I'm worried that the kids will get restless after they hear about the gathering at the bamboo house, especially Shuangshuang and Siwang.

When Ye Wenxue returned to the valley, she did not tell the children about the matter immediately. Instead, she spent two days building a simple shed behind the house for the livestock to live in.

The side of the shed closest to the earthen house is right next to the kang (heated brick bed). When the kang is heated, the temperature rises, which at least keeps the chickens, ducks, sheep, wild boars, and rabbits warm, so they don't freeze to death.

However, the goose took the initiative to squat in the room where Ye Wenxue was after the temperature dropped.

Sanyuan and Siwang had a good relationship with it, and they built a nest for the goose themselves using some old clothes.

Ye Wenxue rebuilt the fence, piled up layers of weeds to make a roof for the shed, and then went to block the entrance of the cave that was constantly letting in cold wind.

Feeling warmer all over, she wrapped her new cotton coat tighter around herself and couldn't help but miss the light and warm down jacket.

Ye Wenxue had just returned to the earthen house and taken a sip of sweet and sour hawthorn hot water when she heard Siwang's pitiful cries coming from behind the house.

She glanced instinctively at the goose nest in the corner of the wall, and seeing that the goose was sitting peacefully in the nest and wouldn't be bullying Siwang, she quickly ran to the back.

"What's wrong?"

Siwang squatted inside the fenced enclosure, looking at the sheep lying in the hay, speechless with grievance.

Sanyuan looked at Siwang and said helplessly, "Mother, both of the sheep at home are females."

Siwang had long wanted to see what the lambs looked like, but unfortunately he hadn't been able to. When he suddenly discovered that both lambs were female, he immediately let out a howl.

Ye Wenxue chuckled, stepped over the fence, picked up Siwang, and gently brushed the dust off him: "Don't squat on the ground, it'll be hard to wash your clothes if they get dirty. Didn't you like wild boars before? Don't you like them anymore?"

Siwang stood obediently while his mother took care of him, but upon hearing this, he pouted and said, "The little wild boar has grown up and is no longer pretty."

This kid is a sucker for good looks.

Ye Wenxue glanced at the wild boar that had grown a few pounds and tapped Siwang on the head: "Isn't it good that it's grown up? Don't you want to eat meat anymore?"

"I want to..." Siwang followed Ye Wenxue out of the fence, clinging to her hand and refusing to let go. "Mother, I want to eat meat."

"Didn't we just eat that yesterday?"

"I haven't eaten yet today..."

Ye Wenxue called over Dazhuang and Shuangshuang, who had rushed over after hearing Siwang's howling, and Sanyuan, who was silently following behind: "Tomorrow we're going to Uncle Xu's house in the bamboo house for dinner. Uncle Baldy will be there too, and Mom will cook for us."

Da Zhuang thought that he hadn't been to the bamboo house for more than ten days, and it was time to go and take a look. He had no objections.

"Okay, then I'll plant the potatoes that Mom found first, and also plant all the cabbages and radishes. I'm not sure if the sweet potatoes, corn, and peppers will be able to survive the winter, so I'll just plant a few rows to try."

Ye Wenxue glanced at the vegetable garden covered with a thick layer of snow and nodded: "Okay, wait a moment, Mother will be right there once she catches her breath."

Dazhuang is not even nine years old yet, so farming cannot be entirely entrusted to him. These days, besides practicing her cooking skills and stocking up on vegetables for winter, Ye Wenxue has been diligently farming and has made great progress.

Dazhuang had no objections, and Shuangshuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang, who were feeling stifled, had even less objection. They had wanted to get out of the valley for a long time, but Ye Wenxue had suppressed their desire.

They're so excited to be able to go play tomorrow!

*

To celebrate their victory with a feast, Baldy specially led the few remaining brothers from the mountain stronghold, and they made their way along several wild boar, wild goat, and wild pheasant dens.

