash. The stove was always burning, and the pot above was always boiling hot water, so it wouldn't be too cold to wash clothes. Mu Nan sat for a while, then wrapped up his clothes and went upstairs to water the plants. The tomatoes and peppers on the third floor grew very well, and at a glance they could be described as fruitful. The seedlings on the second floor had grown, but it would take some time before they bore fruit. This second time, he didn't need to water as much as the first time, and he didn't want to measure the amount of fertilizer in grams according to the requirements in the book. Now it all depends on experience and feel.

After finishing the vegetable garden, Mu Nan just came down from upstairs and heard a loud bang. The sound was very loud and very close to them. Mu Nan almost thought that his house had collapsed. He hurriedly ran back to the second floor, opened the curtains and looked outside.

But the wind and snow outside were too strong, and the large flakes of snow almost blocked his vision. The sky was also very gloomy. He could only see the distance to the entrance of his yard at most. A little further away, he could not see the building opposite him clearly. But after checking his own house carefully, he found that the windows were all intact and not broken, so he breathed a sigh of relief.

When I went downstairs, I saw Qin Huai just coming in wearing outdoor clothes. There was already a thin layer of ice on his body. I didn’t know how long he had been out. When he took off his mask, his face and nose were red from the cold: "Weren’t you washing clothes just now? Why did you go out? It’s so windy outside. What are you doing outside?"

Qin Huai didn't let Mu Nan get close to him. Mu Nan stayed at home and put on a down jacket. He didn't want the cold air he brought in from outside to catch Mu Nan cold again: "Stay away from me, wait for me to warm up by the fire. I went out to take a look. There was such a loud noise just now, I was afraid that the yard had collapsed. Fortunately, it wasn't on our side. The yard and the house are all fine."

Mu Nan quickly took hot water to wipe Qin Huai's hands and face, and then took some anti-frostbite cream to rub him. Although it was only for a short while, it was still easy to get frostbite.

When Qin Huai was roasting the fire, thunder began to sound outside. The thunder was so loud that it seemed to break the sky. Mu Nan did not get on the kang, but squeezed in beside Qin Huai and squatted in front of the stove with him. Qin Huai smiled and said, "Are you scared?"

Mu Nan threw firewood into the stove: "Don't be afraid, it's just thunder, what's there to be afraid of."

Before he finished speaking, several winter thunders rang through the sky. Mu Nan leaned towards Qin Huai. The thunder was so loud that the people who were struck suspected that the house was about to be split apart. Qin Huai asked, "Do you want to eat roasted sweet potatoes?"

Mu Nan looked at the fire in the stove and asked, "Can we make roast chicken?"

Qin Huai thought for a moment and said, "We can make Orleans flavor, or honey chicken. Which one do you want?"

Mu Nan just said it casually, and seeing Qin Huai really thought about it, he said, "Really? Is it troublesome?"

Qin Huai said: "It's not troublesome. The fire is ready, and the processed chicken is also ready. All we need to do is prepare the seasoning and then put it in to roast. But you can't eat too much after it's cooked. At most, you can eat a chicken drumstick as afternoon tea. Put the leftovers in the space and eat them next time you want to eat them."

I thought there was nothing to do at the moment, so I would just take a nap if I didn't bother eating. But now the winter thunders were hitting one after another, and the wind and snow outside were so strong that I didn't know how many things on people's roofs were blown over. From time to time, there were bangs here and there, and I couldn't sleep. So I said, "Okay, what seasonings do you want? I'll choose a small tender chicken that's neither too big nor too small."

Mu Nan took out something from the space as Qin Huai said. Honey chicken is easier to make. Mix some seasonings with honey, then rub it on the chicken. Wrap it in tin foil, wrap it in several layers, put it in a baking tray, and bury it in the ashes near the fire.

Watching Qin Huai pour honey into the seasoning, Mu Nan said, "Will it taste like honey after baking? I don't like the taste of honey. I always feel that the taste of honey has a bit of alcohol."

