...

...

The heavy snow continued to fall for three days before stopping.

The cold wind howled, and the world was a vast expanse of white.

The people of the Northern Wilderness all knew that it wasn't cold when snowed; it was after the snow stopped that it got colder.

Chimneys of the town's residents emitted wisps of white smoke, adding a touch of warmth to the winter day.

Now every household had started a fire, the fireplaces crackled, the heated beds were warm, and the room was filled with the faint fragrance of burning wood.

The operation of the territory did not come to a halt because of this heavy snow.

Early in the morning, the town echoed with the slogans of the soldiers.

The soldiers wore heavy iron armor and carried bags filled with bricks on their backs, running with difficulty in the snow, making crunching sounds underfoot.

"Keep up! Those at the back, hurry up!"

Durant shouted at the top of his lungs, his voice slightly hoarse in the wind.

"Baron, didn't you have breakfast this morning? Speed up!"

The command was full of impatience.

Durant led the soldiers to run specifically towards the thicker snow.

What's wrong with the cold?

What's wrong with the heavy snow?

Would the enemy always choose to attack during the warm, blooming spring?

In such weather, training should be intensified!

Therefore, Durant exacerbated the situation by increasing the soldiers' tasks.

Before dawn today, he blew the whistle and dragged all the soldiers out of bed.

The shouts awakened Rod; he yawned and rubbed his sleepy eyes.

He opened the skylight, and a gust of cold air poured in.

The maid Leia always managed the fireplace well, so even in the middle of the night, Rod's bed was always warm, and the room always hot.

In the yard, Frost and Thunder were rolling in the snow.

It was their first time seeing snow, as excited as children, constantly flapping their wings, stirring up flurries of snow.

Milly wasn't much better off.

It seemed to be her first time seeing snow too, so excited that she danced around.

She grabbed a handful of snow, forming it into a ball, then rolled in the snow like Frost and Thunder, playing gleefully.

"Hey, don't eat that!"

Rod shouted with a frown.

Milly, however, turned her back, sneakily grabbed another handful of snow, and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing with relish.

He shook his head helplessly.

Who knows what's tasty about snow.

Fortunately, the snow in this era wasn't polluted; eating a little should be fine, so Rod left it be.

Avril was half-lying on the bed, wrapped in a blanket, her fair shoulder exposed.

She slightly propped herself up on Rod, her voice carrying a trace of winter laziness,

"Do you have to get up so early even on snowy days?"

"It's not early anymore, the sun has already risen."

Rod hugged Avril, laughing, "I still have a lot to deal with."

He paused, turned to look at her, and said seriously, "I need to hurry and make all the frostbite ointment today."

Winter affected all kinds of outdoor work in the territory quite a bit, but Rod was unwilling to let work stop.

He just had to let everyone shorten their work hours and work in relatively warmer times.

Working outside, coldness was inevitable.

Rod couldn't wait until everyone was injured to prepare; the anti-freeze ointment had to be prepared in advance.

Avril leaned her head against Rod's chest and said helplessly, "Alright then…"

"But, it's not urgent for now."

Rod slightly increased the strength in his arms, pulling Avril in front of him.

...

...

The eastern salt mine of Black Pine Ridge.

In the snow, Vivian practiced sword skills against a snowman with a slender longsword.

At the salt mine, she had plenty of free time and often consulted with guards and Doron about sword skills.

Rod's guards, having gone through formal training, taught Vivian some basic sword techniques, while Doron taught her insidious killer moves.

Vivian enjoyed learning, and when she didn't understand, she would ask her sister Avril to inquire Durant.

Then Vivian continued practicing.

She studied diligently, but unfortunately, Vivian lacked strength.

She couldn't confront either Doron or the guards head-on.

Vivian practiced earnestly, her cheeks flushed red from the cold.

Suddenly, her expression stiffened, and then her face flushed.

She quickly lowered her head, thrusting the "Embroidery Needle" in her hand into the snowman's head.

"What, not practicing?"

Doron, sitting beside the fire, asked curiously, "Didn't you just start?"

"Just wait a moment."

She covered her face and ran into her room as if escaping, muttering, "The sun is up… doing such things…"

Avril and Vivian shared memories, so feelings naturally existed in those memories.

The overwhelming sensation surged like a tide, leaving her completely defenseless.

Vivian clenched her teeth, trying to calm herself, but her face still felt as if it was burning.

She could only cover herself with a blanket, digesting this sudden "impact" on her own.

After a long while, Vivian felt as if she had a spring dream.

She had no inclination to practice sword skills, lying on the bed and staring dazedly at the snow outside.

Not until after lunch did she finally calm down, regaining interest to continue practicing swordplay.

However, Vivian had just practiced three rounds when she saw the foreman of the miners running over in a hurry.

"Miss Vivian! Master Doron!"

The foreman was panting heavily, his face filled with shock,

"We found a cave while digging in the mine!"

Vivian was stunned for a moment, then laughed, "Weren't you always digging caves? What's so unusual? Just keep digging!"

"It's not a mining tunnel we dug!"

The foreman quickly waved his hand, his voice trembling,

"It's a natural cave! Ausen discovered it after moving a large stone slab!"

Doron stood up abruptly.

"Oh?"

Vivian raised her eyebrows and exchanged a glance with Doron,

"Then let's take a look!"

To be cautious, Doron called over the other soldiers, and everyone followed the foreman into the mine.

The cave entrance was deep, and a chill hit them in the face.

