Chapter 120 The First Snow

The Changbai Mountain forest area is a high-altitude, cold region where snowfall occurs earlier than in other places.

Generally speaking, it snows on the main peak of Changbai Mountain in early October.

Even after May Day the following year, the mountaintop would often experience a heavy snowfall.

Qianchuan Forest Farm is very close to the nature reserve, and due to the influence of the mountaintop climate, it snows much earlier than other places.

Snowfall in mid-October is a normal phenomenon.

It got cloudy on the afternoon of the 15th. Seeing that the weather was not right, Sheng Xiping and his team finished work early and started carrying pine cones back.

As soon as I got home, it started to drizzle, and soon the rain turned into snow.

At first, the snow melted as soon as it hit the ground. As the snowfall increased, the ground began to turn white, and the mountains and rivers were gradually covered in silver.

"Alright, we can't go up the mountain tomorrow. Let's take a break."

After dinner, Sheng Xiping looked at the snowflakes still falling outside and sighed.

After the light rain turned into heavy snow, the trees were wet and slippery, making it too dangerous to climb them.

"Sure, I've been exhausted these past few days, so I'll sleep in tomorrow."

How many young people like to get up early? They're usually too busy to do anything about it, but when they finally get the chance, they'll sleep in forever.

Wang Jianshe, Chen Weiguo, and the others were quite happy to see snow falling outside. They snuggled into their blankets and closed their eyes contentedly to sleep.

"Oh, it's so nice to live in a collective household. When there's no work, I can sleep as long as I want."

If this were at home, my mom would yell at me to get out of bed in the morning.

The other people in the room were also muttering about it.

Upon hearing this, Sheng Xiping smiled and shook his head.

These guys complain that the cafeteria food is terrible and not as good as home-cooked meals.

When it's time to sleep, I feel that living in a collective household is good because no one cares about me.

In this world, how many things are truly perfect?

There was no free time all autumn, and it was a rare day when we didn't have to get up early, so everyone slept soundly.

The next day, at just eight o'clock, Gao Haining, who had already moved out of the collective household, pushed open the door and entered the house, bringing with her a chill.

"Oh my god, it's so cold."

"Hey, you guys are all so lazy! It's this late and no one's even up to shovel the snow."

This guy has a loud voice; he shouts as soon as he walks in.

"Damn it, Gao Haining, you're about to get married and have a wife, what are you doing here in the collective household so early in the morning, messing with us bachelors?"

Several people who were sleeping inside were woken up by the noise.

Wang Jianshe turned to look at Gao Haining, pulled the blanket over his head, and planned to continue sleeping.

"Hey, hey, wake up, get up!"

Xiping, it's snowing outside, shall we go hunting together in the mountains?

Didn't you say that hunting is best when it snows? The prey's tracks are hard to hide, making them easy to find.

Gao Haining didn't care about any of that and went straight to Sheng Xiping's side to greet him.

Sheng Xiping reluctantly opened his eyes and looked at Gao Haining, who was grinning foolishly in front of him.

"Haining, you're about to get married, why aren't you busy at home every day? What are you doing hunting in the mountains?"

Thankfully, Sheng Xiping wasn't grumpy when he woke up; otherwise, looking at Gao Haining's beaming face, it would have been really hard for him not to punch him a couple of times.

"Well, it's because we're getting married soon, and I was thinking of asking you to go up the mountain to help with some preparations so that it will look nice when we have the wedding banquet."

What else can we do? My family and Fengying's family have been saving up meat coupons for a long time, but we haven't been able to buy much meat.

My mother was at her wit's end, so she asked the local forestry store to bring in some canned meat.

That stuff is ridiculously expensive and doesn't even work; it's nowhere near as good as going into the mountains and getting some wild game.

Gao Haining sat on the edge of the kang (a heated brick bed) and chatted with Sheng Xiping.

These days, if you want to hold a happy event, you have to prepare well in advance.

Cigarettes, alcohol, candy, tea, and other similar items all rely on supply; some require coupons, while others have quotas.

Relatives and friends all helped collect tickets, and it took a lot of effort to collect enough, but the stores might not even have that many.

Everything else is manageable, but this dish at the banquet is particularly difficult to prepare.

A wedding banquet can't just consist of radishes, cabbage, and potatoes, right? There has to be some meat, but meat is the hardest thing to find.

Even with meat coupons, stores might not have that much meat.

It's not even that cold yet this season, so buying things in advance is a no-go; they'll spoil easily. Seriously, it's so difficult.

Gao Haining thought to herself that she should ask Sheng Xiping about this matter.

Since the weather was bad and he couldn't do anything else, he asked Sheng Xiping to take him into the mountains to get some things.

Give them whatever amount they owe; it's better than nothing.

"Haining, you came all this way so early in the morning just for this?"

Sheng Xiping sighed, got out of bed, and quickly put on his clothes.

The collective household's house is big, but the room is too empty and not warm.

At this time, the stove hadn't been lit yet, and the bed was warm. But as soon as you got out of bed, you felt freezing and had to quickly put on clothes.

"I forgot to tell you, you can't go hunting in the mountains on the first day it snows."

This is the first snowfall of autumn this year. Most of the wild animals in the mountains are not used to snow for the first time in more than half a year and lie in their dens and refuse to move.

They only come out to find food around three or four in the afternoon when they are so hungry that they can't stand it anymore.

So, going up the mountain tomorrow is a good idea; we can see the tracks of all sorts of wild animals.

"Let's go tomorrow. Tomorrow, a few of us will go into the mountains and see what we encounter. We'll fight whatever we come across."

"You shouldn't go. You're about to get married and be the groom. Just stay home."

Even if Gao Haining didn't come, Sheng Xiping was still planning to go hunting in the mountains tomorrow.

Sheng Xiping and Gao Haining are childhood friends, and Zhou Qinglan and Tang Fengying are cousins.

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