Chapter 10: Ice and Snow

"Father, mother, these two are iodine tincture and alcohol, for disinfecting wounds..."

She instructed them on how to use the medicines, and the family cleaned each other, treated wounds, disinfected, re‑bandaged, then put on Down Jackets, wrapped thick blankets over them, and it was already half an hour later.

Their bodies were clean, and naturally they felt comfortable.

She also brought out the remaining five loaves and Millet porridge, paired with Sweet Potato and steaming big mantou, and the family sat together, eating with relish.

Though the past two days were full of setbacks and they faced many dangers, fortunately all turned out without injury, and they could still eat the white mantou and thick Millet porridge.

Even with a leaky grass mat and not a single tile, they felt immensely happy.

At that moment, Shen Yuhuan suddenly began to sob, tears streaming down.

"What's wrong?"

"I... I miss Grandmother, and I don't know if Grandmother and the others are okay..."

For a moment, the atmosphere fell silent.

Shen Qingquan also thought of Grandmother, the kind and gentle elder who always affectionately called her "good girl", who as a child loved to hold her on her lap and feed her soft cakes.

In her previous life, Grandmother died while being exiled.

She was killed by marauders, and her body was never found.

Her greatest regret from that life was never seeing Grandmother's final face.

So after waking up, she was eager to find Grandmother quickly, fearing she might be in danger and meet a tragic fate like before.

And Grandfather... died miserably in prison, while the court claimed it was a crime‑fear suicide!

Her Grandfather, how could he have committed suicide out of fear of crime?!

She knows it must have been the Xia Emperor who ordered his death!

And their cousins and sisters, the Outer Grandfather's family... now they have no idea where they are suffering.

"A Di, don't cry."

Shen Qingquan wiped his tears, her expression firm, "A Jie, we will definitely find them."

"A Jie..."

"Do you believe A Jie?"

"Of course!"

He even blew snot bubbles, "Even if everyone doesn't believe A Jie, I still believe you!"

"And me! I also believe A Jie!"

Shen Qingci also quickly voiced support.

"Alright, then no more crying; we will find Grandmother, A Jie will never let Grandmother be harmed, and the Outer Grandfather's family, the cousins... A Jie will not let anyone bully or trample us again."

"Anyone, absolutely not allowed!"

The cool, graceful girl, like a sword out of a trance, slowly displayed her edge.

At this moment, the sharpness in her eyes was no longer concealed.

It was as if a blaze that washed away all pretension, capable of burning across the four seas and Nine Provinces!

……

The sky darkened unnoticed.

Night fell, and the cold wind raged.

Even with two blankets, the family shivered from the cold.

The temperature had dropped below zero.

The sky was filled with downy snow.

"Ding!"

"Successfully led the whole family to escape the flood, safely survived the crisis for 8 hours, reward 200 Gold Coins."

"Random reward: one medicine box."

Shen Qingquan was startled awake by that ding and immediately discovered a mission reward.

Earlier, when the flood arrived, the system had issued an escape mission, but she was busy fleeing and hadn't had time to examine it.

Seeing the 200 Gold Coins reward, her eyes lit up, and she completely forgot to check the medicine box.

"System upgrade to Level 2 requires 100 Gold Coins; upgrade?"

"Yes."

"Consume 100 Gold Coins, system upgrades to Level 2, unlocking a plot of field and a spring."

"Next upgrade requires 200 Gold Coins; please, host, keep it up."

Spring!

Great, the water source is solved now.

She saw fireworks appear on the system screen, ignored them, and walked straight to the spring.

It was a spring pool about the size of a field, irregularly circular, with bubbling steam rising from its center.

Though the spring looks small, it flows continuously. However, it has no other functions, and no rapid wound‑healing powers,

no miraculous bone‑marrow cleansing. At most it's sweeter and more palatable than ordinary water.

Yet Shen Qingquan was not disappointed; water sources are scarce now. Moreover, the recent flood water cannot be drunk casually.

Nowadays, water sources within a hundred‑mile radius are likely contaminated, so with this spring she need not laboriously search for water.

Moreover, she remembered that in her previous life, war, famine, drought were everywhere. Except for the southern region of the Land of Fish and Rice, other places suffered successive droughts and floods, could be said the people…

With a continuous water source, more crops can be grown. With crops, naturally more people can be sustained.

Laying the foundation for her future grand scheme and plans.

"Ding."

"Tomato mature, shall we harvest?"

"Yes."

At this moment, the tomatoes she had planted—she didn't even know which batch—were also ripe; after harvesting them, she planted Sweet Potato and Millet.

Whenever she has free time, she plants batch after batch without pause; now the warehouse already contains:

White flour (dehulled and ground): 50 jin.

Millet: 40 jin.

Sweet Potato: 60 jin.

Tomato: 8 jin.

These provisions would be enough for the whole family to eat, even if they were reunited with Grandmother and the others.

Although the Shen Family is not particularly populous, it does have a Third Branch.

There is the main branch, and also a second branch household.

Her simple‑hearted, loyal second uncle, and the honest, taciturn second aunt who treats her very well.

And the five children of the second branch.

As for the Third Branch…

Heh, Shen Qinya and her wretched family, rotten‑lung, rotten‑liver black‑hearted scum, who cares about their lives!

She controls herself from going up and randomly slashing them to death; even that is being generous.

At this moment, she has about 100 Gold Coins left.

She thinks about buying something else.

Suddenly, she feels a gust of cold wind blowing in…

She can't help but shiver! Her consciousness detaches from the system.

This temperature—so cold! Colder than the middle of the night!

She hears the teeth‑chattering voices of Brother and Younger Sister beside her ear, as well as Mother nearby; she lifts her hand to feel, and indeed it is also icy cold.

This can't continue.

Today, it is far colder than she imagined.

She opens the marketplace, searches for tents, and soon a bunch appear.

Tent prices are clearly much higher, but this is a necessity; not only now, but for the next few months their family may have to endure wind‑borne meals and open‑air lodging, and they can't stay frozen in the cold wind forever.

With her current Gold Coins, she can only afford a five‑person tent; this tent is a wilderness camping tent that can be freely collapsed, with a large interior space, and when unfolded it forms a layer.

Fool‑proof operation: a pull, a stretch, and it's done, requiring virtually no effort.

Sturdy, waterproof, cold‑proof, airtight, and it also comes with five sleeping bags and a fuel stove for boiling water or cooking porridge.

Additionally, one flashlight is included.

One moisture‑proof mat.

One set of three small knives.

One watch.

It cost her a total of 70 Gold Coins!

That really made her ache!

But when she saw the items on the gift list, she suddenly felt it was worth it!

Three knives, a flashlight!

Wow!

These are exactly the things she urgently lacks right now, okay?

And that watch—surprisingly, it can display temperature!

Isn't this the pillow that Keshui sent her for her sleepy head?? This book's first release comes from 17K Novel Network; see the official content first!