Chapter 153: The Warm Brick Bed

Han Li was somewhat tempted by Yun Yingying's words and walked into the house, following her small hand. However, upon seeing Yun Jingjing at the doorway, he instantly snapped back to reality with absolute clarity. Still, he had not expected Yun Jingjing to be so accommodating this time.

"Not only did my sister help you light the fire kang, but she has also been keeping the bathroom warm. Even the water in the big cauldron has been kept boiling. Hurry up and take a bath; we'll help you take care of those things outside."

Hearing Yun Jingjing say this, Han Li suddenly remembered that he still had a cartload of game that he hadn't brought over yet.

"Yingying, wait for me a moment. I'll go put those game animals away, otherwise leaving them piled at the front entrance isn't appropriate."

"You just focus on your bath. My sister and I can handle it."

Han Li smiled and said, "You probably didn't pay attention to what I brought back. You two wouldn't be able to manage the things at the front. Just sort out what's in the back baskets."

With that, Han Li handed the back baskets to the sisters, turned around, and walked to the entrance to drag over the pile of game.

The Yun sisters had originally been taking rabbits out of the back baskets. These rabbits were already thoroughly processed, so they only needed to hang them up and find a place to temporarily spread out the rabbit skins.

At that moment, Han Li dragged over a massive pile of items. Catching a glimpse by the light of the hurricane lamp, the two sisters were completely dumbfounded by the sight before them.

Although these game animals had all been dressed, one could still tell what kind of animals they were from their heads: two goats, a wild boar, and six wolves piled together like a small mountain of meat. Under the glow of the hurricane lamp, the visual impact was simply too overwhelming. The two stood there in a daze for quite a while before they managed to speak.

Yun Yingying felt around haphazardly with her hands and asked anxiously, "There are even several wolves! Han Li, you didn't get hurt, did you?"

"I spotted them in advance, then climbed up a tree and shot them with my crossbow, so I didn't get hurt at all."

"Are there really that many wild beasts deep in the mountains? You can bag this much game in just two days?"

Han Li replied, "Whether there are many wild beasts or not is hard to say. But if your luck is bad, going into the mountains for several days without any harvest is completely normal. My luck this time was just a bit better; next time, I might not have such luck."

"The game doesn't really matter. As long as you're safe and sound, that's what counts."

Leaving these game animals in the courtyard was ideal because the current temperature was dropping toward freezing, so there was no need to worry about them spoiling.

While talking, the three of them moved the game to the backyard and stored them separately. The backyard was generally empty, and several dogs were tied up along the path leading to it, making it virtually immune to discovery. As for separating the carcasses, it was just to let them freeze through more thoroughly.

Han Li even tossed a few wolf lungs to the dogs as an extra treat, though the dogs seemed to behave even more submissively than usual, their heads almost pressing into the dirt. Just as Han Li was about to observe them closely, he was pushed into the bathroom by Yun Yingying to soak.

The two sisters set about sorting out the smaller parts of the game, especially the internal organs, which needed to be cleaned promptly.

Holding a heart, Yun Yingying said, "Sister, look, this is the legendary wolf heart. Doesn't everyone say wolf hearts are poisonous and inedible? Why did Han Li bring this back?"

Yun Jingjing answered, "I don't know whether wolf hearts are edible or not, but I've seen other people eat dog hearts and lungs. Besides, even if humans can't eat them, Han Li has five wolf-dog hybrids at home. Maybe these are prepared for them."

"Those wolf-dog hybrids are no fun at all. I often feed them, but sometimes they still bare their teeth at me. Aren't those just ungrateful wolves?"

"Even a little Pekingese dog won't wag its tail at everyone it sees, let alone these wolf-dog hybrids with such strong wild instincts. The fact that they don't bite the two of us is already pretty good. But this is probably why Han Li always keeps them tied up; if he let them loose, nobody would be able to enter this courtyard."

Yun Yingying asked, "When will they ever be properly trained?"

Yun Jingjing replied, "I'm not too sure about that, but I've heard people say that a dog's temperament becomes fixed around six to eight months of age. They should be considered fully trained by then. It's not like you haven't seen how well-behaved and obedient they are around Han Li; you don't need to worry about them being trained."

While the two sisters were talking, Han Li was lying in the warm hot water, his mood instantly relaxing. By the time he was almost done washing, he remembered that he had been pushed in by Yun Yingying and hadn't brought any clean clothes to change into.

"Ahem... ahem... Yingying, could you bring a set of clothes in for me?"

"Ah? Why didn't you bring clothes with you when you went in?"

"I wanted to, but you pushed me straight in."

At this, Yun Yingying's face turned slightly red as she secretly glanced at her sister. Seeing that her sister showed no unusual reaction, she said, "Then wait a moment, I'll go get them for you."

Yun Yingying dug out Han Li's clothes from the kang cabinet. Her heart suddenly began to race. Although she had helped Han Li out several times before, this kind of situation where he was completely naked made her heart hammer like a drum.

"Um... I've left them for you at the doorway."

"Can you bring them in for me? I don't even have a towel to dry myself with here, and opening the door is way too cold. You wouldn't want me to catch a cold, would you?"

Feeling a bit guilty, Yun Yingying looked left and right to make sure no one was around—her sister was still in the backyard sorting the game—and then called into the room, "Then you stay in the bathtub and don't come out."

