Ding... Ding... Ding...
The system is rebooting, please do not interrupt...
Apologies, the weather is too cold for the system to heat up and restart...
Please seek warmth...
Please seek warmth...
...
Insufficient heat, the system temporarily shuts down.
Li Yun was woken up by the constant buzzing in her head, not knowing what was causing it and finding it extremely annoying. Suddenly, the noise ceased...
It was a reminder from her personal system, which she didn't notice.
Gradually opening her eyes, Li Yun recalled what had happened. She'd been driving a Maserati, partying on a night out, but because she had her high beams on, she didn't see the truck barrelling towards her. The impact sent her flying out of the vehicle...
After the crash, she should've been dead, right? How was she still conscious? Li Yun moved her arm, feeling a chill encompassing her body, the kind that could freeze a person to death.
Barely opening her eyes, they were unique in contrast to her delicate appearance - clear and spirited, their constant movement seemingly capable of capturing people's souls.
A hard bed, mud-brick walls all around her, and a cold wind blowing through a hole in the roof. "Holy Mary, where on Earth am I? Has someone found and sold me to this godforsaken place?"
"Where am I?" She growled, displeased. She'd never been to such a place before.
Currently standing at the entrance were two small figures, probably around four or five years old, and seemed to be a set of male and female twins. They shuddered at the sound of the roar from inside the house.
"Brother, is mommy going to beat us? I don't want to go inside." The taller girl looked intimidated, clutching the door with her hands full of frostbite.
"Don't fear, mother is asleep, she won't hit us." The shorter one is the big brother, with big and bright eyes, protecting his sister.
"But, I just heard mom wake up. She seemed mad." The little girl's eyes spun around - she wanted to go in, yet she was scared.
The boy hesitated for a while, took two steps forward, "I’ll go in to look. I’ll apologize to mother and will explain that we didn’t steal any food. I’m sure mother will forgive us, and will allow us back into the room."
"Brother, I'll go with you. I am scared alone outside.”
"Alright."
Li Yun got off the bed, hugging the quilt that was chillier than her body temperature. What was the difference between being covered in a quilt or not? And the clothes on her body, what the heck were they? They obviously resembled the attire from the Qingming era.
Being a costume designer who specialized in Chinese style, she was extremely knowledgeable about the costumes of historical dynasties. Strictly speaking, the clothes on her were not orthodox clothes. The fabric of her clothes was extremely coarse. Clearly, it had been hand-woven and stitched without starching, showcasing that the household was poor.
She came out from the inside room, about to leave, but saw a pair of lovable children standing by the door, their timid eyes pityingly looking at her.
Seeing Li Yun come out, they both cried out in sync, "Mother."
"What?" Li Yun stood startled on the spot.
"Mother, we didn't steal the bun from the pot in the kitchen. We were just thirsty and had a stomachache, so we had some water. We really didn't eat the bun. Mother, you already hit our palms, please don’t make us stand as a punishment anymore. My sister is about to cry from the cold."
At the moment, Li Yun was completely dazed. She was also a young woman in her twenties in the modern world, busy with her job and hadn’t even had a boyfriend, let alone having children. Now, she had suddenly come to a different world, did she cross over?
“I’m your mother? Are you certain?” Li Yun felt like crying.
The two children nodded their heads.
The thin boy stared at Li Yun and said, “Father went hunting on the mountain. Mother said that if Dad doesn't go out, our whole family will starve to death."
The two children’s little faces were frosty red and ice-cold as they rigidly stood by the door, not daring to come in.
Li Yun finally came to her senses. Had she crossed over to another world? Moreover, she now had two children and a husband. From what she could tell at the moment, her husband's occupation seemed to be a professional hunter.
These two poorly dressed children who looked like they were beggars were her son and daughter.
Looking at the two pitiful little things standing by the bed, shivering and not daring to come in, their appearance was rather pitiful.
Li Yun initially thought of finding two pieces of clothing for the children. After rummaging through the cabinets and not finding anything, she did find a few animal pelts.
Li Yun took the pelts and skillfully cut them with scissors. Luckily, the woman of this household wasn't lazy and had many needles and threads. In her previous life, she was a fashion designer and she was very good at cutting cloth. Her hands moved quickly, and in half an hour, she had simply sewn two pelt vests.
"Both of you put on these vests first, look how cold you are. Wait in the room after you put them on, I'll go to the kitchen to see if I can heat up some hot water."
"Mother, didn't you say that these pelts were supposed to be taken to the town to exchange for money? And we weren't allowed to touch them." The little boy stretched out his hand, letting Li Yun help him put on the vest, his face full of confusion.
"People are about to freeze to death, what money is there to exchange? Survival comes first. By the way, what does your father call you two?" After all the fuss, Li Yun realized she didn’t know the two children's names yet.
The little girl looked at Li Yun timidly and said, "Mother, my brother is called Xiao Nan, and I’m called Xiao Bei."
"Nan
South
and Bei
North
? Is there anyone at home named East or West?" Li Yun joked with a chuckle.
The little girl stared at Li Yun with her big eyes, not really understanding the meaning of her words.
"Ahem, both of you sit on the bed and warm up a bit, I'll go outside to see what we can eat."
...
Outside, the snow was falling in a great flurry and a cold wind was causing Li Yun's ears to ache.
The kitchen was situated on one side of the thatched hut, accessed through a corridor, which was simply a dirt path. As she gazed upon the courtyard filled with white snow and the faintly visible peak of a snow-capped mountain in the distance, she wondered where they were. Were they living in the wilderness?
Li Yun paced around the courtyard and realized that it was simply their family living there; she felt dismayed.
If the man of the house didn’t return soon, she feared the three of them would starve to death.
The house condition was poor, with a leaky, unfinished roof, covered in snow, making it difficult to move around. How could they survive in this log cabin on a mountain? Were they to starve to death?
No, she had to find something to eat.
The courtyard was spacious, surrounded by wooden fences. She did not know what they were meant to block. Shaking her head, Li Yun headed to the kitchen, only to feel a wave of despair washing over her. There was no grain, and the water in the jar was running low. The hearth was covered with snowfall, and she wondered what the original mistress of the house had been doing all these days?
Next to the stove was a small bundle of firewood. She tested its weight and found it surprisingly light, meaning it could be burned.
With some effort, she lifted the pot lid. The iron pot was frozen. Angrily, she let out a faint laugh. Thinking of the kids inside, who were freezing, she knew she had to take care of them, even if they weren’t her children. So, she needed to heat up some water first.
As she was scraping through the dry grass by the wall to ignite a flame, she found seven or eight potatoes underneath. They were as big as an adult's fists. Li Yun felt hopeful at last.
She picked up three potatoes, scooped water from the jar to rinse off the dirt, found a knife, and sliced them on the chopping board. She cleaned the iron pot, added two ladlefuls of water. Originally, she wanted to simple boil some water, but she found the potatoes, she added three more ladlefuls of water. The makeshift ladle was made by sawing off a large gourd. She added more water to the pot.
"Well, now they can eat something warm when it's done." Her stomach had been growling since she woke up. Now, she was beyond hungry.
While she was making the fire, the temperature gradually rose inside the room. The snow continued to fall from the kitchen roof. Amidst the mountains, the smoke from her cooking offered a beacon for those who were lost.
"Little Nan, Little Bei, wake up. I cooked some potatoes for you. Hurfuly get up." Potatoes weren't exactly delicious, but they were so hungry that everything smelled enticing, it woke them up.
"Mom, did you cook this for us to eat?" Little Bei asked Li Yun unsurely, they hadn’t eaten anything for almost two days and were very hungry.