Yun Zhen touched her daughter’s messy hair.
“Wait here, Mom will serve you some food.”
“Time to eat!” Xiaobao nodded obediently, smiling happily.
Taking out four earthen bowls, Yun Zhen scooped a chopstick-full of noodles into each, then filled them to the brim with hot broth.
The savory, enticing aroma immediately pierced their noses.
Old Dad Yun added some firewood to the fire, warming up the room.
The appetizing scent filled the air, mingling with the cozy heat.
The family of four stared eagerly at the golden noodles and the rich, oily broth.
How long had it been since they last had a steaming hot meal?
“Eat.”
Xiaobao had already learned how to use chopsticks.
The moment she saw the food, she lunged forward and started stuffing it into her mouth.
She ate rather quickly, but thankfully managed not to dirty her clothes.
“So good!
COUGH!
COUGH!
Mom, it’s so delicious!” Xiaobao choked and coughed violently.
The broth was a bit spicy, but she didn’t stop for a single bite.
“Eat slowly,” Yun Old Lady said, gently patting her granddaughter’s back.
Yun Zhen took a sip of the broth and felt entirely refreshed.
Her freezing body was wrapped in a tight, comforting warmth.
She took a bite of the noodles, and her mouth filled with a rich, savory flavor.
It was so delicious that she almost wanted to swallow her own tongue.
“These noodles must be a gift from an immortal manifesting for our daughter.” Yun Old Lady took a bite of noodles and a sip of broth.
The unfamiliar, absurdly delicious food made her want to fall to her knees, press her palms together, and thank the heavens.
“Delicious!” Old Dad Yun guzzled the food down, savoring the endless aftertaste.
“So good.
I’ve lived for decades and have never eaten noodles with such a great chew.”
The family of four happily enjoyed their delicious meal.
There weren’t many noodles, but they had boiled a massive pot of broth.
Yun Zhen ate her noodles and drank three bowls of the rich soup.
Yun Old Lady drank two bowls, while Old Dad Yun drank five.
Xiaobao also quickly finished her noodles and broth, licking her bowl completely clean.
“BURP!”
“BURP!”
“BURP!”
“BURP!”
The four of them let out satisfied burps.
The noodle broth was rich with oil and salt.
For the first time since the snow disaster began, they finally had a full meal!
“If we could eat these noodles every day, I wouldn’t even trade it for the life of an immortal!” Old Dad Yun sighed in contentment.
“Eating savory noodles and drinking savory broth every day?
Where would we ever get such fortune!” Yun Old Lady hadn’t even wiped her mouth after finishing; instead, she licked her lips over and over again.
Xiaobao pointed at her bowl, looking at Yun Zhen with wide eyes, and said in a milky voice, “Xiaobao wants to eat noodles and drink savory broth every day!”
Yun Zhen caressed her daughter’s face and coaxed, “Alright, Xiaobao will eat noodles and drink savory broth every day.”
It had been a long time since she had seen her parents and daughter this energetic.
Touching the red mole on her palm, a trace of longing rose in her heart.
After the meal, Yun Old Lady hugged her granddaughter and went to sleep.
Old Dad Yun sorted the firewood and grass roots he had gathered.
Yun Zhen took a tube of medicine out of the large white bag.
Upon opening it, a strong medicinal scent hit her nose.
“This medicine smells so potent, it must have cost a fortune,” she thought, her heart swelling with gratitude for that kindhearted lady.
She squeezed out some ointment and applied it over all the chilblains and cracked skin on her face and body.
Then, she did the same for Xiaobao and her mother before handing the remaining ointment to her father.
“Dad, this is frostbite medicine a kindhearted lady bought for me.
If you apply it to your chilblains and cracks, they won’t hurt anymore.
Hurry up and put some on all your frostbitten areas.”
Old Dad Yun took the ointment with both hands and sniffed it.
“Medicine is precious.
It’s enough for you, Xiaobao, and your mother to use it.
I’m a grown man with rough, thick skin; I don’t need to be so delicate.”
Yun Zhen frowned.
“Dad, you have so many cracks on your hands, and they’re bleeding.
This ointment feels cooling and will stop the pain.”
Unable to out-stubborn his daughter, Old Dad Yun nodded.
“Alright, I’ll just apply a little bit and save the rest for you.”
“Zhen Niang, you’ve met a truly good person!”
Yun Zhen knew full well how lucky she was.
If her luck had been just a bit worse and she had run into bad people, she wouldn’t have made it back.
Old Dad Yun applied a layer to the back of his hands.
It felt a bit tingly, and the pain actually vanished.
“This ointment works incredibly well.
My wounds don’t hurt anymore.
You definitely can’t buy medicine in the county town that stops the pain the moment you apply it.”
Old Dad Yun pondered, marveled, and yearned.