The footprints were exceptionally clear in the snow. Although it was much more difficult to find wild animals in winter, it wasn't a complete loss. They caught five pheasants, three wild boars, and one wild goat, as well as a few wild rabbits and two hibernating snakes.

After being brutally beaten, the bald man became exceptionally sensible and stopped trying to sneak behind Ye Wenxue and follow the footprints in the snow to her house.

On the day of the gathering, all the irrelevant people were sent back to the mountain stronghold, leaving only Zhiwu, Zhiwang, and Wang Chun, who had been taken in as an apprentice by Master Xu, who were free. They even specially invited their mothers to come and freeload.

More than half of the wild animals were sent back to the mountain village, leaving only a slaughtered wild boar, two pheasants, and a wild goat.

Ye Wenxue carried Yuanyuan, who was wrapped in a thick layer of clothes, and pulled Shuangshuang, Sanyuan, and Siwang, whose faces were red from the cold, as they braved the snow.

Unlike previous years when the sight of snow would bring sadness, the three boys sitting on a simple cart were very happy, occasionally raising their hands to catch snowflakes, or rolling small snowballs to throw at their eldest brother who was walking at the back.

Da Zhuang wore a pair of warm cotton shoes and changed into cotton clothes that Ye Wenxue had bought down the mountain. He carried a full basket of things on his back and didn't feel cold at all along the way.

After being hit on the clothes by a snowball from his troublesome younger siblings, he exhaled a breath of warm air, slowly brushed the snow off his clothes, and glared at them.

"Get down and walk by yourself, don't tire your mother out."

Shuangshuang nodded readily, and before her two younger brothers could react, she used the edge of the makeshift cart to prop herself up and jumped down, stepping into the snow.

She quickly pulled her legs out, shook the snow out of her cotton shoes, and hurried behind Dazhuang, carrying the basket in one hand: "Brother, let me carry it."

Dazhuang raised his hand to push Shuangshuang's hand away: "Just walk properly, I'm not tired."

One attempt, but it didn't budge.

Dazhuang refused to believe it and tried to pry Shuangshuang's hand away. Shuangshuang thought he was just playing around, so she quickly let go of his basket, put it on her back, and walked ahead in a flash.

Sanyuan and Siwang only realized what was happening at this moment, and were about to jump off the makeshift cart like Shuangshuang, when Dazhuang, with a dark face, stopped them: "Don't!"

Sanyuan obediently continued to squat down, but kept glancing at Ye Wenxue, clearly worried that she would get tired.

Siwang didn't have so many worries. With a tremor of his little hand, he was about to climb off the cart when Dazhuang, who had walked over a few steps, slapped his chubby bottom. His plump bottom trembled in the cold wind.

"Big brother, didn't you tell us to come down?" Siwang covered his buttocks, looking aggrieved.

Da Zhuang said irritably, "I didn't tell you to jump down like that!"

He stared at Shuangshuang, who was walking with her head down and occasionally exchanging a few words with Ye Wenxue, and sighed inwardly that this younger sister was only growing stronger but not smarter.

Dazhuang ran ahead, took the rope from Ye Wenxue, and prepared to take over the job of dragging his two unjustly killed younger brothers, but Ye Wenxue refused.

Ye Wenxue pointed to the newly repaired road not far away: "No need, we're almost there."

The village henchmen, carrying charcoal back and forth, had long since trampled all the snow off the path, making it difficult to pull their makeshift carts up; from then on, they had to walk.

Ye Wenxue dragged the cart to the side into the woods and put it down, raising an eyebrow at the obedient Sanyuan and Siwang: "Get down, walk up by yourselves."

The family walked towards the bamboo house, the wind and snow continuing along the way. After half an hour, Siwang, who refused to use an umbrella, had accumulated a lot of snowflakes on his head.

"Mom, look!" Siwang exclaimed, pointing to the snow-covered ends of her hair. "It's so white and cool, it's really interesting."

Ye Wenxue looked back, but couldn't grasp the meaning behind his words. She just thought to herself that she would have to give Siwang an extra bowl of ginger soup later.