There's one more thing Mo Shigui didn't mention.
That's because he's in a hurry. Before the heavy snow passes and spring plowing officially begins, he needs to mobilize the lords to carry out infrastructure construction, and of course, the more people the better.
Unfortunately, the base is currently focused on developing Jiangcheng, which they just captured. Once winter is over, they will have to cut a third of the personnel at his patrol station, reducing them from thirty to twenty.
This news has already been confirmed and there is absolutely no possibility of change. Therefore, Mo Shigui also told Zhao Gang this news, hoping that he could understand his difficulties.
"How long will they stay?" Zhao Gang asked, frowning.
Mo Shigui: "We'll move out once the snow melts."
Zhao Gang: "How much is the rent subsidy?"
Mo Shigui: "100 points per household."
"When are you coming?" Zhao Gang asked again.
His silence was tantamount to tacit approval, and a huge weight was finally lifted from Mo Shigui's heart. With a touch of trepidation, he said:
"We'll be there tomorrow morning. If you're not busy, how about we pick you up halfway?"
Zhao Gang: "Okay, I'll bring Xiaoxiu along."
Xiaoxiu would be happy to see people her own age, right?
Zhao Gang silently thought to himself, "I won't tell my little one this news yet; I'll give her a surprise later."
Mo Shigui immediately said, "Then I'll come pick you up tomorrow."
Zhao Gang nodded and said nothing more.
The patrol station wasn't far; it only took a short drive to get there. Zhao Gang backed the truck in and waited for Mo Shigui and the others to finish moving everything so they could go home immediately.
It was completely dark, and the temperature felt two or three degrees lower than during the day. The snow continued to fall.
The house had a charcoal brazier burning, and the doors and windows kept out the cold wind. Zhao Xiaoxiu didn't wear a hat or scarf and didn't feel cold. She sat with Sister Hou in the living room on the second floor watching TV.
Hearing a noise downstairs, Zhao Xiaoxiu called out "Dad!" and after receiving a response, she hoisted Monkey Sister's long arm over her shoulder, nestled in its warm fur, and continued watching TV peacefully.
A moment later, a delicious aroma wafted from the kitchen downstairs, successfully attracting the monkey and the baby, who turned off the TV and ran downstairs.
"Dad, what are you doing?" Zhao Xiaoxiu approached the stove, stood on tiptoe, and craned her neck to see what was in the pot.
Perhaps finding her in the way, she was mercilessly shoved away by a tentacle as soon as it approached.
Zhao Xiaoxiu was so angry that she punched the top of the fleshy bud with her little fist, but she couldn't break free. Staring at the tentacles, she had no choice but to sit obediently at the dining table.
Zhao Gang kept working, and took a moment to turn around and explain: "I'm going to braise the sunflower seeds and peanuts I bought last time. After they're braised and dried, I'll stir-fry them until they're fragrant, and they'll taste good."
Zhao Xiaoxiu exclaimed with anticipation, reluctant to leave because of the delicious aroma, and sat in the restaurant with her father.
Monkey Sister scratched her head in boredom and went back upstairs to watch TV.
It was very clever. After seeing Zhao Xiaoxiu operate it a few times, it learned how to turn on the TV and how to select programs with the remote control.
Since I've never seen a television before, it's still a novelty for me.
Zhao Xiaoxiu is completely different. She was only excited at the beginning, but now she doesn't feel anything special anymore.
Bored at the dining table, Zhao Xiaoxiu took out her butterfly blades, carefully wiped them with a clean cloth, and then scanned the two bloody tentacles pressed against her face with a threatening look.
It makes me happy to see them baring their teeth at me but not actually daring to attack.
Zhao Gang loved his cub's smug little face. He mentioned that the new lord would be coming tomorrow, but omitted the specific details of the two lords.
It was only said that the two newly arrived lords would temporarily rent empty houses on their own land.
"That's great!"
