novelraw Chapter 253 The 1st Snow
Chapter 253 The 1st Snow
Chapter 253 The First Snow
As the siblings were bickering, the bell rang on the porch outside.
Upon hearing the bell, Gu Tang's face lit up with joy; her father was back.
He turned and went out of the house, took off the copper bell under the porch, and jogged towards the courtyard gate.
Now Gu Ping'an also knows that whenever the copper bell outside rings, it's almost certainly his father returning.
I put down the doghouse and breathed a sigh of relief.
His dad is finally back, so we can hand over the doghouse business now; he really couldn't handle it!
The puppies, having noticed Gu Tang's departure, crawled out and ran towards Gu Ping'an.
Gu Ping'an genuinely loves dogs, and he teases them with scraps of cloth.
At the courtyard gate, Gu Tang had already opened it and was helping her father bring the oxcart inside.
The rain is still falling, and judging by the intensity, it seems like it's going to get even heavier.
The oxen and cart couldn't just be left outside like that, so Gu Tang took the key and opened one of the back rooms in the courtyard, letting her father move the oxen and cart into the back room.
After the father and daughter settled the cow, the rain outside had indeed intensified.
Gu Lianshan stood under the porch, looking at the not-so-spacious courtyard, and pointed to the northwest corner: "Once the rain stops, we'll build a small cowshed over there. At least it can shelter the cows from the rain. We can't let the cows come inside to take shelter every time it rains; this house will be useful in the future!"
"Let's wait until next year. We'll be going back to the village in a couple of days. Once we go back, we probably won't be coming back before the New Year. If you really build a cowshed now, be careful it doesn't collapse when it snows!"
Hearing Gu Tang say this, Gu Lianshan realized that his family was about to return to the village, and there might be more snow disasters later, so it was indeed not a good time to build a cowshed.
"Okay, Dad will listen to you. We'll build it after the New Year!"
After closing the door to the back room, Gu Tang rubbed her icy fingers and urged her father to hurry back inside: "It's terribly cold outside, and we're standing here in the cold wind. We must be out of our minds! Let's go back inside and warm ourselves by the fire!"
It would have been better if he hadn't mentioned the cold, but as soon as he did, Gu Lianshan shivered: "Father's fur coat is wet. I wonder if it will affect the leather underneath."
"It's wet?" Gu Tang touched it and found that it was indeed wet, but fortunately only the top layer of cloth was wet.
"The leather is waterproof, so as long as it doesn't get wet from the inside, it should be fine. Go back inside and change, then hang it on a chair to air dry on its own. Don't use fire to dry it!"
As she spoke, she reached out and pushed her father toward the second gate.
As she walked, she kept talking to her father about the doghouse: "Just now, Ping'an and I were talking about you, asking you to get some wood to make a doghouse for the puppies, but he fiddled with it for ages and still couldn't make one!"
“He wouldn’t make a doghouse, Dad will make one for you!” Gu Lianshan took on the task without hesitation.
"That's exactly what I've been waiting for!" Gu Tang had given up on Gu Ping'an and now needed her father's help.
After passing through the second gate, Gu Tang pointed to the main room and said, "Please keep your voice down, my grandfather is asleep."
Gu Lianshan had originally planned to shout that he was back, but upon hearing this, he immediately gave up the idea.
"By the way, did your trip back go smoothly?" Gu Tang closed the second door and followed her father along the east corridor to the east wing.
"Smooth sailing! No trouble at all, the journey there and back was smooth sailing. It's just that Dad heard something about it and he feels that something is not right about it."
Gu Lianshan frowned. He hadn't thought much of it before, but now the more he thought about it, the stranger it seemed.
"Something's not right? Did something happen at home?" Gu Tang asked casually, but her father suddenly stopped.
He hurried closer and asked, "What's wrong?"
Gu Lianshan glanced at her: "Do you still remember Madam Li?"
Gu Tang: "...The Li family?" Of course I remember! I'd recognize them even if they were ashes!
Of course, these are things that cannot be said.
She blinked innocently, and asked hesitantly, "Is she my aunt's sister-in-law?"
"That's right, it's her!" Gu Lianshan whispered to Gu Tang with a mysterious look, "Li Shi has disappeared! There's no sign of her anywhere, whether she's dead or alive!"
Gu Tang: ...How was she supposed to respond to that? Show a shocked expression?
Composing himself, a look of surprise crossed his face: "Really? How could someone just disappear like that? Could it be that, like me, he's been kidnapped?"
“Li herself is practically a kidnapper. How could a kidnapper be kidnapped by another kidnapper?” Gu Lianshan found it hard to believe that Li had encountered a kidnapper.
