Upon hearing this, he instinctively asked, "So many days have passed, what if the mark has disappeared?"

Qin Mu shook his head firmly: "It shouldn't be that bad! The sticks I stuck along the way were just things I picked up off the spot, and each one was more than three inches taller than the snow."

Even though Shen Kai wanted to go down the mountain now to save his own life, he still advised against it:

"Brother Mu, it's almost mid-Shenshi (3-5 PM), it'll be dark soon."

I think we should stay here for the night and set off tomorrow.

Qin Mu thought for a moment, realizing that he hadn't yet clearly explained what he wanted to say to Chi Yu.

She's sleeping in the room right now, so staying another night wouldn't be a bad idea.

Thinking this, he nodded: "Alright! I'll ask Miss Chi Yu later if we should try to find a doctor for her."

If there were an extra doctor in Chijia'ao, even if there were other disasters besides the earthquake, everyone wouldn't need to panic.

Well, when the doctor comes, I'll try to send over more rice, flour, oil, and salt.

The grocery store doesn't have much grain left; it'll probably be sold out in less than three days!

Shen Kai: "..."

You've already made all the arrangements, so why are you asking any questions?

Chi Yu was unaware of Qin Mu's arrangements. She had slept soundly in the space last night, so she hadn't gone to sleep after returning home.

But she didn't stay idle. After putting Zhuangzhuang in the crib, she went out to check on the sweet potatoes.

Seeing that the sweet potato vines had grown quite a bit overnight, she cut off long sections and planted them in the specially cleared ground.

She only went to wash up upstream when she was so busy that her back ached and she could no longer work.

After that, she watered the grapevines and chestnut trees that her older brother and Chi Kang had planted some time ago, and finally fed the chickens and ducks before leaving the space.

When she came out, it was already dark, and just then she heard her sister calling her to eat.

She busied herself lighting the oil lamp, and then added some firewood to the stove in the heated kang (a traditional Chinese bed-stove) before letting Zhuangzhuang, who had already woken up and was about to cry, come out.

Chi Qiao, who had just handed the large food box to Qin Mu at the door, saw the light on in the main room and called out:

"Is Little Fish awake? Come eat at the general store!"

"Sister-in-law, you're awake, I'm coming!"

After saying that, she wrapped the child in a blanket.

Seeing the little guy's moist eyes, I bent down and kissed his forehead before carrying him out the door.

When she arrived at the grocery store, the food on the kang table was already prepared.

She walked over, handed Zhuangzhuang to her sister, and told her to put the little guy on the kang (heated brick bed). She then took off her shoes and sat down.

The four of them were quite familiar with each other, and they all tacitly agreed that Chi Yu and Qin Mu would be together, so they weren't too reserved, and there was no rule about not speaking while eating or sleeping.

Chi Qiao handed Chi Yu a bowl of rice, and then said while eating:

"Little fish, the python you brought back is big and has a lot of meat."

Your second sister-in-law is planning to prepare six dishes tomorrow, one of which is tofu made by your third sister-in-law. This won't be served at the table; instead, a piece will be delivered to each household.

For small groups, we'll give you half a pound or eight ounces. For larger groups, we'll give you one or two pounds.

Then there are the meat buns, which are already made and will be served tomorrow. Each bun is a bit larger than usual, and each person will receive half a bun.

The meat used to make the steamed buns was bought by your second sister-in-law for everyone before the New Year.

Besides the four dishes, there was a pheasant stewed with a giant python, and your second sister-in-law also wanted to stir-fry a plate of snake meat.

That leaves two dishes.

Every household in our village still grows vegetables for their own consumption, so there is no shortage of vegetables.

Your second sister-in-law is planning to stir-fry some water spinach and spinach, mainly because it's also your second brother's idea.

He said that your second sister-in-law's stir-fried water spinach was delicious with rice, and then he wanted to blanch spinach and mix it with rice.

They say the head of spinach is red, and you should keep the head for good luck when eating it on your wedding day.