The elder woman placed water and yogurt beside Xu Mingxuan before turning to Chen Lan. She slowly submerged herself into the hot spring, her head emerging from the water as her entire body soaked in the healing warmth, leaning against Chen Lan.
It was a rare moment for the mother-in-law and daughter-in-law to have some private time together. They were about to share their innermost thoughts, intending to chat and strengthen their bond.
Chen Lan glanced towards Xu Mingxuan. She noticed his right shoulder blade was injured, his entire right arm exposed above the spring water while the rest of his body was submerged. His head was tilted to the left, and he was resting against the edge of the pool, eyes closed, fast asleep.
She pointed at Xu Mingxuan, then made a shushing gesture to her mother-in-law. The elder woman turned to look, then turned back and fell silent.
Both women then immersed themselves in the hot spring, leaning against the edge, only their heads visible. They closed their eyes to rest. The surroundings were silent, save for the faint, distant chirping of unknown birds and the occasional whistling of the cold northern wind. If one listened closely, the subtle hum of insects could be heard.
Soaking in the warm spring water brought a sense of profound comfort, and a wave of sleepiness washed over them.
Beside her, the elder woman had already begun to snore softly. The sound was like a lullaby, making Chen Lan’s eyelids feel even heavier.
Suddenly, a gust of cold wind blew, startling Chen Lan awake. She instinctively pulled her body further into the spring.
Chen Lan thought to herself that she absolutely could not fall asleep! If all three of them dozed off in the hot spring, not only would they risk catching a cold, but prolonged soaking would also be too much for their bodies.
There was a high probability that excessive sweating would open their pores, making them susceptible to catching a severe cold from the chilly wind once they left the pool.
Moreover, Xu Mingxuan was injured, his resistance was already lowered, and they needed to be even more cautious.
Fearing she might succumb to the overwhelming drowsiness, Chen Lan closed her eyes and attempted to access the system warehouse with her mind. Feeling no pricking sensation at the back of her head, she decided to use this time to thoroughly organize it.
She found a comfortable position, leaning against the side of the pool, closed her eyes, and accessed the system warehouse with her thoughts.
She began mentally organizing the warehouse. The last time she’d tidied it, she’d simply put the antiques from the pawnshop together with the family treasures, without any categorization. Today, she was determined to sort things out properly.
Since there were no shelves in the system warehouse, she had to purchase some from the system, similar to the two-tiered shelves in her own pawnshop.
The shelves in the pawnshop donated to the government were made of wood; however, the ones purchased from the system were made of aluminum alloy.
With her eyes closed, Chen Lan mentally organized the system warehouse, while waiting for her mother-in-law and son to wake up. To anyone observing, it might have seemed like she too had fallen asleep.
It didn't take long before Xu Mingxuan was the first to wake. He lifted his head, looked around, and then at Chen Lan. His mother was leaning against the edge of the pool, snoring softly, fast asleep.
His wife, leaning against the pool’s edge, only her head showing, her eyes closed and completely still, was likely asleep as well.
Xu Mingxuan looked up at the sun, estimated the time, and realized about half an hour had passed. He immediately called out to his mother, who was snoring: "Mom, Mom, wake up, wake up!"
Hearing his voice, the elder woman jolted upright, opened her eyes, and looked at Xu Mingxuan, saying, "What is it? Mingxuan, is something wrong?"
Chen Lan, who had been mentally organizing the warehouse with her eyes closed, was startled. She opened her eyes and sat up straight, looking at him.
Xu Mingxuan smiled and explained, "Mom, Lan'er, it's getting late. We've been soaking for over half an hour, and we can't stay any longer."
He then reached for the yogurt placed by the pool, opened the cap, and gulped it down in one go.
The mother-in-law and Chen Lan also opened their yogurt bottles, drank them down with a few gulps, paused for breath, and finished them.
Xu Mingxuan was the first to get out of the hot spring and went to the tent to change his clothes, waiting for the mother and daughter-in-law.
The mother-in-law and Chen Lan got out of the pool one after the other. A sudden gust of cold wind made Chen Lan sneeze.
Wrapping herself tightly with a towel, she said, "Mother-in-law, quickly wrap yourself with a towel so you don't catch a cold. We need to hurry to the tent and put on some warm clothes. This cold wind is truly biting."
With that, she quickly walked towards the tent, the elder woman following close behind.
Inside the tent, they put on thermal underwear and then plush tracksuit sets, immediately feeling much warmer.
The three of them tidied up the area around the hot spring. Their dirty clothes were packed into a flawed cloth bag.
They collected the empty yogurt bottles and other trash from around the area into a snakeskin bag, planning to take it down the mountain later for proper disposal.
After drinking some water to rehydrate, they prepared to descend the mountain and head home.
The elder woman still carried the two wild ginseng roots. Xu Mingxuan carried the snakeskin bag filled with trash and a large bundle containing their dirty clothes.
Chen Lan was responsible for carrying the game. She mentally opened the system warehouse, placed the crossbow inside, and then took out the basket carrying the game to put on her back.
The three of them immediately set out.
Xu Mingxuan looked at the forest, which was covered in various mushrooms like pine mushrooms, hazel mushrooms, and broom mushrooms, as well as pinecones, hazelnuts, wild walnuts, wild kiwis, wild grapes, and other ripe wild fruits. He also saw bushes laden with bright red goji berries. As they walked, he sighed, "You, Lan'er, choosing to settle down here in the Changbai Mountains was truly the right decision! Although the climate here is harsh and the winters are long, the abundance of natural resources and the sparse population, living in harmony with nature, allows us to be completely self-sufficient, leading a life of prosperity and peace."
The elder woman immediately became proud and said, "Of course, Mingxuan. Don't you see who chose this place? Your father did. He searched for a long time before deciding on this spot.
Tell me, could this place be anything but good? You don't know, the soil here is black and oily. Black soil, you know what that is? It's soil so fertile it's practically oozing oil. How could the crops grown on such black soil not yield a bountiful harvest?
Mingxuan! You've returned too late. You didn't see the harvest from our fields in autumn. Our granaries were overflowing with grain, and we had so many potatoes and corn that we didn't know where to put them.
After discussions among everyone in our valley, it was unanimously decided to send the surplus grain to the border defense soldiers, so they too could share in our harvest joy and experience the happiness of abundance."