Chapter Five: The Great Snow

  The general lost his father at a young age, took over his father's business and hunted in the mountains and forests. At that time, the north was covered with heavy snow, the general was young, had an older sister above him, and a younger sister below him, their mother was ill, and it can be imagined how hard it was for them.

  Then the general, with martial valor bestowed by heaven, within ten days, hunted and obtained a bear. The villagers were astonished, all saying that their ancestors protected them, and they all congratulated him. The general did not speak, but gave the bear meat to the villagers. The villagers were sincere and thick-skinned, and all refused to accept it. The general said: "When my father passed away, he received much assistance from our hometown. Now I repay it with this, do not need to say more." The villagers felt grateful and accepted it.

  The general was only eleven years old at that time, but he had the style of a heroic and chivalrous man of ancient times. I do not admire the general's bravery in battle, but I sigh with admiration for his spirit and ambition, which is why I record this.

  The Affairs of Qin: The Strange Records of Bamboo Studio

  Zhao Shi's wedding was postponed, not because of his own opposition, but because that winter, the north experienced heavy snowfall. Although it is said that wind and rain are all up to heaven's whim, and have nothing to do with Zhao Shi, several consecutive heavy snowfalls made the originally optimistic common people feel uneasy. The sudden snow disaster left county officials busy and worried, and in the face of this rare snowstorm, West Qin politics began preparations for disaster relief on one hand, and entered a state of alert on the other. Of course, they were on guard against the northern Tanguts and the western Tibetan soldiers.

  The snow disaster has a much greater impact on these nomadic peoples. The nomads, who are short of food and clothing, can be imagined to have experienced such a snow disaster, and entering the border to loot has become their only choice. However, the top priority now is to settle the victims of the disaster, and even if there are border troubles, they should be dealt with in the spring.

  Although the place of Gongyi County is not large, there are few officials, so almost all the officials in the county have been mobilized. First, they need to transport hoarded clothing and food to areas severely affected by the snow disaster. After the heavy snow stops, they will clear the roads blocked by heavy snow in various places. On the one hand, they will contact each village and town, distribute relief materials, and on the other hand, prepare for the rapid arrival of reinforcements in the spring.

  Zhao Shi's marriage was naturally delayed under such circumstances.

  The snowfall in Zhaojia Village was not too heavy at first, but later on, a two-day heavy snowfall came down, and several old houses that had been neglected for years suddenly collapsed. Fortunately, only a few people were injured, and no one died. Each family took turns to take in the homeless people and settle them in their own homes, thus solving the problem.

  The food problem is not that serious, the grain stored in each household is enough for each family to spend this difficult winter, but the firewood for heating has become a big problem. In previous winters, people would go into the mountains to cut down trees and bring them back, relying on the mountains to get through the winter. However, with the heavy snowfall, the roads in the mountains are now almost knee-deep in snow, and the surrounding area is all white and vast. If we go into the mountains now, even if we don't freeze to death, we'll have to be careful not to get lost.

  The heavy snow has just cleared, but it's the most difficult time for people. When it was snowing, it wasn't so bad, the weather wasn't that cold, but after the snow stopped, the weather suddenly became bitterly cold. This isn't the kind of weather we have today with the greenhouse effect from carbon dioxide. The icy wind is biting and piercing, almost as if it's going to instantly take away all the warmth from one's body.

  In less than two months, several families in the village had already stopped cooking, and if this continued, people would definitely die. This was not a solution, so some of the elderly villagers with high moral standing gathered together to discuss the matter and called over all the young people in the village.

  The people of Zhaojia Village were already united, and after a few old men spoke up, the young people all agreed to send one strong laborer from each household to form a team of over 20 people to go into the mountains to collect firewood. They also had to take care of several families who were the only descendants of their lineage; they couldn't just let those family lines die out, could they?

  There were only two men in Zhao Wanshan's family, or more accurately, one and a half men. Zhao Shi was still too young to be considered a man. A household like this shouldn't have produced anyone capable of going out into the world, but since Zhao Wanshan was a hunter, it was natural that they were familiar with the terrain in the mountains and had to guard against wild beasts, so naturally they would follow him.

  Zhao Wanshan is a straightforward man, others just said it once, he immediately agreed to come down, before leaving also reminded Zhao Shi to take good care of the family, Zhao Shi casually responded with a sound, according to his cold temperament, will not show any emotions similar to worry and reluctance.

  Things are almost the same as they were back then, although the process is different, but the result is exactly the same.

