AWB Chapter 255 About Hibernation
Chapter 255 About Hibernation
In mid-December, the weather was getting colder and colder.
Even when the sun is high in the sky at noon, you can't feel much heat on your body.
Because the dry, cold wind kept howling, without stopping for twelve hours. Even the grass and trees it blew through made a crackling sound, as if they could be crushed at the slightest touch.
Now, whenever the two sisters leave their bedroom, they need to wrap their heads in fluffy hats, cover their mouths and noses with scarves, put on layers of thick clothes, and tuck their hands into their sleeves.
In the end, only a pair of eyes remained exposed, alone, enduring the cold wind.
Winter is truly a wondrous season where, once you step outside, neither of us will recognize you!
The weather was pretty good today. The two sisters, bundled up tightly, carried baskets and bows and arrows on their backs and pulled a cart into the deep mountains.
Because it was too cold, Taozi and Tuanyuan Ankang didn't go out much, so they didn't insist on going together this time.
They plan to go and fetch another load of firewood to take home today.
In fact, they had already prepared enough firewood and charcoal for the winter, and the woodshed was always full of them, so they were not short of them.
However, they noticed that since they started burning charcoal in the bedroom a few days ago, the amount of charcoal has been visibly decreasing!
Winter had only just begun, and spring was still a long way off. This enormous consumption made them feel the pressure!
So they decided to continue stockpiling firewood, since firewood doesn't expire.
The two walked into the deep mountains, where it was quiet and peaceful, with only the sound of them passing by.
Lin Lanshan hunched her shoulders in the cold wind and said in a muffled voice, "Sister, it's so cold, I wonder how the little squirrel and the little lynx are doing."
"Hmm... I don't know. Squirrels and lynxes should hibernate, right? Let's gather firewood along the way and go take a look."
Cherishing the adorable, furry creatures in the wild is a responsibility Lin Chunyi and Lin Lanshan feel every moment of responsibility, hahaha~
What's the one thing the mountains have in abundance? Firewood, of course! Dead tree trunks, withered branches, and yellowed fallen leaves—there's just too much to pick up.
And so, this scene appeared deep in the mountains:
Two people, dressed in disheveled clothes and unrecognizable, were carrying baskets and bows and arrows on their backs and pulling a cart.
They walked along, bending over the whole way, picking and choosing from the ground, looking just like two beggars collecting scraps...
Upon reaching the pine forest, the two sisters began searching for particularly tall pine trees. Based on their previous experiences, the three little squirrels always chose large trees as their home!
"Sister, have you found it yet?" Lin Lanshan looked at each tree one by one, her neck almost stiff from looking up, her eyes almost dry, but she still couldn't see any difference in any of the trees.
Lin Chunyi twisted her aching neck, swallowed hard, and said with difficulty, "No, there's nothing there."
It's nothing but pine needles!
(Of course you can't see it! Pine trees are so tall, if you could see a small nest hidden among the branches ten meters up from the ground, then their eyes would be like X-ray vision!)
Lin Lanshan shrugged and said helplessly, "Looks like they really are hibernating. Let's go then, sis, let's not disturb them and let them continue sleeping."
She was a little envious of being able to sleep comfortably all winter in a warm place without having to get up...
The two sisters carried two baskets of pine needles on their backs and placed them under the branches of the cart before leaving the pine forest.
If you continue walking a little further, you will reach Qinggang Tree Slope, which is the location of the Mountain Cat Cave.
The two men abandoned the cart on the flat ground at the bottom of the slope, carried baskets on their backs, and, leaning on a bamboo rake, climbed up the slope in a few steps.
Then they stood on the open ground in front of the cave and did not go any further.
If lynxes, like squirrels, also hibernate, then of course they can't be two people who inexplicably sneak into someone's house to watch them sleep.
So the two of them carefully observed the large open space outside the cave.
There were several shallow paw prints in front of the cave, and judging from the outline, they were undoubtedly the claws of a lynx. Based on the fact that the cave was sheltered from the wind and unlikely to stir up dust, it is likely that a lynx had entered or exited the cave in the last two or three days.
Hmm... Aside from the fact that the two little lynxes' den has been taken over by other lynxes, they should be fine.
Well, it's to be expected that we won't see them. Anyway, they were just out collecting firewood, so we might as well take a look.
So Lin Chunyi walked towards the nearby woods. "Let's go, let's cut down some oak trees and gather some oak leaves to take home."
Oak wood is very hard; burning one piece can take as long as burning one and a half pieces of other firewood, and even the charcoal made from it is exceptionally durable.
Since they discovered this, they have made almost all of their charcoal from oak.
Oak leaves are not bad for starting fires, but the smell is too strong, like the smell of rotten paint.
The two men cut a pile of dry branches from the oak tree and dragged them back onto the cart.
Then Lin Chunyi used a rake to gather the thick layer of fallen leaves into a pile and then shoveled them into the overturned basket.
She rolled some oak berries into the leaves, then shook the rake to shake the oak berries, which looked like acorns, onto the ground.
I've heard that oak seeds are actually a treasure, and can be used to make tofu.
But they haven't tried it.
Because it's something they don't understand, they don't dare to try it. What if they make a mistake and get food poisoning?
But this oak tree is truly a treasure from top to bottom!
Lin Lanshan tidied up the basket piled high with leaves, pressing it down firmly. Then she squatted down and began selecting intact and cute oak leaves to toss into her spatial storage.
"Sister, it's so quiet in these mountains now. We've been out for so long, and we haven't even seen a single pheasant. Could they all be hibernating?"
While holding a rake and gathering oak leaves, Lin Chunyi said seriously, "It's probably because tigers, wild boars, and wolves don't hibernate, so most pheasants have to hibernate forever."
“That makes sense.” She paused for a moment, then slowly continued, “Speaking of hibernation, the most representative example should be…”
"Fuck you...!!!" Lin Chunyi suddenly roared.
"?" Her sister's sudden use of polite language startled Lin Lanshan, silencing her before she could say anything.
Before she could even ask what was going on, her sister pulled her up and ran away, almost twisting her body out of shape.
Once they reached the bare open space, Lin Chunyi stared at the spot she had just been standing in, patting her chest in shock and saying, "That scared me to death! That scared me to death!"
"What?! In broad daylight! Don't scare me!" Lin Lanshan was still confused and inexplicably panicked.
Lin Chunyi, holding up the rake in her other hand, exclaimed, "I fucking caught a snake!" She had no other thoughts at the moment, only a bunch of polite words she wanted to use to practice her language skills.
Lin Lanshan's eyes widened. "Huh?"
A hibernating...snake?
She wanted to get some meat to eat, but not this!
and many more!
Wasn't she just squatting on the ground...? So, so she almost had her face pressed against a snake?
Lin Lanshan dared not think any further, feeling numbness from her scalp to the soles of her feet, completely numb!