Chapter 117: Snow

Chapter 117: Snow

"Man, it's freezing. Looks like the snow's coming more than a month earlier than usual this year."

Last month, the family was still wearing light clothes and enjoying the moon, but now, here they are, already digging out their padded jackets.

Gu Wen slipped away from Carpenter Wang's place and called out to Zhimo and the others.

"Come on, pack it up—we're heading back to Xiaohe Village. We planted autumn cabbage at home, and with this weather, we need to pull them all up."

Gu Wen had a hunch that keeping the grain was the right call, but he kept his mouth shut—he was still hoping nothing would happen.

Going back just for the autumn cabbage seemed like a bit much, but folks who work the land are tuned into the weather. He worried his folks back home wouldn't want to waste the cabbage and would run themselves ragged.

Zhimo and the others were quick about it. This time they left the three little ones—Gu Chaoning, Yin Hongxue, and Gu Muan—at home, and took the older kids like Jian Shan, Zhen Xia, and Zhimo back to the village.

Guan Qi was fifteen and tall, and he'd wanted to tag along too, but Chen Youyan put a stop to that.

Though Guan Qi couldn't speak, he was strong and knew some martial arts. Having him keep an eye on the place put their minds at ease.

Chen Youyan's concern was justified—they couldn't make it back to town that night, leaving the younger ones by themselves in town for the night.

The next day, when there was only a little cabbage left, Chen Youyan took Zhen Xia and headed back to town first, leaving Gu Wen, Jian Shan, and Zhimo to finish up.

When they arrived at the house in town, Gu Chaoning and the others had just finished breakfast. They didn't look scared to see Chen Youyan—just carefree as ever—and even asked why he was back so soon.

Chen Youyan said nothing...

When their dad didn't answer, Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan asked if he'd had breakfast.

Guan Qi and Tingfeng had prepared extra food, so Chen Youyan could have something to eat.

Chen Youyan said he hadn't eaten, so Guan Qi and Tingfeng went to the kitchen to whip something up.

With Chen Youyan and Zhen Xia there, they couldn't just throw something together—Guan Qi fried up some eggs, and Tingfeng boiled a big pot of water, one batch for steaming buns and the rest for the two of them to wash up.

By evening, Gu Wen and the rest finally made it back.

They worked together to stack the larger autumn cabbages in the cellar, while the smaller ones were blanched right away and laid out to dry.

That was around when the snow let up.

The next morning, the sun came out blazing. The thin layer of snow that had accumulated on the ground over two days and one night melted quickly under the sun, and within just half a day, even the puddles from the melted snow had dried up.

This briefly comforted those in the areas that got snow, though some foresighted people went ahead and stocked up on more grain for home.

Dukou Town was the town that had benefited most from raising fish in the rice paddies and bamboo tube waterwheels over the past three years.

The clearest sign was that grain prices in Dukou Town were lower than they used to be, and lower than in other towns. Even with the snow making folks rush to buy grain, prices didn't budge.

Plenty of families had extra grain, so stocking up was easy, but at this time of year and at these prices, folks still bought from the grain shops—hardly anyone was selling off their stores.

The Gu family mixed in with everyone else, hauling some grain from the village into town.

They didn't dare make a show of it—just sent two carts. For later loads, they piled lumber on top, and if anyone asked, they said it was for Gu Wen's work.

Folks in the village and around the town house all knew Gu Wen was a carpenter, so they were used to seeing him haul lumber from the village and didn't think twice.

They sent less grain to town—Gu Daniu figured it'd be enough to feed everyone at the town house until spring.

The bulk of it stayed in the village. That was their real home base—everyone knew each other there, and every family had put aside extra grain.

Just in case something went wrong, the whole family could still pack up and move back to the village.

Half a month went by getting all that sorted.

During that half month, Gu Chaoning made a trip to the Chen family, and kept urging every day for the family to buy more fall veggies, blanch them, and turn them into dried vegetables. He also dragged Jian Shan and Gu Wen to buy charcoal from all over.

By the time they went to buy charcoal, everyone had traded their padded jackets back for light clothes, but there were still huge crowds buying charcoal.

After they'd bought enough charcoal, they also returned to the village together and spent two days foraging for wild goods in the mountains. They didn't try to hide it, and Gu Chaoning used the chance to talk others into stocking up on dried goods early as well.

This year, the family saved all their rice straw, wheat straw, wheat bran, and chaff, plus dried grass—so the animals wouldn't go short on feed.

After half a month of hard work, they'd barely been back at the town house for a day when snow started falling again.

Since there were so many people in town, Gu Wen and the others left Jian Shan in the village before they headed back.

To be really safe, they probably all should've stayed in the village.

But the town house, their own eatery, and Carpenter Wang's shop all needed someone there. They couldn't just up and leave everything behind to hide in the village just because they were worried.

Plus, the town had more people, and news spread faster there than in the village.

Gu Chaoning stood by the window, watching the snowflakes drift down. The branches in the yard were still green, and the white snow settling on them was a pretty sight.

But Gu Chaoning wasn't in the mood to enjoy the snow.

If he remembered right, today was when the snow disaster started showing its first signs.

