Chapter 62: Heavy Snow
Editor: Atlas Studios
Woken up by the cold, Mu Yangling realized that Little Bowen had burrowed into her arms. The moment she opened her eyes, she saw her brother’s dark head. She turned to look out of the window, but there was only white light.
It was already dawn? Why didn’t she feel anything?
Mu Yangling thought in a daze. Then, she shuddered and widened her eyes to look out of the window. This was… snow.
It was snowing!
Mu Yangling hurriedly got up and shouted, “Father, Mother, get up quickly. It’s snowing.”
Mu Yangling quickly took out a thick blanket from the wardrobe and covered her brother with it. Then, she put on a cotton shirt and went out.
Now awake, Mu Shi covered his wife with a blanket before coming out. He saw that it was white outside, and the snow was already half a finger deep.
“Father, why is the snow so thick? It’s only the end of September. It’s not even winter yet,” Mu Yangling shouted.
Mu Shi looked gloomily at the heavy snow outside as he said, “The weather has changed. Go and put on a few more clothes. Father will go look for the village representative. We have to quickly inform everyone to get up. Otherwise, people will freeze to death.”
With the plummeting temperature, people might not wake up from their sleep, so they had to be woken up quickly.
Mu Yangling quickly entered the house to put on her clothes as she said, “Then Father, go quickly. I’ll go find Eldest Great-uncle and ask him to wake up all the villagers.”
Mu Shi nodded and went into the house to change. Just then, Shu Wanniang sat up with the blanket around her and said worriedly, “Be careful on the way since the ground is slippery. Don’t be anxious.”
“I understand. Lie down quickly. You can’t catch a cold. I’ll make a trip to the county to get some medicine for you and Bowen later.”
Knowing his wife and son both had weak constitutions, Mu Shi worried that they would fall sick due to the cold.
After Mu Shi went out, Mu Yangling woke up Little Bowen, who was still in a deep sleep. She took off his shirt and rubbed his entire body. Seeing that he was crying loudly, she could not help but comfort him. “It’ll be fine after you warm up. Otherwise, you’ll have to take bitter medicine if you fall sick.”
Seeing that his forehead was covered in sweat, Mu Yangling took a dry towel and dried him. She quickly dressed him and carried him to Shu Wanniang with the blanket wrapped around him. “Mother, you and Bowen warm up. I’ll go find Eldest Great-uncle first.”
“Be careful. Come back as soon as you alert them.”
Mu Yangling was also worried about her mother and brother being alone at home, so she agreed.
As she stepped on the snow in her cloth shoes, Mu Yangling felt a chill run from the soles of her feet to her heart, causing her entire body to shudder.
As there was still more than half a month before the winter solstice, and Mu Shi and Mu Yangling could not bear for Shu Wanniang to do too much needlework, she had yet to complete this year’s leather boots. However, Mu Shi had finished them up two days ago.
Mu Yangling could only wear cloth shoes now. The leather boots from last year were still there, but unfortunately, many of them were damaged.
Mu Yangling ran to Liu Daqian’s house and knocked on the door, shouting, “Eldest Great-uncle, get up quickly! It’s snowing heavily.”
Seeing that there was no movement inside at all, Mu Yangling became worried. She simply kicked the door and shouted, “Hurry up and get up! It’s snowing heavily! People are going to freeze to death!”
Liu Ting and Liu Zhuang woke up in a daze. When they saw the snow outside the window, they were shocked. Liu Ting scrambled up and shook Madam Liu-Zhao as he shouted, “Hurry up and get up. It’s snowing heavily!”
Madam Liu-Zhao’s lips were turning blue from the cold. When she woke up, her limbs were trembling. When Liu Ting saw this, he wrapped her in the blanket and shouted, “Hurry up and check on the three children. Hurry!”
Only then did Madam Liu-Zhao wake up. With the blanket wrapped around her, she rushed out to check on the children.
Liu Ting ran to knock on his parents’ door, while Liu Zhuang also ran out. Liu Ting shouted at him, “Hurry up and open the door for Ah Ling!” As he kicked his parents’ door open, he saw that her parents were only covered with a thin blanket and their faces were pale. Stunned, he pounced on them to rub their hands and feet.
Mu Yangling also ran in. Seeing this, she shouted, “Hurry up and come in to rub their bodies. Uncle Zhuang, bring the gong and come with me to wake everyone up.”
The reason why Mu Yangling came to the Liu family was because the Liu family had two gongs. As long as the gong was sounded, the entire village could hear them.
As Liu Ting grabbed a blanket from the cabinet and covered his parents with it, he shouted at Liu Zhuang, “Hurry up and get the gong! I’ll take care of things here. Sister-in-law, bring the children here and burn charcoal to warm them up. Honey, use a curtain to partition the room then wipe Mother’s body. I’ll wipe Father’s.”
Liu Zhuang and Mu Yangling came out with the gong. As they sounded the gong, they shouted, “It’s snowing heavily—quickly get up—”
As Liu Zhuang walked, he sounded the gong, while Mu Yangling went forward and knocked on every door. Not long after, the lights in the village lit up, indicating that each of the houses had someone getting up.
As for those who lived by themselves, Mu Yangling and Liu Zhuang would break in and wake them up if there was no response. Then, they helped to rub their bodies and start a fire to boil hot water. Just as they started the fire, the young men in the village came over to take over. “Hurry back and put on more clothes. We’ll take care of things here.”
“What about the other families in the village?”
Liu Dazhuang replied, “My father has already sent people over. Go back quickly.”
“He sent someone to Goudan’s family, too?” Mu Yangling asked.
“Don’t worry, my sister-in-law brought people over,” Liu Dazhuang said. “Fortunately, you woke us up. Otherwise, we don’t know when we would have woken up.”
Only then did Mu Yangling feel relieved. She informed Liu Zhuang before going home. As her mother and brother were alone at home now, Mu Yangling was also a little worried about them.
When Mu Yangling rushed back, Shu Wanniang had already woken up and was boiling water and cooking porridge in the kitchen. Mu Yangling quickly went forward to support her. “Mother, you’re pregnant. Why did you get out of bed?”
“Your brother is very cold. I think he might feel better after eating a bowl of hot porridge. Hurry up and eat a bowl to warm up.”
“I understand, Mother. Go back first. I’ll watch the fire.” Mu Yangling helped Shu Wanniang into the house before turning around to return to the kitchen.
At this moment, the entire world was covered in white, but the water clock in the room told her that it was merely sometime between 3am and 5am. Yet, it was already as bright as day.
Mu Yangling was a little worried about Mu Shi, for she did not know if he was safe on the way.
Due to this heavy snowfall, three elders in the village died and a child died prematurely. Before winter arrived, the village had already begun holding funerals.
Extremely worried, Liu He said to Liu Daqian, “I’m afraid it’ll be freezing cold this year. I wonder if the elders and children in the village can survive.”
Liu Daqian frowned. “It’s not even winter yet…”
“Yeah, it’s not even winter yet.” Liu He’s hand trembled as he twirled the tobacco. This year’s snow came too suddenly. Even he almost didn’t survive.
After returning from the county, Mu Shi informed the restaurants and eateries in the county that they might not be able to supply them with prey in the days to come. Also, he informed his contacts in town that they could only deliver the goods to them after helping his family settle down.
Shopkeeper Zhang of Wafting Fragrance Eatery had no objections. Although Drunken Cloud Restaurant was dissatisfied, they understood that this was a natural disaster and Mu Shi could not be held responsible.