Qin Huai pointed at the prepared ingredients with his finger and said to Mu Nan, "Try it?"

Mu Nan really stretched out his tongue and prepared to lick it, but before he could touch Qin Huai's fingertips, Qin Huai touched his nose with the hand dipped in seasoning: "You really tasted it when I told you to, are you stupid?"

Mu Nan touched the oil on his nose and reached out to wipe it on Qin Huai's face: "Qin Huai!"

Qin Huai said, "Don't make a fuss. If you upset the chicken, you won't have anything to eat."

Mu Nan had to rub her face against his before she would give up. This guy really had a bad temper that hadn't changed at all!

While they were making roast chicken in the house, Jian Chu and his team were not having as smooth a time as they had expected. Before they reached Monkey Mountain, the weather started to change halfway, and a sudden blizzard made the already difficult road even more difficult to travel on. The most troublesome thing was that the sky was gloomy, and even with the headlights on, they could not see the road conditions more than five meters away. However, the car could not stop, and if it stopped, it would easily stall, so they could only keep moving forward.

Originally, Jian Chu and his team were going to drive and lead the way. After all, they had been there once and knew the route well. But now it was snowing heavily and the sky was gloomy. The visibility was too short and the road was not the kind of familiar road that one could walk on with their eyes closed. Just when they were about to discuss with Team Yuan behind them, they decided to turn back. With the sudden change in the weather, they didn't know how long this bad weather would last. Supplies were important, but safety came first.

Unexpectedly, Captain Yuan, who was walking behind, asked the soldier driving the car to speed up, and drove in front of them to lead the way. Looking at the car in front, Song Jia said: "The soldiers are still the most reliable. No wonder my former female classmates voted for a soldier as their first choice for their future husband."

Jian Chu in front smiled and said, "You know all this. It seems that you have infiltrated the girls' group?"

Song Jia sighed: "Even if they get in, they're just girlfriends. None of them would consider being a boyfriend."

Xu Ming looked at the weather outside the car window and sighed, "Our luck is a little too bad. The weather changes so quickly."

Since the soldiers ahead were clearing the way, they obviously didn't plan to turn back. In fact, they didn't really want to turn back. They had been driving for at least two hours. Instead of spending another two hours going back, they could probably reach Monkey Mountain in half an hour. Yu Zibai said, "I just hope everything goes well. It's better to trade less than to have anything go wrong."

Because of the obstructed vision, it took more than an hour to reach Monkey Mountain. There are houses at the foot of Monkey Mountain, which can be considered a tourist attraction. It is not a very steep hillside. There are stairs built on one side of Monkey Mountain, and there used to be a sightseeing cable car. There is a winding driveway on the side, but the snow is so deep that it is very dangerous to go up or down the mountain, even if their car has modified snow tires. If the vehicle slips, it will be fatal.

If it were summer, they could drive directly up the mountain, but they didn't dare to do that now, so they drove to the place agreed upon last time. It used to be a service station, a small flat. The house didn't collapse, but it was not warm in the winter and not cool in the summer, and no one lived there. However, it was still okay to park the car temporarily.

In order to prevent the vehicle from being stalled due to the cold, they brought some firewood braziers. There were windows on one side of the hall, but they were shattered by the earthquake. There were no windows on the other side, and there were some curtains to cover them. However, the curtains had been frozen hard, but at least they could block the wind and snow blowing in from the door.

Captain Yuan asked, "How do we contact them? Should we go and find them?"

Xu Ming said, "No, just honk the horn. They don't live very high up, just a little way behind here. But the snow and wind are so strong today, I don't know if the sound of the horn can reach them."

Jian Chu had already honked the horn several times, and then took out the brazier and firewood from the car: "Light a fire to warm yourself. If no one comes down after a while, press it again. If still no one comes down, we can only go back." It is impossible to go up there. Who knows what the situation is up there? That is someone else's territory. How can you be so stupid as to go up there?

