Chapter 61: Animal Hide Blanket
Even though a few troublemakers raised objections, the majority of the villagers were still in favor. Everyone followed the orders given by the village chief in an orderly manner, and those who were supposed to learn hunting learned to hunt, those who were supposed to learn to make animal fur coats learned to embroider, and everyone worked hard to do their job.
Hunter Zhang was sharpening the tip of his hunting fork with a flint, sparks flying everywhere. Several men gathered around him, staring intently. Some were learning to twist vines into nooses, while others were clumsily imitating the techniques of setting traps. Ye Jingchen weaved among the crowd, teaching the young men how to carve simple arrowheads from animal bones. The cold wind tugged at his hair, but it couldn't shake the focused light in his eyes.
Elsewhere in the open space, the eldest sister-in-law of the Wu family spread the dried hides on the stone slab. Mrs. Li held a bone needle and demonstrated how to thread the needle. "Watch carefully, sew along the fur grain." Before she finished speaking, the daughter-in-law of the Zhao family eagerly took the needle and thread, her fingertips moving quickly before freezing.
The women's chatter intertwined with the "puff puff" sound of the bone needles piercing the hides, and from time to time, Aunt Sun complained: "What's the point of doing so much? It's just a waste of time!" But Chen Chunhe still dragged her to the pile of hides and said: "Okay, if you don't do it, you'll freeze to death at night!"
After confirming everyone was engaged in preparations, Wu Yuetang quietly retreated to the edge of her own tent. Her tent was tucked away in a corner, half-hidden by a few dead trees, making it exceptionally quiet. She lifted the fur curtain, and the puppy her third brother had left aside immediately pounced on her, rubbing its furry head against her legs.
"You seem quite relaxed." Wu Yuetang smiled and picked it up. The little guy felt heavy. Two months of spiritual spring nourishment had made its size almost double. However, the iconic hyena spots under its amber eyes still looked a little funny.
She poked the puppy's chubby cheek and said, "Since you eat so much, it's time to contribute something to everyone, right?"
The white mist in the space, wrapped in the fragrance of grass and trees, blew towards me, and the spiritual spring shimmered in the moonlight.
Wu Yuetang put the puppy into the spring water and watched it fluttering around happily: "It's time to give you a name. How about calling you Gousheng?" The puppy suddenly stopped moving, its ears drooped, and it made an dissatisfied "wool" sound.
"Goudan?"
The puppy shook its head violently, splashing water all over Wu Yuetang's face.
“Iron pillar?”
This time the puppy slapped the water with its paws, and the splashing water almost wet her skirt.
Wu Yuetang couldn't help laughing. "I didn't expect you to be so picky. That's Armstrong?"
The puppy's eyes lit up instantly, and its tail wagged like a propeller. It excitedly spun around in the spring, and the splashing water looked like broken silver in the moonlight.
"Okay, let's call you Armstrong." Wu Yuetang wiped her face with a handkerchief. "From now on, you will be the mascot of our team."
After feeding Armstrong warm goat milk, Wu Yuetang hurriedly washed up. The medicinal fields in the space were growing well, and the wheat irrigated by the spiritual spring had also begun to ear, but she had no time to pay attention to them.
She unfolded the simple map she had just drawn according to the system prompts, and carefully marked the coordinates of the shelter with charcoal: the two low-lying caves were large, but they might be buried by avalanches; the large and small caves on the high ground were dangerous, but at least they could withstand the wind and snow.
"Let the villagers live in the big cave, and we, the Wu family, live in the small one," she muttered, her fingertips tracing the marks on the map. This would ensure the villagers' safety while also preventing them from constantly confronting those troublemakers. Thinking of the possible complaints from Aunt Sun and the others in the future, Wu Yuetang curled her lips into a cold smile—what did face matter compared to survival?
Outside the tent, the wind grew increasingly biting, and in the distance, the long howls of wolves could be heard. Armstrong suddenly pricked up his ears and stared warily outside the tent. Wu Yuetang gently stroked his head, his eyes fixed on the striking red circles on the map.
As the camp at the foot of the mountain was shrouded in dusk, Chen Chunhe raised her head from the pile of animal hides, rubbing her aching wrist. The candlelight cast dark shadows under her eyes. The half-ripped jacket spread across her knees was crooked, its stitching uneven, like a strip of cloth gnawed by mice.
