Chapter 117: Invitation
Editor: Atlas Studios
When the snow fell in the middle of the night, Mu Yangling felt cold and got up to take a look. The air she exhaled turned into white fog. Frowning, Mu Yangling put on her clothes. She opened the door a crack and looked out. Only then did she realize that it was as bright as day outside.
A cold wind blew over and Mu Yangling shivered. She hurriedly closed the door and climbed back into bed.
This wouldn’t do. It was getting colder and colder, but there was still nearly a month before the new year. She had to heat up the brick bed.
Mu Yangling thought as she fell asleep in a daze.
The next day, Mu Yangling went to discuss it with her father. “Father, let’s make the brick bed while we have time. Otherwise, it’ll only get colder and colder.”
Mu Shi wrapped the twins and Little Bowen in the blanket and nodded. “I’ll go find Hu Man later and get him to help. I’ll make yours today.”
Mu Yangling saw that Little Bowen only had his head revealed outside of the blanket and was full of smiles. She scratched his face and asked, “Why are you smiling?”
Little Bowen whispered, “Sister, I want to go out and build a snowman.”
Mu Yangling touched his clothes and shook her head. “No, your clothes are too thin.”
Little Bowen was disappointed.
Mu Shi put on his clothes and was about to go out when he saw that his daughter had also lost weight. Seeing that the baby fat on her face had disappeared, his heart ached. He knew that when he was away at the camp, the burden of the entire family could only fall on his daughter. He turned around and stroked her head. Smiling, he said, “You don’t have to be busy today. Bring your brother and cousins out to play. Don’t stay at home all the time. There are many other children nearby. Go and play with them.”
What was so fun about playing with other children?
Mu Yangling did not want to go, but when she saw Mu Shi looking at her gently, she could only nod.
After eating, Mu Shi went to look for Hu Man. In the end, not only did Hu Man come, but Hu Man’s eldest brother, Hu Dian, also came to help.
Hu Man was Mu Shi’s subordinate to begin with, and when Hu Dian went to build the water conservancy facilities, he was assigned to Mu Shi. They had all seen Little General coming to look for Mu Shi from time to time, so it could be seen that he was viewed in high regard. He might have a bright future ahead, so it would not be a bad thing to be chummy with him.
Since Mu Yangling did not have to do anything today, she just sat on the bed with her younger siblings and played some small games. From time to time, she would check on the twins.
As the men in the north all knew how to build brick beds, and the three of them were capable, the brick beds were ready by the time afternoon rolled around.
Mu Shi didn’t have time to wait for it to dry slowly, so he dried it slowly on a low fire. Madam Ma-Liu had already taken the remaining meat to cook.
When Hu Man and Hu Dian saw the table full of meat dishes, they couldn’t help but swallow their saliva. Although Qi Haoran used the borrowed money to buy meat for them and they could find one or two thin slices of meat in the dishes every afternoon, that was merely enough to fill the gaps between their teeth. It was unlike the Mu family’s large plates of meat dishes.
Hu Dian could not help but ask, “Big Brother, where did you get the meat from?”
“We hunted prey in the mountains. Quickly sit down and eat. We’ll also have to trouble you tomorrow and the day after.”
Madam Ma-Liu took two bowls of dishes to her room, and the women and children ate in her room. Looking at the heavy snow outside, Madam Ma-Liu sighed. “How good would it be if we had planted wheat before winter? When snow falls like this, the wheat will definitely grow well in spring.”
“It’s alright. We’ll plant winter wheat next year,” Mu Yangling comforted her.
The next day, Mu Shi kicked down the brick bed in Madam Ma-Liu’s room and made a new one. Mu Yangling was originally squatting in front to watch the commotion when she heard someone shouting outside, “Mu Yangling, come out quickly!”
Mu Shi and Mu Yangling recognized Qi Haoran’s voice and hurriedly went out. Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin rode on their horses and said smugly, “Mu Yangling, follow us into the mountains to hunt.” Seeing that Mu Shi was covered in dust, they asked curiously, “What are you doing?”
“Making a brick bed.” Seeing that they were wearing short-sleeved clothes and had bows and arrows on their backs, Mu Yangling couldn’t help but be tempted. She turned around and looked at her father eagerly.
Mu Shi thought for a moment before nodding in agreement. “Even though you’re more familiar with the forest, do be careful. Take good care of Little General and Young Master Fan, understand?”
Mu Yangling nodded and ran back to her room to get her bow and arrow. She promised Bowen and the others, “Wait for me to come back. We’ll eat meat tonight.”
The three children watched helplessly as their sister (cousin) jumped onto Qi Haoran’s horse and left together.
Xiuhong pulled a long face and said after a while, “I don’t like them.”
Little Bowen drooled and said, “I want to eat venison.”
Xiulan was also drooling. “I want to eat too.”
Hu Man and Hu Dian were purely envious. They did not expect Mu Shi’s daughter to be on such good terms with the little general.
Upon reaching the foot of the mountain, Qi Haoran and Fan Zijin tied their horses to a tree. Glancing at Yanmo and Fei Bai, Yanmo immediately said, “Young Master Fan, Fourth Young Master, don’t worry. There won’t be any problems with leaving the horses here.”
“You can go into the mountains?”
Fei Bai said proudly, “Fourth Young Master, don’t worry. Although we can’t compare to you and Young Master Fan, we can still shoot arrows.”
Yanmo shot him a glance and remained silent.
“Alright, follow me. You can carry the prey later.”
“What prey do you want to hunt? Are you going deep into the mountains?”
Qi Haoran said proudly, “Since it’s the deep winter, of course I’m going to hunt deer. We’ll roast deer meat later.”
Seeing that he was beaming with joy, Mu Yangling couldn’t help but ask, “Is there something joyous? Why are you so happy?”
Qi Haoran could not hide the smile on his face. “My Big Brother praised me and allowed me to skip school this year.”
Qi Xiuyuan rarely praised Qi Haoran and always praised Fan Zijin instead. Hence, Qi Haoran minded this very much, because he felt that he had always been very hardworking. Although he always dozed off in class and often did not understand what his teacher taught, he would not skip class unless there was an urgent matter.
This time, many people objected to the repairing of the water conservancy facilities, but Big Brother praised him and even asked him to do whatever he wanted. Qi Haoran could not help but feel elated.
He wanted to find a few people to share in his joy, but in Xingzhou Prefecture, other than Fan Zijin, only with Mu Yangling could he relax and express his thoughts freely. Hence, Qi Haoran dragged Fan Zijin to look for Mu Yangling without thinking.
Mu Yangling was far more familiar with the forest than Qi Haoran. She led them carefully into the deep forest and said, “I’ve never entered the deep forest here, so I don’t know where there are deer, but if we find a place with water, we should be able to find their traces.”
“Isn’t the water frozen now?” Fan Zijin asked in confusion.
Qi Haoran said, “That’s not necessarily true. The water in the forest usually won’t freeze. In winter, the temperature inside the water is warmer than outside.”
Mu Yangling nodded repeatedly. “That’s why we have to find a place with water. Before that, we can also hunt other prey.” Mu Yangling pulled out the arrow behind her and nocked her bow.
The two of them also saw the roe deer sprinting away.
Mu Yangling’s arrow left the bow and pierced straight into the roe deer’s neck. After the impact, it fell to the ground and struggled a few times before lying down weakly.
Mu Yangling ran up and said happily, “Roe deer meat is delicious too.”
Qi Haoran swallowed his saliva and nodded repeatedly. “It’s indeed delicious.”