After nearly four hours of trekking, the two finally reached the campsite before nightfall. Wang Lun was still some distance from the campsite when he called for Liu Ruoxi and the others to open the gate, because Li Ling simply couldn't go on. Li Ling had been pushing herself to the limit the entire way. Of course, Wang Lun was as well; both were exhausted. Wang Lun was slightly better off, being a boy, his stamina was better than Li Ling's, but he was still carrying more than her.
The two Liu sisters, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling, who were sitting by the door, heard someone calling outside and quickly ran over. Opening the door, they saw Wang Lun and his companion carrying heavy baskets, slowly making their way towards the camp. Liu Ruoling and Liu Ruoxi rushed forward. Liu Ruoling took the basket from Li Ling, while Liu Ruoxi helped Wang Lun lighten his load. They then supported Li Ling, allowing Li Ling and Wang Lun to quicken their pace.
Even though it was only a little over 100 meters, it took the four of them three or four minutes to walk, mainly because Li Ling and Wang Lun were simply too exhausted. In the end, Liu Ruoling carried Li Ling's basket back first, then carried Wang Lun's basket back, and only then did they return.
Wang Lun and Li Ling went inside and sat on stools, then leaned against the table, not wanting to move at all. Liu Ruoxi brought two bowls of water and handed them to the two of them. They didn't even have the strength to carry the water, so Liu Ruoxi fed each of them a bowl. Then Liu Ruoxi told Wang Lun and Li Ling to rest at the table while she went to help Liu Ruoling cook.
To everyone's surprise, not long after Liu Ruoxi left, Wang Lun and his companion began snoring loudly, their heads resting on the table. They were both asleep. Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling heard the snoring and turned to look, only to see them still slumped over the table, the snoring coming from somewhere else. Liu Ruoxi said to Liu Ruoling, "Let them sleep for a while." Liu Ruoling asked, "Should we help them onto the bed?" Liu Ruoxi replied, "Let's decide after the food is ready. If we can wake them, let them eat a little before going back to sleep. If not, we'll help them onto the bed and save the food for them." Liu Ruoling agreed. Liu Ruoxi continued, "It'll just be the two of us keeping watch tonight, let them rest." Liu Ruoling nodded, saying, "They carried such heavy loads and walked so far, they definitely need to rest well." Both of them thought of the weight of the two baskets and felt both guilty and grateful towards Wang Lun and his companion.
Before long, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling had finished cooking dinner. Liu Ruoxi gently called to them, but neither of them responded. Finally, Liu Ruoxi decided to help them both to bed.
As soon as Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling touched Li Ling's body, they felt that she was completely soaked. They exchanged a shocked glance. Her clothes were completely drenched; how much sweat had she shed? But now, they couldn't possibly let Li Ling sleep on the bed completely drenched; she would definitely catch a cold. The two decided to dry them off first, change their clothes, and then let them rest.
Li Ling was relatively easy to handle; the two of them simply needed to be helped onto the kang (heated brick bed), undressed, dried with towels, and then changed. But Wang Lun was different; both of them were somewhat shy. Finally, Liu Ruoxi, in a moment of fierce determination, pulled down Wang Lun's pants in front of Liu Ruoling. Of course, they didn't remove his underwear. They didn't even wipe Wang Lun's underwear, just his thighs. Even then, their faces were flushed. After quickly dressing Wang Lun in his sheepskin skirt, the two hurried off the kang to wash Wang Lun and Li Ling's clothes, then took them to the fire pit to dry.
After finishing these tasks, the two began to eat dinner. Fortunately, the weather was warm, so the food cooled down more slowly and was still warm. After dinner, Liu Ruoxi told Liu Ruoling to go to sleep first, and that Liu Ruoxi would take over for the second half of the night. Liu Ruoling didn't refuse, since regardless of who slept in the first or second half, they would both have to stay up for the night. The only potential extra worry was whether Wang Lun and his companion would wake up in the first or second half of the night. Therefore, Liu Ruoxi and Liu Ruoling would need to keep the water in the pot warm so they could cook for them as soon as they woke up. After all, it had been so long, they must be hungry.
In the first half of the night, after washing the pots and pans, Liu Ruoxi placed the pot full of water on the stove. Then she put the clay blanks to be fired that night into the hearth, and shaped the fine clay she had washed that morning into clay blanks, placing them in the corner. After finishing these tasks, Liu Ruoxi picked up Wang Lun's and Li Ling's clothes and dried them. Of course, she dried their underwear first, then Li Ling's remaining clothes, and finally Wang Lun's. After the clothes were dry, Liu Ruoxi placed them on the kang (heated brick bed) so they could see them when they got up.
After finishing these tasks, Liu Ruoxi was surprised to find that it was already past midnight, but Wang Lun and the other man were still asleep. So, Liu Ruoxi finally sat down at the table to rest for a while. Although these chores weren't particularly tiring, they were still mentally taxing and she was quite exhausted. Besides, there wasn't anything else to do, so why not rest for a bit?
More than an hour later, Liu Ruoxi decided to wake Liu Ruoling up in a little while so she could take over, since she was almost too tired to stay awake any longer and had nearly fallen asleep at the table. So Liu Ruoxi got up, took a walk in the yard, and washed her face at the pool to refresh herself.
Little did she know, Wang Lun woke up just as she stepped out the door. He opened his eyes, stared at the ceiling, and after a while, regained his strength. He then prepared to get up and get something to eat, as he was quite hungry. Just as he got up, Li Ling, who was beside him, also woke up. Li Ling looked at Wang Lun getting up and said, "Why are you up so early? I'm hungry. Is there anything to eat?" Wang Lun said, "I'm hungry too. I'll go down and cook some, and you can eat in a bit." Li Ling said, "Then I'll get up too and wait for it to be cooked." So she got up, but seemed to sense something was wrong; Wang Lun was staring at her.
Li Ling looked down and saw through the gap in her coat that she was wearing nothing underneath, and her two little white rabbits were barely visible. Li Ling immediately lay down and said, "Turn around, don't look." Wang Lun was startled awake by Li Ling's voice and quickly got off the bed, saying, "I didn't see anything, really." Li Ling's face was completely red.
Hearing the noise, Liu Ruoxi, who was outside the door, quickly came in and asked, "You're awake? I'll cook for you." Liu Ruoling, who was sleeping next to Li Ling, was also awakened by Li Ling's shout. She mumbled sleepily, "What's wrong? Is it time for the shift change?" and then got up groggily. She even almost bumped into Wang Lun.
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