Chapter 405: 405: Strengthening the Shed_1

Yuan Wangyuan, Liu Yu, and Gao Wentian all chimed in, heaping praise on Wei Ruo’s lamb soup and bread, declaring it the most delicious they’d ever had.

Xiu Fengyuan didn’t speak, but his gaze often fell on Wei Ruo, and from the way he ate the bread and soup, it was apparent that he was also very satisfied with the lunch.

Wei Yichen too remained silent, his eyes deep, seemingly lost in thought.

Ever since their near-death experience, he had become more introspective, and neither Wei Ruo nor his classmates found this unusual.

In the end, Wei Ruo’s pot of lamb soup was eaten up by everyone, not a drop of soup was left.

The snow kept falling, the accumulated snow on the ground around them grew deeper, their shelter, erected by Wei Ruo, was the only exception in this vast land.

After they had eaten their fill, Xiu Fengyuan suggested, “We should gather more bamboo to reinforce this shelter.”

Xiu Fengyuan was worried that as the snowstorm intensified, the shelter built by Wei Ruo might not hold up.

Lu Yuhong was the first to respond, “I’ll go with you.”

Yuan Wangyuan, Liu Yu, and Gao Wentian all joined in.

Then, they all cut a large amount of bamboo and used the rope on Wei Ruo’s cart to reinforce the shelter.

Seeing them bring back bamboo and clumsily tie the whole bamboos to the shelter she had built, Wei Ruo stepped in to help.

“Ruoruo, let us do it,” said Wei Yichen.

“The way you’re doing this could make the whole shelter unstable. The snowstorm tonight might be much stronger. It will be quite troublesome if the shelter collapses, especially for you.”

Wei Ruo and Xiumei had the cart to shield them from the snowstorm, so even if the shelter collapsed, it wouldn’t affect them too much, which was why they had initially built a relatively simple and crude shelter.

However, with the addition of Wei Yichen, Xiu Fengyuan, and the others, the situation had changed.

With that, Wei Ruo quickly took out a hatchet and split the bamboo, about as thick as a thumb, into several equal parts. She then split off the tough green outer layer from the white fibrous interior.

Seeing this, Xiumei stepped in. She skillfully used a portion of the bamboo to construct the lateral framework of the shelter, then took the bamboo pieces Wei Ruo had just processed and wove the green outer layers onto the framework.

Watching the adept movements and seamless teamwork of the mistress and her maid, Lu Yuhong and the others couldn’t help but feel a bit ashamed.

They weren’t nearly as capable as the two young ladies!

Lu Yuhong urged, “Miss, why don’t you instruct us, and we’ll do the work.”

Lu Yuhong knew that they could not match Wei Ruo in constructing and reinforcing the shelter, but letting the two young ladies do the work while they stood by, watching, was something they could not accept.

“Yes, Miss Wei, please allow us to do the work. We may not understand it fully, but if you instruct us, we’ll definitely carry out the task,” Yuan Wangyuan echoed.

Wei Ruo stopped working, looked at Lu Yuhong and the others, and, without mincing words, said, “All right then, you do it.”

Wei Ruo withdrew to the side, and Xiumei halted as well.

Wei Ruo gave them a quick instruction, and they quickly grasped the basics. So, she left them to continue reinforcing the shelter while she and Xiumei returned to the comfort of the cart.

Inside the cart, it was very warm. All the walls and the floor were padded, and several fluffy pillows were placed on the side. It was very comfortable whether sitting or lying down.

However, Wei Ruo was serious and preoccupied at the moment.

Xiumei worriedly asked, “Miss, what’s the matter? Is it because of Mr. Xiu…”

“What are you thinking? What does it have to do with him? I’m concerned this heavy snowfall will bring great suffering to the people of Jiangzhe,” Wei Ruo replied.

“Oh, right, last year’s heavy snow inflicted great hardship on the people of Taizhou prefecture! Plus there was also the threat of plague… Considering the current snowfall, I’m afraid it might be worse than last year…”

At this point, Xiumei couldn’t help but express her own worry.

Then Xiumei tried to comfort herself, saying, “But this year the harvest of grains has been good, so the situation could be a bit better.”

A good grain harvest is not only about having enough to eat. If the people have surplus grain, they can buy more cotton-padded jackets and quilts, and they can also repair their houses, thereby reducing the impact of heavy snowfall.

“We must prepare for this,” Wei Ruo said. “I remember that one warehouse in Younan Villa is full of the coal I’ve been stockpiling.”

Owing to last year’s conditions, Wei Ruo had made preparations early this year. Although she didn’t know whether it would snow this year or if it would be as cold as last year, it was always right to stockpile more cold weather supplies.

Xiumei nodded, “Right, a whole warehouse, untouched. There is also another batch in the storage of Xingshan County.”

“We should also have a stock of cotton. As soon as we return to the city, you should accompany me to check the warehouse where the cotton is stored,” Wei Ruo instructed.

Xiumei nodded in understanding.

Outside the carriage, the six men did not slack off at all. Although they were not very skilled, they worked earnestly.

While working, Liu Yu couldn’t help asking Wei Yichen, “Brother Yichen, why is your elder sister so amazing? She’s even adept at this. Watching her chop the bamboo earlier, she was so skilled. It was as if she’d done it many times before.”

Liu Yu felt a slight pain in his hands after chopping some bamboo.

He was not a delicate scholar, he regularly trained in horseback riding and archery and had calluses on his hands. However, the way he exerted strength when using the hatchet to chop bamboo differed from his regular training.

Wei Yichen fell silent for a long time before responding.

“Brother Yichen?” Liu Yu called out to him.

“My sister once learned some skills from the elders in the countryside for fun when she was recovering from an illness,” Wei Yichen replied somberly.

“I see, Miss Wei must indeed be a learned and talented woman,” Liu Yu praised.

Then, Liu Yu couldn’t help but glance at Xiu Fengyuan, “No wonder Mr. Xiu, he…”

Halfway through his sentence, he noticed the atmosphere had changed. Both Xiu Fengyuan and Wei Yichen’s expression had darkened.

Liu Yu hurriedly shut up, swallowing the rest of his words.

Wei Yichen then said, “We should hurry. It’s getting late.”

The others nodded in agreement, and they all dedicated themselves to the work of reinforcing the shelter, no longer engaging in small talk.

By dusk, the reinforcement work was almost complete.

The top of the shelter, which had used crosswise bamboo and cloth as cover, now had gaps filled in with flexible bamboo strips, enhancing its load-bearing capacity and overall sturdiness.n/ô/vel/b//in dot c//om

Two of the shelter’s sides were closed off with flexible bamboo strips. On one of the remaining sides was Wei Ruo’s cart, which could block most of the wind and snow, and on the other side were their horses.

Given the limited time, it was not easy to seal the top and two sides properly.

Since they were still lighting fires inside the shelter, it was not good to have all four sides fully closed off. Given these, what they had achieved was already quite commendable.