Chapter 65: Floor Heating
The wind and snow swept her away in an instant. Chen Zhaodi froze in place, tears still lingering on her eyelashes. She stared at the empty cave entrance, feeling as if a piece of her heart had been ripped out. She was still angry, angry at herself for being useless, angry at herself for not even being able to hold onto two blankets.
"Zhao Di, please sit down." Li came over, took her into her arms, and sighed, "Yue Tang isn't blaming you. She's angry that she couldn't protect you."
Ye Jingchen looked in the direction where Wu Yuetang had disappeared. The mountain wind blew snow foam into his face, but he saw that the figure in the snow in the distance didn't go to the big cave at all, but instead walked in another direction. He looked away and saw that Chen Zhaodi was still in a daze, so he whispered, "Second sister-in-law. She went to find compensation for you."
Chen Zhaodi looked up in confusion, only to see Ye Jingchen picking up a piece of gravel and throwing it into the snow outside the cave, startling a few snowfinches hiding under dead branches. "There are wild chestnuts on that slope," he said, gazing at the direction where the snowfinches were flying. "She knows you love roasted chestnuts the most."
Just as he finished speaking, he heard Wu Yuetang's voice outside the cave: "Second sister-in-law! Look what I found!"
Chen Zhaodi looked up suddenly and saw Wu Yuetang coming in with a bag full of wild chestnuts. Her fur coat was covered in snow, and her nose was red from the cold, but she was smiling with bright eyes. "I just picked these up on the slope. They're frozen solid, perfect for roasting!" She stuffed the chestnuts into Chen Zhaodi's arms and said, "I'll have big brother light a fire later. They're guaranteed to be sweet and sticky!"
The chestnuts carried the chill of snow, yet they warmed Chen Zhaodi's heart. She watched Wu Yuetang turn around, the hatchet tucked behind her waist still dangling, and suddenly realized—this girl wasn't angry at all; she was clearly worried about her own frustration and was looking for an excuse to ease her mind.
"Tang'er..." She was about to apologize when Wu Yuetang interrupted her with a smile: "Hurry up and peel the chestnuts! Don't let us grab them when they're roasted!"
Mrs. Li watched from the side and laughed. She poked Wu Shoutian quietly: "Our girl looks powerful, but she is very careful."
Wu Shoutian watched a family gathered around a fire, peeling chestnuts. The elders' eyes curved, the younger ones' eyes tearing up but their lips curled with smiles. Suddenly, he felt that this cave, though small, was warmer than anywhere else. Outside, the snow was raging, but the firelight within illuminated everyone's face, slowly transforming the grievances and anxieties buried deep within into a warm atmosphere.
The chestnuts on the fire were still sizzling and steaming, their shells cracking to reveal golden flesh. A sweet fragrance mingled with the fumes of smoke filled the small cave. Wu Yuetang helped clear the last handful of dead branches, dusted off the ashes on her hands, and suddenly stood in front of the cave wall, her fingertips unconsciously tracing circles on the rock.
The firelight flickered on her face as she stared at the smooth rock wall in a trance. The height difference from the cave entrance to the innermost part was just right for guiding the smoke and fire upwards. The hollow in the corner was perfect for a fireplace. And the open space in the center of the cave, if covered with mud, would allow heat to flow from underneath...
"What are you thinking about?"
Ye Jingchen's voice suddenly rang in her ears, startling Wu Yuetang so much that her fingertips almost hit the rock wall. She turned around and saw that he had stood behind her without her noticing, holding a flat stone slab he had just picked up. She quickly calmed herself down and said, "I'm thinking about how to make it warmer here."
She pointed to the depression in the rock wall. "Look here. Build a fireplace with stones. When the fire is burning, the heat can warm the entire wall. Then, dig a chimney along the crack in the rock ceiling to lead it outside. That way, the smoke won't choke you."
Ye Jingchen looked in the direction she pointed, frowning slightly: "The chimney has to be built at an angle, otherwise it will be blocked by accumulated snow."
"Hmm!" Wu Yuetang's eyes lit up. "That's what I thought too!" She squatted down again and drew a crooked circle on the ground. "The best idea is this - go to the mountains and cut some thick bamboo, break through the joints, drill small holes in the sides, bury it in the ground along the fireplace, and then cover it with soil..."
The surprise in Ye Jingchen's eyes almost overflowed. "An underground heater?"
"Almost!" Wu Yuetang laughed even more happily. "Bamboo conducts heat slowly. When the fireplace is lit, the heat slowly dissipates through the holes in the bamboo joints, and the soil in the entire cave becomes warm. It warms your feet when you step on it. It's much more effective than a pile of charcoal braziers!"
She pointed at the cave entrance and said, "And here, find a thick piece of wood to make a door. Don't use nails, just use mortise and tenon joints. It'll be strong and windproof. Pile some haystacks next to the door, and no matter how strong the wind and snow are, they won't be able to get in!"
Ye Jingchen dropped the slate in his hand to the ground with a thud. He stared at Wu Yuetang's flushed cheeks, speechless for a long moment. The fireplace and wooden door, though ingenious, were still within common sense. But the floor heating system, combining bamboo, earth, and the aroma of fireworks, practically enclosed the warmth of the entire mountain within this small cave.
"You..." He opened his mouth and realized his voice was a little tight, "How did you come up with these methods?"
Wu Yuetang scratched her head, avoiding his inquiring gaze. "It was just... random thinking. I used to see the kilns in the village burning, and the smoke could flow along the flue, so I wondered if I could imitate them..."
In fact, she didn't say that these ideas came from a thousand years later. At that time, almost every household living in the northern cities had floor heating, and people could wear short-sleeved shirts and shorts when they returned home in winter.
Ye Jingchen didn't ask any further questions. He simply bent down to pick up the slate and his eyes fell on the scratches on the ground. "We need to find bamboo with thick skin, otherwise it will freeze and crack and leak air." He paused and added, "When we were exploring the road today, I noticed that there seemed to be a bamboo forest on the back mountain."
Wu Yuetang's eyes lit up: "Really? Then tomorrow..."
"I'll go cut some tomorrow." Ye Jingchen interrupted her, pointing to the already dark sky outside the cave. "It's snowing any minute now, and the mountain roads are unsafe." He looked at the tips of her ears, which were red from the cold, and added, "I'll go get the stones for the fireplace. You'll be responsible for drawing the pattern so I don't get the measurements wrong."
Wu Yuetang was about to say yes when her eldest brother came in carrying a bundle of dead branches, muttering, "It's snowing outside all of a sudden, like a sieve." Then she remembered that going out at that moment was indeed risky. She nodded and turned to look for charcoal. After taking two steps, she turned back and saw Ye Jingchen still standing there, staring at the rock wall. His profile looked particularly gentle in the firelight, and her heart suddenly warmed.
Perhaps the days in the snowy mountains will not be as difficult as imagined.
She lowered her head to sketch the outline of the first fireplace on the paper. The rustling sound of her pen across the paper, mixed with the sound of the wind and snow outside the cave, was strangely peaceful. Ye Jingchen watched her back as she bent her head to paint, his fingertips unconsciously stroking the edge of the stone slab. How many ingenious ideas did this girl have hidden in her mind that he didn't know about? Just like this little cave, it looked unremarkable, but after she thought about it, it was about to become a warm home.
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