Although the sun has not yet risen to the zenith, a considerable amount of the remaining ice in the Su family's yard has melted.
Although there were some remnants of ice left, most of it had become loose and porous due to the rising temperature. Even though the copper nails on Su Qingluan's spiked shoes were severely rusted, they were more than enough to withstand such "brittle ice".
So Su Qingluan walked to her brother and father, first pulled Su Xuanhe out from under Su Guangfu's body, then squatted down, used herself as a handrail, and let her brother hold her arms and shoulders to stand up.
"Walk two more steps over there, hold on to me and stand firmly." Su Qingluan instructed Su Xuanhe, "Yes, it's the flat place over there, don't stand on the slope." As she said that, she stepped hard on the designated position a few times.
As Su Qingluan stepped down a few times, the ice, which was not very solid to begin with, was broken into pieces, revealing the frozen ground underneath.
"Stand where I stepped. It's not slippery over there anymore." Su Qingluan said, asking Su Xuanhe to stand over there.
As expected, although there were still a few broken ice pieces left in the broken places, the majority of the ground was covered with land after all. Without the combined effect of the ice layer and the water film, the slippery feeling of being unable to stand disappeared.
Su Qingluan can carry the younger one with her own strength. After all, although Su Xuanhe is a boy, he is only seven years old and a head shorter than Su Qingluan.
However, Su Guangfu was a middle-aged man, and his height and weight were not of the same level as Su Qingluan, a 13 or 14-year-old girl. If they rashly helped him up, it was very likely that Su Guangfu would not be able to stand up, and Su Qingluan would be knocked down.
So Su Qingluan couldn't just reach out to help. She thought for a moment, estimated the distance between herself and Su Xuanhe, and asked, "Dad, could you please turn around and come over to me and my brother? We can help you up together."
Su Guangfu shook his head: "See if those spiked shoes can break up the ice on my side so I can stand up on my own."
Su Qingluan nodded, and tried to follow Su Guangfu's instructions, breaking the ice as she walked, and soon she was close to Su Guangfu.
The ground under the ice layer next to him was exposed, and Su Guangfu had a foothold and stood up from the ground.
Su Qingluan looked at her father and brother - both of them were now covered in black mud mixed with ice debris, looking very disheveled. They definitely couldn't go out like this and needed to change their clothes.
What's more, Su Xuanhe needs to go to school, and the road conditions along the way will definitely be slippery and difficult to walk on. Su Qingluan also has to think of a way to prevent him from "crawl" all the way.
Yang watched as Su Qingluan used her spiked shoes to "clear the way" in front, while Su Guangfu and Su Xuanhe followed closely behind, stepping on Su Qingluan's footprints and moving little by little back to the "safe zone" of the main hall. The family of four all breathed a sigh of relief - the only one who didn't know was the little girl Su Xueyan, who was still sleeping soundly in the warm bed.
After changing into clean clothes, father and son returned to the front hall. Su Qingluan was making another pair of nailed shoes using the remaining copper nails and straw sandals at home. She couldn't guarantee the quality, but at least she could get by for today.
The father and son put on the spiked shoes modified by Su Qingluan and tried them on. Although wearing a pair of shoes under straw sandals was not very comfortable, it was much better than breakdancing directly on the ice before.
Yang didn't dare to go out for a while, and Su Qingluan stayed in the house and watched her sister, who had already eaten breakfast, practice writing big characters. She thought that around noon, the sun's heat would be enough and the ice would melt, so she could do whatever she wanted.
Unexpectedly, as noon approached, the sun not only did not become warmer, but the sky became gloomy.
Su Qingluan suddenly had a bad premonition in her heart: the weather was like this yesterday. It was clear in the morning, but it started to be cloudy in the afternoon.
What worries her even more is that yesterday's rain has caused the perceived temperature to drop a lot today, and there is still a layer of ice on the ground in the shade that has not completely melted. If it continues to rain today, there will probably be a layer of ice on the ground tomorrow morning as well.
What’s more important is that as the temperature drops further, even if the sun comes out tomorrow, the remaining ice on the ground may not melt, and everyone’s journey will become even more difficult.
As she was thinking this, footsteps were heard at the door. Su Qingluan looked up and found two unexpected people - Madam Xi and Su Xuanhe.
What's going on? Su Qingluan looked up at the sky: It's only around noon.
She did a rough calculation and found that it had only been more than two hours since Su Xuanhe left home in the morning. No matter what, he wouldn't be leaving school so early, right?
And why did Madam Xi send Su Xuanhe back? Su Qingluan's first reaction was that this brat might have gotten into some trouble, but looking at Madam Xi's expression, it didn't seem like that.
She quickly stood up and went to greet him: "Madam Xi, why did you send this boy back? Did he cause you any trouble?"
Su Qingluan had originally just been asking politely, but unexpectedly, Su Xuanhe lowered his head guiltily. This made Su Qingluan raise an eyebrow: So this guy was the one causing the trouble?
Madam Xi quickly waved her hand, "It's not a big deal. It was just cold and the roads were slippery. The boy accidentally bumped into my stall. Later, my wife Yun recognized him as Madam Su's brother. I was afraid that the child would slip again in this weather, so I sent him back."
Su Qingluan looked at Madam Xi with a wry smile: "I'm really sorry to trouble you." Then she turned around and glared at Su Xuanhe: This little brat!
In fact, Su Qingluan was more afraid than angry - there were no electronic surveillance cameras in this era, and Su Qingluan had seen groups of people kidnapping children from afar.
However, everyone around her turned a deaf ear to this situation and even held her back when she wanted to shout.
Su Qingluan later found out that these people usually worked in gangs. Some took action, some kept watch, and some asked each other to set traps for others. Although they would not rob openly in the street, it was easy to fall into their traps if one was not careful.
If Su Qingluan blindly calls for help without anyone protecting her, she is likely to be retaliated against.
Su Qingluan herself was not afraid of retaliation. She knew that Mu Xingzhi could ensure her minimum personal safety - after all, there had been a "precedent" before, but she could not let her family take risks for her own sake.
To put it bluntly, if Mu Xingzhi's people were negligent and she caused the consequences of being injured, she could be said to have "got it". But what about her family members who were implicated by her?
Thinking of this, and looking at her brother who was feeling guilty and his eyes were rolling around, Su Qingluan became even more angry.
"Why did you suddenly come back here instead of studying in school? Aren't you afraid that the beggar will chase you away?" she said unhappily.
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