Terrible Weather

After returning to the residence, Jiang Danhe spent the night writing a letter and handed it over to the courier station.

Actually, he didn’t know if Xiaoguo would agree to his decision. He wrote everything down and asked for her honest opinion. It would be good if she agreed. If she didn’t, he would make alternative plans.

—-

When Xiaoguo received the letter, it was time to send Zhuang Zhuang back to Teacher Kong.

Xiaoguo had brought Zhuang Zhuang home yesterday. She was supposed to send him back the next morning, but it was a cloudy day today. There was a strong wind outside and the sky was filled with dark clouds. It looked like a storm was coming soon, and it could probably last for a few days. Therefore, Xiaoguo decided to send Zhuang Zhuang back earlier.

After lunch, Xiaoguo sent Zhuang Zhuang off with much reluctance. Judging from the current weather conditions, if she were to send him off tomorrow, they wouldn’t be able to make the trip. Once the heavy rain soaked through the dirt road, the muddy conditions would make traveling impossible. It would be worse if it kept on raining over a few days.

On her way back, she bumped into a courier at the entrance of the village. He was just entering the village. Xiaoguo’s donkey cart followed closely behind and called out to him. If there was a letter for her, she could just take it from him on the spot. Judging by the weather, it was probably going to rain soon. The courier could save some time and go back early.

“What a coincidence. Madam, I have a letter for you!”

The courier was overjoyed to see Xiaoguo. No one was willing to come out in this terrible weather. He had no choice. At this moment, he just hoped that he could go back early and avoid the rain.

“Give it to me. You should go back early in this weather.”

“Sigh, I’ll go back now.”

Xiaoguo took the letter and quickly drove home.

The sky was getting darker. It was just slightly after noon, but it looked like it was evening time.

When Xiaoguo got home, she added another layer of roofing to the livestock shed. These were the reeds that she had skewered two days ago to reinforce the roof of the shed. When spring came, rainfall would increase. She had to add a few more layers to waterproof the shed.

As the wind was strong, the minute Xiaoguo put down the ladder, it was immediately blown askew. After she put it back in place, it was blown askew again. This happened several times. In the end, she had to shift to a spot that was sheltered from the wind.

Holding a large patch of reeds in one hand and holding onto the ladder with the other, she carefully stepped on the ladder. When the wind blew, the reeds would flutter. That caused her to sway on the ladder and her heart was beating like a drum while she was at it.

She quickly finished building the livestock shed and tidied up the courtyard. Items that were not needed were stored away, and stuff that had to be brought in were taken into the house. She was getting ready for the storm.

After making sure that there was nothing else to pack, Xiaoguo washed her hands and returned to the house.

When Xiaoguo entered the house, she had to light a candle since it was too dark. Just as the flame lit up the room, a flash of lightning and a roar of thunder occurred at the same time. Xiaoguo was so startled that she accidentally placed her hand against the burning candle wick. While withdrawing her hand from the pain, she knocked over a glass on the table.

The chain reaction didn’t give Xiaoguo any time to react. When she came to her senses, it had started raining heavily. The candle was extinguished while the glass of water had landed on ground with water spilled all over the floor.

“…”

No matter how strong the winds were, they could not compare to the complicated emotions going through Xiaoguo’s mind.

After a while, she slowly composed herself and lit the candle again. Then, she squatted down and picked up the glass of water. She placed it back in its original spot and returned to her room to put ointment on her fingers.

When she was done, she sat down at the table, completely exhausted.

Just as she was about to lie down and rest, she suddenly felt something on her chest. Puzzled, she took it out and remembered that she had received a letter from Jiang Danhe. Earlier on when she just received it, she had put it in her pocket and started cleaning the courtyard. After that, she completely forgot about it.

By the candlelight, she finished reading the letter carefully. After putting it down, Xiaoguo rested her chin on her hands. At this moment, her thoughts were in a mess. Spring had arrived, but Jiang Danhe was not coming back.

In the letter, Jiang Danhe told her everything and his thoughts. In principle, it was very good. There was every reason for him to stay in the capital. He could not find a better job elsewhere.

