The latter had little hope. With so many of them, they could have swept through the nearby hills in an afternoon. Going to their base in a more distant area would make it easy for them to be wiped out in one fell swoop, so holding their ground was more important.
The group went to bed early that night to conserve their energy for the next day.
The temperature difference is still significant. It's around 0 degrees Celsius in the morning and evening, but can reach 20 degrees Celsius at noon. You can't sleep on the ground at night, so many people find dead wood and dry grass on the mountain to spread on the ground before setting up tents, which makes it much warmer.
Zhou Pin started a fire at their encampment. Several people's tents were placed around the fire. During the day, they cooked on the fire, and at night, the person on watch was responsible for tending the fire and boiling water to ensure they stayed warm all night.
Everyone wanted to use this method, but it was too wasteful, as they didn't have any goat milk to exchange for firewood.
Before dawn, the base staff would start waking everyone up. At this time, there was no adherence to the nine-to-five work law; the prevailing practice was to work at sunrise and rest at sunset.
Elderly people need less sleep, so Grandma Wu started cooking before anyone at the base even got up. By the time everyone woke up, it was already ready: a bowl of thick porridge, an egg that Minister Sun brought back yesterday, and two vegetable buns for each person—a feeling of pure happiness.
To do a good job, one must first have the right tools. On the first day of work, everyone made small carts and baskets. The raw materials were withered trees and vines from the mountain. The men went up the mountain to drag trees and cut vines, while the women used the vines to weave baskets.
Xu Lin rummaged through the car and found two pairs of gloves for Zhou Pin and Minister Sun. She also put on a pair for herself, thinking that they were good for working but not for getting injured.
One or two of the people in the group were also wearing gloves. Their behavior wasn't conspicuous, and no one would risk a falling out over a pair of gloves. However, everyone looked on with envy, which pleased Minister Sun.
Xie Yao was also among the first to start working. She spotted Xu Lin in the crowd from afar, ran over to stand with her, and listened to an older woman explain how to weave a basket. Xu Lin handed her a pair of gloves. Xie Yao was taken aback for a moment, then looked at her with gratitude.
In the past two years, Xie Yao has stopped being a pampered young lady. She knows how important a pair of gloves is for someone who does manual labor, and in the cold mornings, an extra pair of gloves can keep her much warmer.
Yesterday afternoon, Xie Yao came over and traded two jin of coarse grains for goat milk, saying it was for her grandmother. There were many people around then, so we didn't chat much. This time, since it wasn't busy, she started chattering away with Xu Lin.
When it came time to start weaving the baskets, Xie Yao could only stare blankly. She quickly went to the old lady's side for extra help. Fortunately, Xie Yao was beautiful and sweet-talking, so the old lady didn't hold back and explained it to her again.
Throughout the morning, Xu Lin listened to Xie Yao gossip while weaving baskets. By lunchtime, she had woven five, which was considered quite productive. Everyone around her had woven about three. To Xu Lin's surprise, Xie Yao, despite being a bit slow, had woven four baskets in the entire morning without neglecting his work.
In Xie Yao's words, it was thanks to the gloves Xu Lin gave her that her craftsmanship was able to be perfectly showcased.
The group of women weaving baskets together were all pampered young ladies or noblewomen before the apocalypse. Most of them had never even seen vines, so how could they possibly weave baskets? The fact that they could weave three was only because they were suppressed during the apocalypse. Several of them had broken hands and asked Xu Lin if she had any extra gloves.
Xu Lin had quite a few gloves, but she couldn't take them out. She could only apologize and say that the only extra pair she had given to Xie Yao.
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
