Chapter 50 [Couple's Interaction]
This year's weather is probably a bit unusual.
First came a drought that lasted for two or three months, and now the first snow has arrived ahead of schedule.
When Mela opened her eyes, she saw a thin layer of snow on the windowsill.
"It's not even December yet, how come it's snowing?" Mela asked curiously.
Even if winter comes earlier in previous years, it has never been as early as November.
Moreover, Mela did the math: if winter starts in November, wouldn't winter last a full four months? That would be a really long winter.
"We should have enough food, right?" Mela asked Lex.
"We should be able to last until next spring, after all, we collected a lot of edible things in the forest just in case," Lex gave a reassuring answer.
Looking back now, what they did back then was the right choice. Hall hadn't visited the cabin in a long time, and the food he brought with him was almost gone. So Mela and the others had to find their own way to stockpile food.
Correspondingly, the food on the table gradually became monotonous during this period, mainly consisting of prey hunted by Lex and various strange herbs that Mela repeatedly assured her would not cause any problems.
However, ever since Mela and Silas both suffered from stomach aches in the middle of the night, Mela abandoned her idea of secretly throwing random stems, vines, and flower buds into the soup Lex cooked.
Lex still remembers the indescribable feeling of pulling those things out of the soup.
Actually, when he watched Mela make potions before, he vaguely sensed that Mela seemed to be keen on creating unprecedented combinations, but at that time Mela was not interested in cooking.
Or rather, the abundance of food prevented Mela from having the opportunity to try.
To conserve food and become self-sufficient using the Dark Forest's special products, Mela became even more enthusiastic.
She was determined to find food that was different from what she had before, food that could be eaten normally.
However, upon seeing the snake-like twisted vines scooped out of the spoon, and the unusually murky stems of some unknown plant, Lex thought it over and tried to gently persuade Mela not to try it lightly.
Unfortunately, he couldn't stop Mela, who was determined to try new foods.
Even that couldn't stop Silas, who was blindly following Mela.
So, during the night, Mela and Silas woke up one after the other in pain. Only Lex slept soundly all night.
It turns out that nobody eats these things because they're probably genuinely inedible. Even if they taste alright when cooked, being able to make a potion and being able to eat them without any effect are two completely different things.
"Speaking of which, did something fall just now?" Mela's ears twitched, as if she had caught a sound, but when she turned around, she didn't see any trace on the ground.
“Silas fell from the windowsill,” Lex said succinctly.
Because he was standing right in front of the only window in the cabin, he saw Silas excitedly fly back with a flower in his beak and land on the windowsill. Just as he was about to call for Mela, he slipped and fell to the ground with a thud, which startled Mela, who had her back to the window.
Mela rushed to the window and looked down to see Silas standing up, dazed and unsteady on his feet, still thinking about giving Mela the flowers he had picked.
"Thank you, Silas. These flowers are so beautiful, I love them." Mela smiled and reached out to take the flowers from Silas. She held them to her nose and smelled them; even the petals had a crisp, fresh scent of the first snow.
"But why did you suddenly send me flowers?"
Normally, Silas's attempts to win Mela's favor are limited to showering her with compliments and standing firmly by her side when she disagrees with Lex, but he rarely takes any concrete action like he did today.
"Because... it snowed today, and if we don't deliver it now, we'll only see snowflakes for the next few months." Silas finally calmed down, and upon hearing Mela's words, he became unusually shy again.
It woke up this morning to find it was snowing outside the window. Without even having breakfast, it hurriedly flew out to bring Mela the last bouquet of flowers before winter.
Otherwise, we'll just be staring blankly at a world of monotonous white for months on end.
"I see." Mela looked at the treetops not far away, which were also covered with a thin layer of snow, and realized that Silas was right.
The snow came too quickly and fell too fast.
Almost in the blink of an eye, snow covered the eaves and the steps. The fireplace in the house caught fire without wind, and the roaring blue flames kept out the winter chill, leaving only warmth in the room.
Therefore, even wearing only a thin petticoat, Mela could walk around the house freely without feeling cold at all.
“Winter is definitely the time to stay indoors and keep warm.” Mela sat down in the rocking chair.
The rocking chair began to sway gently like a small boat because of her movements.
“That’s right, that’s right, we also have to eat roasted chestnuts in front of the fireplace. I could stay here all winter and not get tired of it.” Silas said as he peeled open a freshly roasted chestnut, revealing its golden-yellow interior and its sweet aroma.
These are wild chestnuts that were stored away previously.
Because Silas discovered the wild chestnut tree, and Mela and Lex were responsible for knocking down all the chestnuts from the tree, the final bag full of chestnuts was divided equally into three portions.
Mela and Lex finished their portions of chestnuts, but Silas couldn't bear to part with them. Even though he was really craving them, he managed to resist.