However, they didn't have to wait long before a group of people came down. However, the faces of the people who came this time were unfamiliar. Jian Chu and the others had never seen them before, so they naturally became a little wary.

Three people came, and they didn't bring anything with them. When they saw the people in the house, the middle-aged man walking in front said with a smile: "I thought you wouldn't come in this weather, but I didn't expect you to be so trustworthy. Hello, I'm Xinzi's second uncle. Xinzi is the black-skinned boy who exchanged things with you last time. The snowstorm is too strong, and young people don't act in a predictable way, so I came down this time. I don't know how much stuff you brought. How do you plan to exchange this time?"

Yu Zibai and the others didn't say anything, so Yuan Gang said directly: "It depends on how many living things you can bring out this time. Of course, we will also accept dead ones, but the price of dead and living ones is definitely different. Let's talk slowly."

It was obvious that the man who came down had come prepared: "Thirty live rabbits, each rabbit weighs at least six kilograms, I won't calculate it so carefully, twenty kilograms of rice for each rabbit, five pheasants, three alive and two dead, the live ones weigh ten kilograms of rice each, the dead ones weigh eight kilograms, oil and salt can be converted separately, how much can you exchange for?"

Yuan Gang asked, "Apart from these, are there any other things? Leather, or some mountain products."

The middle-aged man smiled when he heard this. "The whole mountain was bald in the sun in the summer. Now we can't even find two pieces of wood to keep warm. Where can we get mountain products? If it weren't for the fact that rabbits and pheasants reproduce quickly, not many people could go out due to the heavy snow, which gave these things time to reproduce. Now, let alone rabbits, I'm afraid there's not even any rabbit hair. These are all I have. Do you want them?"

Yuan Gang hesitated for a moment and said, "The price is high. If you are sincere, this will not be the last transaction. If not, we will not lose much if we do not trade."

The middle-aged man was not in a hurry, and still smiled and said, "As for the price, we can talk about it slowly. It's different now than before. The currency is unified, so it's easier to trade. There's no fixed price for rice, flour, grain, and oil. We have to negotiate until both parties feel it's a good deal before we can trade, right?"

Yuan Gang said: "Of course."

Jian Chu thought that soldiers were very straightforward, and even thought that he might have to do the bargaining. Xu Ming was a veterinarian, so he couldn't be relied upon. His family member Yu Zibai was an academic, not to mention an old cadre, so he really couldn't bargain. Song Jia looked a little silly, so he couldn't be relied upon either. Only he, who had been struggling in the society for so many years, could bargain. Unexpectedly, Captain Yuan was better at bargaining than him. Both sides went back and forth, and although they all had smiles on their faces, it seemed as if there were swords and sabers. In the end, they exchanged 200 kilograms of rice, 50 kilograms of flour, 10 kilograms of sauerkraut, 20 kilograms of oil, and 20 kilograms of salt for 30 rabbits, 5 chickens, and 10 rabbit skins.

After the price was agreed upon, the middle-aged man looked at a young man behind him and said, "Go and ask them to bring the things over."

The man glanced at Yuan Gang and the others, then put on his mask and turned to walk up the mountain.

The rest of the transaction went smoothly. Two more people came down from their side. After all, they had to carry hundreds of kilograms of rice. After both sides cleared the goods, the middle-aged man smiled at them and said, "I wonder when we can trade next time?"

Yuan Gang said, "Maybe in a month. I hope you can catch more living creatures by then, and we can bring more things with us."

Hearing this, the middle-aged man smiled and said, "Okay, happy cooperation."

Yuan Gang smiled and watched them leave, then he frowned.