  The next day, the team returned, each with a frozen face and pale lips, but two people were missing, Zhao Wanshan was one of them.

  When fellow villager Zhao Gouzi handed over the three-stone hard bow of Zhao Wanshan to Zhao Shi, Zhao Shi's mother immediately fainted to the ground. The two young men automatically put the firewood on their bodies in Zhao Shi's house.

  "Your father fell into a snow pit, and when we rescued him, he was already gone. We couldn't bring his body down the mountain, so we hid it on the slope. After the New Year's snow melted, we dug him up and buried him in our ancestral tomb."

  In the future, if there's anything at home, just go find Uncle. And... take good care of your mother.

  They took a look at Zhao Shi, who was silent and speechless, and the two of them, who had come to the house together with Zhao Gouzi, both secretly sighed. The three families were all hunters in the village, and this year, hunters also had to be registered with the government. Only hunters had bows, arrows, knives, and guns at home. When the border town was tight, the first to be recruited were these hunters. Therefore, hunters and ordinary villagers were different, forming a group of their own. They naturally got along well with Zhao Wanshan's family.

  But these days, making a living is not easy, both of them have a big family to support, usually giving some care is fine, but if you say bring this widow and her three children to their own home, that's just unthinkable.

  "Thank you, both uncles, you can head back now." Zhao Shi slowly helped his mother up, saying casually.

  Compared to back then, these two are still quite sentimental. After his father's death, relatives and friends seemed to not recognize him at all, as if they had never met before. From then on, Zhao Shi had a thorough understanding of the coldness and warmth of human relationships. Although his words were still icy, he subconsciously harbored some goodwill towards the two of them in his heart.

  Zhao and Dogzi exchanged a helpless glance at each other. In the end, they divided the firewood they had picked up into two halves and put it down outside the gate of Zhao Shi's house.

  "Stop crying, sister, boil some water. From now on, don't drink raw water and don't contact strangers who come into the village. When eating, wash your hands clean... Cui'er helped her sister with cooking... While saying this, she supported her fainted mother to the bed."

  Two girls, one no more than fifteen and the other no more than six years old, having encountered such a miserable event, had already lost their composure. After hearing Zhao Shi's words, they immediately found their courage and began to busily cry and wail.

  Looking at the pale woman on the bed, listening to the crying of two girls outside, the room was filled with a gloomy and dismal scene. For such a family, losing Zhao Wanshan was like losing the main beam of the house. If the woman on the bed were to pass away too, there would only be three young children left in the household.

  But Zhao Shi wasn't thinking about these things. He had seen too many life and death situations, and he had only been with this family for a year or so. In his heart, there was no room for emotions to grow, not to mention whether he had any emotions at all.

  However, he has always been meticulous in his thinking, and when others think of one step, he has already thought of three steps. Now he is considering that he needs this identity, so he still has to maintain this family with his own hands. Having been here for so long, he also knows some rules here. People without an identity, or what we call "black households" today, are simply unable to move freely here. In terms of population control, it seems that this place is even stricter than modern times with sound laws. Peasants who leave their land and go to other places without official permission will be treated as fugitives, so the idea of leaving alone has been completely dispelled from his mind.

  Supporting a family of several mouths was not a difficult task for him, although due to this body being too young and weak in strength, but with his skills, making the whole family avoid suffering from cold and hunger was really not a big deal.

  Moreover, after a heavy snowfall, it often means that the epidemic is starting to spread, and after a great disaster comes a great plague. This has already become a rule, so if you want to survive here, you must first take some precautions.

  There is also a food problem, the stored grain at home can still be used to get through this winter, and after the snow melts, I will have to go into the mountains for a trip.

  Looking at the density of the mountain forest, when the heavy snow starts to melt, there shouldn't be any landslides or mudslides. However, the small stream in front of the village might swell up for a few days, but it should not pose a threat to the village.

  The house needs to be repaired later, and I don't know how San Ge is doing now, has he become a salt inspector or not, without salt it's absolutely impossible.

  He took a closer look at the large bow in his hand, it was not bad for him, but slightly larger. He tried to pull the bowstring and felt that he still lacked some strength. The bow and arrow were not unfamiliar to him, in the jungle, the power of a single bow was often greater than that of bullets. Using a bow and arrow was not a difficult task for him.

