Dark clouds loomed over the mountains as a storm threatened to break.
The stillness before a tempest was always suffocating.
Ye Zhinan stared out of the window at the howling wind. Finally, the stone in her heart settled.
She picked up a hoe, put on a coir raincoat, and rushed towards the fields.
"I'll go with you."
Ye Yingfeng followed closely behind.
This younger sister always gave people so much to worry about.
Just as they reached the fields, the rain poured down in torrents.
Ye Zhinan had just raised her hoe when it was snatched from her hand.
"Get in! Don't cause trouble!"
Qin Yihuai shouted to the people in the ox cart. His voice brooked no resistance.
"You can't let your feet get cold!"
No matter how much Ye Zhinan shouted, the tall figure in front remained unmoved.
"Miss Ye, don't be angry. The boss is just worried about you!"
Thanks to Chen Zhenhai for speaking up. Didn't Ye Zhinan worry about the people outside?
Looking around, the fields were teeming with people. Several families had come out to dredge the canals.
Qin Yihuai had previously instructed everyone to dig canals to drain water, so they were not in a complete panic now.
After the chaos, Ye Zhinan was now sipping the ginger syrup brewed by Han Xiangmei.
Although she hadn't done anything, a lot of cold air had seeped into her body. Thinking of this, she secretly took out a few packets of cold granules from her space and stuffed them into Qin Yihuai's hand.
"Drink this to ward off the cold."
"What about mine?"
Ye Yingfeng heard this and stretched out his hand.
"Of course you have yours. Open your mouth."
Seeing the intimate interaction between the siblings, a pang of jealousy welled up in Qin Yihuai's heart. He popped the medicine into his mouth and crunched it noisily.
Ye Zhinan secretly enjoyed watching him, but the cold air outside ruined her good mood.
That night, Ye Zhinan tossed and turned in bed. Even with all the clothes piled on her, she couldn't keep out the sudden cold.
She simply got up and put on all her clothes, but the cold wind that hit her when she opened the door chilled her to the bone.
"It's snowing!"
Looking at the white expanse outside, Ye Zhinan's heart sank even further.
The heavy rain had loosened the soil, and the snow had crushed some of the greenhouses. The crops in the fields had suffered heavy losses.
Everyone looked at their fields, on the verge of tears.
"This is going to be a tough year again!"
Mrs. Zhang tightened her clothes and looked at Ye Zhinan with hope in her eyes.
But she was also at a loss. They had managed to avoid the strong wind and withstand the heavy rain, but they had finally been defeated by the snow.
The North Border was truly a bitterly cold place.
Qin Yihuai watched the small figure crouching in the fields. His heart sank bit by bit.
"I still have some grain here. It should be enough for everyone to get through the winter."
After saying that, Ye Zhinan remained crouched in the field, as if looking at something.
Qin Yihuai walked over and saw that the little figure was digging at something.
"What are you doing?"
"Look, what's this?"
Ye Zhinan suddenly held up a black and dirty thing in front of him. A chill wafted over, and Qin Yihuai wrinkled his nose.
"A pear?"
"So smart. You've really put those books you've read to good use."
This was common knowledge. What did it have to do with reading books?
Qin Yihuai didn't argue with her. He held up the blackened pear towards the sun and examined it carefully.
"Can this pear be eaten?"
"Of course. It's delicious."
Saying so, Ye Zhinan took a bite: "Brr! It's so cold!"
She kept on biting while exclaiming until there was only the core left, which she then threw away.
"I've heard that frozen pears are delicious. Finally getting to taste one, they really live up to their reputation."
"What is a frozen pear?"
Seeing that Qin Yihuai still didn't understand, she stuffed a frozen pear into his hand.
"A frozen pear, as the name suggests, is a pear that has been frozen. Don't you even know this? You're just~"
Ye Zhinan left the last word unsaid, waiting for the first - time taster to give his feedback.
"It's delicious, but it can't be used as a winter staple."
Sure enough, he was such a straight - laced man, so unromantic.
Of course Ye Zhinan knew that fruits couldn't be used as food, but it was still better than having nothing at all.
"We can sell them even if we can't eat them all!"
She leaned closer to him and lowered her voice. Qin Yihuai was startled by her unceremonious action and instinctively took a step back.
This action looked so cute and silly in Ye Zhinan's eyes. She quickly stepped forward, stuffed a pear into his arms, and then ran away.
People could run away, but what had happened couldn't be undone.
Even if they had saved some of the crops, they would still have no harvest if there was another heavy snowfall next year.
In the face of natural disasters, Ye Zhinan once again acknowledged the insignificance of humans.
"Mother, sister has been sitting there for half a day. Should we call a doctor?"
"Don't you remember that your sister is a doctor herself?"
Ye Shenyan walked out of the house and headed straight towards Ye Zhinan.
"Have you come up with anything?"
Ye Zhinan looked up, her eyes shining. She pointed at the only duck they had in the pen.
"Dad, I want to eat roast duck!"
"Master, is the girl too shocked? How can she be thinking about roast duck at a time like this!"
Not to mention roast duck, the Ye family hadn't had meat for a long time.
In the North Border, every household had a limited number of poultry. Chickens and ducks were for laying eggs, cows were for plowing fields, and sheep were for shearing wool. Only pork could be eaten, and that was only on special festivals.
Now that Ye Zhinan wanted to eat roast duck, it was as if she didn't want to live anymore.
"Look what's on the ground?"
Everyone was puzzled by Ye Zhinan's question.
"Duck feathers?"
Ye Yingfeng ventured an answer.
"Yes. I'm so stupid. I've ignored such an important material right in front of me for so long."
Ye Zhinan patted her head and murmured. Han Xiangmei grew even more worried.
"Girl, what on earth are you talking about?"
"Mother, let's raise more ducks. Do you know which families in the village raise ducks?"
"Mrs. Zhang and Mrs. Li have a few. There are also a few other families not far away. But what exactly do you want to do?"
Han Xiangmei couldn't help but wink at Ye Shenyan.
Ye Shenyan thought for a moment and then clapped his hands in approval.
"Are you thinking of making down jackets?"
"You're still the smart one, Dad."
Ye Zhinan stopped beating around the bush and laid out all her ideas.
"Duck feathers can be processed into duck down. Filling clothes with duck down can keep people warm. I've noticed that there are no warm - keeping clothes in the whole village. Everyone just layers clothes on top of each other, or wears animal hides, but that's only for a few people."
Ye Yingfeng thought it made sense and nodded in agreement.
Ye Zhinan continued, "Raising ducks is not only good for making duck down. Ducks eat locust larvae, which can prevent locust plagues. And of course, they can be eaten. They're delicious and healthy."
"What you said makes sense, but we need to think it over carefully if we want to implement it."
Ye Shenyan thought about the long - term, especially in the North Border.
"I understand. I want to discuss it with Inspector Qin first."
Ye Zhinan tentatively asked her father, but to her surprise, he agreed without hesitation.
So she happily told Qin Yihuai her idea.
"It's a good idea, but we need to choose the right people."
After the last incident, they were more cautious when looking for partners.
"I can ask Sister Hong to help collect some duck feathers first. We'll implement the plan specifically after the experiment is successful."
"You've made progress!"
Qin Yihuai looked at her with approval: "Actually, have you ever thought about where there are the most duck feathers?"