Qin Ye looked down at the two wild rabbits that knew nothing but eating and silently offered a bit of sympathy.

Why is it one point?

Since the rabbit can eat meat even if it kills him, giving him one point of sympathy is already the limit.

Fearing that the two rabbits might freeze to death before they grew up, Qin Xiaoxiao moved the rabbit hutch into Qin Wei's room, which made Qin Wei so angry that his eyes widened.

He wanted to speak, but he couldn't. Grandma Qin's eyes were wide open, even wider than his own, as she was watching to prevent him from scolding Qin Xiaoxiao.

After resting at home for two days, Qin Wei went back to work. He had no choice but to go; he couldn't sleep with the rabbit every day, could he?

The morning Qin Wei left, the village distributed wild boar meat. The Qin family received seven jin (3.5 catties) according to their work points, which made Old Mrs. Qin so happy that she cooked a jin (0.5 kg) of meat that very night.

The rest were divided into small pieces and all put into the unused large water tank in the yard.

Water tanks like these serve as natural refrigerators in winter. Frozen meat, chicken, tofu, and vegetables can be stored inside. Cover them with wooden boards and weigh them down with stones to keep mice out.

With all the winter food prepared, Qin Xiaoxiao had nothing to do and spent her days wandering around, her eyes fixed on Cat Ear Mountain, but she dared not go there by herself, afraid that her grandmother would find out and be frightened, and that she would get a beating when she got home.

Two days later, Qin Xiaoxiao got up in the morning, opened the curtains, and saw that everything outside was covered in white. Qin Xiaoxiao was stunned for a moment, then her face lit up with joy. She quickly put on her shoes, got out of bed, opened the door, and reached out to catch the snowflakes.

This was Hongxian's first snowfall of the year. It came a little late, but it was very heavy. The snow fell for two whole days without stopping.

That evening, Qin Feng organized the villagers to go door to door reminding them not to sleep too soundly and to get up from time to time to check on the roofs to prevent them from collapsing under the weight of the snow.

On the second day of the heavy snow, the roads were difficult to travel. Qin Ye brought Qin Xiaoxiao breakfast in the morning and told her not to come over today, and that he would bring her dinner in the evening.

Qin Xiaoxiao refused. She had stored up quite a lot of things in the fall, enough to last her until spring even if she didn't go to the Qin family all winter.

Fearing that Qin Ye wouldn't believe her, Qin Xiaoxiao even opened the large water vat in the woodshed to show Qin Ye.

Inside were not only steamed buns and mantou, but also wontons and dumplings. The cured chicken and cured meat he had prepared for Qin Xiaoxiao were still uneaten and remained in the jar.

In addition, there were frozen vegetables in the jar, tofu that Qin Xiaoxiao had specially bought and frozen himself, and two small carp that he had caught more than a month ago.

Seeing that Qin Xiaoxiao really had enough to eat, Qin Ye was relieved.

"Okay, I'll go home and tell Grandma. You don't need to go home. Just make do for a couple of days, and go back when the snow melts."

I come to see you every day. If you need anything, just tell me and I'll have the family prepare it.

Don't go up the mountain by yourself. The mountain is blocked by heavy snow, and the wolves behind Cat Ear Mountain have no food. If you go up, you will definitely attract a large number of wild wolves.

With your small frame, there's not even enough for them to share.

It's best not to go outside. Once the snow melts, your feet will be covered in mud, and you won't have any spare shoes.

Qin Ye gave her instructions for more than ten minutes, and Qin Xiaoxiao didn't get impatient and obediently agreed.

After Qin Ye left, Qin Xiaoxiao grabbed two handfuls of freshly roasted melon seeds from her pocket and went to find the Su sisters.

Qin Xiaoxiao went straight to Su Yu's room and knocked on the door.

Who is it?

Su Yu's voice came from inside, and before Qin Xiaoxiao could answer, the door opened.

Qin Xiaoxiao stood outside the door, smiling at Su Yu, "Su, the educated youth."

Upon seeing that it was Qin Xiaoxiao, Su Yu quickly pulled her into the house.