Jian Chu and the others were quite happy. They had thought there would be some twists and turns, but they didn't expect it to be so smooth. At least half of these rabbits would be theirs. They would keep some for themselves and exchange the rest for points. This trip would be worth it. They could go back now before dark. Oh no, it was completely dark now. They should be able to get home before nightfall and wouldn't have to spend the night outside.

Xu Ming, however, noticed that Yuan Gang and the others looked a little strange, so he asked, "Is there any problem?"

Yuan Gang said: "The snow on the pants is different. The two people who came later should have just come down from the mountain with the rabbits. So the snow on their shoes should not be more than the people who called them to trade."

Song Jia whispered, "Maybe he came from somewhere else. Maybe his family lives higher up?"

A soldier following Yuan Gang said, "When that man was negotiating the price just now, he seemed a little too nonchalant. Although he insisted on the price, he seemed to not care how low we would lower it."

After hearing what they said, Jian Chu and Song Jia were a little nervous, and even felt like they would be ambushed as soon as they went out.

Yuan Gang glanced at the two soldiers, and they immediately went out to check the situation outside. After a long while, they came back and said, "It seems that there is no problem."

Yuan Gang said, "Get in the car and go back." Then he looked at Yu Zibai and the others and said, "You guys follow behind."

On the way back, the wind and snow were a little lighter, but because it was getting dark, we drove even slower. When we were about to leave Monkey Mountain, the car in front suddenly stopped. After a while, Yuan Gang got out of the car, and Jian Chu in the back naturally stopped as well. Xu Ming, who was sitting in the passenger seat, said, "I'll go take a look, don't move."

Xu Ming also got out of the car, and then saw Yuan Gang rummaging around in the snow. It turned out that in the snow three or four meters away from where they parked, there were whole rows of steel nails kicked out. The steel nails were sharpened and buried in the snow. When vehicles ran over them, even snow tires would be able to pierce them directly. If a tire burst in this snowy and icy weather, there would be replacements for one, but if two burst, the result would probably be death.

When they came back, Qin Huai was cleaning the bird's nests that had been soaked to remove the bird's hair. Generally, top-quality bird's nests are very clean and can be used right after soaking. He and Mu Nan had bought some of these when they were shopping in the mall. In addition to the top-quality ones, he also bought some slightly inferior ones, and even some broken ones. What he was soaking now were the broken ones, so he had to clean up the remaining hair. After cleaning, he changed the water and soaked it again so that he could make some desserts for Mu Nan later.

Mu Nan leaned on the cushion and watched the movie. Qin Huai sat on the other side and cleaned the swallow feathers. His careful and meticulous appearance made Mu Nan couldn't help but say, "These things seem to be IQ taxes. The nutritional value is not as magical as the legend says. Besides, these are for girls to eat."

Qin Huai said: "Eating it once or twice occasionally, of course, has no nutritional value. Look at the difference between eating it regularly and eating it occasionally. Besides, according to what you said, desserts and milk tea are mostly eaten by girls, so boys can't eat them?"

Mu Nan snorted: "I can't argue with you."

Qin Huai smiled when he heard this: "Do you want to eat it? I'll use the bird's nest to make a milk custard, and then make some fried milk."

Mu Nan quickly said, “Eat!” Why not eat something delicious? Besides, this thing is not cheap. Who cares if it has nutritional value? As long as it tastes good, it’s fine.

As the two were talking, the sound of a car came from the door. Mu Nan picked up his phone and took a look. It was only six o'clock. He was immediately happy and said, "They went back and forth on the same day. It seems that things are going smoothly."

Qin Huai put the bird's nest soaked in water into the cabinet beside the bed, then stood up: "I'll go take a look."

There were two cars at the gate. After Yu Zibai and the others got out of the car, a soldier got out of the other car and drove away together, so that they wouldn't have to go to Building No. 1 to return the car and then walk back. Song Jia went straight back to him. Xu Ming and the others walked towards the gate. Without waiting for Qin Huai to ask, Jian Chu sighed, "It really was almost cold outside."