Chen Youyan walked out of the main room with his arms crossed. Seeing Guan Qi already sweeping snow, he called out, "Guan Qi, hold off on that. This snow's gonna keep coming for a bit. Just clear the path we use, and leave the rest till it stops."

Guan Qi looked up at Chen Youyan, nodded, and carried the big broom back inside.

Gu Muan dragged Yin Hongxue outside, caught a snowflake in his hand, and pointed at it and giggled, "Xue Age, it's a snowflake!"

Yin Hongxue leaned in for a look, but before he could get a good glimpse, the snowflake melted in Gu Muan's hand.

The wooden money box Gu Wen had made for him, and the baby slings and other items he made later, all had snowflakes on them. So every year when it snowed, Gu Muan loved dragging him outside to catch snowflakes.

Seeing them, Chen Youyan asked, "What do you two want for lunch?"

When it snowed and turned cold, the family craved something hot.

Gu Wen had specially bought a small iron pot with handles on both sides, to sit on the stove, and made a round wooden table with a hole in the middle that could be placed around the stove.

The table was made of two hinged pieces and was pretty small—just big enough for a few plates and everyone's bowls and chopsticks.

In winter, they'd set all this up, sit around the stove, and eat a hot pot bubbling away—warm and satisfying, and they'd be happy all day.

Sure enough, when Chen Youyan asked, Yin Hongxue and Gu Muan answered at the same time, "Hot pot!"

Hot pot was best with bones simmered ahead of time for the broth, but dried shrimp, dried mushrooms, and eggs worked fine too. Chen Youyan grunted in acknowledgment and headed to the kitchen, with Gu Muan and Zhen Xia right behind.

Over the past three years, Gu Muan had picked up quite a few skills. Though the family still hadn't found him a teacher, he'd learned quite a bit from Cui Ling and the young gentleman next door.

Cui Ling was the village cook—he cooked with heavy fire and lots of oil, the smell hitting you square in the face, and he was a master at braised dishes.

The young master next door, Duan Chi, had come from the provincial city. His family ran a restaurant, and he cooked fancy dishes—fragrant, but you had to savor them slowly—and he was great at making pastries.

The coconut cake he gave Gu Muan when they first met was one he'd made himself.

Gu Muan spent time with the two of them and learned a great deal from both.

As Gu Muan's skills grew, the meals at home became more and more delicious.

After lunch, the snow let up briefly, and Guan Qi, Tingfeng, and the others rushed to sweep the snow in the courtyard, but soon it started snowing again.

This time, it snowed for two straight days and three nights.

On the morning of the third day, Gu Wen headed out for a walk and bought some pork and pork bones along the way.

When he returned, he shook the snow off his clothes, his expression grave.

"I heard a thatched cottage collapsed in a village—luckily it was an old, empty house."

Chen Youyan took the meat from his hands, caught off guard.

Even though it was late October, the month wasn't over yet, and hearing that a house had collapsed under the snow was still shocking.

He mentally ran through both his own place and his father's—both their town and village homes were brick with tile roofs.

His father had also replaced the thatched roofs with tile roofs last year and had urged the family to stock up on grain and dried vegetables, so there wasn't much to worry about.

After going through everything in his head, Chen Youyan let out a small sigh of relief and reminded everyone to keep an eye on clearing snow off the roofs.

Starting the next day, Gu Wen and Gu Chaoning both headed out at least once a day.

The snow stopped for a day and a night, giving folks whose houses had collapsed a brief breather, before it started falling again.

That's how things went until November.

Gu Chaoning went out early in the morning and spoke with Zheng Yiyang, who had become the town mayor, about his fears that the relentless snow might lead to disaster.

Zheng Yiyang was already worried, and after hearing Gu Chaoning's words, he dispatched his men that very day to spread the word in the town and villages, urging people to keep watch at night, mind their rooftops, and check their food stores.

Gu Chaoning tagged along too.

The next day, the snow stopped.

Unlike last time, when the sky stayed gray, this time the sun came out, and the thick snow that had fallen for days and nights started melting visibly.

The roads were slushy, and after one walk outside, Gu Chaoning's shoes were soaked through.

Chen Youyan worried he might catch a cold and suggested he and Gu Wen take turns going out every other day, but Gu Chaoning refused.

One person alone couldn't gather as much information as two.

Besides, Gu Chaoning didn't want to hear secondhand news—even if it came from his own father, he wouldn't feel at ease.

With no other option, Chen Youyan and Zhen Xia stayed up late to make him two extra pairs of shoes, stitching oil paper onto the outside to somewhat block the slush, and told him to carry an extra pair when he went out.

This time it stayed clear for two days straight, and on the second day, grain buyers came to the town and villages.

They offered high prices—ten wen per jin for white rice, three to four wen more than at autumn harvest; fifteen wen per jin for white flour; and for coarse grains, coarse flour, beans, and millet, prices were almost 50% higher than at the autumn harvest.

Some poorer families in the town and villages who had stored extra grain started to get tempted.

But they held off, partly hoping prices would climb higher, partly worried the snow would come back.

The third day remained clear, and except for some shaded, low spots, the slush had dried up and disappeared.

Meanwhile, the buyers' prices had jumped—white rice from ten to fifteen wen a jin, white flour from fifteen to twenty.

Gu Chaoning even got the news before Zheng Yiyang.

Somebody in the village had finally sold their grain.