  It seems that after the snow melts, I'll have to go find that Third Brother again. It would be best if someone could make a few pulleys; otherwise, it's better to just change to a bow. No, the bow's power is too weak and can't handle anything. Hopefully, with current craftsmanship, pulley sets can be made. If so, should I also get a gun made? He immediately dispelled this unrealistic idea. Although the craftsmanship required to make pulleys and a simple fire arrow gun isn't much different, where would bullets come from? Fire arrows are even harder to find; bows and arrows are more practical.

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  Since he decided to settle down here, Zhao Shi's mind immediately turned to many practical problems and roughly planned for the future.

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  Losing a loved one is undoubtedly painful, but life is like that, with losses and gains. People can't always live in the past. After Zhao Shi's mother, Wang, was seriously ill for a period of time, she slowly accepted the reality of losing her husband. Wang didn't understand any grand principles, but there were still three young children at home who needed her to care for them. The cruelty of reality wouldn't give you the time and energy to reminisce about the past.

  As the only man in the house, Zhao Shi also had to take on more responsibilities, taking care of his sick mother and comforting his two sisters. These complicated things are easy to say, but if Zhao Shi was still the eleven-year-old boy he used to be, it's likely that this family would have fallen apart.

  With the help of others in the village, and with Zhao Shi assigning tasks to the two sisters, they managed to get through that extremely difficult winter. By the time Wang's illness improved and the snow had almost melted, the creek had flooded for a few days, just as Zhao Shi had estimated. None of the natural disasters that would surely have occurred in modern times, such as mudslides, even left a shadow. Zhao Shi's heart was finally at ease.

  In ancient times, people attached great importance to filial piety. When Zhao Shi himself had almost forgotten that Zhao Wanshan's body was still on the mountain, Zhao Gouzi led a group of people and reluctantly entered the mountain to bring down Zhao Wanshan's body. The funeral rites in ancient times were undoubtedly complicated, but it also depends on what kind of family it is. Therefore, Zhao Wanshan's funeral was very simple and did not have many details. It was still necessary to observe mourning, but as for observing mourning for three years, that was a rule only observed by scholarly families, ordinary people did not pay attention to these things, nor could they afford to.

  Just after the seventh day of mourning, Zhao Shi took off his mourning clothes.

  "Shi Wa Er, where are you going?" Wang Shi had just recovered from a serious illness, and with the recent burial of her husband, she looked like she was on the verge of collapse. Her face was deathly pale, but now she grasped her son's arm tightly, her eyes filled with panic and a hint of ferocity. Her voice was hoarse from shouting, scaring the two girls next to her into shrinking away from their unfamiliar mother.

  "I'm going into the mountains for a trip."

  "You... what are you going to do by entering the mountain?" King's heart skipped a beat, she didn't dare to imagine what her life would be like if her son had another accident. Unconsciously, she asked while grabbing Zhao Shi's hand with some force, as if afraid that if she let go, her son wouldn't come back.

  "The things at home are almost eaten up." As he said this, his arm moved slightly. In this house, only Wang's words could be heard a little bit, and talking to Wang was also the most. Perhaps it was because he had such a mother in the past.

  "You... you can't go into the mountains, just borrow some grain from someone else's house, that's all. If you leave... how will your mother live?" As she spoke, Wang Shi's tears had already flowed down.

  "Little brother, don't go, the food at home is enough for a few more days. After a while, we can sell those animal hides stored at home in the town and support ourselves for some more days. If not, I'll go to the city to borrow some from third brother..." A timid voice came from beside, it was Zhao Shi's sister Zhao Qidi, but under her brother's cold gaze, she stopped talking and lowered her head in silence. In this era, women had a low status, once Zhao Wanshan left, Zhao Shi became the one who made all the decisions at home, this was a bad habit, but it was indeed an iron rule of this era.

  "That's not the way, debts owed to others must be repaid."

  The Wang family slowly let go of their own hands, although they were poor and didn't understand what the big truth was, but they were the ones who least wanted to owe others a favor. They would repay kindness with gratitude, and debts of affection had to be repaid, it's just that simple.

  But compared to the life of her son, what do these things matter? The hand that had just relaxed tightened again, but grasped at nothing. Wang Shi then said in a hoarse voice: "Don't be stubborn and don't try to follow me, child, you're still young, wait until you grow up some more, whatever you want to do, I won't stop you, okay?"

  But Zhao Shi didn't budge, turned around and said to his sister: "Prepare some rice balls for me, add some oil... I'll be gone for at most a month, take care of the house, if anything happens, go find someone in the village to help, what are you standing there for, hurry up."