novelraw Chapter 61: Winter Has Come
Chapter 61: Winter Has Come
It's done.
Li Wei felt delighted in his heart - all the hard work over these past twenty-plus days had been worth it.
Without delay, he immediately activated the One-Star Stamina Card. In the next instant, he felt warm currents circulating throughout his body, extremely comfortable. His original stamina value of 140 points had suddenly become 160 points.
This represented greater endurance and more sustained power output.
Taking his recurve bow as an example, this meant he could fire seven to eight arrows consecutively in a short time.
Yes, consecutive shooting, not the kind where you fire two or three arrows and then need to rest for a while - the nature was completely different.
Based on his daily training as reference, when firing three consecutive arrows, he could perform perfectly with all three, with each arrow consuming only about 12 stamina points on average. For the fourth and fifth arrows, not only would stamina consumption suddenly increase, but accuracy would also slightly decrease.
Therefore, Li Wei estimated that if he had someone covering for him and the combat intensity wasn't too high, as long as he fired two to three arrows consecutively each time and rested briefly in between, he could maintain optimal sustained performance. This would also help with stamina recovery, allowing him to fire dozens of arrows without issue.
"If I can't ensure re-election as Family Head in the next two years, then I might try to farm two more One-Star Stamina Cards. I wonder if reaching 200 stamina points will trigger First-Level Awakening?"
Li Wei then thought of Thomas and Margaret again. Their professions were quite special - they were actually warrior professions, not showing any life professions.Additionally, according to previous rules, Apprentice represented one-star, Professional represented two-star, and Professional Warrior indicated that these two were at least two levels above Li Wei's current state - he hadn't even reached Apprentice Warrior yet.
"Currently, both Thomas and Margaret are keeping a low profile and don't seem interested in competing for Family Head position. But as veteran completion players, they must have their own advantages."
Li Wei tossed and turned with many thoughts until he finally fell into deep sleep.
——
Time passed day by day. Winter had long arrived, but the temperature changes weren't too drastic. Some days even felt like a brief warm spell.
This was very beneficial for everyone's work.
Fila had already finished harvesting all the chestnuts and was now busy catching rodents everywhere - oh, field mice, as well as moles and squirrels - while also using fish traps to catch fish in the river.
These were all side jobs, and she worked with great enthusiasm, catching over twenty plump rodents every day, which she then processed into dried rodent meat.
But her fishing results were somewhat poorer, only catching five or six, sometimes seven or eight small fish weighing about half a kilogram or less each day. Only occasionally when luck was good could she catch fish around one kilogram.
In stark contrast was Leon. As a two-star Professional Fisherman, all the fish he caught were over one kilogram. Over the past twenty-plus days, he had caught three one-star quality large fish, which alone earned him twenty-three additional Family Contribution points. Combined with donations from side jobs and main quest rewards, he might even reach 50+ contribution this month, with total contribution possibly exceeding 100 points.
It had to be said that Leon, once a newcomer, was increasingly showing the style of a veteran.
As for the others, Thomas still went out early and returned late mining stone blocks and limestone, then burning lime until midnight - truly working from dawn to dusk.
Margaret's house insulation project progressed rapidly and was visibly nearing completion.
As for Li Wei and Penny, though they hadn't discussed it, they both tacitly continued mining iron ore, taking advantage of the good weather to mine as much as possible.
Of course, this wasn't for the family's benefit.
Li Wei hoped to obtain a second Miner Card, because the One-Star Stamina Card could be used three times repeatedly.
He thought the combination of Miner Card + Woodcutter Card was quite good.
As for whether Penny knew about this, Li Wei didn't know.
As the end of the month approached, the weather began to change.
First, strong winds howled for two days, then the temperature dropped sharply overnight. On the final day of the month, the sky turned dark with low-hanging leaden clouds, and snow began to fall just after noon.
Li Wei and Penny, each carrying fifty kilograms of iron ore, couldn't walk too fast or too slow. The first half of the journey was still somewhat visible, while the second half relied entirely on the nearby stream to determine direction.
They finally returned to camp before evening, by which time the ground was already covered with a thick layer of snow.
They had almost failed to make it back.
"George! Penny! Thank goodness, you had us so worried! If you got lost in this snowstorm, what would we have done!"
"Thomas and Leon were just about to go look for you!"
Fila, Margaret, Thomas, and even Leon - at this moment, some helped, some spoke, some offered fish soup, others brushed off snow - truly like a loving family.
"This snow is quite heavy, George. Is the winter wheat okay?"
"It's fine. With this snow, next year's harvest is half guaranteed. However, with such heavy snow, everyone will have to pause their work."
As Li Wei spoke, he brushed the snowflakes off his clothes, feeling somewhat emotional inside. Another month had ended, and it was time for benefit distribution again.
"Time to eat! Today's dinner is really sumptuous. Aunt Fila, you've worked hard." Margaret exclaimed exaggeratedly, like someone who always wants to show off their acting skills and steal the scene, with a strong presence.
"I'm not the one who worked hard - everyone has worked hard. Actually, we have Margaret to thank. I originally thought this wall felt a bit stuffy, but now with the snowstorm, I realize how wise it was." Fila praised, looking at Margaret like she was her own daughter.
"Yes, and she even adjusted the roof ridge. I admit my craftsmanship wasn't refined enough in this aspect, otherwise such heavy snow could easily collapse the house." Penny also laughed. The room was filled with a cheerful atmosphere.
Because everyone was quite satisfied - over the past twenty-plus days, Margaret had built three stone walls in total, two short and one long.
The long stone wall faced the original house, with the two short stone walls on either side forming two right angles, enclosing exactly half of the previous house.
The south side had an entrance, while the north side and top were sealed shut. Then mud was applied multiple times inside and out to prevent drafts.
This ultimately formed a space of about thirty square meters.
A new fireplace and complex flue system were installed here. Although it couldn't cover all the other houses, it was undoubtedly much better than before.
Actually, during this process, Li Wei had been curious - why hadn't Penny or Margaret designed heated kang beds?
After all, heated kang beds + fireplace would absolutely be a winning combination.
But he didn't recklessly remind or suggest this.
The food was served, and the family tacitly avoided discussing plot matters. Throughout the meal of eating and drinking, several people ate until they were sweating profusely and steaming hot, rather like having hot pot.
Unfortunately, everyone had their own hidden agendas, maintaining surface harmony without genuine unity. They didn't even have beer, directly missing out on a great pleasure.
And right in this warm, spring-like environment, lines of information suddenly appeared before everyone's eyes - it was time for the monthly summary.