So everyone picked and ate as they went, but they stopped after a few because the spiky balls were hard to peel and their hands hurt after peeling just a few.

We recently swept up a large game, but now we hardly see any large animals in the mountains. We can only hunt small game. The main reason is that no one dares to go too deep into the mountains, for fear of not being able to get back before dark.

There are plenty of resources in the mountains, and you can pick a lot of things without going too far, so there's no need to go far and take risks.

Ye Moxun sometimes goes into the mountains with everyone, but he stays at home most of the time. His physical condition is worse than others, and Song Tantan doesn't want him to be a burden.

However, every time they went into the mountains, they would bring back some herbs, especially Song Tantan. She would pick any herbs that looked like herbs and also pick any unknown fruits. She would then give them to Ye Moxun so that he could identify which ones could be used to treat illnesses and which ones could be used to make poisons.

Some flowers that bloom can cause fainting or poisoning if smelled, so they are left to be planted outside the wall to reinforce the protective barrier.

Time flies, and winter arrived in the blink of an eye. It rained on the day of Lidong (the beginning of winter), and the temperature dropped sharply. Song Tantan thought it would snow the next day, but it didn't.

These days, people haven't been going into the mountains anymore. They've stocked up on firewood and food, so this year's Spring Festival won't be as quiet and lacking in festive spirit as last year.

"I want to get the cement floor working before it snows." Song Zhuiyan led Zhong Qingyi to the pool to dredge sand; to be honest, she was a little afraid to come alone.

The village chief and Zhong Qingyi knew there were dead people in the Water Curtain Cave, but they had never gone in to see them. The only ones who actually saw them were Song Zhuiyan, Song Tantan, and Ye Moxun.

When they first notified everyone that there was a dead body in the cave, the villagers were afraid to come over and were on guard. But as time went by, their initial fear gradually faded, and they almost forgot that there was a dead body in the cave.

Only the person involved dares not forget; aside from occasionally passing by, they rarely come here, and even when they do, they dare not go into the pond.

The two men dredged sand for four days until they had enough to make a floorboard. After the sand dried on the shore, Song Zhuiyan had a cart made for them.

The main component of the cart is the wheels, and since they didn't dare to remove the tires from the space, they had Ye Moxun draw a design, and then had the village carpenter make two large wooden wheels.

Actually, wooden wheels already existed at this time, like those on horse-drawn carriages. However, the village carpenters had never made them, so Ye Moxun needed to draw a diagram and make the wheels based on it.

After the carts were made, Zhong Qingyi pulled them from the front, while Song Zhuiyan pushed them from behind, transporting the goods back one cart after another.

Once we had enough sand, we still needed to get stones to take home. There was a stone quarry right next to where we stored the limestone, so we went there to get stones, which was even more tiring.

Since Song Zhuiyan couldn't do it herself, she had to ask Zhong Qingyi and some burly men from the village for help. After the stones were taken home by cart, they still had to be smashed with a hammer before they could be used.

The hammer was naturally contributed by Song Zhuiyan, taken from her spatial storage, but she claimed it was something that already existed in the stone house.

Now both the Song and Zhong families have access to natural water, which is achieved by connecting tap water to their homes using bamboo tubes instead of water pipes. There are no faucets, so the water can't be turned off and it just keeps flowing. Therefore, Song Zhuiyan dug a small fishpond in the backyard, which is only used to store water for the time being and is not used to raise fish.

Seeing this, Zhong Qingyi followed suit and dug a pond in her backyard to store water.

Once all the materials were ready, construction could begin. Ye Moxun, as the most educated person in the village, took on the important task of measuring the level line. After the level line was drawn, the concrete could be poured.

Because they hired a lot of people, they paved the floors of several rooms and the yard with cement in just one day. Well, tonight Song Tantan and her aunt will be sleeping at Ye Moxun's house, so they can't walk on the floor.

"Will we have to stay at someone else's house for a few days?" Lin Fuhai asked.

"The floor will be hard by tomorrow morning, and then we can walk on it. We'll stay for about three days," Song Zhuiyan said, waving her hand. "Alright, that's all for today. Everyone go back now and come back tomorrow. Then you'll see how good this floor is."

After finishing her sentence, Song Zhuiyan ignored everyone else's reactions, signaled to Zhong Qingyi with her eyes that it was time to go home, and then followed him and Ye Moxun to the next house.

Since the yard was too small to walk in, several wolfhounds were brought over as well. They had said they wanted to stay there, and today, as the cement floor was being laid, all the belongings from the house were moved over. Zhong Qingyi's family happened to have a guest room that had been empty before, and now it came in handy.

When he was building the house, he only wanted to build two rooms to live in. Fortunately, Ye Moxun asked to build an extra room, saying that it would be more convenient if guests came to stay. At that time, Zhong Qingyi wondered to herself, "Where would guests come from?"

All the exits were blocked, so no one could get in.

Now that Song Zhuiyan and Song Tantan have come to stay, he has realized the importance of guest rooms. Although he could squeeze in with A-Xun even without guest rooms, it would still be inconvenient.

"I'll cook tonight, what do you want to eat?" Song Zhuiyan looked ready to show off her culinary skills, but then changed the subject and said, "You can eat whatever I make." After all, her cooking skills were definitely better than Zhong Qingyi's, and everything she made would taste good.

"Let me help you," Zhong Qingyi said with a slightly naive smile. "You and Tantan are guests, so I should be the one cooking. But I'm worried you won't like the food, so I'll have to trouble you to do it yourself."

"It's just cooking, it's not difficult, it's not hard work. Why don't you help start the fire?" We're all so familiar with each other, everything is about mutual help, just do what you need to do, no need for formalities.

The two adults went into the kitchen to cook, and Song Tantan was pulled into the room by Ye Moxun. "I want to eat ice cream."

"Why are you eating ice cream on such a cold day? You're not allowed to eat it." Song Tantan shook off his hand that was holding her.

Ye Moxun leaned closer again and squeezed her chubby little hand once more. "Tantan, I dreamt last night that I ate a huge ice cream. I haven't had anything cold in a long time." She was craving it as soon as she woke up from the dream.

I wanted to talk to her this morning, but everyone was busy laying cement floors, and I was too embarrassed to pull Song Tantan aside to eat during the day, so I've been holding back until now.

Perhaps because she felt that eating frozen treats was bad for her health, Song Tantan was very strict about it. In the sweltering summer, she could only eat one popsicle or one ice cream a day at most. After autumn arrived, she could only eat one a day when the hot summer was coming. Once the temperature dropped, she was not allowed to eat any.

It's no use pestering her; she won't give it to you.

“No, eat something else. It won’t make a difference.” Song Tantan took a bottle of juice from the supermarket. “Actually, we should drink less sugary drinks too. They’re all junk food. Next spring, we’ll go up the mountain to see if there are any other fruits besides bayberries that we can eat. We can juice them ourselves then.”

"Doing everything yourself, isn't it tiring?" Ye Moxun asked irritably as he unscrewed the bottle cap and took a swig.

“It’s just picking fruit, not doing research or invention. How can something that takes a little physical effort be considered tiring? If you think it’s tiring, you don’t have to go. You spend most of your time at home anyway.” Song Tantan showed a look of disdain.