Chapter 58: A sudden drop in temperature
Ye Jingchen took the boning knife, twisted his wrist, and precisely stabbed the tip of the knife into the sheep's throat. Dark red blood flowed along the grooves of the stone slab into the wooden barrel. Then he squatted down, and his bony hands expertly peeled the sheepskin, his movements as smooth as if he were unbuttoning a delicate silk garment.
Steaming hot air gradually filled the entire cave. As Wu Yuetang sprinkled ginger slices into the large iron pot, she caught a glimpse of villagers whispering to each other not far away.
The Zhao family's wife was pointing at them and laughing, and the child in her arms was babbling; a few young men were sitting in the corner, munching on hard bread and winking at them.
Someone said, "They are a perfect match," which made everyone burst into laughter and scared away the sparrows resting at the cave entrance.
Qi Yu squatted by the fire, staring eagerly at the chunks of meat tumbling in the pot. The unique aroma of mutton, mixed with the spicy notes of wild onions and cinnamon, filled the humid air, making one's mouth water.
He suddenly turned his head to look at the two busy people and found that Ye Jingchen was using his sleeve to wipe the sweat from Wu Yuetang's forehead, and the smile she gave him in return was brighter than the jumping fire in the cave.
"Cough!" Qi Yu coughed violently and deliberately kicked the stone at his feet. "I'm telling you two, if you keep stewing this meat, the bones will melt!"
His complaint earned him a roll of the eyes from Wu Yuetang, but it also made the atmosphere in the cave more relaxed. When the first bowl of steaming mutton soup was brought to him, Qi Yu suddenly felt that this family migration "fleeing famine" didn't seem so difficult after all.
The white stewed mutton soup in the coarse earthenware jar was bubbling with fine bubbles. The thick soup wrapped around the soft and tender meat pieces, and it was shining with an attractive oily luster under the roasting of firewood.
Wu Yuetang held a wooden spoon and served soup to the villagers one by one, carefully controlling the amount. Each bowl contained two pieces of fat and lean mutton, and was topped with two spoonfuls of milky white soup with chopped wild onions.
When it was Qi Yu's turn, she deliberately scooped the lamb bones with marrow from the bottom of the jar into the bowl. Qi Yu squatted by the fire holding the coarse porcelain bowl. He was breathing heavily from the heat but was reluctant to let go. He didn't bother to wipe the oil from the corners of his mouth. After gnawing on the bones, he licked the bottom of the bowl until it was shiny. Finally, he patted his belly and jumped around in the cave: "This is a hundred times better than what my chef cooks!"
When Wu Yuetang brought the steaming hot mutton soup to his parents, the firelight made the wrinkles at the corners of their eyes more obvious. When his mother took the bowl, she nudged her father beside her with her elbow, and her smiling eyes shuttled back and forth between Ye Jingchen, who was cleaning the dishes at the stove, and her daughter.
"Old man, I think this kid from the Ye family is pretty good, and our Tang'er treats him well too." The old man took a sip of soup slowly, his cloudy eyes rolled around, and he lowered his voice and spoke.
"Well, once we get settled, we'll go talk to these two about their behavior."
When the two were whispering, Ye Jingchen happened to look up and saw Wu Yuetang busy serving soup to her family with a smile on her face. He felt his ears getting hot and hurriedly lowered his head again.
For this mutton soup, Wu Yuetang specially sprinkled a handful of pepper. The spicy aroma mixed with the aroma of meat filled the cave. Many villagers broke out in sweat while drinking it. Even Grandma Zhao, who was afraid of cold all year round, called it "warm".
Although the rain outside the cave was lighter, it was still drizzling. Some brave villagers walked out of the cave with oil-paper umbrellas to look around, but most people were still huddled inside the cave, using the warmth of the campfire to dispel the cold.
