Chapter 133

Chapter 133

In years past during this time period, the grasslands in the north would start to get cooler, and the herdsmen there would harvest hay as food for their livestock during the winter.

In the Northern Forest, winter came slightly later. At that time, people would start checking the kang stoves and doors and windows of their houses, and also prepare the firewood needed for winter.

After the volcanic winter, the winters here became longer. Even though temperatures were gradually rising, it was Wen Qian's first time coming here, so she would be more well-prepared.

During this period, after building her house, Wen Qian began venturing further away to chop wood.

She needed to cut down the relatively dense mountain forests to make them a bit more sparse.

With her home at the center, she would expand outward, and the area her footsteps could cover would become her main activity zone in the future.

So she had to ensure her own safety and not constantly encounter large ferocious beasts in her territory. How could she live properly then?

Reducing the density meant there would be fewer creatures hiding within. Large ferocious beasts needed enough wild animals in their territory as food.

They wouldn't stay in places with little food.

In August, she noticed that the blueberries here had ripened, so she picked quite a few.

Afterwards, she also searched around and found wild blueberry bushes, picking many with her homemade tools.

She didn't dare venture deeper, so she only went nearby.

Then she remembered she still had many blueberry branches left over, and planned to take them out and plant them all by cutting.

At the same time, she didn't forget to set up small hunting traps in various parts of the mountain forest and rivers.

During August, which should have been the hottest time of the year, wild animals would go out to forage and occasionally step into Wen Qian's traps.

Wen Qian even caught a wild rabbit, which was still alive but had an injured leg.

She originally wanted to raise it, but at that time she was busy building her house and didn't have much time to take care of it, so she thought she would reconsider next year.

So this year, whether she caught wild chickens or rabbits, she killed them first and then put them into her spatial storage.

Wen Qian's main activity area at home was a kitchen and a bedroom.

The front door opened to a window beside it, with a large wooden table in front of the window where she would chop vegetables and knead dough.

Next to the wall was a door leading to the bedroom.

Opposite the wooden table was a stove, with two large iron pots. Further in was the area for the kang stove and fire wall.

If the kang stove could keep the indoor temperature warm enough, then this stove wouldn't be used.

But if it got too cold away from the kang stove, then burning this stove would solve the problem.

After all, Wen Qian didn't like lying or sitting on the kang all day.

In winter, if she wanted to do something at the wooden table, burning this stove would keep her from getting cold.

There was also another issue - in the north where she lived, houses were built differently from the south, with much thicker walls to prevent the harsh winter cold.

Southern walls were thinner, emphasizing ventilation more, because otherwise everything would get moldy from dampness.

But the north was very dry, so insulation was more important.

When Wen Qian built her house, she made the brick walls quite thick too. However, she hadn't spent a winter here or used the kang stove before, so she worried the indoor temperature wouldn't be warm enough.

In the past, northern rural folks could attach plastic greenhouses to doors and windows for insulation.

Now plastic was hard to find. Wen Qian had some but only covered the windows with it.

Enclosing all the outer walls with a greenhouse frame would be too troublesome, and she wouldn't have enough plastic for even a few years. So she didn't bother.

No need to go down steps - going left along the entrance corridor led to the storage room.

Besides the hung smoked chickens and rabbits, there were also smoked fish and pork. The other three walls were stacked high with neatly arranged firewood.

This was prepared for the year, forming the main supply to be burned.

The courtyard enclosed by the wall was very large. Wen Qian could grow things in it or lay bricks to make a space specifically for sun-drying goods later on.

There were quite a few trees outside the wall, which could block some of the wind while not having to worry about blocking the sunlight in the future.

Wen Qian was very satisfied with where she was now, and she even thought about living here for the rest of her life.

Of course, this was contingent on the climate returning to its previous conditions.

In the Northern Forest, they mostly didn't need to go out during the winter.

As the temperature gradually dropped in September, once the first frost arrived, the leaves outside would start to turn yellow.

With each successive frost, the evergreen forest would begin to display a kaleidoscope of colors.

Shades of red, yellow, and green in varying depths would make everything in sight incredibly vibrant and colorful.