There seemed to be a lot of withered grass under the snow, making it difficult to walk without holding onto something. She was really worried that she might slip and fall if she didn't hold onto something.

The two supported each other and soon arrived at their family.

Shen Xingmian switched to a sickle and started clearing away the weeds. These things didn't need to be thrown too far away; they could be burned for warmth later.

Using local materials is something she has always enjoyed doing.

We can't just throw away all this hard-earned hay and branches just because there's other fuel in the space; that would be too wasteful.

After clearing the ground, Shen Xingmian set up the tents. The two tents were next to each other, with their entrances facing each other, but slightly offset in direction.

This way, it's convenient for them to come and go, and it won't block the entrance in case of an accident.

The items inside the tent were already in their fixed positions, eliminating the need for installation or disassembly, which made things much easier. The stove, in particular, had its chimney fixed in place, and the gaps were even sealed with mud, preventing any drafts from getting in.

Feeling that the temperature was rising too slowly, she took out two electric heaters, one on each side, which was very efficient.

In this situation, it would be most convenient for everyone to live in one tent, but she didn't have a tent big enough. A yurt would be fine, but she didn't have one.

So they could only huddle together to keep warm and have dinner, and then the men would go back to the other side when it was time to rest.

The snow was still falling, and the "plop" sound as it landed on the tent roof was actually quite pleasant, but Shen Xingmian guessed that it would probably get annoying after a while.

On such a cold day, of course we need to eat something hot.

However, they had eaten hot pot many times, and it wasn't anything new anymore. Suddenly, she thought of the modern winter wardrobe staples—

Candied hawthorn berries, roasted chestnuts, and roasted sweet potatoes!

If you miss any of these three things, you'll feel like this winter isn't complete!

She didn't know if there were chestnuts here, but she was quite certain there were no sweet potatoes or potatoes. Now was the time to bring them out and shock everyone.

hey-hey.

She put a few small sweet potatoes and some small potatoes on the stove, then rubbed her hands together and started turning them over to roast them with anticipation.

After flipping through the pages for a few minutes, she handed the task over to Xiao Yanyue and went to discuss dinner with her aunt.

To her surprise, everyone's enthusiasm for hot pot remained undiminished, and they still wanted to eat it.

Shen Xingmian felt a pang of sadness. These poor little natives really hadn't eaten much good food. Just a hot pot was enough to win them over.

It's so heartbreaking.

What could she do? Of course, she had to go along with everyone's wishes.

I quickly took out two hot pots with two broths, along with some vegetables I had washed and sliced ​​meat that I had prepared in my spare time. Dinner was ready to start.

Once the water in the pot boiled, they started adding ingredients that were harder to cook. Xiao Yanyue was still diligently and conscientiously turning over sweet potatoes and potatoes by the stove.

Shen Xingmian moved closer to her, picked up the food with her chopsticks, and found that it wasn't quite cooked yet. She then said to Xiao Yanyue, "Daodao, you go eat first. I'll watch over it here for a while."

The aroma of the hot pot lingered inside the tent, strong and tempting. Xiao Yanyue was a little hungry, but she didn't want to leave Shen Xingmian working alone, so she hesitated and didn't move.

"Go ahead, go ahead, I'm tired of hot pot, I'm just waiting for these little things today."

Seeing that the child was unmoved, she leaned closer and whispered, "When they're cooked, I'll save you the two best ones, hehe, go eat now."

Seeing that she really liked it, Xiao Yanyue slowly went to the table.

Shen Zhiheng had been waiting for him and had already prepared a dipping sauce for him, just waiting for him to sit down and start eating.

Xiao Yanyue's status as the eldest grandson of the emperor held a special place in his heart.

If Shen Zheng or Shen Xingyan were not at the dinner table, he might have started eating right away, but he felt uneasy about leaving out the eldest grandson of the emperor.

Although this child usually has a low profile, we can't completely ignore him.

Once the meat was cooked, Shen Zhiheng first served a bowl to the child beside him, afraid that the child was used to being waited on and that he himself was too short to reach it.

Unexpectedly, Xiao Yanyue stood up, picked up several kinds of cooked vegetables, as well as potatoes, which Mianmian loved the most, and then took the bowl to Shen Xingmian's side and handed it to her.

Looking at his actions, Shen Zhiheng looked at Luo Qi'an beside him in disbelief and asked in a low voice, "Is the eldest grandson of the emperor treating Mianmian as a child bride? But... something doesn't seem right."

Luo Qi'an covered the lower half of his face with his hand and whispered, "The way he acts, it's like he's treating himself as our Mianmian's future daughter-in-law."

"Hiss, how can you say such treasonous things?" Shen Zhiheng quickly whispered to stop him.

But looking at the two small figures pressed together, he actually agreed in his heart with his son-in-law's outrageous remarks.

That's terrifying...

Xiao Yanyue was well aware that his behavior today would reveal something to the adults, but he genuinely wanted them to know.

Mianmian is three years older than him. He barely has time to grow up before she might get married.

He was in a hurry.

And I don't know how to alleviate this anxious feeling.

He couldn't change the flow of time; by the time he reached marriageable age, Mianmian would probably already be a wife.

He absolutely cannot accept this outcome.

It seems that all he can do right now is try his best to be good to her, to give her complete favoritism and care, so that when she meets other men in the future, she will feel disgusted by them in comparison.

As long as she doesn't like those people, he still has a chance.

He knew it was a bit despicable, but if Mianmian could eventually fall in love with him, what did it matter if he was a little despicable? At worst, he could spend the rest of his life treating her well.

In the end, I will not let her down in her final choice.

...

As the roasting time increased, the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes gradually spread, reaching not only the two people by the stove but also the group of people around the hot pot.

Shen Xingyan sniffed, put down her chopsticks and went to her younger sister's side, asking curiously, "Little sister, what is this? It smells so good!"

Seeing her cousin's expression, Shen Xingmian knew that her appetite had been whetted, so she didn't keep her in suspense and used clean chopsticks to pick up a small sweet potato and hand it to her.

"This thing is called sweet potato, also known as yam. It's best when roasted! You can also use it to cook porridge or stew it, it's good either way."

"By the way, this thing is also very productive, it's easy to fill people up, and it's also very suitable for growing in the North. The leaves can be used to make pickles, it's practically a treasure from head to toe."

"Sister, try it quickly, it's a little hot, blow on it before you eat it."

As she spoke, she forked another one that looked the best and handed it to Xiao Yanyue. Then she forked another one and skipped over to deliver it to her grandfather.