The group moved inside by the light of torches.

The deeper they went, the more spacious it became.

Unlike iron mines, the salt mine was more about horizontal expansion, having only extended more than fifty meters ahead.

The cave mentioned by the foreman was very obvious, with no salt mines around, just rocks, which did not match the rest of the salt mine at all.

The interior of the cave was completely dark, and Doron shone his torch inside, vaguely seeing a path that led downward.

"This doesn't look like a natural cave either,"

Vivian pointed at the stone walls around them, saying, "There are marks from some tools on this, aren't there?"

Vivian thought for a moment and asked, "Where's the stone slab that was moved?"

"It's here!"

A miner pointed to two stone slabs beside him, nervously explaining, "It's not my fault, I swung the pickaxe and it broke in half."

Vivian nodded slightly, examining them carefully but found nothing.

"By the way, Miss Vivian, I found this on the stone slab!"

The miner reached out and presented a black gemstone the size of an egg in front of Vivian.

Vivian was taken aback and took it, her fingers gently rubbing the smooth surface of the orb,

This is... an Extraordinary Gem?

Vivian's eyes widened.

It was her first time seeing such a large Extraordinary Gem!

Vivian's heart raced, and a vague sense of unease rose within her.

She immediately chanted silently in her heart, communicating with her sister Avril, asking her to pass the news of the relic discovery to Baron Rod.

"Let's mine somewhere else for now,"

Vivian suggested, "Let's decide what to do after Baron Rod responds."

"Alright."

Doron nodded in agreement.

Vivian handed the gemstone in her hand to Doron, "You can bring this to Baron Rod..."

Before she finished speaking, Vivian suddenly swayed, her vision enshrouded in darkness.

In an instant, she felt out of control and fell straight to the ground.

...

...

"Bear grease, pine resin..."

Rod muttered, placing the necessary items into the pot to simmer slowly into medicinal oil at low heat.

Then he crushed some clematis and sage, poured in distilled liquor, and let it steep into a medicinal liquid.

These two herbs are excellent for antibacterial and anti-inflammatory effects; combined with alcohol, they can disinfect and quickly penetrate the affected area.

After everything was prepared, the medicinal oil and liquid were mixed together, stirred evenly.

There's plenty of pine resin at Black Pine Ridge, and bear grease is easy to obtain, so they won't worry about running out of ointment this winter.

Rod made several formulations of antifreeze balm, with the practical effect determining which is best.

"Sir, I have done everything you instructed."

Lawrence came in, panting, reporting, "The snow on the main road has been cleared, and the accumulation has been thrown into the ditch outside the town."

In previous years, no one managed the snow; everyone would huddle indoors during winter.

But now it's different; the town must operate normally, and the main roads can't have snow.

So, they started clearing the snow as soon as it ceased, cleaning it up immediately after it stopped.

"Continue to clear the snow on the outer roads."

Rod sealed the medicine jar and continued to instruct, "While the ground hasn't completely frozen yet, have someone dig a deeper cellar for storing ice."

The cellar is cooler inside, and if handled properly, ice blocks stored there can last until summer.

By then, it's useful for chilling drinks as well as storing food.

"Okay, I'll arrange it right away."

Lawrence nodded, turned to arrange things, then got called by Rod again.

"Oh, and call Durant over for lunch, I'll teach you some novel dishes."

...

...

"Gurgle, gurgle..."

The cold wind howled outside the wooden cabin,

the iron pot on the fireplace was steaming, bubbling with beef broth inside, in which floated pickled vegetables, mushrooms, onions, and wolfberries.

On a snowy day, not having hotpot would make the snow fall in vain!

"Sir, what are we eating?"

Lawrence looked at the empty pot, suggesting there wasn't enough bone for one person to gnaw on.

"What's in the pot is the base,"

Rod hadn't finished speaking when Martha and Leia brought up venison, lamb, mushrooms, and various other dishes.

"What we'll eat is this."

After Martha put down the plates, Rod picked up two prepared wooden sticks, pinched a slice of venison, and swished it in the boiling pot.

In an instant, the raw redness disappeared, Rod picked up the venison, swirled it in a sauce bowl nearby, coated it in sauce, and put it in his mouth.

Then he let out a satisfying sigh.

On a snowy day, having hotpot was warming inside and out, utterly delightful.

The sauce was simple: minced garlic, salt, minced onions, mushroom sauce, plus chili flakes, incomparable to those from his past life.

But the innate flavor of the fresh ingredients made it immensely enjoyable.

All the others couldn't help but gulp.

Yet, other people couldn't immediately get started.

Because they couldn't easily handle the meat as Rod did with just two wooden sticks (chopsticks).

Rod chuckled and had Martha bring the prepared forks and wooden skewers,

"If you're not accustomed to my method, use these two tools to skewer instead."

Rod knew they couldn't use chopsticks, so he had prepared in advance.

Everyone exchanged glances; Lawrence took the lead, a skewer in each hand, spearing pieces of meat to cook in the pot.

But Avril and Durant seemed a bit stubborn.

Perhaps because watching Rod use chopsticks so gracefully fitted the noble etiquette, they insisted on using chopsticks to pick up the meat.

Rod patiently taught them, and only after a long time did they finally get their first bite of meat.

Meanwhile, Lawrence had already eaten more than half a plate.

"It smells so nice!"

Avril's face was full of satisfaction,

"It's just these chopsticks are a bit tricky..."

As soon as she finished speaking, Avril's body softened and she suddenly collapsed.

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