Ningxia was busy out for the past few days, and Lin Yi wasn't idle either. He put his cloak aside for the time being. Besides cooking every day, he spent his free time chopping large pieces of firewood into smaller pieces. After a few days, he had accumulated a large pile.
The yard was full of firewood, and it would take several days to sort it out. Ningxia was helpless, but she had to do it. If it just sat there, the rain would ruin all the hard work.
In the kitchen, a large wall of firewood was neatly stacked against the wall in front of where the refrigerator used to be, and there was a pile of pine needles in the corner next to the stove. The stairwell and the empty corners in the bathroom were also filled with firewood.
The three siblings chopped and stacked the firewood, but they had only collected a third of the firewood in the yard. Ningxia had no choice but to requisition the long corridor connecting the house to the side room.
The door was only big enough for people to pass through, and the originally spacious corridor suddenly became cramped.
Fortunately, the firewood in the yard had finally been sorted out. The remaining firewood could be placed under the eaves and corners, and it would not affect its use when it was covered with hay. Ningxia finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Ningxia took out a piece of air-dried mutton and cooked a good meal to reward the three people. The three of them ate with their mouths full of oil.
It is worth mentioning that Sangsang could not help much in the past half month, but he did not want to make Ningxia angry, so he calmed down and learned a lot of big characters, and he could recite the entire pinyin table with ease.
Now, she can fluently write her own name and Lin Yi Ningxia's. She can finally read picture books with pinyin annotations without help. Her speed is a little slower, but she has finally escaped the ranks of illiterate people.
In order to reward Sangsang for her efforts during this period, Ningxia gave her all the last bit of dried fruits, which made Sangsang so happy that she was at a loss as to what to do.
"Going to the fields, Xia Xia?"
Ningxia nodded and said, "I haven't dealt with the weeds for half a month. I have to go pull them out and add some fertilizer."
As expected, a lot of weeds grew in the field, aggressively occupying the growth space of the seedlings.
Ningxia sighed. There was really no end to the work. As long as he wanted to do it, there would always be a lot of work waiting to be done.
Without any intention of resisting, Ningxia obediently squatted down and pulled out the weeds, and Lin Yi followed behind her and applied fertilizer mixed with urine and water.
Ningxia was pleased, however, that the vegetables in the fields were growing well. She estimated that in another two weeks, the tomatoes, radishes, and cabbages would be ready for harvest.
The other varieties of winter melon, pumpkin, cabbage, lettuce, peppers, etc., will probably take another month or so. By then, the coldest months will be approaching, and it's unclear whether they will be harvested in time.
Overthinking was pointless, as the brother and sister buried their heads in their work. Ningxia, clutching the lushly growing white radish, was consumed with plans. She'd make the tender radishes into spicy kimchi, and the older ones would be given to Maomao as a snack.
There are also tomatoes. Now they are just small green bumps the size of fingers. I don’t know how big they can grow. This is a modified variety brought by Liefeng.
If the harvest is good, Ningxia plans to make a few more cans of tomato sauce. It only costs a little more sugar, but she's willing to spend that. And a few more cans of tomato and chili peppers. Spooning some into noodles or stir-fried meat is incredible!
Ningxia was fantasizing while using the branches she picked up to build a frame for the tomato seedlings.
Ningxia had no idea how big the tomatoes would grow, so she decided to put up a rack to prevent the seedlings from being crushed by the heavy fruits.
After working for half a day, the two of them finally came out of the field.
"Don't cook this afternoon. I've made an appointment with your aunt to have dinner at her house."
After collecting firewood together in the mountains for more than ten days, they agreed to have a good meal together after finishing the important things at home.
Lin Yi nodded when he heard this, "Are you going empty-handed or bringing something?"
Ningxia thought for a moment and said, "They have mutton too. Let's take two of the dried fish they brought back from the sentry post. There's nothing else we can take."
Lin Yi nodded and went to the stairwell to get the fish.
As Ningxia stepped into the yard, she found it full of debris.
There were a lot of things, including big woks, small woks, earthen stoves, rows of plastic jars of different sizes, frying pans, pestles, buckets, basins, etc.
"Is this... the thing my master eats with?"
Looking at the man busy in the middle of the yard, Mu Yuanqing nodded, "Yes, these are all for preparing medicinal herbs."
"Tsk..." Ningxia stepped forward and looked at the various shapes of processed medicinal herbs drying in the air. "No wonder my master's medicine sells for a high price. But looking at your family's financial resources, why don't you seem to be very wealthy?"
Ningxia asked a question that had been on her mind for a long time. These two people were not useless. Why couldn't they do hunting and gathering herbs? Why didn't they look so poor?
Mu Yuanqing smiled, "Have you ever used your brain to think about it? We just got a foothold in Chocobo. The money we have now is earned while traveling, and we can even support a baby who is still breastfeeding. It's already amazing. We've only moved here for less than two months, how can you expect me to have money?"
Ningxia wanted to ask her about the assets she had brought from the Shuguang Base, but after thinking about it, she decided not to ask. She had even lost her gun, so her assets must have been lost in an accident.
While chatting, Mu Yuanqing took the fish handed over by Ningxia and said, "Take something again? Do you have to be so polite?"
"This is fish, you don't have any at home! Soak it and steam or stew it for the child."
"Okay, okay, you're the only one who has it! I'll take it!"
Compared to the last time I was there, Mu Yuanqing's house had changed again. Their not-so-large living room was completely empty, with a thigh-high "barrel-shaped" brick structure built in the middle. Several layers of bricks were laid underneath, leaving the center empty.
The same thing is in the four corners of the room, but smaller.
"Is this... what you use to make fire?"
Mu Yuanqing nodded, "The cold moon is too cold, the house can't stand it."
"You're preparing too early..." Ningxia was shocked.
"A few days ago, I went up the mountain with you to collect firewood. Xixi had nothing to do at home, and I would need it sooner or later anyway."
"Don't you know about the new wall material? The people at the trading post said it will be available before the cold month. I've tried it, and it's good for warmth and insulation."
Mu Yuanqing smiled, "I've inquired about it. The first batch is extremely expensive, and there's a purchase limit. It's not a limit per person, but a limit per household registration. One household registration book can only buy that much in total. We don't plan to buy it. We'll wait until it becomes more common."
"Is it possible to do it on a sunny day like this?"
"That little girl doesn't look fat, she's actually quite strong, and she has her dad around. Xixi said she's fine without the surgery, so we won't do it. We'll save the money and when the spring comes and the weather gets nice, it'll be enough to cover the surgery costs."
"What surgery?" Ningxia came to her senses just after asking, "Cleft lip and palate?"
“Yeah, it’s very expensive.”
Ningxia nodded, "Yes, we have to do it. The sooner the better. It doesn't matter if the child is still young, but when she grows up and becomes more sensible, it will inevitably affect her."
"That's what the doctor said, to do it sooner rather than later. Besides, there will only be more and more people in the forest area in the future, and I don't want to suffer unnecessary malice on a sunny day."
The cost of cleft lip and palate surgery is considered sky-high in this period. Ningxia couldn't help but feel sorry for Liu Qingtian. Babies with cleft lip and palate were inevitably looked down upon by some people before they had their first cleft lip, let alone now?
Fortunately, she met this couple. They didn't despise her at all and were willing to do their best to perform the surgery on her.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com