After emptying her family's fortune, the pampered young lady went to join the army while heavil

Chapter 14 Not by your side, yet omnipresent.

Thinking of my in-laws' house, with its thin blankets and harsh environment, I wonder if Niannian can adapt.

Will she catch a cold?

If she catches a cold, and she doesn't like taking medicine, and I'm not around, who will persuade her to take it when she's being stubborn?

"team leader."

Someone spoke up from the side.

Lu Xiao snapped out of his thoughts and asked in a calm tone, "What is it?"

"It's alright, Captain. Are we just going to lie in ambush here all night?"

The other party asked Lu Xiao.

Lu Xiao glanced at him.

"has a problem?"

This clearly shows that they are no longer happy.

The other party shook his head repeatedly.

No problem, absolutely no problem.

Can they really catch the person they want by spending the night lying in a snowy hut?

.........

Qiao Nian, who hadn't slept well on the train, finally got a good night's sleep once she got home.

She didn't know how many times her father got up in the middle of the night; she was fast asleep, clutching her blanket.

Qiao Guowen and Nian Yunci got up and saw their daughter sleeping soundly on the kang (a heated brick bed). The worry in their eyes slowly subsided.

My daughter's return was too sudden.

For a moment, they couldn't believe it—was their daughter really back, or were they just hallucinating from longing?
When they both saw their daughter sleeping soundly on the kang (a heated brick bed), they truly felt that their daughter had really returned.

Their daughter, who went missing five years ago, has now returned to their side, safe and sound, with her grandson...

The couple were so happy that they couldn't sleep well all night.

The next day, Qiao Nian slept until she naturally woke up.

When she got up, there was a fire burning in the hearth of the main room, and her mother was cooking porridge next to it.

There was hot water prepared in the ceramic jar next to her, so that Qiao Nian could wash up with hot water when she got up.

"Good morning, Mom."

Qiao Nian rubbed her eyes and came to Nian Yunci's side.

"Remember early."

Nian Yunci greeted her with a smile.

Qiao Nian looked at the porridge in the pot and asked where her father had gone.

"He was shoveling snow into the ditch in the backyard."

"Shuijiao?"

Qiao Nian was hearing about this for the first time and was quite curious. "Can I go see Mom?"

"Go ahead, the door to the backyard is behind the woodpile."

Because there was a pond in their backyard that was crucial to their survival, they usually blocked the door to the backyard with firewood.

It served to some extent as a cover-up.

Qiao Guowen went there in the morning, and the firewood next to him was moved away, so now Qiao Nian can just go directly there.

She went to the backyard.

In a courtyard of about ten square meters, there are high earthen walls on both sides, and near the base of the walls, there is an open water gate.

Qiao Guowen was shoveling clean snow into the pond.

Seeing Qiao Nian approaching, he told her to be careful and not to go near Shuijiao.

"It's deep inside, don't go over there."

"I know dad."

Qiao Nian just wanted to see what Shuijiao was; she had no intention of falling into it.

She walked along the edge to Qiao Guowen's side.

"Dad, if we shovel this snow in, will it melt?"

"Yes, in winter, the temperature in the water village is a few degrees higher than outside. If you collect clean snow and shovel it in, the water in the water village will gradually increase after it melts."

"That way, your mother and I won't have to worry about drinking water all year round."

Qiao Guowen explained to his daughter.

Qiao Nian nodded, understanding.

"Who came up with this idea? It's quite clever."

“Everyone in the village does it this way; it’s an old method they’ve used for hundreds of years, and it works.”

Qiao Guowen then said to Qiao Nian, "Your mother and I used to fetch water to drink. Later, our son-in-law saw this and suggested building a water cellar so that it would be more convenient for us to get water."

It's Lu Xiao again.

Since Qiao Nian came to visit her parents, she's constantly heard them praising Lu Xiao in various ways. Even she, their biological daughter, hasn't received as much praise as Lu Xiao, their son-in-law.

Qiao Nian didn't want to talk about that jerk anymore.

She had to do chores for her father.

"No need, no need. Go back inside. Your mother said she'll have Professor Li from next door take your pulse later."

The couple were happy but also worried about their daughter's extraordinary adventure.

She was worried that something might happen to the baby in her womb.

Fortunately, Li Ruihua, who lives next door, is a professor of traditional Chinese medicine, and he can take pulses to check the pulse.

Qiao Nian agreed.

She watched as her father shoveled clean snow for a while, and together they put the lid on the water cellar.

The lid, made of wooden planks, becomes quite heavy when wet.

It's a bit difficult for one person to lift it up to the wellhead, which is fifty centimeters above the ground.

At least Qiao Nian alone cannot see it.

Seeing her father skillfully put the lid on and clean up the openings around the water cellar that were deliberately left below ground level.

His hands were red from the cold.

Qiao Nian's eyes stung with tears, and she turned and went inside.

Nian Yunci had already cooked the porridge.

Sorghum rice needs to be simmered slowly over low heat for a while before it becomes soft.

Qiao Nian took out six eggs from her spatial storage and asked her mother to boil them.

"Mom, you can cook it with oil too. I have plenty of oil here, as well as rice, flour, oil, and salt."

Worried that her mother wouldn't be willing to eat it, Qiao Nian repeated it again.

After thinking for a while, Nian Yunci finally decided to add oil and cook it.

My daughter needs to replenish her body, and so does my husband.

After the family of three ate breakfast, Qiao Guowen went to the mountains to collect firewood.

Nian Yunci took Qiao Nian to the next room to have her pulse checked.

Qiao Nian asked her father to wait for her, and she would go with him.

"Niannian, it's slippery and cold in the mountains, don't go, stay home with Mom and warm up by the fire."

Qiao Guowen was unwilling to let his daughter go.

But Qiao Nian insisted on going.

"Dad, I want to go with you."

I'm worried about you going to the mountains alone.

The road conditions were what they were, and Qiao Nian was really worried about letting her father go alone while she waited at home.

As for her mother's health, she doesn't need to work with her father and daughter.

Qiao Nian is determined.

Once a decision is made, it is difficult to change it easily.

At this moment, she was completely different from the spoiled brat who used to always act coquettishly with her parents and was pampered by them and Lu Xiao.

Qiao Guowen had no choice but to turn to Nian Yunci, unable to persuade his daughter.

Nian Yunci thought for a while before answering, "Then Nian Nian should go and let Uncle Li take a look first, and then go with Daddy to collect firewood?"

"it is good."

Qiao Nian got her wish and a smile immediately appeared on her face.

She clung to Nian Yunci's arm and acted coquettishly.

"Mom, I'm going to collect firewood with Dad in a little while. You stay home and make cotton-padded clothes for Dad and for yourself. I have cotton and cloth. You can sew two pairs of gloves for Dad, and also make cotton-padded clothes and trousers."

“You need to save some for the baby in your belly,” Nian Yunci instructed.

"Mom, don't worry, the baby will be fine."

After they finished speaking, the family of three went next door together.

Besides taking people there, Qiao Nian also took about three kilograms of high-gluten flour and had her mother carry it to deliver to the Li family couple later.

The Li family suffered a terrible fate.

I learned from my parents that Li Ruihua and Wang Xueqin were both people with real skills.

She respects people like them.

Help them as much as you can without attracting attention.

When the family of three arrived at the neighbor's yard with three kilograms of high-gluten flour, Wang Xueqin was so surprised she couldn't close her mouth.

"flour…"

She had forgotten how many years it had been since she had seen such fine grains.

(End of this chapter)