The amount of fermented tofu wasn’t large. There were about seventy or eighty small, square blocks, all covered in white mold. Grandma collected them in a basin, sprinkled on chili powder, Sichuan peppercorn powder, salt, white sugar, light soy sauce, high-proof white liquor, and sesame oil. After gently mixing everything together, she stored them in glass jars, taking out a few pieces whenever we had porridge.

The glass jars weren’t specially bought. They still had labels for canned yellow peaches or pears on them. After the contents were eaten, they were washed and reused. You have to admit, these kinds of jars were quite practical in the countryside.

The fermented tofu dregs he had made earlier were also coming along nicely, all fuzzy and white. Li Xiang would occasionally try a few bites, finding they had a unique flavor all their own.

As night fell, Li Xiang’s backyard was a magnificent sight. All sorts of colored lights and ambient lighting illuminated the Ice and Snow Castle, and the emerald-green Christmas tree was hung with a wide variety of presents.

The table for brewing tea around the stove was too small, so Li Xiang started a bonfire and brought out a bunch of chairs. Everyone sat in a circle around the fire, warming themselves and eating all kinds of snacks. Sweet potatoes and dried persimmons were roasted over the fire as well, their fragrance filling the air.

"How about I teach everyone to sing ’Jingle Bells’?" Jiang Cai’Er suggested.

The other kids all cheered in approval.

"The Chinese name for this song is Ling’er Xiang Dingdang. I’m sure you’ve all heard it, but the original English version has more character. Plus, it’s a good chance to help you all improve your English."

These days, even elementary schools had started teaching English, but the quality of instruction in the countryside was truly abysmal. Jiang Cai’Er, on the other hand, was a high school student who consistently ranked in the top twenty of her entire grade. She was a well-rounded student with no real weak subjects.

However, Li Xiang was confident that with his tutoring and "special potions," Jiang Cai’Er was bound to perform brilliantly on her upcoming final exams.

Jiang Cai’Er held a fair amount of authority in the village. Like a queen of the kids, all the little ones listened to her. Soon, the cheerful Christmas song rang out. She didn’t just teach them the song; she also explained the meaning line by line and corrected their pronunciation. It was truly a case of learning through play.

"Dashing through the snow, in a one-horse open sleigh, o’er the fields we go, laughing all the way..."

Li Xiang launched his drone into the air, letting it circle around to capture the heartwarming scene.

The final footage, it had to be said, turned out great. But since Teacher Huang was strict, Li Xiang didn’t post it online. Instead, he sent it privately to Jiang Cai’Er to keep as a memento.

On the 24th, Jiang Cai’Er went back to school. Her father gave her a ride on the tractor.

She also took a few bags of the coffee beans Li Xiang had given her to school to share with her classmates. Since grinding coffee beans took time and wasn’t convenient at school, Li Xiang had pre-ground a few bags for her. He also bought some disposable pour-over filter bags so she could brew it directly—it was the simplest method.

Since it was cold, Li Xiang also bought her a nice-looking thermos as a gift, throwing in a complimentary bag of large-pulp goji berries.

Jiang Cai’Er laughed. "What kind of young girl puts goji berries in her thermos?"

"You can use it for your coffee, too."

In reality, many students in Jiang Cai’Er’s class used to just buy bottled water, which was frigid to drink in the dead of winter. But after Jiang Cai’Er started bringing her thermos, everyone began to copy her. It got to the point where their teacher walked in for class one day, saw a classroom full of thermoses steeping goji berries, and was completely stunned.

After being blasted by the heat from the bonfire that night, the Ice and Snow Castle had melted significantly. Li Xiang couldn’t be bothered to repair it, mainly because it was impossible. The sun was blazing hot every day, making it feel like the middle of summer.

The ice and snow dwindled day by day, visibly disappearing. After four or five straight days of clear skies, not only had the snow on the roads long since vanished, but even the north-facing hillsides were left with only scattered patches of white, revealing large swaths of withered weeds and shrubs.

The bamboo, pines, and cypresses on the back mountain were lush and green, swaying in the wind. Winter bamboo shoots were even popping up left and right, but they were no longer edible at this stage. They would have to wait for next year’s "thunderclap shoots."

