Therefore, when Chen Shuning lent the quilt out, he was prepared not to get it back, so seeing it now was definitely a pleasant surprise.

At this moment, Chen Shuning no longer cared whether Liu Guihua had used the quilt before. He eagerly crawled into the warm quilt and quietly took out a few heat packs and quickly stuck them on the mattress.

About ten minutes later, the heat from the hand warmer penetrated through her thick cotton pants and reached her skin, and she finally felt a warmth gradually returning to her body.

When the oxcart arrived at Qingshan Brigade again, it was already past 10 p.m. The wind was howling and the snow was falling heavily, showing no sign of stopping.

Fortunately, the educated youth settlement kept its doors open for them, and Feng Baoguo, as the person in charge of the settlement, was extremely dedicated and never took a break, patiently waiting for them.

Only after seeing them return safely and confirming that none of the three were injured did he feel relieved enough to lock the door and go back to his room to sleep.

Yang Wanqiu's foot wound had been treated by the village doctor and was no longer a big problem. At this moment, she still had some conscience and left a door open for Shen Hongmei.

On the other hand, when Chen Shuning and He Chaoyang returned home, they found that the stove, which they had added coal to before leaving home that morning, had already been extinguished.

He Chaoyang originally planned to relight the stove to heat the earthen bed, but the considerate Chen Shuning couldn't bear to let him get tired. After all, she was exhausted after a day of running around, let alone him carrying her all the way. He must be even more tired than she was.

Without hesitation, Chen Shuning led He Chaoyang into the space, intending to rest there for the night.

After entering the space, Chen Shuning first turned on the hot water, and the two of them took a comfortable hot bath. Then they boiled a pot of brown sugar ginger water to dispel the chill.

After doing all this, the two of them crawled into bed and fell asleep peacefully.

The next morning, the two enjoyed a delicious breakfast in the space before leaving.

Because no fire was lit to heat the kang (a traditional heated bed) last night, and Chen Shuning had just transitioned from a warm space to the cold outside environment, her body was unable to adapt and she couldn't help but sneeze repeatedly.

This made He Chaoyang anxious. He hurriedly urged Chen Shuning to climb onto the kang (a heated brick bed), wrap himself tightly in the quilt, and wait for him to heat up the kang and warm up the room before getting out of bed.

But Chen Shuning was worried about Old Yang's brothers who had gone hunting in the mountains and was eager to go and check on them, so he couldn't sit still.

So he quickly waved his hand and said, "I'm fine. I'm just a little unaccustomed to coming from a warm place. I'm wearing a lot of clothes, so I'll be fine in a bit. Brother He, you can light the stove at home now. I'll go to Grandpa Yang's house to check on him. Last night, with such heavy snow, several of Yang's brothers went into the mountains with the hunting team. I wonder if they're alright."

Grandpa and Grandma Yang must be so worried right now, I have to go check on them.

He Chaoyang knew about the village hunting team going into the mountains. They even came to invite him before they set off, but he refused because he wanted to spend more time with his wife since he was finally on vacation.

Unexpectedly, the hunting team encountered a blizzard just one day after entering the mountains. He was a little worried, since he usually went hunting with the team in the vicinity when he had nothing to do, and he had a good relationship with many of the people in the team.

Another reason was that he didn't want to be separated from his wife, so he hurriedly stopped Chen Shuning, who was about to leave, and said, "Wife, why don't you come inside and wait for me for a while? After I start the fire, we'll go together. Maybe we can help each other out then."

Chen Shuning thought it made sense, so instead of rushing out, he took a small stool and sat down in front of the stove to help break off small branches to start a fire.

After the young couple lit the stove and added coal, they planned to go visit Old Yang's house.

Chen Shuning was stunned by the snow outside as soon as she opened the door. In just one night, the snow had accumulated to a depth of forty centimeters, indicating that it must have snowed all night.

The two of them didn't bother shoveling snow anymore and trudged through the snow to the front yard. Fortunately, the educated youth in the front yard had gotten up early and the snow had been cleared, making the road easier to walk on.

The two had just reached the gate when they ran into Feng Baoguo, who was returning from outside.

Feng Baoguo was walking in a hurry and almost bumped into Chen Shuning, who was about to leave. If He Chaoyang hadn't reacted quickly and pulled Chen Shuning into his arms, Chen Shuning would have been sent flying by Feng Baoguo's force.

Feng Baoguo is usually a calm and collected person, so his sudden departure must mean something happened. Chen Shuning's first thought was of the village's hunting team.

So, forgetting the fright he had just experienced, he asked directly, "Brother Feng, why are you leaving in such a hurry? Did something happen?"

The question was asked by Chen Shuning, but Feng Baoguo hurriedly grabbed He Chaoyang and said urgently, "Chaoyang, I was just about to look for you. Hurry up and go to the brigade headquarters. Something happened to the village's hunting team. The brigade leader is organizing everyone to go into the mountains to find people. He specifically asked me to come back and find you."

All the experienced villagers have gone into the mountains with the hunting team; now the only hope is He Chaoyang, who is visiting his family.

Old Li and Old Yang, who were worried about their son, went into the mountains early this morning to look for him. The two old men found the hunting team's luggage and food in the first small wooden house on the outskirts of the deep mountains, but they didn't see anyone.

The fire in the cabin had long since gone out, and there was no sign that anyone had stayed there overnight.

Seeing this scene, the two old men guessed that the hunting team had probably rested in the cabin on the first day, and judging from the fact that they hadn't taken their luggage, they probably planned to return to the cabin to spend the night.

However, they got lost in the sudden blizzard yesterday afternoon and were unable to return to the cabin before dark.

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