"Look, a new shop has opened across the street. The prices are cheaper than mine. No matter how nice my clothes are, she still steals most of my business."

Gu Nanjiao looked across the street. The shop across the street was more upscale than "Jiaoniang Pavilion," and there were more people coming and going.

When she first came in, she saw that the shop was empty and thought it was because it was close to noon.

"This can't go on. I want to earn more money before the New Year," Gu Nanjiao said, very worried.

“I think so too.” Lü Siniang scratched her head; her thoughts were the same as Gu Nanjiao’s.

"How about we do this..."

Gu Nanjiao voiced her thoughts, which shocked Lü Siniang so much that her eyes widened.

"This model you mentioned... is she even a good fit?"

"I guarantee there won't be any problems."

"It's just that I know quite a few women, so finding one is relatively easy. But as for tall, slender men, I'm really having a bit of a problem." Lu Siniang was troubled by Gu Nanjiao's question about finding male models.

Gu Nanjiao was also in a dilemma.

...

Gu Nanjiao had just finished preparing dinner when Lu Yanzhao returned right on time.

Today, Gu Nanjiao made hot pot with the beef she bought yesterday. She also added some soaked wood ear mushrooms, shiitake mushrooms, potatoes, tofu skin, and frozen tofu. The weather is cold now, so the tofu froze overnight.

Looking at the bubbling copper pot, Lu Yanzhao was very curious about how Gu Nanjiao could come up with so many strange and unusual ways of eating.

After the meal, Lu's mother couldn't wait to take out her money bag and dump it on the table, the bag full of copper coins rattling loudly.

"There are actually two taels of silver." Lu Yanzhao counted the copper coins in front of him, which was more than he earned from going into the mountains once and copying books for a month.

Mrs. Lu was very happy, "This is all thanks to Jiaojiao."

Gu Nanjiao felt guilty. She had spent the whole day at Lü Siniang's place and hadn't helped Lu's mother at all; it was all Lu Xiaomei and her sister who did all the work.

"If we're talking about making money, we have to do business. With just those two acres of land, how much money can we make in a year?" Mrs. Lu said with a smile.

In the morning, a few gourmands came in. They were tired of the food around here, and seeing the unusual pig offal she was selling, plus the free samples, they couldn't resist trying it. The taste was surprisingly good, and they all wanted to buy some for their families. The group bought it all, and more people came in afterward. Before noon, the whole pot of pig offal was sold out.

Mother Lu had never been so happy. She had bought so much yesterday and braised it according to Gu Nanjiao's method. She couldn't sleep last night, worried that it wouldn't sell, but it all sold out.

Lu Yanzhao glanced at Gu Nanjiao with a complicated expression, then lowered his head, seemingly lost in thought.

...

It snowed all night. When I opened the door in the morning, the yard and the rooftops were covered with a thick layer of snow. The world was a vast expanse of white, which was quite beautiful.

It's been a long time since I've seen such thick snow. In modern times, we rarely see snow all year round, and even if it does snow, it disappears in the blink of an eye.

Gu Nanjiao got into the mood and started building a snowman.

In no time, a plump, white snowman was finished. Gu Nanjiao took two sticks and stuck them on the snowman's body, then took a radish from the cellar to use as its nose. It was bright red and very cute.

After building the snowman, Gu Nanjiao went into the kitchen.

It was too cold, so I didn't feel like doing anything and just cooked some porridge.

Lu's mother and Lu's younger sister happened to arrive. Lu's mother was so excited last night that she couldn't sleep. She was afraid that this was all a dream. The money she had earned in the past two days was more than she had earned in the previous year. She was afraid that if she fell asleep, she would wake up from the dream.

Looking at today's weather, the snow is so thick. Mrs. Lu sighed regretfully.

"I finally made some money in two days, but with this awful weather, I can't set up my stall again. God really can't stand to see poor people doing well."

As soon as Lu Yanzhao opened the door, he saw the snowman in the yard. The snowman's arms were just two sticks, it didn't even have eyes, and it had a carrot nose. This perfunctory work was obviously done by Gu Nanjiao.

Looking at the snowman, Lu Yanzhao felt playful. He stretched out his slender hand, grabbed some thatch from the eaves, and wrapped it around, creating the shape of a bird's nest.

Lu Yanzhao placed the straw hat, which resembled a bird's nest, on the snowman's head, and then poked two holes above the snowman's nose to serve as eyes.

It looks much better this way.

Lu Yanzhao looked at the snowman with satisfaction and was about to go to the kitchen when he looked up and saw Gu Nanjiao looking at him with a half-smile.

Lu Yanzhao...

He was caught, and he was incredibly embarrassed, but he couldn't show it. So he forced himself to remain calm and walked past as if nothing had happened.

As long as I'm not embarrassed, it's others who are embarrassed.

Gu Nanjiao thought Lu Yanzhao was really childish.

After breakfast, Lu Yanzhao didn't go to the academy; their academy was on holiday.

"Starting so early?" Gu Nanjiao was quite surprised; it was almost the same time as winter vacation now.

"What, are you happy?" Lu Yanzhao chuckled and gave Gu Nanjiao a deep look.

Bullshit, she's not happy at all.

Lu Yanzhao is on vacation, which means she'll be seeing him every day. She really doesn't want to see him every day right now. When she's with him, she feels like he can see right through her, and it makes her very uncomfortable.

When Liu Meihua arrived, Gu Nanjiao and the others were sweeping and shoveling snow.

Liu looked anxious. "Brother Lu, did you see Zhang San last night?"

Lu Yanzhao replied, "No."

Hearing this, Liu almost burst into tears. Yesterday, Zhang San looked at the gloomy sky and said that heavy snow was coming soon, so he wanted to go into the mountains to buy some things to sell before it snowed. Who knew he went last night and hasn't returned yet. Today, with such heavy snow, I'm afraid his chances of survival are slim.

"Sister-in-law Meihua, don't worry." Gu Nanjiao quickly stepped forward to comfort her.

"How can I not be anxious? If something happens to my husband, how will my children and I survive?" Liu cried sadly.

“Zhang San’s wife, don’t cry. Let’s find a few more people in the village to search the mountain separately,” Lu’s mother pulled Liu, who was crying sadly. She felt a little sympathetic. If the head of the household really died, it would be really difficult for a widow and her children to be left behind.

Lu Yanzhao rushed to the village chief's house to explain the matter, and the village chief immediately summoned the young laborers in the village to go up the mountain to search.

In the afternoon, a group of people carried back an injured person, who was Zhang San.

When Liu saw her husband in this state, she burst into tears.

"Alas, trapped on the mountain by the heavy snow, and frozen all night, I'm afraid he won't make it."

"The Liu family is so pitiful."

"Next time, please don't go up the mountain alone; you must go in groups."

The villagers chatted amongst themselves, and many sighed with pity for Liu's unfortunate fate!

The group worked together to take Zhang San home, while Lu Yanzhao drove the oxcart to town to fetch a doctor. Because of the heavy snow and difficult roads, it was already dark when they returned.

The doctor examined Zhang San's eyelids, took his pulse, and finally shook his head.

It's hopeless!

Upon hearing this devastating news, Liu almost fainted from crying. Her son, Zhang Xiaohu, seemed to sense something, standing behind Liu with red eyes and tears streaming down his face.