Zhao Xiaoxiu excitedly stood up from her chair, gripped the knife in both hands, twirled it, and asked curiously:
"Dad, how long are they going to stay with us? Are those dilapidated houses next to ours really safe to live in? I wonder if they have enough supplies for the winter. What if they freeze to death?"
Zhao Gang felt that his youngest son was worrying too much, and said indifferently, "It was arranged by Mo Shigui. He will take responsibility if anything goes wrong."
"Oh, I see." Zhao Xiaoxiu hummed twice, relieved.
Zhao Gang's peanuts and melon seeds have just been marinated; they need to be cooked for another hour to fully absorb the flavor.
He covered the pot with the lid and let it simmer. Seeing that Zhao Xiaoxiu was still excitedly playing with her knife, he had his tentacles take down the storybook and paper and pens, and patted the low stool next to the stove. "Xiaoxiu, sit down."
Zhao Xiaoxiu knew from this setup that a new day's character learning task had begun.
With a sigh, she reluctantly put down her twin swords, sat on a low stool, and watched her father and his tentacles perform a skit.
Zhao Xiaoxiu now knows more than 300 characters, and today Zhao Gang is learning idioms instead.
After learning five idioms and seeing Zhao Xiaoxiu successfully recite them from memory, he nodded in satisfaction before letting her go upstairs to sleep.
"What about you, Dad?" Zhao Xiaoxiu asked.
Zhao Gang pointed to the peanuts and melon seeds simmering in the pot. He still had to work for another hour, so he told Zhao Xiaoxiu to go to sleep first.
Zhao Xiaoxiu yawned repeatedly and didn't say anything more. She then followed her blood-stained hand and went back to the bedroom to rest.
The bed was already warm from the glass bottle filled with hot water that the tentacles had rolled around in. Zhao Xiaoxiu crawled in and felt warm, and soon fell asleep.
The monkey sister was engrossed in watching TV and didn't want to leave. However, she was threatened by two tentacles to turn off the TV and slunk back to the greenhouse to sleep.
Tentacle: No one is allowed to disturb the cubs' sleep!
......
The next day, as soon as the alarm rang at six o'clock, Zhao Xiaoxiu jumped out of bed.
While yawning, she quickly dressed herself, stood on tiptoe, reached out her little hand to touch the blood-red tentacles hanging on the ceiling, and ran downstairs.
Hearing the commotion inside, Sister Monkey ran out of the greenhouse, carrying two poplar stakes in her arms, and placed them at the doorway.
Zhao Xiaoxiu walked out with her knife, but the wind and snow that rushed in blinded her. She quickly hid in a sheltered spot before she could open her eyes.
"So much snow!" Zhao Xiaoxiu exclaimed.
Just a few days ago, you could still see some exposed brown soil and bluish-gray hillsides.
Now, all you can see is white, a thick layer of snow covering the ground, making it impossible to see the road.
A thin layer of ice had formed on the surface of the pond, covered with snow that blended seamlessly with the land, making it impossible to distinguish from the ice.
Only the flowing river still reveals a faint shimmering light.
Fortunately, it was just her family of three on the territory, otherwise Zhao Xiaoxiu was very worried that someone might not be able to see the road and fall into the pond.
The older sister monkey tapped the wooden stake, reminding the cubs that it was time for training.
Zhao Xiaoxiu chuckled, cleared her mind of distractions, raised her twin swords, and completed the daily basic training her master had instructed her to do—swing the swords one hundred times to the left and right.
The first wooden stake was shattered because the force applied was not controlled properly.
The second attempt was successful, and I even made one more cut to take the split log back to the kitchen to use as fuel for a fire.
After finishing her morning lessons, Zhao Xiaoxiu took the initiative to call her master to report.
At seven o'clock, Zhao Gang got up and heated up a bag of nutritional supplements for Zhao Xiaoxiu to fill her stomach. The father and daughter, along with Sister Monkey, picked up shovels and shoveled snow while waiting for Mo Shi to return.
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