Mela didn't understand then, but now she does. This is the moment Silas has been waiting for.
I must say, roasted chestnuts smell amazing! The sweet aroma filled the entire house, even the corners.
Mela smelled so bad she almost wanted to run outside.
Otherwise, she was really worried that she wouldn't be able to resist taking action against Silas's chestnuts.
"Hey, Lex, are you going out?"
Just as she was thinking this, Mela saw Lex stand up. With his self-control, he shouldn't be tempted by Silas's chestnuts, right?
“Yes, I’ll go out and clear the snow. Otherwise, by nightfall, the snow might be over the steps and block the door,” Lex explained.
Oh, so that's what it was about.
“Then I’ll go with you.” Mela stood up and took out her wool shawl, wrapping it around herself.
“Actually, I can manage on my own.” Lex was surprised that Mela would offer to help.
Is the moon going to rise in the east tonight?
"What kind of look is that? I'm here to help you, are you not happy about it?" Mela leaned closer, her eyes gleaming dangerously.
"It's nothing, I just think it's too cold outside, and you might catch a cold dressed like that." Lex quickly came up with a plausible excuse for himself.
He suggested, "Why don't you wear those cashmere gloves again?"
"This doesn't seem very convenient." Mela tried putting on gloves and wielding the shovel, but it felt like there was a layer of something in between, making it a bit difficult.
However, once she stepped out of the house, she realized that Lex was right. If she stood in the snow without gloves, her hands would freeze and turn purple in no time.
"You can clear the snow in this open space in front of the house, I'll take care of the area behind the house." Mela divided the area into half and half, with the cabin as the center.
Lex had no objections and quickly took action.
Mela took a shovel and went to the back of the house, shoveling the snow little by little to a more distant place.
After clearing about a third of the area, Mela got tired and stopped to rest, leaning on her shovel.
She reached out and caught a snowflake that was gently falling, as if she could feel a chill from afar.
It was three-year-old Mela who, behind the backs of Wipdo and Elvie, secretly took off her warm gloves and ran outside to catch snowflakes with her hands.
The warmth of her palm quickly melted the snowflakes, while the icy water made Mela shiver. She quickly shook her hand, splashing the water away as well.
"Mera, what are you doing out there?" Elvie came out from behind the door and caught little Mela hurriedly putting her gloves back on.
"You're still so naughty in this cold weather. Be careful you don't get chilblains on your hands, they'll be itchy and painful," Elvie said helplessly.
Little Mela giggled twice and quickly said no, she had only played for a short while.
Elvie patiently asked her how long a short while would be.
Little Mela smiled, reached out and grabbed another snowflake, placed it in front of Elvie, and said, "That's why I've been waiting for it to melt for so long."
"Whoosh." Mela exhaled a puff of white breath, watching it swirl and drift into the distance.
"I've cleared most of the snow from the doorway. Do you need my help with the rest?" Lex walked over with a shovel, only to find Mela lost in thought.
"What's wrong?" Lex was also taken aback.
"It's nothing, I just suddenly remembered some happy things," Mela said, reaching out to catch a snowflake and handing it to Lex.
Although he didn't understand what Mela meant, Lex still took off his gloves and carefully tried to pick up the tiny snowflake.
The coldness of the snowflakes made Lex instinctively pull his hand back, but he quickly suppressed his desire for warmth and transferred the snowflakes to his palm.
He looked at Mela with a questioning gaze, as if asking, "And then what?"
Mela shook her head, saying she had no other intentions; she just suddenly thought the snowflake was particularly beautiful, so she gave it to him.
However, Mela smiled and raised an eyebrow, saying, "Lex, you're really stubborn. It's not like it's anything important. You could have just given up the moment you got frozen."
Why did you have to endure the cold to put it in your palm? And you even foolishly took off your gloves.
"Be careful not to get frostbite."
"Perhaps it's like that cat that risked getting burned to retrieve the chestnuts from the fire," Lex replied, offering a seemingly nonsensical statement that Mela found rather strange.
"What cat? I've never heard of such a cat anywhere. Is it famous for retrieving chestnuts from a fire?" Mela asked curiously.
Lex stared at Mela for a moment, then shook his head and said, "I don't remember very well either. It was a story I read in a book once."
"Okay." Mela was a little disappointed, but she didn't say anything. Together with Lex, they cleared away the remaining snow and returned to the warm house.
The blue flames were still burning brightly in the fireplace. Silas had finished eating the chestnuts, but a faint sweet aroma of chestnuts still lingered in the air.
Lex, inappropriately, thought of the cat that snatched chestnuts from the fire.
The cat who wanted to get the chestnut, and the man who wanted to get the snowflake in Mela's hand—at the moment of their adventure, the same desire ignited in their hearts.
It is a desire that one must obtain.
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