Tang Tang had never stepped outside the camp gates since she arrived with her parents as a child.
Of course, she had no intention of leaving now. Outside the camp, everything was a vast expanse of white, and she had no idea where to go to find someone.
She knew that her younger brother was very capable now and would definitely return...
She just needed to wait at the gate.
Suddenly, a familiar figure came into view.
"Little Wen!"
Tang Tang jumped up, waving her hands, and then she saw the person opposite raise his hand in response.
After confirming it was him several times,
She rushed out the gate.
"Why did you come out? It would have been fine to wait at the gate."
"Hehe, give me the bundle."
Tang Wen was carrying a live sheep in his backpack, and in his hands, wrapped in white cloth, was another sheep.
"It's heavy, I'll carry it. Go check our old cabin to see if anyone has moved in."
"Okay!"
Without asking why, Tang Tang immediately turned and ran back to the camp gate.
The cabin was right next to the gate, in the corner of the wall, and it was completely empty—no people, not even a mouse.
A few minutes later, the siblings returned to the cabin together.
Tang Wen put down his backpack and unwrapped the white cloth.
"Sheep? Why is their fur yellow?"
The older sister was both surprised and curious.
Tang Wen didn't answer, pointing outside: "There are a few more in the woods outside. Sister, you stay here and watch, I'll make a couple more trips."
"Okay, okay, be careful."
The heavy snow had helped Tang Wen; he had covered the sheep with snow earlier, making them invisible from a distance.
One trip, two trips, three trips...
It took four trips in total to transport all seven sheep to the cabin by the camp gate.
The sky had completely darkened. Next, they had to move the sheep home.
"Let's rest for a bit. I'll go home and cook for you, and we'll move them after eating."
Tang Wen shook his head, rested for a while, and then made a few more trips home.
The snow was falling heavier and heavier, and soon after he got home, his footprints were completely covered by the snow.
"Whew!"
Lying on the kang, Tang Wen finally relaxed. The sweat on his hair had frozen into ice, and now, warmed by the heat in the room, it melted and dripped down.
"Quick, wash up!"
Tang Tang brought a basin of hot water and handed him a towel.
Seeing her brother not moving, she urged him repeatedly: "Hurry up and wash! You mustn't get sick!"
Hearing this, Tang Wen was startled and quickly got up from the kang.
Right, this world lacked medical resources. If you got sick, there were no clinics or hospitals nearby to go to; you just had to tough it out.
If you made it through, you made it through. If you didn't, people in the camp would say: It was fate.
"Sister, I'll go cook. You wash up later."
"Okay."
The night was pitch black, so dark you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.
Tang Wen simply skinned the sheep, cut up the meat, and took it to the yard to freeze.
After a lot of work, late into the night, the two of them enjoyed a pot of fragrant lamb stew with potatoes.
After the meal, Tang Tang contentedly rubbed her stomach, not wanting to move.
Tang Wen also felt his stomach. Hmm, he had abs now.
Outside, the north wind howled, and the snow fell heavily.
On a day like this, what could be more comfortable than eating lamb and sleeping on a warm kang?
Tang Tang looked at her brother and felt that life was too good to be true.
Originally, she had prepared for the worst—selling herself to get some food for her brother, so he could survive the winter.
Of course, it was more likely that no one would buy her, and then, the siblings would freeze to death together this winter.
"Little brother."
"Hmm?"
Tang Tang smiled and said, "Time to sleep."
Tang Wen: "...If you hadn't called me, I would have already been asleep."
When he woke up, the sky outside was still gloomy.
As soon as he opened the door, the north wind, sharp as a knife, blew snowflakes into his face.
Tang Wen shivered. The snow in the yard was already a foot deep!
In this kind of weather, there was no way to go out hunting.
He felt relieved: "Good thing I went out yesterday."
Since he couldn't go out, he decided to practice his skills:
[Eight Section Brocade, Mastery (399→407/3000)]
[Eight Section Brocade, Mastery (399→415/3000)]
[Eight Section Brocade]
The heavy snow continued for three days. Apart from braving the snow to clear the roof and sweep the yard, he spent the entire day practicing.
Morning, afternoon, evening—he practiced the Eight Section Brocade.
In the afternoon, while teaching Tang Tang the Wind-splitting Saber technique, he also practiced himself.
Three days passed, and [Eight Section Brocade, Mastery (1075/3000)]
[Wind-splitting Saber, Mastery (331/1000)]
With no worries about food and over ten hours of rigorous practice each day, the results were impressive.