He said, "Originally, this matter had nothing to do with us. Strangely, your father ran into Wang Laosan at your grandmother's house, who came to demand someone!"
"Coming to our door demanding someone back? Who are you asking for someone back from?"
"From what they were saying, it seemed like they were asking your grandmother for someone! Your grandmother seemed to have dealings with the Li family. I just can't understand this, how could your grandmother have dealings with someone like the Li family?"
Gu Tang's right eyelid twitched. She couldn't let her father keep thinking about this, otherwise, he might figure something out.
If her father knew that Madam Feng and Madam Li were the ones who plotted to kidnap her, he would definitely overthink things if Madam Feng "fell ill" in the future... and might even think about her.
Thinking of this, Gu Tang laughed with feigned schadenfreude: "If someone like Li Shi really disappears without a trace, it would be a good thing! Why are you worrying about these things? It has nothing to do with us anyway. You should worry more about the doghouse."
"Oh, right! And the whole room in the west wing is full of grain and meat. My grandfather said it all needs to be moved back. Try not to ask outsiders to transport it; you should do it yourself slowly. He said we can't let outsiders know we have grain."
Distracted by Gu Tang, Gu Lianshan also shifted his focus, his mind occupied by the doghouse and the grain transport, and stopped talking about Li Shi.
“That’s right. This has nothing to do with us. It’s something your father has thought about. I’ll go and make you a doghouse now. Once it’s finished, I’ll talk to your grandfather about transporting the grain.”
Gu Lianshan rolled up his sleeves and strode towards the east wing.
"Don't rush, go change your clothes first," Gu Tang said, following behind him with concern.
Gu Lianshan knew the importance of things, and while he kept agreeing, he went to the west room of the main hall, took off his wet clothes, and changed into a fur coat.
After leaving the main room, he went to the east wing again and pushed open the door to the room where Gu Pingan lived.
Gu Ping'an was still playing with the two puppies and didn't notice his father coming over. Only the two puppies became alert early on, and then, just like when they saw Gu Tang, they quickly crawled under the bed.
Seeing the puppies fleeing in panic, Gu Ping'an didn't stop them. There must be someone outside the door, either his second sister or his father.
Before he could get up and open the door, the half-closed door was suddenly pushed open, startling Gu Ping'an!
Upon closer inspection, it turned out to be his father!
Gu Ping'an immediately became displeased: "Please push the door open more gently, you almost scared the soul out of me!"
"Look at you, so useless!" Gu Lianshan glared at him and waved his hand impatiently. "Get out of the way! You can't even figure out how to build a doghouse!"
That's incredibly disrespectful!
Gu Ping'an wanted to retort, but his father wasn't wrong; he really couldn't build a doghouse!
He was a little short of breath because he hadn't done things well, so he could only purse his lips and leave, not daring to argue back.
Gu Tang tugged at his clothes: "Alright, alright, carpentry isn't your forte. Leave the doghouse to Dad, go do what you're good at."
"What am I good at?" Gu Ping'an didn't quite understand what Gu Tang meant at first.
"You're best at kitchen work, so hurry up and cook. It's raining today, so it's gloomy and cold. Eat dinner early, and then go back to your rooms to warm up by the fire."
Gu Ping'an was speechless. Was this praising himself or insulting him? "I'll go back to my room and lie down for a while. Come and call me when the food is ready. As for what to eat, you can decide for yourself."
Gu Tang tucked her hands into her sleeves, feeling the temperature dropping as the rain intensified.
She said she was going back to her room to lie down for a while, but once she was in the warm, cozy bed, Gu Tang quickly fell asleep.
She didn't know how long she had slept when Gu Ping'an knocked on the door, calling her to get up and eat.
Gu Tang hadn't had enough sleep and didn't want to get up, so she tried to get rid of Gu Ping'an.
Before she could reply, Gu Ping'an called out, "Second Sister! It's snowing outside! Get up and take a look! It's the first snow of the year!"
"Hmm..." Gu Tang closed her eyes and continued to sleep, casually responding with a "hmm" without actually hearing what Gu Ping'an said.
In the past, if he couldn't wake her up no matter how much he called, Gu Ping'an would give up and let her continue sleeping.
But at this moment, he was a little excited and wanted Gu Tang to get up and watch the first snowfall of the year with him.
He leaned against the door and shouted into the house again, talking loudly about the snow.
With such perseverance, Gu Tang inside the room finally regained consciousness.
She was initially grumpy from waking up, but when she heard Gu Pingan say that it was snowing outside, she immediately perked up and hurriedly got up and dressed.
Gu Tang got up very quickly this time, and was dressed and put on her shoes in just over ten breaths.
He ran to the door, pulled off the latch, and opened the door. A gust of cold wind immediately rushed in!
