After washing the wheat, it was dried in the sun for a whole day. At night, Yunwen helped me put it into the grinding hole of the stone mill, and I moved the handle to make it rotate and grind. Not long after, I saw the wheat turned into fine flour and fell on the millstone. After everything was done, I sorted out the flour and gave it to Bai Lu.

In order to allow us to eat steamed buns for the first time today and to enjoy them more, I specially found some bird eggs on the trees during the day. These bird eggs were beaten in flour and rubbed with water to make them more chewy.

Bailu seems to be both an older sister and a mother at home. She is very skilled in rolling noodles, letting them rest, steaming buns, etc. Before long, we were able to eat buns steamed in a steamer called a yan from the Western Zhou Dynasty. I don't know if the taste will be different, but I always feel that something is weird, as if there is a sense of time and space distortion.

There was a lot of flour, and six or seven big steamed buns were steamed and placed in a bronze vessel. Each person was given a cup of ginseng tea, as well as cold-mixed black fungus and cooked wild vegetables. Bailu knew that I had been waiting to eat steamed buns for many days, so she specially got some wild vegetable roots and pickled them with salt. Now I take them out as pickles, and chewing them with steamed buns is really a perfect match.

My fingers were shaking as I held the steamed bun. I had forgotten what it tasted like. The last time I ate it was when my old company commander treated everyone to a meal before I retired. Now, after going through so much, when I held it in my hands again, I, a grown man, couldn't help but shed tears.

I took a bite and it had the salty taste of tears, but it was very delicious. It was the taste of steamed buns, the taste of many years of military service, and the taste of my hometown since I was a child. I couldn't help but wipe my tears and swallowed a big steamed bun with a few gulps. I almost choked and thought to myself that I would never be able to eat it again in this lifetime.

"Slow down! No one is trying to snatch it from you." Yunwen hurriedly patted my back.

I coughed, a little embarrassed, and said, "Sorry, I was a little impatient. This steamed bun is so delicious. Thank you for your hard work, Bailu, and everyone else! This steamed bun is not easy to come by. It is the result of everyone's joint efforts. Tonight, everyone can eat as much as you want. "

"All this is thanks to you, Zhou Bo. If you didn't know how to grow wheat, if you didn't take the risk to get these rocks to make a millstone, if you didn't let all of us live until now, we would never have been able to eat this meal of steamed buns! I am grateful to you, and I will toast you with tea instead of wine." Song Bailu stood up, raised the glass and said.

I smiled, feeling happy for once, so I stood up and clinked glasses with her. The other two girls also stood up and joined in, and we all clinked glasses together. This is what is called toasting each other.

Afterwards, everyone enjoyed the meal to their heart's content, with laughter and joy all around. After going through so many hardships, we were able to sit together comfortably again. We have experienced separation in life and almost death, and now we can enjoy ourselves again. We feel that the feelings in our hearts have changed a lot. We don't know what the road ahead will be like, but tonight is hard-earned, and we must not spoil the fun. Let's drink and enjoy ourselves while we can. That's it.

"Come on, Yunwen, you didn't celebrate your birthday well before. Although it's a little late tonight, I'll make it up to you. How about it?" I picked up the cup and said to Yunwen.

She also picked up the cup and said, "Without you, Zhou Bo, I, Zhang Yunwen, would have died a thousand times. How could I be alive? How could I have a birthday? So this cup should be toasted to you. Thank you for always risking your life for weak women like us. Thank you for your great skills and for saving weak women like us from disasters. I am so grateful that I cannot express it in words. I toast to you."

We clinked our glasses, Song Bailu clapped on the side, but Song Yingchun scolded her coldly, saying, "Zhou Bo, when can you give me a birthday party? You can't always treat me differently, can you?"

"Okay, Bailu, from now on, we will make these steamed buns and pastries into cake shapes, and we will celebrate Xiao Yingchun's birthday every day and let her have a good time. How about that?" I said.

Yunwen and Bailu couldn't help but laugh. Song Yingchun grumbled, stamped her feet, and muttered, "Tsk, you just like to tease me."

Amidst laughter and joy, I took another mouthful of Mantou. The hint of sweetness fermented in my taste buds. I swallowed it in one gulp and really felt like I was alive again. Not only did it replenish my physical strength, but I also felt like I had replenished the courage to live.

This is the most filling meal we have had recently. The girls have small appetites, so there is one left, which we plan to save for tomorrow. After the meal, I was going to take the girls to the underground river with the candlestick to continue washing their faces, but Bai Lu hesitated for a moment, pulled me back, and said, "The underground river is not as clean as the spring water. Why don't we go back to the spring on the right side of the mountain top to wash."

"That side is farther away, and hasn't it been like this for the past few days? Why did it change today?" I asked.

She looked evasive, and just coughed and said, "Change once in a while. Besides, the underground river is near the mouth of the abyss, so it's not safe to wash there. It's hot today, and everyone has done a lot of work. I think we should all go take a bath in the spring pool, rinse off, and get rid of the sweat."

I stared into her eyes and she forced a smile at me, adjusting the frame of her glasses.

But there was no need to spoil the fun for everyone tonight, so I agreed. I brought a mountain axe for self-defense and a wicker basket with soap leaf petals and water that Bai Lu planned to use to make medicinal herbs. We went up the stone steps to the solitary peak and came to the spring pool on the right side of the peak. I saw them taking off their clothes one by one. I quickly turned my back with embarrassment on my face.

"Aren't you going to wash?" Bai Lu asked.

I scratched my neck, not knowing how to answer. Should I remind them that I am a man over 1.8 meters tall, how can I take a shower with women like them? How can this be proper?

"You guys rinse first, I'll do it later," I said.

"Oh, it's late at night and it's dark. What can we see? Come down, otherwise we will have to wait for you in the wind for a long time after we wash. It's easy to catch a cold, right, sister?" Little Yingchun also said.

I was about to refuse, but I heard Yunwen say softly: "Zhou Bo, it's okay. Everyone knows what kind of person you are. Don't be so reserved. Come on."

Since they all said so, I couldn't refuse their kindness, so I coughed, moved the candlelight a little further away, took off my outer clothes, and tried to wade into the water, but was stopped because it was very easy to catch a cold. I had no choice but to leave only the one thing I wore to cover myself, got into the water, and stood uncomfortably on the far right, trying to stay away from them.

Bai Lu used stones to block the opening of the stone cracks below that flowed into the spring pool, so that the spring water would accumulate. Then she sprinkled some flower petals in the water and soaked a bag of herbs, saying that it could prevent some skin diseases and repel mosquitoes.

The spring water was very cold, and I was not used to the water at first. However, the candlelight could illuminate the girls' looming bodies. I would occasionally glance at them and my body would immediately feel hot. This was a way to raise my body temperature a lot.

Although I couldn't see anything, but the small piece of snow-white skin swaying in the water, the girls' gasps, and the gurgling sound of the water when they moved, inevitably made me think a lot, and I couldn't control the associative ability in my brain.

Just as I was washing my body awkwardly, suddenly a soft hand touched my waist. This was my most sensitive moment, so I was startled and was about to dodge, but I saw Shi Yunwen with a blush on her face. She stretched out her hand, and it turned out that she wanted to hand me the soapberry.

But this time, the fire was close, and I could see the snow-white skin. She knew I had seen a lot and wanted to cover it up, but was afraid that other girls would be wary of me, so she didn't say anything, but just blushed and bit her lips.

I also knew that I had gone too far, so I quickly turned around, avoided those scenes, and said, "Thank you for handing you the soapberry."

Yunwen immediately gave me a way out: "You're welcome."