When An Moxue drove home, the snow was already very deep. The vast expanse of snow covered all traces, leaving only a silvery-white world.
The next day, An Moxue was still fast asleep.
"Ring ring! Ring ring!..." The incessant ringing of the telephone woke her up.
She slipped on her slippers and went to the living room to answer the phone.
"This is Xia, sister. It's snowing heavily. Should we go home earlier? I'm worried that the snow might block the roads."
An Moxue glanced at the heavy snow outside the window, which showed no signs of stopping, and said, "No rush, safety first. Wait for my message. By the way, how's everyone's studies going lately?"
"Everyone's vying to get your reward, sister! But don't worry, none of them've neglected their work."
An Moxue, while on the phone, looked at the snowflakes fluttering outside the window and said with a smile, "Safety first, studies second, I trust you all. Up so early, have you eaten yet?"
"No! They're all doing their morning reading. After they finish, they eat." Xia said with a smile as she listened to her friends reading outside while on the phone. She was clearly in a good mood.
An Moxue instructed, "Eat well, your health is the most important thing. Don't be reluctant, our lives will get better and better. Once you're all in university and in a different environment, you won't need to pretend anymore. You'll have no problem eating and dressing well. But for now, just wear something a little ragged on the outside, but make sure you're warm underneath. When you're all grown up, like now, when you can protect yourselves even when I'm not around, you won't need to pretend anymore, understand? It's very dangerous for a child to carry money through a busy market." These little beggars had given her their whole heart, and she should reciprocate with the same sincerity.
"Sis, we all know. Don't worry. Take care of yourself. I'll contact you if anything happens."
"good."
An Moxue looked out the window, thinking about the food. She hadn't expected the snow to be so heavy, so early, and so widespread this year. Judging from the weather, it probably wouldn't melt, and she would have a few days of leisure.
Even though it was snowing, she was still busy. She had to finish reading the books her teacher had given her, keep thinking about the secret armory, and constantly refine her plans. Occasionally, when she had a spare moment, she would think about how far things had progressed in the Little River Kingdom.
In the past few days, besides reading, I've also spent most of my time organizing my online space, balancing work and rest.
The road was finally clear, but An Moxue hadn't been to the secret arms depot for several days. Fearing something might have changed, she drove to the vicinity and spent a few hours lying in wait after dark. She left only after finding nothing unusual.
Upon returning home, An Moxue noticed something amiss before even entering the house.
Standing by the door, she sensed the two faint breaths inside the house. Relieved, she realized that with the cold weather, some petty thieves and homeless people had nowhere to go and had started breaking into homes.
She swaggered into the house, turned on the lights, and the two men who were secretly eating in the kitchen heard the noise. Their expressions changed, they looked at each other, and were stunned for a moment, but they didn't stop what they were doing. They ate quickly, because food was real once it was in their mouths.
After inspecting all the places, An Moxue went to the kitchen. She leaned against the door frame and watched the two people wolfing down their food. She didn't make any further moves and just quietly watched them eat the food in her kitchen.
The two men who came to her house to steal food, for some reason, only glanced at An Moxue when they saw her come in. Seeing that she didn't say anything or chase them away, they lowered their heads and continued eating.
Before long, the two finished eating, washed the dishes, bowed to An Moxue at a ninety-degree angle, and were about to turn and leave.
Upon arriving here, An Moxue found these two people rather interesting.
At this moment, the two men reached the door and were stopped by An Moxue. One of the men spoke up, saying in broken Russian, "Madam, it's wrong of us to come to your house to steal food, but please rest assured, we haven't been to any other part of your house. We only ate some food in the kitchen."
An Moxue noticed that both of them were very tall and thin, but their faces were obviously stiff, and some of them were flushed, she didn’t know if it was from the cold or from being ashamed.
An Moxue noticed this, which is why she waited for the two to finish eating. They were clearly two down-on-their-luck people who still had some principles. An Moxue didn't want to make things difficult for them, but letting them leave like that wasn't her style.
An Moxue looked at the two of them and said with amusement, "You two are quite bold! You didn't even run away when you saw your master come home, and then you just ate and drank for free. If I call the police, you'll be spending a few days in the police station."
“Same—” The man had only said one sentence before he stopped, but An Moxue still heard that one word clearly.
He awkwardly spoke up again, "Miss, I'm so sorry, we're really starving. Please have pity on us. We'll definitely repay you for the food once we find jobs." Seeing that An Moxue didn't speak and just looked at them, he nervously added, "We can pay you back, as long as we can afford it."
"Really? Tell me what you all ate?" An Moxue still had that nonchalant attitude.
The two men were unsure of what to do when the man who had spoken earlier said, "It's a large piece of fish, about four pounds."
"Oh! That's tuna meat. I won't tell you how much it costs. You'll know when you go to the food section on the first floor of the biggest department store in our Puda Prefecture."
The two were confused, so An Moxue said, "Go on, what else did you eat?"
"There are also six potatoes and an onion, and a large piece of bread."
"That's all?" An Moxue just stared at the two of them, making them increasingly uncomfortable.
The two looked at each other and said, "That's all."
"Then what do you suggest we do?" An Moxue handed the choice over to them.
After a moment of silence, the man said, "Miss, we'll compensate you, but please give us a few more days. We'll definitely pay you back once we find jobs."
"Alright, I'll trust you this once since you only ate a little bit after you came in, but you have to write it down."
Now, the two of them were in a dilemma. Neither of them could write Russian, and they could only speak haltingly!
An Moxue said, "You are from Lan Kingdom, right? Can you write Lan Kingdom characters?"
The two looked at An Moxue with a hint of fear and said, "Yes."
"Then write it down, the specific food items. Make sure it's the same quality as the original, understand?"
"good."
The two had no choice but to finish writing the agreement and hand it to An Moxue. Without saying a word, she said, "Go! Did you expect me to let you stay overnight? Don't even think about it!"
The two men glanced at An Moxue and nervously left her house.
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