Unsurprisingly, Qin Xiaoxiao met Su Yun in Su Yu's room.

“I knew Su Yun, the educated youth, was here too. You two sisters have such a good relationship.”

Qin Xiaoxiao looked envious.

Su Yun smiled and glanced at Su Yu, explaining, "We need a lot of firewood in winter. My sister and I aren't very strong, so we didn't collect much firewood. We bought some more, but it's still not enough to heat two houses."

We discussed it and decided that my sister and I would sleep in one room during the winter, and I would go back to my own place to sleep in the spring.

Moreover, we eat separately from the other side, so naturally we keep our firewood and such separately. There's nowhere to store so much firewood, so I cleared out a room to store the firewood and food.

Qin Xiaoxiao listened and nodded, "You're doing it right. Burning two houses together does require a lot of firewood. Living in one house can save half the amount."

Even after spring arrives in Northeast China, the kang (heated brick bed) must be kept warm, otherwise it will get very cold at night and can easily lead to illness. The kang must be kept warm until May or June.

Moreover, it's not like you can stop burning firewood all summer. You still need to burn it from time to time, especially on rainy days. It's best to burn a stove to remove the dampness.

If there isn't a separate stove at home, then you'll have to heat the kang (a heated brick bed), which means you'll need firewood all summer long. If you don't prepare enough, you won't have enough, and you'll be in trouble when spring comes.

Su Yu pushed Qin Xiaoxiao to sit on the kang (a heated brick bed), and Su Yu covered Qin Xiaoxiao's legs with a thin blanket, covering her feet as well.

Qin Xiaoxiao took out some melon seeds from her pocket and placed them on the kang table, then looked at Su Yun with a smile.

"Su Yun, you can even knit sweaters? That's amazing!"

Su Yun had a ball of red yarn next to her. The sweater was almost halfway done, so it was clear that she had been knitting it for more than a day.

Qin Xiaoxiao once again showed a look of envy.

In later generations, everything was available for sale, so no one knitted sweaters anymore. Moreover, winters weren't very cold, and with cars available for travel, people were less likely to get cold.

Young people wear short sleeves inside and down jackets outside. There's heating as soon as you enter the house. The heating in Northeast China is quite good. You can't stay indoors wearing long sleeves. In her previous life, she often wore a slip dress in the dead of winter while eating ice cream and watching TV series.

Thinking of ice cream, Qin Xiaoxiao felt a craving and planned to grab one to eat when she got back.

She acquired a large freezer, which contained not only various frozen foods, but also a considerable amount of ice cream and other frozen treats. She stored it all in her spatial storage, leaving nothing behind.

She ate some after the apocalypse, but she hasn't been able to bear eating any of them here.

"Xiaoxiao, what are you thinking about? Why are you daydreaming again?"

Su Yu looked helplessly at Qin Xiaoxiao, and seeing that she had come to her senses, she put the water glass in Qin Xiaoxiao's hand.

"Here, warm your hands."

Qin Xiaoxiao took the water glass and placed it on the table, smiling, "No need, it's just a short walk, how cold could it be? Su Yu, what did you just say to me?"

Su Yu rolled her eyes. "We're already so close, why are you still calling me Su Yu, the educated youth? I've told you so many times, call me 'sister,' call me Sister Su Yu."

Qin Xiaoxiao readily agreed and nodded, saying, "Alright, since Sister Su Yu has said so, I'll just call her by name."

Su Yu then smiled and nodded, "That's right, you should have done it this way earlier, so I wouldn't have wasted my breath."

Oh, by the way, I just asked you if you wanted to knit with us. My sister does, and I'm learning from her right now. Why don't you join us?

Qin Xiaoxiao's eyes lit up upon hearing this, "Is that okay?"

Su Yun smiled and nodded, "Of course you can. It's not a big deal. Teaching one is the same as teaching two."

"I don't know many patterns, and my knitting isn't very good, so please don't mind."

Qin Xiaoxiao waved her hands repeatedly, "I don't mind, I don't mind at all. I don't know how to do it yet, it's already very good."

What's there to complain about? To her, knitting sweaters is almost like intangible cultural heritage; they're both works of art.