Wu Yuetang also came out of the cave with an umbrella, reaching out to catch a few raindrops, the cool touch spreading along her fingertips. The mountain wind wrapped in moisture blew in her face, and she couldn't help but shiver. Her mind immediately called the system: "System, what's the temperature outside now?"
"Host, the current maximum outdoor temperature is only three degrees, and the temperature inside the cave is twenty-three degrees." A mechanical prompt sounded in her ears. She looked at the leaden sky and her heart skipped a beat - the temperature was only three degrees, and if it dropped any further, it would probably snow.
After hurriedly returning to the cave, Wu Yuetang immediately ordered her mother to open the bundle and pull out the thick cotton-padded jacket and quilt that were pressed at the bottom of the box. She then brought a few scraps of cloth hidden in the corner to her eldest and second sisters-in-law who were mending clothes and said, "Sisters-in-law, you have to work hard to make more cotton-padded shoes. The soles should be made with at least three layers, otherwise they won't be able to withstand the cold."
The sisters-in-law looked at the pile of rags and without saying a word, they took out silver needles and started threading.
Afterwards, she found the village chief who was comforting everyone at the cave entrance and informed him of the sudden drop in temperature.
The village chief was puffing on his pipe, and when he heard the words "it might snow", the pipe fell to the ground with a "click".
"Snow in October? What should I do..."
Soon, the heads of several other villages were summoned, and the cave erupted in activity. The villagers rummaged through their bags, many clutching their thin jackets in a state of anxiety—when fleeing the famine, they had only thought of reaching the capital as quickly as possible; who could have foreseen that they would have to spend the winter in the mountains?
Ye Jingchen was originally wiping his hunting knife in the corner. Seeing Wu Yuetang hurriedly coming back from the village chief, he hurried to meet her.
After learning that it was going to snow, he subconsciously tightened his grip on the knife handle, his brows furrowed.
Thinking about how she was living under someone else's roof, relying on the Wu family for food and shelter, and not even having a decent winter coat at the moment, her ears turned red and she was hesitant to speak.
"Follow me." Wu Yuetang seemed to see through his thoughts and pulled him into the depths of the cave.
After pushing open the small cave entrance covered with deerskin, she turned her back to Ye Jingchen and pretended to search among the rock walls, but in fact she took out a neatly folded new cotton jacket from the space.
The dark blue cotton jacket has a faint scent of soapberry, the lining is filled with thick new cotton, and the stitches are fine and even.
When Ye Jingchen took the clothes, his fingertips touched the warm touch under the fabric. He looked up and met Wu Yuetang's smiling eyes. His Adam's apple rolled unconsciously: "This...when did you buy it?"
"I've noticed your clothes are too thin, so I bought them when I was shopping in town. I was afraid the Ye family would take them away when you took them home, so I didn't give them to you. The temperature will definitely drop in the next few days, so change into them early and don't catch a cold."
Wu Yuetang spoke lightly, but as she turned around, she secretly pursed her lips. The sound of wind and rain outside the cave gradually grew louder, while inside the cave drifted the rustle of needlework, mixed with the faint aroma of mutton soup, making this small place particularly warm.
Night fell over the forest, and the howling north wind carried a chill into the cave, chilling the rock walls, which had been warm during the day. Even though the campfire crackled, its flames rising half a man's height, the temperature inside the cave continued to drop.
The villagers, without shelters, wrapped themselves in thin blankets and crowded around the fire, their breath forming a mist in the flames. Several children shivered with cold, and their mothers could only hold them tightly in their arms, gazing wistfully at the deepening darkness outside the cave.
"This horrible weather is likely to freeze people to death." Someone sighed, and sighs suddenly rang out in the cave.
Families without thick quilts and cotton-padded jackets were even more worried. Looking at their thin clothes, they were filled with fear of the coming winter. Villagers who once dared to explore the road with umbrellas now huddled by the fire, afraid to move, fearing that if they left the weak warmth, they would be swallowed by the cold.
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