Aunt Sun came over with a bone needle in her hand, staring at the mess with her cloudy eyes, and said "tsk tsk" twice: "You are so clumsy, you won't be able to sew a complete piece of clothing even if spring comes."
"What should I do?" Chen Chunhe slapped her thigh anxiously, sparks flying from the pile of matches and landing on her patched apron. "The village chief will be checking the winter supplies tomorrow and the day after tomorrow, and Wang Tiezhu and his family have put the entire burden of this work on us!"
Aunt Sun added a pine branch to the fire, and the crackling sparks deepened the wrinkles on her face. "Fool, can a living person die from holding their urine?"
She lowered her voice and glanced at the tent of Chen Zhaodi of the Wu family across the street. "Your niece is very skillful. I saw her sewing a coat yesterday. The stitches were denser than those of an embroiderer."
Chen Chunhe's eyes suddenly lit up, but then her face fell again: "Can she help me? I often make her angry..."
"Stupid!" Aunt Sun knocked her head in frustration. "Can't you talk about her parents? That girl can't stand people mentioning her brother and sister-in-law! If you use her parents to pressure her, won't she give in to you?"
Before he finished speaking, Chen Chunhe slapped his thigh and jumped up, and the wind brought by his cheap linen trousers almost overturned the fire.
The next evening, when the smoke from the kitchen rose, Chen Chunhe took the opportunity when Chen Zhaodi was cleaning up the dishes alone and pounced on her.
"Oh my Zhaodi!" She grabbed her niece's wrist, her nails almost digging into the flesh. "Look at my hand—" Her dry, branch-like fingers suddenly spread out, blood seeping faintly from under the rag stuck to her index finger. "It's been pierced with seventeen or eighteen needle holes, and you can't even make a decent piece of clothing!"
As she spoke, tears as big as beans fell on the back of Chen Zhaodi's hand.
Chen Zhaodi panicked and hurriedly took off her apron to bandage her: "Don't worry, little aunt, you can always get better with practice..."
"Practice?" Chen Chunhe suddenly slumped to the ground, her wailing startling the crows from the treetops. "Your parents entrusted you to me. If I get frostbite first, I'll have to rely on you to take care of me! When we meet in the capital, how can I say I took good care of you?"
She suddenly lowered her voice, and her sinister tone made Chen Zhaodi feel cold on her back, "Tell me, if your parents knew that you watched your aunt suffer from the cold..."
These words pierced Chen Zhaodi's heart like a thorn. Her hands, clutching her apron, trembled uncontrollably. She remembered her parents' repeated instructions to "listen to your aunt" when she married into Dayao Village, and her throat suddenly tightened.
When he turned around and rushed into the tent and came out again, he was holding a brand new animal skin coat in his arms. The fur was shiny and the stitching was so fine that no thread ends could be found.
Chen Chunhe grabbed the coat and curled her lips as she shook it open: "Just one? There are five people in my family. Do you think I'm going to let my husband spend the winter covered in leaves?"
She suddenly lowered her voice, her eyes fixed on Wu Yuetang's tent not far away like a venomous snake, "I heard that girl has collected more than ten animal skin blankets. Zhaodi, you go..."
"That's Tang'er's stuff!" Chen Zhaodi subconsciously took a step back. "Besides, you know Tang'er's personality, if she finds out..."
"She found out?" Chen Chunhe suddenly laughed shrilly, scratching Chen Zhaodi's cheek with her nails. "You're protecting an outsider! Never mind, a married woman is like spilled water! When I meet your parents in the capital, I'll tell them you watched your aunt freeze to death and didn't do anything!"
Her crying and wailing attracted several villagers to look over, and Chen Zhaodi's face turned red instantly.
Under everyone's gaze, Chen Zhaodi swallowed hard, digging her nails deep into her palms. "I...I'll try."
Watching his niece staggering towards Wu Yuetang's tent, Chen Chunhe proudly gathered his new coat.
The cold wind blew snowflakes onto her face, but it couldn't hide the triumphant smile on her lips.
"Aunt Sun's trick is really great." She muttered to herself, turned her head and caught a glimpse of Aunt Sun's gaze in the dark. She touched the jacket in her arms tacitly, "When we get a blanket, why not give her one? From now on, I'll have to rely on this guy for advice!"
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