However, Xiaoguo was feeling a little depressed. She didn’t know what had happened all of a sudden. During the apocalypse, she was always alone and had experienced all kinds of difficulties and dangers by herself. She managed to survive all that. But what was wrong with her today…?

“It must be this damn weather!”

After throwing a tantrum at the heavens, Xiaoguo felt much better. She could be feeling down because of the overcast weather, or it could be due to another reason.

But no matter what, Jiang Danhe’s decision was a good one. In the letter, he mentioned that he would try his best to come back once a month and stay for a longer period of time.

Logically speaking, Xiaoguo was very satisfied with this arrangement. This was because it is good to maintain some distance between people. If she really had to spend time with Jiang Danhe every day, it would be inevitable that there would be friction between them. It was good that he could come back once a month. As the saying goes, absence makes the heart grow fonder.

Some sort of distance should be maintained between people. It should be the same for married couples. This was the best way to ensure a lasting relationship.

But from an emotional point of view…

“Sigh…”

Without any expectation, one wouldn’t have a chance to feel disappointment.

Outside, there was a strong wind and torrential rain. Xiaoguo closed the doors and windows tightly. In this weather, she felt like she would be swept away by the winds if she stepped out. After closing the doors and windows, she felt more safe and secure.

She returned to the table and put away Jiang Danhe’s letter. In any case, she probably wouldn’t be able to leave the house for the next two days. There was no hurry to reply to him.

When it was time for dinner, Xiaoguo looked at the pouring rain and thought about what she would eat later.

Hotpot was the best thing to have on a rainy day.

Coincidentally, she had a lot of meatballs in the fridge. Qin Anming had brought them back for her some time ago, but she had never eaten them. Other than frying the meatballs with noodles for Zhuang Zhuang once, she had never eaten the rest.

Xiaoguo gathered her courage and went out. As soon as she opened the door, the noisy sound of rain accompanied by muffled thunder hit her eardrums. She carefully walked along the eaves to the kitchen, but no matter how careful she was, her feet and shoulders were drenched.

She went to the kitchen and glanced at the copper pot. After thinking for a moment, she decided to forget about it. She would just set up a ground stove.

In this cold weather, it would be nice to enjoy a hotpot and keep warm by the stove.

After setting up the stove and lighting the fire, Xiaoguo returned to the kitchen in the other space. She opened the fridge and took out the frozen mutton slices and meatballs. She couldn’t finish too much food all by herself, so she put a little bit of everything on a plate.

Xiaoguo found a bag of frozen mushrooms that had been hydrated beforehand. The last time she made fried rice for Zhuang Zhuang, she had prepared too many mushrooms and couldn’t finish them. This time, she could add them to the hotpot.

There were no other green vegetables left. She could only cut off the leaves from a cabbage and rinse them. The remaining rib portion could be kept for future use to be made into a stew

When she returned to the kitchen, she found a few potatoes that were about to sprout in the vegetable basket. She peeled and cut them so that she could add them into the hotpot later.

The ingredients were now ready. Xiaoguo just had to wait for the water to boil.

While waiting, she made some noodles and prepared a bowl of sesame sauce. When she returned, the water had started to boil.

As there was no soup base, she only used plain water and added some salt, spring onions and ginger. Although the fragrance was not fantastic, the good thing was that the authentic flavors of the ingredients would come through in the soup.

She added some mushrooms and chicken oil. When the water started to boil again, the soup had become more flavorful. She scooped out a bowl to warm her stomach. Then, she added the small meatballs and potato slices. When the soup was boiling, she added the mutton and cabbage leaves.

Since she was eating alone, she didn’t put in the ingredients bit by bit. Instead, she added everything and scooped them out when they were cooked. It was more convenient this way.

With the rain pouring outside. Xiaoguo’s eyes and heart were filled with the steaming hotpot. Before she even started digging in, her body was warmed up by the wonderful sight in front of her.

In the end, she finished an entire pot of meatballs and vegetables. She had wanted to add some noodles, but she was really too stuffed. Therefore she could only put them back into the fridge. In the end, she didn’t even have the strength to wash the dishes. Instead, she hugged her stomach and retired to her room.