When the weather finally cleared and the snow began to melt, Tang Wen visited Li Da Niu, the blacksmith, once. He brought some mutton and two sheep's feet and exchanged them for three hundred pounds of potatoes and sweet potatoes.
"Brother Li, how much stuff do you have stored in your cellar? It feels like it never runs out."
Li Da Niu chuckled, "Brother, I make weapons for the guards and farming tools for the farmers. Do you think they'd let me go hungry?"
"That makes sense."
As a blacksmith, he was definitely one of the wealthiest in the camp.
"But I don't earn much. The guards bring me iron ingots, and I forge them. It's just hard-earned money."
After chatting for a bit, Tang Wen asked, "I noticed your wife and the others are wearing cotton clothes. Where did you buy them?"
Li Da Niu rubbed his bald head, "These were brought from the city. If you want them, two sets of thick cotton clothes and two pairs of cotton shoes would cost you about 20 pounds of meat."
"Is sheepskin valuable?"
"Of course! You brought mutton, so you must have sheepskin. One sheepskin would be enough. But if you have copper coins to pay the city entrance fee, you could sell it in the city yourself. Hehe, brother, your skills are growing. You'll eventually go to the city. Here, let me give you a few copper coins first..."
Before Tang Wen could respond, Li Da Niu dashed to the backyard and returned with 10 copper coins, stuffing them into Tang Wen's hand.
The snow melted, but under the continuous north wind, it froze again.
Tang Wen wasn't in a hurry to go to the city. The siblings spent their days practicing their skills and the saber indoors.
[Eight Section Brocade, Mastery (2392/3000)]
[Wind-splitting Saber, Mastery (753/1000)]
Practicing intensely meant they consumed a lot. Tang Wen ate three to five pounds of mutton daily, along with potatoes, sweet potatoes, and foxtail millet.
Although Tang Tang joked, "My little brother has turned into a piglet, eating fifty pounds of foxtail millet worth of meat every day. Even the big shots in the city wouldn't dare eat like that."
But when it came to cooking, she prepared mutton soup, stewed mutton, and roasted mutton, varying the dishes every day.
The first sheep was completely eaten. In the woodshed, another unruly sheep was slaughtered.
This time, the sheep's blood wasn't wasted. It was poured into a wooden bucket, mixed with salt and water, and soon solidified into sheep's blood.
The siblings' meals became a bit more abundant.
However, the constant practice inevitably left them feeling dizzy and exhausted.
Tang Wen suddenly remembered something. He carried a bowl of hot water outside and splashed it into the air, where it instantly turned into countless ice crystals, fluttering down like snow.
"Huh?" The young woman behind him widened her eyes in surprise. She turned around, went back inside, and came out with her own bowl of water, which she also splashed into the air.
The water turned to ice as soon as it left the bowl, even though it had just been boiling hot.
This meant the temperature was well below minus twenty degrees Celsius.
Tang Wen climbed onto the roof, cleared away the snow, and picked up his binoculars to survey the surroundings.
Every house in the camp was tightly shut, and not a single soul could be seen on the streets. As far as the eye could see, everything was blanketed in white.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
"Brother Tang! Brother Tang!"
Someone was pounding on the door. From the voice, Tang Wen immediately recognized it was the blacksmith, Li Da Niu.
"Brother Li, what's the matter?" Tang Wen grabbed his sword and opened the door.
Li Da Niu was momentarily taken aback when he saw Tang Wen holding a sword with a dagger at his waist. He quickly said, "My wife is about to give birth. I'm heading into town to fetch the doctor and midwife, but I'm worried about leaving her alone. Could you keep an eye on things at my place?"
"Of course! Brother Li, hurry back!"
Without wasting any more time, Tang Wen and his sister headed straight to the blacksmith's house.
Sister-in-law Li's cries of pain echoed through the house, and the maid was frantic, unsure of what to do.
Tang Wen had never been in such a situation before, so he asked his sister to comfort Sister-in-law Li while he went to the kitchen to boil water.
This was something he had learned from watching TV dramas—for some reason, childbirth always seemed to require hot water.
The doctor and midwife arrived a bit later than expected.
Fortunately, no major complications arose, and both mother and daughter were safe and sound.
As the newborn girl let out her first cries, Li Da Niu breathed a sigh of relief, though there was a faint shadow of worry in his eyes. Tang Wen reassured him, "It's just a bit more hard work for Sister-in-law. A bigger family means more liveliness. Surely you're not worried about not being able to provide for them? Sister-in-law just went through a tough ordeal—go and see her. I've brought some lamb bones; we'll have lamb soup tonight…"
Li Da Niu suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. "You're right, brother! I was overthinking it for a moment. I'll go see her now."