"Got it."

The moment Yun Yingying stepped inside, she was caught in an embrace by Han Li, and the bathroom door was shut tight.

Although the light from the hurricane lamp was dim, its effect was quite good in such a confined space.

Yun Jingjing was sitting in the backyard processing the game when she suddenly felt her heart rate accelerate and her throat go dry.

She glanced at the bathroom wall close at hand, opened her mouth, but nothing came out. She thought to herself that she should give them a little space of her own, and she would call her sister over in a short while.

Yun Jingjing silently adjusted her sitting posture, pressing her legs closer together, tightly suppressing her feverish heart just above her knees.

With Yun Jingjing right outside, Han Li and Yun Yingying certainly wouldn't cross any lines and cause trouble for themselves.

After a few simple hugs, kisses, and intimate whispers, followed by a casual check on the current state of their "grain field," the two separated.

When Yun Yingying came out looking neat and tidy, Yun Jingjing, who felt like her thoughts had been abruptly interrupted, paused for a moment. Then a smile crossed her face; she thought Han Li was indeed quite decent, managing to hold his own bottom line even under those circumstances. In the future, she wouldn't have to worry quite so much when they were alone.

Han Li got dressed and came out to sit on the pleasantly burning hot kang. The feeling was truly wonderful.

Yun Yingying said, "You sit for a moment, I'll go bring your meal over right away."

Han Li replied, "It's already this late. Call your sister in to eat with us, and then we can turn in. With this snow falling today, we won't be going anywhere tomorrow. We can take our time with the chores in the yard, no need to rush."

Yun Yingying looked at her watch; it was already past 12:30 at night. Hearing Han Li say this, she did indeed feel a bit hungry.

"Then I'll go call sister in."

Being sleepy at this hour was no lie; if Yun Jingjing hadn't been worried about her sister, she would have gone home to sleep long ago.

Because the hour was late, they only exchanged a few casual words during the meal, and the three of them finished eating quickly.

Han Li walked the two sisters home and took the dogs out for a quick walk along the way.

However, today he just let them relieve themselves in a nearby corner since the manure collector would come to shovel it up tomorrow anyway.

After returning home, Han Li thought for a moment and decided to go ahead and butcher the meat in the backyard, otherwise he'd have to hack away at it with a knife himself tomorrow.

Finally, adding some logs to the fire kang, he crawled under the covers and drifted into a deep sleep, comforted by the gentle warmth against his back.

The next day, the snow outside had stopped. Just as the sky grew fully bright, Yun Yingying's knocking woke Han Li up.

Han Li still had a slight headache, and with a sleepy haze, he put on his clothes to open the door for them before quickly retreating back inside.

Seeing this, Yun Yingying hurried after him and asked with concern, "Han Li, are you alright?"

"I'm fine. After walking you home yesterday, I finished up the chores in the backyard. I've only been asleep for two hours, so I'm a bit sleepy."

"Oh, didn't we agree to do it together today? Why did you stay up late and do it all by yourself?"

"It's cold now, and I couldn't bear to let you handle these freezing things. It's bad for your health."

"Han Li..."

At that moment, Yun Jingjing spoke up from behind, "Little sister, let Han Li go back to sleep for a while. We can talk about the rest after he wakes up."

After Han Li crawled back under the covers, Yun Yingying felt his forehead and tucked in the edges of the quilt before she and her sister headed to the backyard. Seeing that the meat had already been chopped into large chunks and frozen solid, they felt as though there was nothing left for them to do.

Yun Yingying remarked, "It's a pity it's not deep winter yet, otherwise setting up a hot pot of mutton today would be great."

"We don't have sesame paste at home right now, so half the flavor of a hot pot is missing. We'd better wait until we buy some sesame paste. But didn't Han Li say he likes dumplings? Why don't we make dumplings for lunch today?"

"But Han Li is still sleeping. Chopping the filling here will wake him up. How about we go chop it at our house and then bring it back?"

While the two sisters were discussing how to handle lunch, snow began to flutter down from the sky once more, prompting them to change their midday menu yet again.

He Mi was sitting on the kang at home giving Qi Zhaodi a lesson, and both of them heard the sound of the Yun sisters knocking on the door earlier.

Qi Zhaodi asked, "Sister He, judging by the sound, Brother Han must be back."

He Mi said somewhat absentmindedly, "Mm, being able to make someone knock means Han Li is fine. We can go over and check on him a little later."

Hao Hongmin and Yang Xiuying were lying on the warm kang, reluctant to move because the outside world was far too cold for them.

Hearing the commotion, Yang Xiuying said, "Sister Hongmin, Han Li just came back from outside after two days. I wonder how his harvest turned out this time? Should we go over and take a look?"

Hao Hongmin replied, "No, not now at least. Han Li just got back and is spending time with his girlfriend, so it's not appropriate for us to intrude. Besides, going over right now would look like we're eyeing whatever things he brought back."

"Sigh, if Han Li still didn't have a girlfriend, things wouldn't be this troublesome."

Hearing Yang Xiuying's remark, Hao Hongmin's eyelids twitched twice. Meanwhile, Zhang Chaomei was braving the snowflakes as she walked over in their direction.