Before reading a few pages, she successfully found her eyes too heavy to stay open.
She lay down, reached out to pull the cotton quilt over herself, and Shen Xiaoyan closed her eyes.
Before falling asleep, Shen Xiaoyan thought that reading was indeed the best sleep aid for her.
When she woke up again, Zheng Wei had already returned and was sitting by the kang, looking at her.
"When did you get back?" Shen Xiaoyan blinked and asked, her voice slightly hoarse from just waking up.
Knowing Shen Xiaoyan's habit of drinking water after waking up, Zheng Wei got up, walked to the round table, poured a glass of water, and brought it over.
Shen Xiaoyan didn't take it, instead drinking a few sips from Zheng Wei's hand, then shaking her head to indicate she didn't want any more.
After lying down for a while longer, feeling more awake, Shen Xiaoyan sat up and asked Zheng Wei again, "Where's Xiaoming? When did you guys get back?"
"We haven't been back for long. Xiaoming went back to his room. We were lucky today and hunted a roe deer," Zheng Wei replied with a light laugh.
"Hunted a roe deer?" Shen Xiaoyan's eyes lit up at the news, then she pouted, saying with some regret, "I wish I had gone along too."
"Wanting to go is simple. We'll go in a few days," Zheng Wei said humorously. What was there to regret? No one was more conveniently located than they were in Jinshan.
Shen Xiaoyan put on her clothes and pulled Zheng Wei out. She wanted to see the roe deer. If it was a decent size, it might fetch a good price.
If it wasn't big, they could keep it to eat. Roasted roe deer meat was her favorite.
Following Zheng Wei all the way to the side courtyard, Shen Xiaoyan saw the roe deer Zheng Wei had mentioned.
The roe deer was not small; it must have been an adult. There was a hole in its neck, which looked like it had been pierced by an arrow.
Such a wound was clearly Zheng Wei's work. Shen Xiaoming did not yet have the strength to kill it with a single arrow.
Shen Xiaoyan circled the roe deer and then said, "Are we selling it tomorrow in town or..."
"Let's not sell it. We're not short of money now. Let's keep it to eat," Zheng Wei said.
He had just seen the little woman drooling. Without thinking, he knew she definitely wanted to eat roe deer meat. Since she wanted to eat it, he would let her eat it. It was just one roe deer.
However, it wasn't as simple as wanting to eat it. Zheng Wei sent Shen Xiaoyan back to the house and took his knife to prepare the roe deer himself.
There was nothing wasted on a roe deer. The hide could be used to make shoes, which were the warmest.
As for the other parts of its body, they were even more valuable, all having medicinal properties.
After Zheng Wei skinned the roe deer and removed the internal organs, he set them aside separately. The antlers were also placed aside.
He first cut off the four limbs and set them aside. Then he cut the remaining meat into pieces, placed them separately on bamboo boards, and then put them on the snowy ground. After a night, they would freeze solid, allowing them to be stored for a very long time. When they wanted to eat, they could just bring them into the house to thaw.
Shen Xiaoyan mentally called this a natural refrigerator, and it didn't require electricity, which was extremely convenient.
The next day at noon, Shen Xiaoyan was eating fragrant roasted roe deer leg.
The roe deer leg was roasted to a charred crisp, looking very appetizing. However, this was not Shen Xiaoyan's doing; it was Zheng Wei's masterpiece.
Shen Xiaoyan's mouth was full, and she kept praising Zheng Wei for his excellent roasting.
It made sense; Zheng Wei had spent so much time in the mountains that his roasted food was naturally delicious.
Northeast winters were always snowy. The weather grew colder, and the snow fell thicker and heavier.
Shen Xiaoyan stayed at home all day, unwilling to go out. Only now did she truly understand what "hibernation" meant.
She felt like a cat, finding a warm spot and staying there all day. If it weren't for needing to eat and relieve herself, she would have liked to hibernate like a snake or a bear.
A month later, the vegetables that had been planted yielded their first harvest. Although there wasn't much of each kind, the total amount was considerable.
The most precious were the small tomatoes, green cucumbers, and the bright red berries.
