Chapter 27
Chapter 27: A Bit Heartbreaking
The little one had never tasted herb fruit and didn’t know this was actually spiciness.
Hearing this, Tana became somewhat worried and was about to get up to fetch her some dried beef: “Then don’t eat this—I’ll get you some dried meat!”
“No no, I want to eat!” At first Xie Duoduo found it spicy, but after drinking a few sips, she felt warm all over: “It feels so good!”
The family gathered around the stove, dipping the hard bread in the soup to soften it before taking big bites.
Oily and fragrant, together with the tender, soft mutton that had been stewed until it fell apart—the taste was absolutely divine!
This was their first time eating until their bellies were full and warm, and after finishing they were reluctant to put down their bowls.
Xie Changqing felt very pleased—mm, this feeling of feeding others wasn’t bad at all!
Watching them, Tana also felt very satisfied: “I’ll go wash the dishes.”
Just as she stepped outside, she suddenly cried out: “Oh my!”
Xie Changqing thought she had fallen and quickly got up to look.
Then he heard Tana’s next words: “It’s snowing! What are we going to do! Such heavy snow!”
You really couldn’t blame her for being so alarmed—winter grazing grounds usually got snow very late.
Sometimes they didn’t get snow at all during winter grazing, and even when they did, it was usually after New Year’s.
Who would have thought this year it would come so early!
Xie Changqing’s heart jumped, and he quickly went outside: “Oh no, Uncle Qiaoba hasn’t returned yet…”
He looked up to see large snowflakes like goose feathers drifting from the sky, momentarily stunned.
Such heavy snow.
A cold wind blew toward them, and Tana quickly pushed him back inside: “Quick, put on that fox fur coat—don’t catch cold!”
In this weather, catching a chill was no joke.
Xie Changqing didn’t argue and obediently added layers.
Seeing him put on clothes, Batu and the others also quickly put on an extra layer.
“I’ll go check on the horses.” Xie Changqing put on his hat and hurried toward the stable.
Their yurt was large, and next to it was a covered stable where Lightning was kept.
Previously, because Little Red’s injuries were too severe, they were worried that being together might cause the wounds to reopen.
If the snow got too heavy, they’d need to quickly move Little Red over…
Batu led Xie Duoduo, the two of them running in small steps, following closely behind him: “Aha, are you cold!?”
“I’m okay.” Xie Changqing saw him hunching his shoulders and pulled his collar tighter: “This will be warmer.”
Actually, falling snow wasn’t particularly cold—it was just that without a hat, snow would slide into your collar, which was quite chilly.
When they reached the stable, they found Little Red pacing back and forth.
Even so, a thin layer of snow had already accumulated on its head and body.
There was no choice—the snow was quite heavy.
When Xie Changqing was checking its wounds, snowflakes kept falling on the wound.
“Aha, let’s take it back with us!” Xie Duoduo’s little eyes blinked as she was about to cry: “It’s so pitiful!”
“…Alright.” Xie Changqing untied its reins and quickly led it to the shelter next to their place.
Good thing their family only had two horses, otherwise if this little one cried, he’d probably have to properly care for all the livestock.
Compared to him, other herders had it harder.
All the cattle and sheep were in their respective pens, instinctively forming circles.
The young ones were all in the center to prevent them from losing body heat and freezing to death.
The herders were worried too, but there was nothing they could do—with so many animals, they couldn’t attend to everything.
They could only take advantage of the snow not being too heavy yet to carry all the young animals into the shelters, then quickly take the livestock out to graze.
Everyone else at home had to mobilize too, continuing to go out and cut grass to store up.
“Hurry up! Move!” The herders cracked their long whips, shouting urgently.
Little Red immediately cheered up once it entered the shelter, clip-clopping around.
“It likes it here!” Xie Duoduo was overjoyed, her eyes curved into crescents with her smile.
Xie Changqing reached out and pinched her rosy cheek, telling Batu to quickly take her back: “It’s cold outside—hurry in and warm up by the fire.”
But Tana happened to come out with tools, telling Batu and the others to come with her: “While the snow isn’t too heavy yet, we need to continue cutting grass. We’ll go farther to cut, saving the nearby grass.”
This snow was falling too heavily. Fortunately Tana was very diligent—even though their family didn’t have many livestock, she still went out every day to cut and store grass.
Other herders were the same, calling to each other as they headed out together.
Xie Changqing wasn’t idle either. He bundled up tightly and hurried to check on the two cattle that had received injections yesterday.
Braving the snow to reach the herder’s house, he found the man had already gone out to pasture.
Fortunately his wife was home with the children. Xie Changqing greeted them and went directly to check the cattle: “Don’t come out—it’s cold outside.”
The wind blew snow right into his collar.
Walking along the path, Xie Changqing felt not cold at all, even a bit warm.
Especially where he wore the fox fur—it was toasty warm.
This was the real deal, Xie Changqing couldn’t help but sigh in admiration.
The two cattle were in decent condition—they could eat and defecate, but they had no special treatment and despite being sick still stood under the open sky getting snowed on.
“Let me give you another injection…” Xie Changqing sighed and opened the medical kit.
[Level 1 Medical Kit]
[Points: 12]
[Prestige: -108]
[Available for exchange: Ampicillin… Ribavirin…]
[Upgradeable: Requires ten points]
Xie Changqing’s hand froze while reaching for the syringe. Wait, upgrading costs this much!?
He only had 12 points total, and upgrading would cost ten points!?
He had to admit, he felt a bit heartbroken.
All this hard work treating animals, running around everywhere—these points were what he had painstakingly saved up…
But in the next moment, he realized this upgrade was absolutely necessary.
Because the medicine he had just taken out had already frozen.
At this rate, it would only get colder.
If his medical kit froze, he’d probably only be able to watch the livestock die later.
Thinking of this, Xie Changqing gritted his teeth: “Damn it, here goes!”
He pressed his hand down, watching his points drop from 12 to 2.
Xie Changqing was speechless: Back to square one…
Closing the lid, Xie Changqing waited for the medical kit to upgrade.
Soon, touching it with his hand, he found that after the level change, Xie Changqing breathed a long sigh of relief and quickly opened it to look.
“Let me see what exactly changed!”
[Level 2 Medical Kit]
[Points: 2]
[Prestige: -108]
[Available for exchange: Ampicillin… Ribavirin…]
Xie Changqing immediately spotted the most obvious change: the temperature had changed!
He was overjoyed—the previously frozen syringes had returned to normal.
And after upgrading, there were two additional syringes, plus an extra compartment in the lid.
The medical kit looked the same size, but the internal space was arranged more neatly, actually creating some extra room.
Xie Changqing was very happy. He immediately took out medicine, and just after mixing it, sure enough it froze again.
Putting it back in the medical kit and opening it again, the temperature was just right for injection.
After injecting both cattle, Xie Changqing happily carried the medical kit back.
Just then, Nuomin rode past hurriedly on horseback. Xie Changqing thought for a moment and called out to her: “Where are you going?”