“We are all in this together, heading to Qingzhou for refuge. With the heavy snow blocking the roads, it seems we will need to huddle together in the coming days to avoid the cold. Since that is the case, let’s distribute the pork among everyone as a way to foster goodwill…” After Lin Ya finished speaking, he seemed to have thought of something, “Those who have already received meat can get more now, but this time it is available to everyone, limited to one distribution per person. As for the leftovers, let’s cook them all together today.”
There were about fifty people in the cave. Although the amount of meat was not large, it would at least keep them from starving severely for the next few days.
“Thank you, benefactor! Thank you!”
“You are a good person—”
“In the next life, I will definitely repay you!”
“May I know your name, benefactor? I will set up a long life tablet for you in the future—”
“Thank you! Thank you!”
Seeing them kneeling and preparing to bow, Lin Ya smiled faintly and raised his hand to stop them.
“No need for that; I do this merely to feel at peace with myself.”
“Alright, no need for further words. Let’s line up to receive the meat.”
The others simply looked at him gratefully and did not disturb him further, obediently forming a line.
Once everyone had received their portions, Lin Ya distributed small pieces of pork belly, some offal, and pig head meat to Zhao Bao. These could last for a long time in the winter.
“Thank you, benefactor…” Zhao Bao gratefully accepted the items and returned to the place where he had put down his luggage, accompanied by his wife and daughter.
As soon as it was mentioned that the remaining items would be cooked for everyone to eat, the women from various families volunteered. Some brought their iron pots, others set up stone stoves, while some used their ceramic jars to scoop clean snow from outside to boil in the iron pot.
To prevent anyone from hoarding the food and causing dissatisfaction among others, Lin Ya specifically asked Zhang to help keep an eye on things.
Outside the cave, he set up a fire to simmer pig liver soup with ribs, seasoning it with salt and adding some ginger to remove the odor. Although wild boar meat had a slightly gamey smell and didn’t taste exceptional, others were particularly satisfied and even showed expressions of contentment at the smell of the broth.
Leaving Xu Yue to keep watch outside, Lin Ya returned to the cave to fetch the last two flatbreads from his bundle, intending to roast them outside to soak in the soup later.
As he turned around, he saw the two children sleeping soundly, a slight smile appearing on his face.
“Zi Xiu, your clothes are wet. Quickly take them off and lie down; I will help you dry them before you put them back on.” Xu’s father gave him a tap, shocked by the dampness of the fabric. Wearing wet clothes in this frigid weather was unacceptable; having been outside for so long, Zi Xiu could fall ill, which would be troublesome.
Lin Ya was momentarily taken aback but did not refuse. He put the flatbreads back down, obediently took off his clothes, and laid down next to Ren Zhao. Fortunately, only the outer layer was wet; the inside was dry, and it would soon warm up. He dried his hair with a cloth and expected everything to be fine after warming them outside.
Lying on the surprisingly comfortable bedding, sleepiness and fatigue washed over him, and Lin Ya unexpectedly fell into a deep sleep, undisturbed by the noise outside.
When he woke up, it was already the middle of the night.
Blinking in the darkness and quickly regaining his senses, Lin Ya noticed that everything around him was visible in the shadows. He tucked the blanket back and put on the dry clothes before nudging Xu Yue, who had fallen asleep leaning against the wall, signaling her to sleep on the bed.
Xu Yue sleepily wandered to the warm spot and lay down, covering herself with a blanket.
Xu’s father and Zhang lay on the other side of the children, sleeping soundly, and Lin Ya didn’t see Xu Jin anywhere. After pondering for a moment, he walked toward the cave entrance, avoiding the bodies of others huddled together for warmth due to the cold.
Finally, he spotted Xu Jin at the door.
She appeared drowsy as she guarded the entrance, and the pot beside her was still steaming, with the charcoal underneath still burning, likely keeping the pot warm.
Lin Ya walked over and nudged her slightly, suggesting there was still space to sleep inside.
“…Brother-in-law, you’re awake,” Xu Jin yawned, rubbed her eyes, and pulled out most of a flatbread from her pocket.
“Why is there still so much left?” Lin Ya cleaned his face with the snow from outside and returned to see her tearing the flatbread and tossing pieces into the pot. A flicker of mixed emotions crossed his eyes.
“We barely moved and already ate the meat soup; we are quite full,” Xu Jin recalled the soup the women had cooked that evening and wrinkled her lips slightly; the taste was honestly hard to describe.
“Just eat a little more.” Lin Ya went back to retrieve the remaining pickled vegetables; there truly wasn’t much left in the bundle apart from the silver and the house deed, so a thief would get nothing.
“No need, brother-in-law, you eat instead.”
Lin Ya looked at her conflicted expression and chuckled softly, “I can’t finish it alone.”
“…Brother-in-law, are you really not trying to deceive me?” Xu Jin asked skeptically.
“No, I really can’t eat that much.” The pot still had half the meat and a large amount of soup left, clearly indicating that apart from the two children, everyone else had eaten from the communal pot.
It didn’t take much thought to know the taste wasn’t great.
“Alright then.” She grabbed two sets of bowls and chopsticks and used a wooden spoon to serve him a generous helping of meat, soup, and soaked flatbread before handing it over.
Lin Ya furrowed his brow, resigned to eat.
Over the next three days, the snow continued to fall incessantly, accumulating thicker with each passing day.
Luckily, Lin Ya had arranged for lots of firewood before. During the day, they burned it outside to keep warm; at night, they stacked the heated charcoal into a circle using stones, placing the carbon inside so they wouldn’t be too cold while sleeping. Furthermore, the cave entrance was quite wide, alleviating concerns of carbon monoxide poisoning.
As people grew more anxious day by day and the meat previously distributed was mostly consumed, Lin Ya’s heart gradually sank. If the snow continued to fall like this, it might soon become a serious problem in a couple of days.
Fortunately, heaven was kind; the snow stopped early on the fifth day.
After four to five days of continuous snowfall, the snow had built up to about calf-height. They had never seen snow this thick before. In previous years, even when it snowed, it usually stopped after a day or two.
Many people looked at the thick layer of snow and hesitated to move forward, fearing that staying too long in the snow would freeze their legs.