Even though she was wearing a fur coat, Gu Tang was still shivering from the cold.
Pushing aside Gu Ping'an who was blocking the doorway, she stood on the porch and kept looking up at the sky: "Where's the snow? Didn't they say it was snowing?"
It was already getting dark, but not completely dark yet. Gu Tang stared wide-eyed, not daring to blink, searching everywhere for the snow in Gu Ping'an's mouth.
"Wait patiently." Gu Ping'an leaned closer, staring wide-eyed at the rain curtain as well.
After waiting for a while, Gu Ping'an suddenly exclaimed, "Look, look! Second Sister, look! Snow, snow, snow! A small snowflake is falling!"
Gu Tang: ...
She strained her eyes and, following the direction Gu Pingan pointed, indeed saw a small snowflake drifting down.
The snowflakes were very small; only a few fell over a long period of time, and you wouldn't notice them unless you looked closely.
She looked at Gu Ping'an with a complicated expression: "Your eyesight is really sharp! If you were just a little bit off, you wouldn't have seen these snowflakes!"
After saying that, he went to the second courtyard without looking back.
Gu Ping'an understood what his second sister meant; she was complaining that Xue Luo was too small.
It's okay, it'll get bigger!
He chased after Gu Tang, constantly saying that it would grow bigger, maybe even in the time it takes to eat a meal.
Gu Ping'an's prediction was correct; after the time it takes to eat a meal, the snow outside did indeed become heavier and denser.
After dinner, the whole family, young and old, braved the cold wind and stood under the porch to watch the snow.
Gu Tang and Gu Ping looked on with surprise as they whispered to each other, betting on whether there would be snow on the ground when they woke up the next morning.
Gu Lianshan and his third uncle frowned, looking somewhat troubled.
It's uncertain whether the snow will get heavier. If the snow is too heavy, transporting grain back and forth will be a significant problem, not to mention anything else.
"Go back inside, don't stay here in the cold wind. The snow is still light, there's nothing to see." Gu Lianshan saw the siblings vaguely wanting to run into the yard, so he quickly urged them to go back.
That's true, the snowfall was really too light, there wasn't much to see.
Gu Tang took down a lantern from the side and carried it back to the backyard.
After she left, the other three also went back to their rooms.
Back inside, Gu Tang didn't go to sleep. Instead, she sat in front of the stove, warming herself by the fire while patiently waiting for the three people in the front yard to fall asleep.
They waited until the beginning of midnight.
This is the perfect time for a good night's sleep.
Carrying a lantern, he opened the door and went out quietly to the second courtyard, where he used a key to open the door to the west wing room.
Entering the side room, she sat on a sack of grain, with radishes and a lamb chop under her left hand.
Bring up the sign-in panel and press the sign-in button.
Despite the widespread rumors of a snow disaster, and the uncertainty of whether it would actually happen, Gu Tang decided to try checking in at the granary just in case, to see if she could get any grain.
As she pressed the sign-in button, a few breaths later, the system's announcement rang in her ears—
[Ding! Congratulations, host, for completing today's check-in! You have received a 'Life Supplies Gift Pack'!]
Another gift pack?!
Gu Tang was so angry that she could only glare at him helplessly. This thing was very much about luck. The gift pack she got from the last sign-in was still in her backpack, and now another one had come!
Dejected, Gu Tang closed the system panel, picked up the lantern, went out of the house, and locked the door. She felt increasingly that her luck had been bad lately.
Why have I become obsessed with all sorts of gift packs lately?
No, she'll have to ask Ah Gou later if there's anything that will bring her good luck, so that she can at least get something valuable when she opens the gift pack.
The snow outside was much heavier than it was at dinner time, and a thin layer of white had already settled in the yard.
Gu Tang stood under the eaves watching the snow for a while, and her mood improved considerably before she went back to her room to sleep.
Because she slept too late, Gu Tang once again lingered in bed the next day, just as punctually as usual.
Gu Ping'an got up very early. When he heard noises coming from the main room, he got dressed and got up instead of going back to sleep.
As soon as I opened the door, I was immediately struck by the snow piled up in the yard.
It really snowed all night.
Fortunately, it has stopped now.
The weather wasn't good; it was dark and gloomy, which made people uneasy.
His father was sweeping the snow under the eaves with a broom when Gu Ping'an passed by him and headed towards the backyard.
"Are you going to call your second sister?" Gu Lianshan glanced up at him, his hands still moving.
"Yes! Wake up and let Second Sister see the snow!" Gu Ping'an jogged up, very impatient.
Gu Lianshan shook his head; his daughter definitely wouldn't get up, so it was destined to be a wasted trip.