From afar, they could see the three siblings waiting at the only entrance to the village. "Sister..." Xingxing and Yueyue were the happiest.
Xingxing pounced on Haitang. Yueyue felt much better and stood to the side, also very happy. Haitang bent down to hug the half-grown boy and reached out to hold Yueyue's hand.
"Are you a good girl at home?" Haitang asked, and Xingxing and Yueyue immediately nodded.
“My brother and I were very well-behaved. We even went to dig sweet potatoes. We dug up a lot and left them. My second sister said we’d deal with them when my older sister came back. We also traded our salt with someone.” Xiaohe had learned how to boil salt from Haitang, and under these circumstances, Xiaohe started trading with others.
It was mostly small fish and shrimp, because they taste delicious with rice noodles. I also went with some of my older sisters to pick chili peppers.
Hearing Xingxing's words, Haitang felt a pang of pity. A four-year-old child had to work so hard to learn so much. Looking at Xiaohe, who was seven or eight years old and was now obediently following her, Haitang felt a pang of heartache.
She hadn't done enough. If she had, her younger sister and brother wouldn't have had to work so hard. Look at Xiaohe's injuries; they were from weaving baskets.
"Xiaohe, I've exchanged some fabric this time. You can find someone to make some clothes for you." Haitang was thinking that winter was approaching, and although she could wear other short skirts now, the problem was that in winter she wouldn't be able to go out without a thick cotton-padded coat.
Upon hearing this, Xiaohe nodded. "Yes, sister... I'll ask Sister Guo'er for help. Guo'er doesn't have anything to exchange for salt, so I can ask her to help make clothes." Xiaohe said.
"Xiaohe is such a good girl." Haitang nodded happily. Dongfang Long followed behind, and Shi Hu was also walking. He couldn't help but feel happy as he chatted and laughed with the child in front of him.
When they got back, Haitang started cooking and then introduced Dongfang Long to everyone, "This is Dongfang Long... Little Dragon Brother... He'll be a member of this family from now on."
"Brother Xiaolong..." Xingxingyue immediately said upon hearing this, and Xiaohe beside her nodded and called out as well.
Dongfang Long glanced at the children but didn't say much. Instead, he helped Haitang with her work. Haitang had a jar that she had exchanged for this jar. Although it didn't look very good, it was much more exquisite than the one at home.
Right now, it's used to make sauerkraut. Haitang starts by boiling water and then covers it with something; she knows how to do all of this.
After the crabapple was made, it was placed a short distance away and then cooked. Meanwhile, Dongfang Long followed Xingxing and Yueyue to collect firewood.
When Xingxing and Yueyue looked at Dongfanglong, they said, "Little Dragon Brother... let's go ahead. There are a lot of branches on the road. Sister said that winter is coming soon, so we should put in more firewood. Actually, Sister wants to dig a hole behind the yard and put things in there."
"Dig a hole?" Upon hearing this, Dongfang Long was slightly taken aback, and Xingxing Yueyue nodded.
"Yes, my sister said that in our group's place, a lot of things get wet when it rains. But if we dig a hole, put things in it, and pile them up with stones, then when it rains, nothing will get the food inside wet." Dongfang Long nodded after hearing this.
The place where Haitang is currently living is next to a small hillside. She has carved out a cave behind it, but the problem is that she is not good at fighting and has to work hard to find food, so she has no chance to fight at all.
The next day, Haitang got up and dressed. Dongfang Long was also sleeping in the same room, but Haitang was next to Xiaohe, and Dongfang Long was next to her in the middle of the room.
Shi Hu originally wanted the children to sleep in the bed, but the bed was too small. Right now, Xingxing and Yueyue fit perfectly on it, but the two children wanted to sleep with their older sisters.
In fact, Haitang knew that sleeping on the ground for too long would make her feel uncomfortable, and that damp ground could easily make her sick. Even if she put down a lot of licorice, it wouldn't make much difference. The problem was that this place was so small that there was simply no place to put a bed, nor any extra beds.
Haitang went out early the next morning, with Dongfang Long following her. When Haitang looked at Dongfang Long, she said, "Let's go." Haitang reached out and grabbed Dongfang Long's hand.
The orcs were much stronger than her, and she was always very tired when she went alone and carried things back, and she couldn't carry too much. However, she could take more food from the Eastern Dragon.
Haitang is currently trying her best to gather more supplies to store. During these few months of winter, not having enough food would be suicidal.
Under these circumstances, Haitang started searching with Dongfang Long. Dongfang Long watched Haitang looking around at the grass on the ground, and he thought, "..."
"Should we look for things in this kind of grassy area?" Haitang didn't care what the other person thought. She wasn't going to the woods right now, but to another grassy area, trying to find something to eat as soon as possible.
Dongfang Long sat not far away. Haitang was giving him sweet potato cakes, which tasted delicious and had sauce. However... he was a beastman, and even though his beast transformation had failed, he still wanted to eat meat.
Looking at this family, he knew that it was impossible for them to eat meat, and there was none for Shi Hu right now, because the meat had all been dried by Haitang. Haitang had also dried many fish, with fish hanging behind them, and they smelled delicious.
They should dig a hole, but they weren't full and wanted to eat meat. Dongfang Long shook his head. Actually, he was thinking about the same thing as Shi Hu. He didn't have a servile mentality. A person with a servile mentality wouldn't want to eat meat when his master hadn't eaten any.
Despite this, Dongfang Long did not blame Haitang, because he had no right to do so, and besides, it was really not easy for a little girl like Haitang to find food.
Shi Hu wanted to go hunting, but no one was willing to team up with him. Five people in a team... who would want to bring along a burden?
In this situation, Shi Hu could only stay at home and go with his daughter to find food elsewhere.
“It’s a radish.” Haitang immediately squatted down. Right now, these radishes can be dried and used to stew all sorts of dishes.
[Found a radish...] Upon hearing this, Haitang immediately started digging, and Dongfanglong helped her as he watched.
The radishes were twice the size of those in front of them, but they were still not enough for people's appetites these days. Haitang took five, and Dongfang Long also took five, looking at Haitang with a regretful expression.
"Don't dig anymore, you can't take it back. It will take a lot of effort to go back and forth, so you can only come tomorrow."
Upon hearing this, he looked at Haitang and said, "I can take this." Hearing this, Haitang glanced at Dongfang Long.
"Don't force yourself. We've brought back enough things this time." Dongfang Long smiled when he heard this.
They started digging right away, immediately tying the radishes together with grass and putting them on their bodies, while also carrying the crabapple basket.
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