Chapter 180 Extreme Cold Returns
Sure enough, the wolf pack arrived not long after.
Wolf King and Sang Biao stood in front, waiting for me to open the door so I could sleep in the yard.
I opened the door and went out, pushing the straw to both sides so the wolves could see what was inside.
Sangbiao understands me best. Seeing my actions, it cautiously poked its head into the hole, paused for a few seconds, and slowly went in.
After waiting for a long time without seeing Sang Biao come out, I wanted to see what it was doing, so I shone a flashlight into the cave and stuck my upper body inside.
As soon as you enter the cave, you can feel the warm air rushing towards you. The cave carries the temperature of the mountain and is much warmer than outside.
Sang Biao was looking around the cave dwelling, and it seemed he liked it.
Seeing me peek in, Sang Biao tried to leave, but after coming out, he whimpered softly a few times next to the Wolf King and then crawled back inside.
Then the Wolf King followed Sang Biao into the cave.
The wolf king howled a few times, and all the wolves, big and small, squeezed in.
Although I knew it was impolite, I was really curious and shone a flashlight inside the cave dwelling.
There was a large empty space in the cave, where a dozen wolves were huddled together, lying on my specially made soft, insulated bed. They looked extremely comfortable, and I even had the urge to lie down with them.
Among the uniform wolf den, there was a few other colors; it turned out to be Little Melon, Little Three, and Little Four, who were sleeping huddled together with the wolf cubs.
I've decided that I'll wash my hands after petting these three dogs from now on.
Looking at the well-behaved little dog at my feet, I patted its head and said, "Come on! Let's go home and sleep!"
The cave dwelling was finally completed, and I felt extremely relaxed.
Take a hot, clean bath, hold Tie Dan'er and Xiao Di in your arms, and watch TV shows by the fire.
Sleepiness slowly crept in, and Tie Dan and Xiao Di on either side of him had already fallen asleep.
Gently covering Xiao Di with the blanket, he drowsily picked up Tie Dan, climbed onto the heated kang (a traditional heated brick bed), and crawled into the warm quilt to fall into a deep sleep.
I slept very soundly, and when I opened my eyes in the morning, all I saw outside the window was a vast expanse of white.
The cave dwellings were just dug, and it snowed the very next day. It was truly a blessing from heaven.
They put on thick cotton-padded clothes and trousers, went outside to get firewood to heat the kang (a heated brick bed) and the stove.
As soon as I stepped outside, the cold air made it hard to breathe. The temperature was much colder than yesterday, probably close to minus 40 degrees Celsius.
Everything outside seemed to be frozen solid; some yellow-green leaves on the trees were frozen solid, firmly welded to the trees.
The cotton shoes crunched as they stepped on the thin snow.
With every breath you take, you can see white mist.
I quickly walked to the woodpile, grabbed a large bundle of firewood, and returned to the house.
Light the kang (heated brick bed) and the stove in the house, and heat a large pot of water in an iron pot, so that the livestock can eat something hot when the weather is cold.
I was freezing cold after just a short time outside, so I squatted down next to the stove to warm myself while tending the fire.
It took more than ten minutes of sitting by the fire to warm myself up.
I stood up, placed an iron pot on the side stove, added oil to the pot, stir-fried the tomatoes until they turned into a pulp, and then poured in an appropriate amount of water.
Once the water in the pot boils, crack in two eggs, pour in the mixed dough pieces, and the fragrant tomato and dough soup will bubble and simmer in the pot.
Sprinkled with bright green scallions and cilantro, it looks incredibly tempting.
Drinking a big bowl of hot water soothes a cold stomach.
Pour cornmeal and rice bran into a large bucket, then pour in warm water used for washing pots and stir well.
Mustering up my courage, I went out again, carrying a bucket of hot pig feed, and walked to the pigpen.
Opening the pigpen door, the temperature inside was slightly higher, but still not warm at all; the water in the basin was frozen solid.
The chicks and rabbits huddled in their cages covered with quilts and refused to come out, while even the pigs were shivering from the cold.
With a sudden drop in temperature, and the stoves in the pigsty not yet lit, it's normal for it to be cold inside without any heat source, even with insulation.
Food was stuffed into the pigpen and chicken coop. The hot food steamed in the feeding troughs, and the little fat pigs came over to eat, their fleshy legs trembling.
The chickens and ducks moved around a bit, and a few jumped out to eat.
The empty food bucket was placed aside, and wood and coal were brought out from outside to light the stove.
This stove hasn't been used for a while, so I need to keep an eye on it to prevent smoke from getting into the pigsty.
With his hands in his pockets, he dared not take them out. He stomped his feet and waited for more than ten minutes. The temperature inside the pigpen gradually rose, and the piglets all huddled around the heated brick bed, refusing to move.
The piglets are warm thanks to the heat from the stove, but it doesn't have a significant impact on the chickens, ducks, and rabbits; at least I think it's still quite cold inside.
We need to think of another way to get the pigsty thoroughly warmed up.
Since the livestock have all been moved to the pigsty, let's move the stove from the livestock shed here as well. If the vegetable planting pots are a bit crowded, we can put them all in the east room.
With that thought in mind, I immediately took action.
Go to the breeding room, move the stove to the pigpen, and bring it over along with the flue.
First, I placed the stove in a suitable location; I chose the middle of the corridor outside the livestock pens.
This central location allows for better heat dissipation and prevents livestock from being scalded outside the enclosure.
Once the stove was stabilized, the flue was installed on it. A hole was punched above the pigpen door, and the flue was extended outside, the length just right.
The entrance to the hole was stuffed with straw and then sealed with mud.
Installing a stove seemed like a hassle, but it turns out to be quite simple.
I brought firewood and coal to light the stove. By then I was very cold, and my hand holding the lighter was trembling uncontrollably.
It was finally lit, and the stove burned surprisingly well.
The branches crackled and popped as they burned in the stove. While the fire was blazing, some coal was added, and in no time the stove walls were glowing red.
The temperature inside the pigsty rose significantly, and the chickens and ducks slowly came out to eat.
I added hay to the rabbits' food, and they stopped huddling in their burrows.
Because the pigsty is insulated, as long as coal is burned inside, it won't be too cold all day.
If you just burn it again when it's almost nightfall, the livestock will basically not freeze.
After finally dealing with the pigsty issue, I was about to run back into the house when I realized the place was empty; the dogs were missing.
He hurried outside and opened the courtyard gate.
I stood outside the courtyard gate for a few seconds, and then I heard a rustling sound coming from the straw stack at the entrance of the cave dwelling. Several dogs emerged from the straw stack and ran to my side, wagging their tails wildly.
Touching the little melon's head, I found it was still warm; it seemed the cave dwelling really wasn't cold.
I called the dogs home and poured the leftover noodle soup from the morning into their food bowls. They ate with great relish, like little pigs.
After cleaning the pigsty for so long, even though I was wearing thick clothes, my face and hands are now frozen.
He took off his gloves and hat, squatted by the stove to warm himself by the fire, and shivered as he did so.
It took more than 10 minutes of baking to dispel the chill.
Change out of your heavy cotton-padded coat and put back on a moderately thick cotton-padded jacket for home use, and simply clean the dust around the stove.
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