His daughter had said that everyone there had glowing, healthy complexions and never worried about food or clothing.
Even though he was an educated man, Old Dad Yun simply couldn’t imagine what kind of world it was where no one had to worry about their next meal or warm clothes.
After sitting around the fire for a while, Yun Zhen let out a sleepy yawn.
“Dad, once you’re done sorting the firewood, you and Mom should go to sleep early.
I’ll take Xiaobao to sleep in my room.”
Old Dad Yun said, “There’s no fire in your room.
It’s freezing.
You and Xiaobao should sleep in this room with your mother.
I’ll go sleep in your room.”
“My room is small, and I have a large cotton quilt to cover us now.
It won’t be as cold as before.”
Yun Zhen had been stubborn since she was a child.
Old Dad Yun knew he couldn’t persuade her otherwise, and he figured that with a thick cotton quilt to block the wind, it certainly wouldn’t be as cold as before.
He nodded.
“Leave Xiaobao with us here.
Carrying her back and forth will easily wake her up from the cold.”
Yun Zhen left her child in her parents’ care and returned to her own room.
The space was still freezing, but as she tucked herself into bed, the thick mattress felt incredibly comfortable.
The cotton quilt was large, thick, soft, and warm.
Not only was it not bulky, but it was also surprisingly fluffy, feeling almost weightless.
She had never felt so comfortable in her life.
It was heavenly!
She had used an animal skin blanket to block the hole in the window.
The wind and snow could no longer blow into the pitch-black room, and it wasn’t as cold anymore.
Snug in her warm bed, Yun Zhen rolled over and fell fast asleep.
The sky gradually grew gloomier, and the snow fell heavier and heavier.
After filling their bellies, drinking hot broth to ward off the cold, and wrapping themselves in thick cotton quilts to block the wind, the Yun Family of four enjoyed a rare, peaceful night’s sleep.
Not far from the Yun Family’s thatched cottage, several figures braved the wind and snow, sniffing the air as they observed quietly.
“The smell is coming from Brother Yun’s house.
Didn’t he say they ran out of food ages ago?
This scent has practically drifted out of the village!
It’s a rich, oily meat aroma.
Where did they get food?”
The speaker was a villager from Taoyuan Village named Tian Ergou.
He and a group of villagers had braved the blizzard to forage for food at the foot of the mountain.
They hadn’t found anything to eat, but they were suddenly drawn over by a rich, meaty aroma.
Upon taking a closer look, the source turned out to be the poorest household in the village—the Yun Family.
It was common knowledge in the village that the Yun Family was practically starving.
Truth be told, their situation was truly pitiful.
Brother Yun had originally been a scholar, passing the county exams to become a child candidate at just eighteen.
Who would have thought that while following his uncle up the mountain to hunt, a wild boar would break his leg and leave a hideous, long scar stretching across his face?
With a crippled leg and a disfigured face, his hopes for the imperial examinations were destroyed!
Sister-in-law Yun was frail and lacked strength; aside from digging for wild vegetables, she couldn’t do any other work.
Let alone during a snow disaster year, even in normal times, the Yun Family relied solely on Brother Yun farming two acres of barren land and Sister-in-law Yun foraging for wild vegetables to survive.
The grain produced from those two acres wasn’t even enough to pay their taxes, and wild vegetables didn’t grow in every season.
Their daughter had married within the village and could help out a little, secretly sneaking grain back to her maiden home.
However, her mother-in-law was a fierce, petty woman who took great issue with her daughter-in-law subsidizing her own family.
The villagers couldn’t bear to watch, so they would occasionally offer some relief.
Everyone had thought that once her son-in-law became a Scholar, the Yun Family would be able to bask in a bit of his glory.
Instead, after passing the exam, the Scholar kicked their daughter and granddaughter out of the house.
Even the daughter’s means of making a living were ruined by his family.
With the family of four crammed into a dilapidated shack, it was a miracle they hadn’t frozen to death.
How could they possibly have meat to eat?
The few men standing beside him were equally baffled.
One of his companions suggested, “How about we knock on the door and ask?”
“Forget it.
They probably just caught a wild rabbit by chance or something.
Brother Yun is kindhearted; if he sees us, he’ll definitely want to share his food.
They still have a toddler who can barely walk.
Let’s not go and cause trouble for them.”
“There’s still plenty of tree bark up on the mountain.
We can peel some off and boil a soup too.”
“Can a wild rabbit really smell this good?” His companion wrinkled his nose.
The aroma in the air hadn’t dissipated yet, and just smelling it made his mouth water.
Tian Ergou sighed bitterly.
“It’s been so many days since we had a full meal.
Of course, even a hint of meat would make us crave it like crazy.”
He couldn’t help but wonder when they, too, would be able to eat a full meal.