Winter arrived, and the leaders of the Barbarian Tribe and the disciple of the Great Shaman approached Yusuo, expressing their request for a road to Yucun. "Lord Yusuo, our Barbarian Tribe's forest also hopes for a smooth road to Yucun. We are willing to offer compensation for this."
"Lord Yusuo, please consider our Barbarian Tribe's forest as well."
They looked at Yusuo with supplication, hoping for his agreement.
Yusuo, surprised by the Barbarian Tribe's forest having the same idea, said, "I understand your request. Let me discuss it with the Great Shaman, and I'll get back to you."
"Thank you, Lord Yusuo!"
The leaders of the Barbarian Tribe and the disciple of the Great Shaman knew that this matter was almost settled.
Tieying, curious, looked at the leaders of the Barbarian Tribe and the disciple of the Great Shaman, and glanced at the Barbarian warriors. He was somewhat amazed by their strength.
He had heard of the Barbarian Tribe's reputation, but since Iron Village and the Barbarian Tribe had little interaction, it was his first time meeting people from the tribe.
"Lord Yusuo, who are these two?" Tieying asked.
Yusuo introduced them to each other, saying, "This is Huang Leopard, the leader of the Barbarian Tribe's Forest Leopard Clan, and this is Liye, the disciple of the Barbarian Tribe's Great Shaman... This is Tieying, the Village Chief of Iron Village. Many of our village's iron tools are ordered from Iron Village."
Upon hearing that most of Yucun's iron tools were ordered from Iron Village, Huang Leopard and Liye looked at Tieying more seriously.
Since Yucun used the same iron tools, the craftsmanship of Iron Village must be excellent. Some iron tools in the Barbarian Tribe's forest were obtained through other channels and were expensive. If they could exchange for tools from Iron Village, they wondered if the price might be more reasonable.
The two parties then exchanged friendly greetings with Tieying.
...
With the assistance of the Barbarian Tribe and Iron Village, the road construction speed increased.
Before the first snowfall of winter, they had already opened more than seventy percent of the roads, leaving only the final stretch.
Yusuo decided to pause the project, waiting for the next spring when it was warmer to resume.
The helpers from the Barbarian Tribe and Iron Village returned to their respective places, and the people of Yucun returned to the village.
Before winter arrived, all the grain had been properly stored. Each household's cellar was full, and smoked meat hung from the beams.
Everyone could now comfortably spend the winter.
For the people from the original five villages in the south, this was their first year in Yucun, and it was the first time they would experience winter here. In previous years, winter had been difficult for them, with many people starving or freezing to death. However, this year was different. They had also dug cellars, stocked up on food, and, like others, made a lot of smoked and cured meat. They were not worried about food. They also built warm beds in their homes, so when it got cold, they could light the warm beds and not worry about not waking up the next day.
"It's really good," lying on the warm bed in the house, the Village Chief of the original Feng Village sighed comfortably, holding his wife and nestling in the quilt. "In previous years, this was the most worrying time for me. This year, we can spend the winter at ease, without worrying about anything."
The village chief's wife was also happy. "Exactly, this year none of the newborns in our village died. They all survived and are lively."
In the past, surviving half of the newborns would have been considered a blessing.
"Our daughter is pregnant too. Considering the timing, she will give birth next spring."
Their daughter had married the son of Yucun's village chief and was already pregnant. Although her belly didn't show much, both families were happy. They specially invited Yusuo to bless the unborn child.
"I'll be a grandfather next year."
"I'll be a grandmother too."
The two of them hugged each other in the quilt, laughing happily.
The people from the original five villages were similar. Today, after a whole day of snowfall, it was cold outside. Except for the patrol team and the warriors in the warrior camp who continued training, most villagers stayed in their houses, nestling in comfortable warm beds, listening to the sound of snowflakes falling outside.
Even the slaves in the slave camp didn't have to worry about freezing to death. They could have a meal in a day.
Yusuo didn't do anything today, just lounging on the warm bed.
Wearing a fox fur coat, he drew on a small low table near the warm bed. On the opposite side was Yuzhou practicing calligraphy.
On the table beside the warm bed were snacks made from rice flour, flavored with honey, delicious and soft.
After drawing for a while, Yusuo felt hungry, not bothering to look, he reached out and grabbed a piece and put it in his mouth. After finishing, he reached out again, but this time his hand bumped into another hand before it could reach. Yusuo looked up and saw that Luyan had come back at some point, brought him a snack, and put it near his mouth. "Eat."
Yusuo bit down after opening his mouth and asked, "When did you come back?"
He had been too engrossed in drawing and didn't notice when Luyan returned.
Luyan reached out, removing the snack crumbs from the corner of his mouth. Naturally, he put them in his own mouth, feeling that this thing seemed quite delicious. "I just came back. Jian Adad is still in the warrior camp. He said he won't be back for lunch. Let's eat by ourselves."
Yusuo watched him eat his own snack crumbs and his heartbeat unexpectedly sped up a bit. He said, "What are you doing? If you want to eat, take one yourself. Why eat mine..."
He found it difficult to say the rest, but Luyan didn't seem to mind.
His coat had already been taken off and hung up. At this moment, he took off his boots, went up on the warm bed, squeezed next to Yusuo, and said, "The one in your hand tastes good."
Yusuo was pushed to the side a bit, almost falling like a chubby penguin. Luyan, with one large hand, caught him and held onto him, unwilling to let go.
