Everyone had their own tasks, and the group was busy every day. Time flew by amidst their busyness. During this period, Teacher Zhou and his team, who were working in the valley, only sent Xiang Xi to find Chen Lan once. This was the day after Chen Lan returned from the valley. Xiang Xi came to find Chen Lan in the morning before heading to the valley for work. He confirmed the cement and sand ratio with Chen Lan, which was 1:2.5, and then went about his own work. He never contacted her again.
After dinner each night, Chen Lan did not sit down with her family to chat as usual. She would simply finish her meal, wash up, and fall asleep. Chen Lan knew they had been working very hard these past few days, and she had discussed with her mother-in-law about improving the meals. However, the conditions here were limited, and Chen Lan dared not go too far.
Chen Lan, still worried, went to check on them a few more times. Seeing them working systematically with no need for her involvement, she stopped going.
In the past few days, Chen Lan had been diligently earning money. She picked *ci la ya* and *ci wu jia* from the mountain forest and sold them to the system, earning quite a bit.
Time passed quickly. Today was already the sixth day since they arrived at the valley.
After dinner, Teacher Zhou did not go back to rest as he usually did. He stayed behind to speak with Chen Lan.
Teacher Zhou said, "Chen Lan, as entrusted, the foundations for the five houses have been completed according to your blueprints. From now on, you only need to water them for a few days, and then we can proceed with constructing the light steel frame for the main body of the houses."
Chen Lan smiled happily and said, "That's wonderful! Thank you so much, Teacher Zhou! Starting tomorrow, it's supposed to rain for three days, so there won't be a need to specially send people to water and maintain them. You can also take advantage of these rainy days to rest well. Everyone has worked hard these past few days!"
The next morning, Chen Lan was awakened by the sound of raindrops pattering on the car window. She opened the car window, and the unique fresh air after the rain rushed in, filling the air with the fragrance of grass and flowers. The leaves, washed by the rain, appeared even greener.
Seeing that it was still raining heavily, and the raindrops were blown into the car by the wind, Chen Lan quickly closed the car window. Since she couldn't go out in the rain, she returned to bed to catch up on some sleep.
After an unknown amount of time, Chen Lan was awakened by the cries of a baby. She opened her eyes to see Jia Hui crying. Her younger brother, Wen Kai, was gently patting her to comfort her. It turned out that Jia Hui had accidentally scratched a red mark on her own cheek with her fingernail. Chen Lan quickly picked her up, took out some antiseptic ointment, and applied it to her cheek. She also filed down her little fingernails.
Seeing Wen Qi and Jia Yao playing happily on the other side, she gave the nail file to Wen Qi and asked him to file Jia Yao's nails as well, so he wouldn't scratch himself.
In the kitchen, Wen Rou Niang was busy making breakfast. Because her mother-in-law knew that it would rain for the next few days and cooking outdoors would be impossible, she had distributed the ingredients for those days to everyone the previous night based on the number of people. Each car was preparing their own meals. In Teacher Zhou's car, where only men lived and couldn't cook, her mother-in-law sent Lin Mai and Cui Qiao to help, also instructing them to get more ingredients from her if they ran out. Su Dan Fiction Network.
After breakfast, as usual, it was the three younger brothers' reading time. Chen Lan and Wen Rou Niang held their two babies and went to chat nearby.
Chen Lan said, "Mother, I heard that the snow frog from Changbai Mountain is very famous. Winter has just passed, and now is the time when snow frogs are most plump. Rainy days are a good opportunity to catch them. I'll ask Xiao Xigua and the others to go catch some tonight. I'll bring them back for you, Mother-in-law, Grandma Liu, and Grandma Cui to supplement your bodies."
Wen Rou Niang smiled happily and said, "That would be wonderful! The snow frogs from Changbai Mountain are the most authentic. They nourish the body and are very rare!"
Xiang Xi, who had been busy for several days and was accustomed to going to work after breakfast, was feeling bored today with nothing to do. Hearing the mother and daughter's conversation, he immediately leaned in and asked, "Xiao Lanzi, did you just say you're going to catch snow frogs with me tonight?"
Chen Lan replied, "Not with you, but with all of you."
Xiang Xi asked humbly, "Xiao Lanzi, you say snow frogs are produced in this old forest of Changbai Mountain? I find that a bit hard to believe."
Seeing that Jia Hui was rubbing her eyes and about to fall asleep, Chen Lan said, "Mother, could you educate him about snow frogs? I'll go put Jia Hui to sleep." Wen Rou Niang gladly accepted the task and began to explain to Xiang Xi:
"What we call snow frog is also known as a forest frog. It's a unique primitive species native to the Changbai Mountain region. Its survival in the harsh, frigid environment of Changbai Mountain has endowed it with incredible vitality. Therefore, snow frogs are known as the 'king of vitality' in the natural world.
Snow frogs are treasures all over. They have extremely high medicinal value, with benefits such as delaying aging, combating fatigue, nourishing the skin, and strengthening the immune system. Snow frog oil is the essence of the snow frog and is a food ingredient with strong therapeutic and health-preserving properties."
When Chen Lan had coaxed both Jia Hui and Jia Yao to sleep, she returned to see the two of them engaged in their educational session, one speaking animatedly and the other listening drowsily.
Finally, Chen Lan and Xiang Xi agreed that if the rain continued until evening, he would be responsible for informing Brother Xiang Dong, Brother Er Hu, Xiao Shuan, Lin Mao, and Teacher Zhou's four students to go to the hidden riverbank after dinner to catch snow frogs.
Xiang Xi asked, "Xiao Lanzi, what will you be doing?"
Chen Lan said mysteriously, "I'm preparing the weapons and equipment for you to catch snow frogs."
