Wow, this rough-around-the-edges pregnant wife is something else, she's incredibly ruthless!

Lu Yan felt heartbroken at the thought of the food she had wasted.

Fortunately, the hot pot mom said that all you need to do is adjust the broth, and you don't need to master any cooking techniques or skills.

It's a delicious and simple recipe.

Lu Chuan placed the soup base on the stove, and then added some of the ingredients from the table.

The mother and her two daughters sat around the boiler, each holding a sauce that Meng Tong had just prepared.

Lu Chuan quickly served several pieces of fresh meat to each person after just a few dozen seconds of blanching in the boiling broth.

"My lady, how does it taste?"

"it is good."

Meng Tong dipped the meat in the sauce, picked it up, and put it in his mouth. The aroma of the meat, along with the sweet and sour taste of the tomatoes and the complex flavor of the sauce, hit his taste buds with one bite.

"It's delicious, the soup base is very rich."

Meng Tong praised him without reservation, then continued eating the second piece in his bowl.

"Daddy, eat up, it's delicious!"

"it is good."

A smile curved his lips, and the man picked up his chopsticks and began to eat.

It was freezing cold outside, but warm and cozy inside. The family gathered around the stove and enjoyed a hot tomato hotpot. Meng Tong was very happy, and her pretty face was all smiles.

I wish life could go on like this forever.

After lunch, Meng Tong took Lu Huai for a nap, while Lu He and Lu Yan helped Lu Chuan clean the house before going back to their rooms to rest as well.

As for Lu Chuan, he couldn't stay idle. After sweeping the snow out of the yard, the man went to the cave.

The snow was so thick that it reached up to the knees when you stepped on it. What would normally be a few minutes' walk took the man fifteen minutes.

……

Inside the cave.

All the animals in the valley are here: litters of baby rabbits, three bison, a white tiger, and wolves.

Perhaps because winter was too boring, even the bison that usually stood up were lying at the entrance of the cave with their eyes closed, pretending to sleep when Lu Chuan came in.

Smelling the man's scent, the bison stood up, followed by White Night and the wolf inside.

"Ho ho ho~"

"Ow~"

Excitedly circling around Lu Chuan, he clearly heard their meaning in his mind.

"Master, is something the matter?"

"Do you miss me?"

"Master, I miss you so much."

One arrogant and narcissistic voice after another echoed in his mind, and Lu Chuan's dark eyes showed helplessness.

He casually found a dry rock to sit on, and gently stroked Bai Ye's head as she acted coquettishly.

He simply wanted to communicate with them today.

Releasing his goodwill, Lu Chuan stroked Bai Ye and said, "Sit."

Bai Ye wagged its tail obediently and did as instructed, even the wild wolf behind it followed suit.

Whether it was a misperception or not, Lu Chuan felt that Bai Ye was the master of these wild wolves.

But that's not surprising, since it was the one that brought them back.

Continuing to interact with Bai Ye, Lu Chuan unknowingly learned some beast-taming techniques.

Of course, his greatest talent is understanding them, which is the most difficult aspect of beast taming.

……

After returning from the cave in the afternoon, Lu Chuan carried a bundle of black bamboo. Since there was nothing to do in the fields anyway, he decided to practice his handicrafts.

Lu Chuan placed the bamboo in the empty room and turned around to see Meng Tong.

The woman was wrapped in a thick cloak, her flowing, jet-black hair loosely draped over her shoulders, giving her a kind of messy beauty.

"My wife, you're awake." Naturally, he got up and took Meng Tong's small hand, asking gently, "Are you cold?"

"It's not cold," Meng Tong replied.

Then she continued, "Where have you been? What are you going to do with these black bamboos?"

"Here you go." Lu Chuan handed a chair to Meng Tong to sit down and replied, "I just went to the cave and brought back a bundle of black bamboo. I'm going to try weaving some other things."

"Hmm, how are Bai Ye and the others?"

Meng Tong has missed them a little, as it's been over a month since she last saw them!

I don't know if it's because of their own reproduction, but they don't come to play with the babies anymore. Of course, it could also be because of the cold weather.

"It looks great, you've gained so much weight!"

Lu Chuan's words had a slightly teasing tone, which reassured Meng Tong.

With her beautiful eyes fixed on Lu Chuan skillfully splitting the black bamboo, Meng Tong hugged her cloak tighter and asked Lu Chuan calmly, "Do you think the weather will return to normal after spring?"

"I don't know," Lu Chuan replied, "but a good snowfall is a sign of a bumper harvest, so it probably won't be too bad."

"I also think that we can go back to the village then."

"Does my wife want to go back?" Lu Chuan asked, somewhat puzzled.

To be honest, he quite liked this secluded life, with only his family.

"Yes." Meng Tong nodded honestly, then explained, "I blocked the exit of Pingkou Village with something from the artifact, so people outside can't get in. As for those inside..."

"If you listen, we'll live peacefully together; if you don't..."

A sharp glint flashed in the woman's calm eyes, but she quickly regained her composure and continued, "Laoshan Town has more than ten villages, and the total area of ​​farmland, large and small, must be tens of thousands of acres! By then..."

“Not just,” Lu Chuan suddenly interjected, “the entire Laoshan Town has more than 20,000 mu of land.”

"Xiangshui Village is the largest in the entire Laoshan Town, with nearly 10,000 mu of land, but more than 80% of it belongs to the wealthy man in the town."

"That grain merchant."

"Ah."

Meng Tong recalled the scene from that night. She hadn't expected that their family's grain came from the town; she had previously thought it was transported from elsewhere!

"My wife wants to take over all the land in town for herself."

Lu Chuan quickly understood Meng Tong's meaning, but the man's face did not smile. Instead, he said with a hint of worry, "I'm afraid that won't work."

"Why not?"

Meng Tong lowered his eyes and asked.

"Although the town government office is gone, the land deeds are still recorded in the prefectural city. Now that everyone has fled and left, the land directly belongs to the prefectural city. If anyone comes to this land in the future, it will be redistributed."

"Just don't let them in."

Meng Tong operates on a robber's logic; she'll get what she wants at any cost.

Just like Laoshan Town, it had already caught Meng Tong's eye long ago, and she wanted to create a place that belonged purely to herself.

The valley was clearly too small.

After hearing Meng Tong's words, Lu Chuan fell silent. The man stopped what he was doing and looked at her, saying, "If we do this, it might attract the attention of government troops, which would be considered the behavior of bandits who occupy the mountains as kings."

The man's words were very honest. As a native of the Great Wei Kingdom, Lu Chuan didn't quite understand Meng Tong's logic.

But once she made up her mind, she never considered backing down.

The woman narrowed her eyes, bent down, and leaned close to Lu Chuan. With a smirk, she uttered a rebellious statement: "I just want to be a bandit."