Reborn as the Blissful Wife in the countryside

Chapter 1307: Heavy Snow

After listening, Qin San Lang immediately apologized to the elders present.

Third Grandma felt sorry and said, "It’s not too late, it’s only the early evening, Brother Cheng, Qingxi, and Gui Niu have eaten plenty of roasted meat and soup, they won’t be hungry."

As she spoke, she brought over a plate of sliced roast lamb, handing it to Qin San Lang: "You must be hungry, it was just freshly roasted and still warm, eat it quickly."

Then she turned to Gu Jinli: "Little Xiao Yu, what are you standing there for? San Lang loves grilled fish the most, go and grill a few fish for him to eat."

Gu Jinli: "..."

I’m just a tool person!

But she felt sorry for Qin San Lang and went to make grilled fish for him.

The fish was cleaned by Old Zhu’s wife earlier; she prepared the sauce, and grilled it. Before long, a plate of grilled fish was ready: "There are four more, just one more round of grilling."

She saw Brother Cheng idle and grabbed him by the collar from behind, saying: "Come on, go to the kitchen to help grill fish."

Brother Cheng was dragged away by her, hurriedly waving to Gu Jin’an for help: "Brother, save me."

But Gu Jin’an was busy lighting the lanterns hanging under the veranda and had no time to deal with him. Brother Cheng had to seek help from Gu Jinxiu: "Big sister, Second Sister is bullying me again; as the elder, you have to do something."

Gu Jinxiu laughed and said, "But I can’t beat your Second Sister, be good, and help with the grilled fish."

Gu Jinli laughed and said: "It’s useless to ask for help, just accept it; you need to grow up."

Her words had a double meaning. Great Chu had been defeated, and big changes were sure to come, changes that might affect them all. Previously, they could pamper Brother Cheng, but now they couldn’t, he had to grow up.

Brother Cheng huffed and said, "Second Sister, you’re so fierce, be careful Brother San Lang won’t want you."

Gu Jinli laughed: "That’s impossible."

The nights fall quickly during Dongzhi; in the blink of an eye, it was completely dark.

"Grandma, Third Grandma, Aunt, it’s snowing, it’s snowing." Gui Niu was watching Gu Jin’an light the lamps in the corridor; when the lights came on, she saw white snowflakes falling and excitedly ran back inside to tell the adults.

"Snowing?" Elder Qin was surprised to hear it. The south is usually warmer, and it usually starts snowing in the lunar December. How could it be snowing this early November?

It seems it’s going to be colder than usual this year.

With such weather and many things happening this year, how many people might freeze to death?

What Elder Qin was most worried about was the Rong people’s raids. The colder it got, the more the Rong people would raid, and Great Chu was in danger!

Qin San Lang was also surprised; he put down his plate, stood up, went out, and stood in the courtyard, reaching out to catch a falling snowflake. It was icy cold, piercingly painful... much colder than in previous years.

It’s so cold in the south, the northwest and northeast must be even colder.

He recalled the veterans in the military speaking of a great cold wave, and if the Rong people launched a large-scale invasion in this kind of weather, even if the emperor managed to gather an army of a million, they might not be able to withstand it.

The Rong lands are extremely cold, the Rong people are resistant to cold, while in Great Chu, in the areas north of Central State, many soldiers have died in battle. If they are to gather or recruit again, it has to be from the south.

Southern people are not resistant to cold and have never seen a scene of thousands of miles of ice, they have no idea how to survive in such icy conditions, let alone fight a war, they might freeze to death before they even reach the battlefield.

Gu Jin’an watched the falling snow, then looked at Qin San Lang and asked, "Is it serious?"

Qin San Lang nodded but did not elaborate, returning indoors with a smile to everyone, saying: "It’s really snowing."

Today is a festival, they should be happy; he didn’t want to upset the mood with a sullen face.

Gu Dewang was delighted, hurriedly bringing Gu Qingxi and the others to the courtyard, shouting: "Oh, it’s really snowing. Qingxi, hurry and get a basin to catch some snow. The teacher said, tea brewed with snow water tastes best, let’s try to be elegant today!"

"Alright, I’ll go get it." Gu Qingxi was very happy, and joyfully went to get the basin, but couldn’t bring it back.

Gu Jinli said, "Do you know what those snowflakes are made of?"

"What’s it made of? Sister Xiao Yu knows?" Gu Qingxi curiously asked, looking expectantly for the answer.

Gu Jinli said: "You know that very smelly pond near the border of our village and Lianghe Village, right? And the outdoor toilets in our village, Lianghe Village, and the surrounding ten miles and eight villages?"

Brother Cheng, helping with the grilled fish at their side, couldn’t stand it anymore: "Second Sister, stop talking, it’s almost time to eat, are you trying to make us vomit by talking about toilets?"

Gu Jinli: "Hey, I’m not trying to disgust you, I’m just sharing some common sense, you understand?"

Brother Cheng immediately ran away after listening and said over his shoulder: "Then you tell it to Qingxi, I’m not listening."

He could tell from the beginning it was a big trap, so he ran off quickly.

Gu Qingxi’s face turned bitter, cautiously watching Gu Jinli, saying: "Sister Xiao Yu, don’t say it too disgustingly."

"Don’t worry, it won’t be disgusting." Gu Jinli nodded and continued with a smile: "All the rainwater, white frost, snowflakes, they’re all formed from water vapor. Water vapor is formed when the sun shines on the earth, lifting the water from the ground to the sky where it condenses. And the water from the ground? It’s the water in the ponds, the toilet water, and..."

"Sister Xiao Yu, stop, we won’t use snowflakes to brew tea anymore!" Gu Qingxi almost threw up and hurriedly interrupted her.

Gu Jinli smiled gently: "Hey, don’t rush to give up; you can still use snowflakes to brew tea if you want, after all, many scholars and madmen love to do it. I just won’t drink it myself, you enjoy it all you want."

Gu Qingxi was nearly in tears, hastily saying: "We won’t drink it either!"

After speaking, he quickly ran off to tell Gu Dewang what Gu Jinli had said.

Even though Gu Dewang was quite tolerant, upon hearing it, he felt disgusted, ran back to the veranda, brushed the snowflakes off his body with a cotton cloth, spat twice, and said: "So gross."

Then suddenly, he laughed heartily, dashed back inside, and announced to everyone: "So the tea that those scholars and madmen drink is made from urine!"

The people inside were stunned; Third Grandma was furious, grabbing a broom to hit him: "Brother Wang, what nonsense are you spouting? Talking about such filth before a meal, are you looking for a beating?"

Gu Dewang quickly hid behind Gu Dafu: "Uncle, save me, I wasn’t talking nonsense."

"Third Aunt, don’t hit him anymore, I’ll reprimand him after dinner when we get home." Gu Dafu quickly pleaded.

Da Gui and his wife were at the prefecture managing the workshop; they didn’t come back for Dongzhi, so he had to take care of Brother Wang and Brother Fa.

However, after this commotion, Grandpa Qin’s previously heavy mood lifted a bit.

"Dinner’s ready, dinner’s ready." Mrs. Cui, along with Old Zhu’s wife, Da Lei’s wife, and Ms. Xu Wang and Ms. Wang Ma, brought the dishes out, inviting everyone to eat.

After the food was set, Old Zhu’s wife and the others went back home to have the Dongzhi meal with their families.