After dinner, the rain was still drizzling. Chen Lan then asked Xiang Xi to notify the few people to come to the car to pick up their equipment.
When Xiang Xi brought them over, Chen Lan handed each of them a miner's cap to wear on their heads. She then gave each of them a snakeskin bag, a pair of rain boots with serrated soles, a pair of rubber gloves, and a raincoat. Everyone was dumbfounded upon receiving the items!
Xiang Xi, unafraid, asked, "Xiao Lanzi, didn't you ask us to go catch snow frogs with you? What is the meaning of giving us these things?"
Chen Lan quickly explained, "You all know that raincoats and rain boots are for wearing in the rain, right?"
Everyone nodded in unison and said, "We definitely know that."
"These snakeskin bags are for carrying the snow frogs. You all must know this, so I won't elaborate."
"This cap with a light is a miner's lamp, equivalent to the flashlight we use. Think about it: if you had to hold a flashlight in one hand and a bag in the other, how would you catch them? Therefore, today we will use miner's lamps with caps. These lamps are much brighter than flashlights and are more convenient and easier to use."
"As for the rubber gloves, there's no need to explain. They are for wearing on your hands to catch snow frogs. If you dare to catch snakes, you can too. As long as you dare to catch them, I'll have my mother-in-law stew snake soup for you."
After everyone was dressed and equipped, Chen Lan said to the group, "Let's hurry. It's already dark, and it has been raining for quite some time. The snow frogs should be coming out."
As they walked, Chen Lan chatted with them, sharing the habits of snow frogs she had seen online in her previous life.
"I'm telling you, this rain is the first spring rain since the thaw this spring. There will definitely be a lot of snow frogs crawling ashore. Snow frogs have a habit: they won't come ashore when the rain first starts. They will wait for the rain to fall for a while until the temperature in the forest no longer drops to become snow, and then they will crawl ashore."
"Also, a friendly reminder, don't mistake toads for snow frogs and catch them together."
Xiang Xi scoffed dismissively, "How could that happen?"
Chen Lan explained, "Toads, like snow frogs, overwinter in the river. Their habits are similar to snow frogs. In a situation like today, toads will definitely come ashore with the snow frogs."
"Xiang Xi, you've lived in the capital your whole life, so you might not be familiar with the habits of toads. As the name 'toad' suggests, they have bumpy skin. They usually crawl rather than hop."
"Also, I need to emphasize this: we only catch the large ones. Absolutely do not catch the small ones. Don't forget!"
The group chatted as they walked, and soon they were not far from the hidden river. The miner's lamps were very bright and could illuminate far into the distance. At this point, they could see many black objects on the riverbank hopping in the rain.
Chen Lan exclaimed, "Quick, they're already ashore!" As she spoke, she ran forward. When she got closer, she could see more clearly.
Chen Lan gasped, "My goodness, there are so many! Hurry, hurry and catch the snow frogs!" As she spoke, she began to catch them quickly.
Perhaps it was because the miner's lamps were too bright. Under the intense light, the snow frogs, which had been hopping, immediately stopped and became motionless, waiting to be caught.
Chen Lan excitedly kept catching them and stuffing them into the snakeskin bags. Soon, the snakeskin bags became quite heavy. While others were focused on catching snow frogs, Chen Lan used her consciousness to activate the system's selling function and immediately sold them, without regard for the price per kilogram, the total weight, or the total amount. She trusted the system implicitly, believing it would not cheat her.
Chen Lan had no time to overthink. She wanted to take advantage of this opportunity to catch more, sell some to the system to cover daily expenses, and keep some for the women, young and old, to supplement their health.
The rain continued to drizzle, and more and more snow frogs appeared on the riverbank. Chen Lan stopped overthinking and focused entirely on catching snow frogs.
The rain continued to drizzle without any sign of stopping. Chen Lan kept catching them and stuffing them into the snakeskin bags. When she couldn't carry them anymore, she sold them to the system. She continued to catch snow frogs like this for an unknown amount of time until Xiang Xi approached, carrying a bag of snow frogs. Only then did Chen Lan straighten her back. She realized her back was aching. She had been so engrossed in catching snow frogs that she hadn't noticed the soreness.
Xiang Xi said, "Xiao Lanzi, I've caught too many. If I put any more in, it'll start to spill out."
"Xiao Lanzi, why are there so many snow frogs here? Isn't this thing rare and precious?"
Xiang Xi saw Chen Lan rubbing her back and said, "Xiao Lanzi, give me your bag. I'll help you catch snow frogs." With that, he handed his bag to Chen Lan, grabbed Chen Lan's bag, and rushed back into the rain to catch more snow frogs.
Before Chen Lan could say anything, Xiang Xi had already finished his entire sequence of actions and his self-talk.
Chen Lan just felt that there were indeed a lot of snow frogs today. Perhaps it was because no one lived here and no one came to catch snow frogs, so the ecosystem was not damaged. It was normal for there to be many snow frogs. However, what Xiang Xi had just said did remind Chen Lan.
Chen Lan thought, "Am I encountering the legendary 'dao' today by coming to catch snow frogs?"
She had heard that fish have their paths, shrimp have their paths, snakes have their paths, and mice have their paths. Do snow frogs not have their paths? Logically, snow frogs should also have their paths when they come ashore. Otherwise, why would there be so many snow frogs today? It's truly impossible to catch them all. Forget it, I won't dwell on it. I can't catch any more, or they might actually become extinct, which wouldn't be good. I still want to catch some every year to satisfy my craving.
With this thought, Chen Lan immediately told Xiang Xi and the others to stop catching. "Xiao Xigua, Brother Xiang Dong, Brother Er Hu, Xiao Shuan, stop catching. It's getting late, and the bags are full. Let's head back together!"
And so, everyone, with a bag of spoils in hand, returned triumphantly!