After Yusuo sat firmly, seeing Luyan still staring at the snack in his hand, he felt a bit speechless.
He was eating the same snack from the plate; what was different?
But Luyan seemed to really want to eat what was in his hand. The look in his eyes made Yusuo's heart skip a beat. Afraid that he would do something strange again, he quickly handed the snack in his hand to him.
"Here, take it. Don't stare at it like a child."
Luyan took it and took a bite, chewing and swallowing.
Yusuo took another piece for himself. Seeing Luyan still looking at him, he twitched his mouth.
"Want more?"
"Yeah."
"Then take it yourself."
"... "
L
uyan didn't have much interest in these snacks. Apart from the one in Yusuo's hand, he wasn't very interested in the others, so he shook his head.
Across the table, Yuzhou stared at Yusuo and Luyan, covering his mouth and laughing.
Yusuo turned his head to look at him, and seeing him laughing, he felt a bit awkward. "What are you laughing at?"
Yuzhou quickly put down his hand and said, "Nothing."
Yusuo suspiciously looked at him.
Yuzhou, however, didn't say anything and showed Yusuo the homework on the table.
"Brother, I've finished the twenty big characters. I want to go play with Yujiao."
"It's snowing outside, isn't it?"
"It doesn't matter. I'll let the snow wolf carry me over. I'll be at Yujiao's house soon."
"Then wear something thick."
"I know."
Yuzhou climbed off the bed, put on a fox fur coat, put on a fox fur hat, put on fur boots, and then ran to the door to whistle.
Not long after the whistle sounded, a snow wolf ran over.
Along with the snow wolf, there were also two young sand leopards.
Yuzhou's eyes lit up, and he hugged the two cubs, sitting on the back of the snow wolf, heading to Yujiao's house.
Arriving at Yujiao's house, he shouted for Yujiao, and Yujiao came out.
Yujiao quickly lifted him down from the back of the snow wolf and invited him inside.
"With such heavy snow, how did you come over?"
"My brother and Luyu are being intimate."
Yujiao almost choked, "Inti-intimate?"
"Yes," Yuzhou nodded. "Your mother said that when you see others being intimate, you shouldn't disturb them. So, I came to find you."
This was indeed something Yushan had told them, considering the open atmosphere in Yucun. Sometimes, there was no avoidance of intimacy between couples, but children who didn't understand would report it to Yushan when they saw it.
Yushan had told them that such intimacy was only allowed between partners, and they should quickly leave if they saw it, not to disturb others from making babies.
"But Lord Yusuo and Chief Lu are both men, aren't they?" Yujiao was a bit confused.
Yuzhou, puzzled, asked, "What's wrong with that?"
Yujiao hesitated, "There shouldn't be anything wrong."
But the problem was, were Lord Yusuo and Chief Lu really partners?
...
Yusuo had no idea that Yuzhou had already considered him and Luyan as partners in his mind. After Yuzhou left, there were only the two of them left in the room.
Luyan was still sitting close to him. This guy had strong body heat, making it quite warm, but perhaps due to the recent scene, Yusuo felt a bit flustered with Luyan sitting so close.
He nudged Luyan, asking him to sit across from him. "Sit across from me, don't squeeze together."
"I'm cold. It's warmer sitting with you."
"...?"
How could Yusuo believe that Luyan, with his fiery body temperature, would feel cold? He told this guy to run around in the snow without clothes; he could probably do it without flinching.
Lying.
Was he just sitting close to him because of what happened earlier?
Yusuo felt that Luyan was really too clingy.
He knew that some close male friends would often play around like this, but he had never had such a friend because of his somewhat cold personality, making it difficult for others to approach him.
Luyan was the first person he met who wasn't afraid of his cold demeanor and would stick to him.
Before, he thought it was because he saved Luyan, and Luyan had a kind of fledgling mentality towards him, enjoying sticking around him.
But now, Luyan wasn't the wild man he used to be. This guy was already the leader of a warrior camp but still clung to him every day.
Yusuo had told him several times, but the agreements made before seemed to have become non-existent, and this guy always found a way to make him drop his guard. By the time he realized it, this guy had stuck to him for who knew how long.
Yusuo felt that it was necessary to have a good talk with Luyan about this issue. After all, they weren't kids anymore, and such childish behavior was strange.
So he said to Luyan, "Go sit across from me. I need to talk to you."
"I'm cold. It's warmer sitting with you."
"..."
How could Yusuo believe that Luyan, with his fiery body temperature, would feel cold? He told this guy to run around in the snow without clothes; he could probably do it without flinching.
"Lying."
Was he just sitting close to him because of what happened earlier?
Yusuo felt that Luyan was really too clingy.
He knew that some close male friends would often play around like this, but he had never had such a friend because of his somewhat cold personality, making it difficult for others to approach him.
Luyan was the first person he met who wasn't afraid of his cold demeanor and would stick to him.
Before, he thought it was because he saved Luyan, and Luyan had a kind of fledgling mentality towards him, enjoying sticking around him.
But now, Luyan wasn't the wild man he used to be. This guy was already the leader of a warrior camp but still clung to him every day.
Yusuo had told him several times, but the agreements made before seemed to have become non-existent, and this guy always found a way to make him drop his guard. By the time he realized it, this guy had stuck to him for who knew how long.
Yusuo felt that it was necessary to have a good talk with Luyan about this issue. After all, they weren't kids anymore, and such childish behavior was strange.
So he said to Luyan, "Go sit across from me. I need to talk to you."