However, there was still plenty of kimchi left. In a little while, each person would be given two cornbread pancakes and some kimchi. Such a thank-you gift would be considered quite good in this day and age.

It's important to know that brown sugar and red dates weren't cheap back then. However, red dates weren't a rare commodity in the village. Moreover, there were many wild red date trees on Daqing Mountain. Every year before the autumn harvest, villagers would go to the back mountain to pick red dates, dry them, and save them to exchange for money in town.

Because red dates are considered a good tonic for girls, Chen Shuning bought some from the villagers along with Zhong Lingling, so that it was reasonable for her to take some out of her space.

Seeing that no one was outside, Chen Shuning pretended to take a stack of pancakes from the cupboard, but actually took them out of her spatial storage. She wrapped them in oil paper, then added some kimchi, wrapped them up, and divided them into portions. Then she began to prepare He Chaoyang's things.

Thinking that He Chaoyang liked noodles as much as she did, and that noodles were convenient to store at this time, she decided that since she had prepared cornbread pancakes for everyone else, it wouldn't look good to prepare something too nice for He Chaoyang. Although there were differences in closeness, the difference couldn't be too great.

So after thinking about it, Chen Shuning decided to bring some multigrain steamed buns for He Chaoyang.

There's no time to steam it now, but because she likes to eat it, Chen Shuning has a lot of it stored in her space.

They were all made from grains grown in the space, ground into flour, with milk and sugar added. Although they were coarse grains, they tasted even better than those made with wheat flour.

The steamed buns Chen Shuning makes aren't very big, about the size of her fist. With her appetite, one bun per meal, plus a bowl of porridge or soup, is enough to fill her up for breakfast.

However, considering He Chaoyang's appetite, Chen Shuning still took out fifty and put them in a clean white cloth bag. She thought that He Chaoyang was in the army and should not lack canned food, so she didn't need to take the canned food that her brother sent.

The crabapples in the space taste quite good, and many families in the village have crabapple trees in their yards, so it would be good to bring some for He Chaoyang.

Because she liked this sweet and sour fruit, she made a lot of dried crabapple and candied crabapple before she transmigrated. So she wrapped some of each kind in oil paper, put them together with steamed buns and the money for buying coal in a cloth bag, tied it up, and planned to ask Du Xiangqian to take them to He Chaoyang later.

After loading everything up, Chen Shuning thought about it. In fact, Du Xiangqian had been busy buying the coal and delivering it to him in the heavy snow. Although he was acting on He Chaoyang's orders, it was Chen Shuning who benefited.

So Du Xiangqian also wanted to express his gratitude, and thus prepared a similar gift for Du Xiangqian, just as he had given He Chaoyang.

Just as Chen Shuning finished getting everything ready, he heard Du Xiangqian outside shout, "Comrade Chen, it's all done here. Come and take a look. If there's anything else that needs to be done, we'll take care of it while we're all here."

Upon hearing this, Chen Shuning quickly put down the bag in his hand and ran to the woodshed. He saw stacks of bamboo baskets neatly arranged in the woodshed, and honeycomb briquettes and coal blocks were also placed separately, making them easy to pick up.

Even the pile of firewood that she had scattered in her haste yesterday had been neatly arranged. Chen Shuning couldn't find a single fault with it. She smiled and thanked everyone, "Thank you so much, everyone. It's so cold, and you've all made this trip. I've prepared some brown sugar ginger and jujube tea for everyone. Go and get some to drink on the way, and it will help you ward off the cold."

As he spoke, Chen Shuning looked at Du Qianjin and said, "Comrade Du, you should quickly lead everyone to get water. I also made some pancakes today since it's my day off. Could you please distribute them to everyone later so they can have something to eat on the way back?"

"Comrade Chen, how could I possibly accept this?"

Although Du Qianjin was being polite, he didn't refuse. The stevedores who came with him usually had a good relationship with him.

Besides, this was a side job, and everyone was helping out during their break time because of him. He'll have to treat us guys to a meal when we get back to show his appreciation.

Although this meal couldn't be skipped, these people were only doing it out of respect for him, so it would be normal for Chen Shuning to do nothing.

But now that Comrade Chen is being so thoughtful, he's also saving face.

The young men who came with him were all quite happy to see that their elder brother had agreed, and they all thanked Chen Shuning.

While smiling and exchanging polite words with everyone, Chen Shuning led them into the kitchen, distributed the prepared items to them, and had Du Xiangqian help with filling the water containers.

Some people, in their haste, filled the kettle and drank it without caring that the water was still scalding hot. Although their mouths were numb from the heat, after a sip of brown sugar ginger and jujube tea, they felt as if the chill in their bodies was being gradually dispelled from the inside out.

Chen Shuning added a lot of brown sugar, and the sweet red date flavor had only a hint of spiciness, which was very delicious. Several young men praised it repeatedly, and some of them even took the water bottle back after a few sips and asked Du Xiangqian to refill it.

Du Xiangqian couldn't bear to watch and started cursing. However, they were all his brothers who had followed him all over the country. Although he was cursing, he kept filling his hands with water.

Everyone drank the warm and comforting brown sugar ginger and jujube tea so much that they wished their kettles were smaller. In no time, the whole pot of brown sugar ginger and jujube tea was completely devoured.

Seeing this, Chen Shuning secretly rejoiced that he had the foresight to set aside a pot of tea in advance to take back with Tie Dan later. Otherwise, judging from the current situation, Tie Dan might not even be able to smell the tea, let alone drink it.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!