Er Gouzi chimed in, "Dad's right. Those bastards hang around that old turtle Liu Shan all day—what good could they be?" "Let's just keep our eyes wide open and watch them regret it." Liu Tieshan sighed. "We're all neighbors here. This time, we've thoroughly pissed them off." Liu Tiezhu said, "These people never treated our families like neighbors." "I haven't forgotten how they used to bully us." "Forget it, let's drop it." Liu Tieshan waved his hand, a bit helpless. After downing two pheasants, the four split into two groups to start working. Second Uncle and Liu Tiezhu were in charge of digging bamboo shoots. Liu Tieshan and Er Gouzi continued picking porcini mushrooms. Two hours later, the temperature suddenly dropped, and heavy snowflakes began to fall. Second Uncle shivered. "Zhu, you called it—the weather's really turning." Liu Tiezhu said, "Second Uncle, this kind of weather will last over ten days." "We need to be fully prepared." Second Uncle nodded. "Then we'd better hurry and dig up all these bamboo shoots before the blizzard hits." The two chatted as they dug, picking up the pace. Liu Tieshan and Er Gouzi had already finished picking the porcini and came over to help with the bamboo shoots. All the shoots grew on the surface of thick bamboo leaf mulch. Each one weighed over ten jin, and digging them wasn't too strenuous. It took over three hours of digging before the four finished all the bamboo shoots. By then, the sky was a murky gray. Looking out, the ground was covered in a layer of silvery snowflakes, and the temperature had dropped to minus 10 degrees Celsius. Seeing the mountain of bamboo shoots and porcini, the four, who had worked all night, didn't feel tired. Second Uncle estimated that the bamboo shoots and porcini combined weighed at least 1,500 jin. Besides these wild goods, they had also caught over 200 jin of bamboo rats last night, and Er Gouzi had bagged over 100 jin of pheasants and wild ducks. With this food plus the dried meat stored at home, the two families could eat sparingly for half a year and still not finish it. Liu Tiezhu quickly handled three bamboo rats, then lit a fire and set them to roast over it. Second Uncle and Big Brother sat around the fire, stripping the shells off the bamboo shoots. Er Gouzi hurried home to fetch the cart. About forty minutes later, Er Gouzi returned, and the bamboo rats were roasted. Liu Tiezhu took out some salt, rubbed it evenly over the meat, then used a cleaver to cut it into pieces and handed them out. This kind of simple roast meat needed no extra seasoning—just a bit of salt made its aroma irresistible. After eating over ten jin of bamboo rat, the four regained some strength. "It'll be dawn soon—we need to hurry." "Can't let anyone else know about this wild game. We have to move it all back before sunrise." With that, Liu Tiezhu was the first to hoist a sack of bamboo shoots onto the cart. The cart was cobbled together from bitter nai tree planks, two meters wide and four meters long, able to bear over 2,000 jin. Second Uncle used to haul rice with it, and now it came in handy. Soon, six sacks of bamboo shoots were stacked on the cart bed. Second Uncle looked at the snow-covered dirt road and suggested making two trips. Though the cart could handle over 2,000 jin, the road was too rough. If they loaded everything at once, the weight would make it impossible to pull. No one objected to Second Uncle's suggestion. Er Gouzi pulled from the front, while Liu Tiezhu and Big Brother pushed from behind. Second Uncle stayed behind to watch the remaining porcini. One round trip took a full two hours. This load was all bamboo shoots, just over 1,000 jin. After unloading, without time for breakfast, the three rushed back to the bamboo grove. The second trip was all porcini, only a few hundred jin. With the four working together, it was much easier this time. They made it home just before dawn. They piled the porcini and bamboo shoots in a corner of the yard, and Sister-in-law covered them with colorful cloth before calling everyone to breakfast. After breakfast, the snow fell heavier, and a biting wind picked up. Sitting in the kitchen eating, the group huddled around the fire, shivering uncontrollably. "Heavens, it's a real blizzard." Er Gouzi pointed at the raging wind outside the window, terror in his eyes. Outside, all the plants were buried under white snow, and the howling wind cut to the bone, chilling to the core. Seeing this, Big Brother, Second Uncle, and the others were equally stunned. In less than two hours, the temperature had dropped 20 degrees. Such a climate shift was rare. Liu Tiezhu warned, "Big Brother, Second Uncle, this blizzard will last over ten days." "What we need to do now is gather more firewood." Watching the snow fall thicker outside, he knew a snow disaster was coming. Second Uncle said, "Zhu's right. We've got enough food now." "The most important thing is to keep warm and maintain our body temperature—no slip-ups." In deep winter, the biggest fear was fever or a cold. These minor ailments, usually trivial, could turn deadly in this weather. After breakfast, everyone was exhausted. Second Uncle suggested they all get some sleep first and deal with the bamboo shoots and porcini after waking up. Liu Tiezhu slept until past four in the afternoon, woken by the sound of chatting in the yard. By then, the sky had darkened, and Second Uncle and Er Gouzi were sitting in the yard, processing bamboo shoots. They were bundled in thick army coats, with cotton hats and masks, leaving only their eyes visible. Big Brother and Sister-in-law were dressed the same. The four sat together around three stoves in the middle, chatting and laughing. Yaoyao was hiding in the kitchen, playing with the puppies. Outside, the wind still howled, and snow swirled wildly. Liu Tiezhu wrapped himself in a cotton coat and stepped out, just in time to hear Second Uncle say someone had died in the mountains today. "Second Uncle, you said someone died in the mountains—what happened?" Liu Tiezhu crouched by the stove, picking up a bamboo shoot to peel as he asked. "In the neighboring Huangwu Village, five sturdy young men went into the mountains together this morning." "Word is they ran into a herd of wild boars, chased them deep into the mountains, and got lost." "When the villagers from Huangwu found them, they were already frozen stiff, no breath left." Second Uncle finished speaking, his face still etched with fear. Liu Tiezhu fell silent after hearing this. In the face of nature, whether human or animal, everything was so insignificant. Going into the mountains in this blizzard weather was a sure way to get oxygen-deprived. For those guys to dare chase wild boars deep in—they were practically gambling with their lives. "Zhu Ge, what are you planning next?" Er Gouzi asked. At this, Second Uncle and the others all fixed their eyes on Liu Tiezhu. By now, they all saw him as their pillar, and his decision was crucial. Liu Tiezhu pointed at the puppies playing with Yaoyao in the kitchen. "In the coming days, I'll train these little ones and also work on my own fitness." "Gouzi, you come over then too." A second blizzard would soon follow. Though the house had enough food stored, Liu Tiezhu was still worried. Whether this blizzard's timing would overlap with the one from his past life was unknown. He had to be fully prepared and train the dogs well. That way, even if he had to brave the blizzard into the mountains, he could minimize the danger.