When the weather warms and flowers bloom in spring, as the first thunder of the season rumbles and the "rain as precious as oil" begins to fall, the spring bamboo shoots start to sprout. Their texture is different from that of the winter shoots—another one of Nature’s gifts.

The subsidy and prize money for hunting the wild boar finally came through for Li Xiang and his group. After the money was divided, both families were overjoyed.

Li Xiang hung the special prize certificate, proclaiming him the "Hunter King," in his house as a mark of honor.

According to news reports, the rapid melting of large amounts of snow had caused river levels in some southern provinces to surge, resulting in "winter floods." However, this didn’t cause much public alarm or attract too much attention.

This was because the southern provinces, especially cities in the basins of major rivers like those along the Yangtze River, had extremely rich experience in flood prevention.

After all, a winter flood couldn’t compare to a summer flood. It was hardly worth mentioning.

Li Xiang’s family lived upstream, so they had even less reason to worry. 𝐟𝕣𝗲𝕖𝕨𝗲𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝗲𝚕.𝗰𝚘𝐦

This brought to mind the famous Dujiangyan irrigation system in Sichuan Province. Its fully automatic "forty-sixty water split" and "twenty-eighty silt split" functions self-adjusted between the wet and dry seasons. It not only solved the problems of flooding and silt but also irrigated the farmland. The ingenuity of its design was the absolute pinnacle of ancient hydraulic engineering, and it was what created the "Celestial Country."

The high praise for Li Bing and his son in the annals of history, and the incense burned for them at the Erwang Temple, were all truly well-deserved.

Under the warm winter sun, Grandma and the cats were sunbathing. Er Huang had wandered off to who-knows-where again.

Third Granny had gone back home. She hadn’t moved away; rather, her daughter and son-in-law had hired a construction crew to build a new house for her. Third Granny went over to watch. Even though she couldn’t be of much help, she would have felt restless if she wasn’t involved at all.

Li Xiang was in the backyard, busy with his woodworking.

He had added some more professional tools to his collection: a scroll saw, carving knives, a rotary tool, wood wax, a pin vise, an assorted file set, sandpaper, as well as some pencils and erasers. He was currently making Wooden Hairpins.

He had promised to make a few handmade hairpins for his "Little Aunt," and of course, he couldn’t go back on his word. It was a small token of his affection, so Li Xiang put a great deal of care into his work.

He had originally planned on making only two, but once you get hooked on a craft like this, it’s impossible to stop. He had plenty of materials on hand, so Li Xiang ended up making twelve in one go. He found some beautiful designs online and modified them slightly. As an Extraordinary Being, he was naturally nimble-fingered, and his control over his Power was masterful. This kind of delicate craftwork was second nature to him.

Naturally, he recorded the process for a video. This was, after all, his main source of income. His advertising fees had already risen to between 100,000 and 150,000 per video.

In the countryside, you basically couldn’t make any money from farming. The only way was to develop a side business like this.

Just taking on a few ad deals earned him enough to match what a large-scale farmer would make in a whole year of hard work. Besides, farming was dependent on the weather. With the Apocalypse approaching and extreme weather events becoming more and more common, surface-level agriculture was extremely risky. He might get into farming in the future—Underground City agriculture—but for now, he didn’t want to invest too much into it.

Immortal Feather, Wanyue, Xiangyun, Swimming Fish, Mountain and River Order, Fei Feng, Coiling Dragon, Nong Mei, Spirit Fox, Snake Dance, Lotus Rhythm, and Deer Antler. There were twelve hairpins in total, and every single one was exquisitely crafted with a superb design.

The first six were made of Golden Rattan Wood, while the latter six were made of Red Fir Wood. Once polished, the grain of each was stunningly beautiful.

Li Xiang also turned several Golden Rattan Wood bracelets on his lathe. They had a golden luster, a unique, subtle fragrance, and were exceptionally elegant. He made them in several sizes—with 1.5 cm, 1.8 cm, and 2.0 cm beads—though he had no idea if his "Little Aunt" would like them.

In any case, once everything was finished, he packed it all up and shipped it out.

Luo Feifei had given Li Xiang a fake name, Pan Yiwen, but that didn’t matter; the address was real. Delivery drivers would typically just leave packages in the smart lockers at the entrance of the residential complex rather than calling or delivering directly to the door.