Shen Xiaoyan kept a small portion of these three items, and the rest were packed into bamboo baskets and put into the carriage. Along with other vegetables, Zheng Wei took them to Lu Taobao in town.
Zheng Wei left mid-morning and returned quickly, before noon.
Along with Zheng Wei's return came money.
As agreed between Zheng Wei and Lu Taobao, all vegetables were priced at two cents per jin, regardless of variety.
The total weight of these vegetables was about 50 jin, totaling 10 taels of silver. Looking at the silver ingots in her hand, Shen Xiaoyan's eyes began to sparkle.
Zheng Wei looked at Shen Xiaoyan's greedy little face and felt as if his heart was being lightly scratched by a cat's claws, a feeling that was both itchy and incredibly comfortable.
Time seemed to pass quickly. In the blink of an eye, it was the twelfth lunar month, and Chinese New Year was fast approaching.
During this time, the vegetables were harvested again, earning another 10 taels of silver.
After entering the twelfth lunar month, there were one festival after another.
First was Laba Festival, on which Laba porridge was cooked.
The customs here were similar to her previous life. Following the folk sayings, the days passed, and soon it was New Year's Eve.
After lunch that day, Shen Xiaoyan and the other two began preparing the New Year's Eve dinner.
This was the first New Year they would spend together, and they were determined to celebrate it well. The meal they prepared was exceptionally rich.
Shen Xiaoyan had to admit that Zheng Wei was a very talented person. After two months of practice, he had become an excellent cook.
Therefore, Zheng Wei prepared the grand dinner with Shen Xiaoyan, while Shen Xiaoming was responsible for tending the fire. He was used to this task and was very skilled at it.
The three of them cooperated well, and by the time it was dark, a table full of delicious food was ready.
However, they were not the earliest risers. As soon as they had placed the food on the table, the sound of firecrackers could be heard from afar. Shen Xiaoyan knew that the villagers were starting to set off firecrackers, preparing to eat their dinner.
Upon hearing the firecrackers, Shen Xiaoming became excited. He grabbed the prepared firecrackers and ran outside. He wanted to set them off.
Zheng Wei followed him out before Shen Xiaoyan could say anything. He knew that Shen Xiaoyan would not be able to rest easy.
Watching Zheng Wei's figure leave, Shen Xiaoyan smiled. Zheng Wei and she had increasing tacit understanding; without her saying anything, he knew what she was thinking.
Soon after, Shen Xiaoyan heard the sound of firecrackers in the courtyard, very loud, interspersed with Shen Xiaoming's cheers.
When the firecracker sounds died down, Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei walked back one after the other. As soon as Shen Xiaoming entered, he exclaimed happily, "Big Sister, I lit it myself! This is the first time I've ever set off firecrackers."
Shen Xiaoming's words were full of excitement, but to Shen Xiaoyan's ears, they were heartbreaking. Shen Xiaoming was already 10 years old, yet this was his first time setting off firecrackers.
In this era, firecrackers were also a luxury. Ordinary farm children couldn't afford to play with them, but every family would buy a few for their children during the New Year.
But Shen Xiaoming, since he was little, had never set off a single firecracker. Every year when Shen Bing played, he could only stand on the side, his eyes full of envy.
He never asked for them, perhaps because he knew he wouldn't get them even if he did.
Now that they had money, Shen Xiaoyan had bought Shen Xiaoming a lot, but she was afraid he would hurt himself. It was Shen Xiaoming who reassured Shen Xiaoyan, saying, "Big Sister, don't worry, I'll be careful."
Shen Xiaoming's maturity always made Shen Xiaoyan's heart ache yet feel comforted.
Seeing the moisture in Shen Xiaoyan's eyes, Zheng Wei quickly spoke to change the subject, "Let's eat quickly, it will get cold soon."
Hearing this, Shen Xiaoyan quickly told Shen Xiaoming and Zheng Wei to wash their hands, and then the three of them sat around the kang table, ready to eat.
Zheng Wei didn't drink alcohol, and Shen Xiaoyan and Shen Xiaoming didn't either. So, each of them had a bowl of steaming hot old chicken soup in front of them.