[edited]

So, the two of them made dumplings for a whole five days.

In 1801, half of the ingredients were taken out, and the charcoal fire was very strong to prevent the dough and fillings from freezing.

Doudou also helped out, and Jiang Ning contributed a large number of leeks, Chinese cabbage, and cilantro.

Huo Yishen chopped the filling, while Jiang Ning secretly cut the greens and mixed them into the meat filling, then she added some soy sauce and stirred it.

Doudou is only six years old. She was somewhat clever but didn’t understand everything, and they surprisingly managed to deceive her.

Each family received 2000 dumplings, which are enough to last for quite some time.

Jiang Ning stored her portion in her space to keep it fresh, while Huo Yishen’s put their portion on the balcony to freeze for an hour and when he comes back, it was so hard it was almost like stone.

He didn’t need to put them in the fridge, he simply stored them in boxes and took them out to cook whenever they wanted.

Jiang Ning wanted to make some meat buns to stock up, but with the weather being difficult for dough fermentation, she gave up the idea.

Every day, their life was on repeat: she either read, played with the dog, weeded, or exercised. She lived the same routine day after day.

As they spent more time together, Jiang Ning discovered that Huo Yishen was not only skilled but also enjoyed reading and learning. He was actually reading books about automobile repair, and he seemed quite engrossed in them.

Jiang Ning was curious as she was somewhat regretful about his car, even though it had not been washed away but after being soaked in water for months and then enduring extreme cold, its materials rapidly degraded and its almost equivalent to being scrapped, which was a pity.

After the flood receded, all the vehicles were scrapped, and it was not easy to get another one.

“Just browsing to pass the time,” he replied.

Jiang Ning didn’t believe him; someone from a military or police background wouldn’t just browse casually.

Days were slow, yet fast.

She hadn’t gained weight, but finally, her abdominal muscles were visible, a result of her daily persistence in sparring with Huo Yishen.

In the past six months, there had been a noticeable improvement in her physical fitness, and she didn’t feel tired or nauseous while consciously digging and weeding.

After a month, the potato seedlings grew lush and green.

Doudou was craving vegetables. “Sis, can we eat the seedlings?”

“No, you can’t,” Jiang Ning took the opportunity to educate the two. “Potato seedlings contain solanine. Eating too much can cause dizziness, vomiting, and in severe cases, death.”

Doudou was curious, “What is solanine?”

“It’s a poison that can kill people,” Jiang Ning thought explaining to her would be futile and instructed, “Remember, don’t eat it.”

“Doudou doesn’t want to die, Doudou wants to be with big brother and sister and Coke.”

After scaring the two, Jiang Ning left satisfied, thinking that Zheng Weili and the other two had been working for a month without any news, not knowing how they were doing. It should be time for them to take a break.

She was still sleepy in the morning, and the door was knocked loudly.

Coke looked fierce; it scratched at the door continuously.

Jiang Ning opened the inner door, and the fierce dog suddenly wagged its tail.

As soon as the outer door opened, it darted out.

The voice of Lu Yu came, “Coke, did you miss us?”

As promised, the three of them returned, carrying their blankets and a change of clothes.

It had been a month since they last saw each other, and they seemed to have changed a lot.

Lu Yu and Zhang Chao were still laughing and joking, but there was a sense of maturity and roughness that she hadn’t seen before.

The temperature had dropped to minus sixty degrees; their faces were wrapped tightly, showing signs of fatigue and bloodshot eyes.

Working until midnight, they received rations and were afraid of being robbed, so they slept in the dormitory for three hours before leaving after the peak robbery time on ration distribution days.

It was quite a distance; it took them seven hours to get home.

“You guys go back first, I happen to be boiling hot water. I’ll bring you a kettle later.”

Closing the door, she brushes her teeth and washes her face. Jiang Ning then carried the hot water kettle to 1803. Seeing them too tired to lift their feet, she also cooked a pot of noodles on the side.

After finishing a pot of steaming hot noodles, their stiff bodies began to warm up. Zhang Chao couldn’t help but remark, “Jiang Ning’s cooking is still the best. We eat poorly in the canteen, there’s not even a bit of meat.”

“How’s work going for you guys?” Jiang Ning asked.

Zhang Chao extended his bandaged hand, “We almost lost our lives.”

For eight catties of grain, it’s really not easy to earn.

Zhang Chao was okay; after all, having been in society, he knew how tough life could be and was mentally prepared for this job.

But Lu Yu was different. He had lived for twenty years and was working hard to earn a living for the first time in his life.

If it weren’t for luck that he and Zhang Chao were assigned to the same group, he would have almost collapsed.

All three of them worked the night shift, but Zheng Weili was assigned to another group, so the two of them had to stick together and fend for themselves.

During the day, it was okay; there weren’t a lot of crimes happening, and people were cautious.

But at night, out of nowhere, robbers would jump out everywhere, stealing bags, food, and even stripping people of their clothes and belongings.

On their third day of work, the two of them were stopped by some robbers on the road, and Lu Yu was caught off guard and got slashed.

If he hadn’t been wearing protective clothing made of colored steel plates in advance, his arm might have been disabled.

Danger was everywhere, especially on the days when each unit distributed rations; those were the most nerve-wracking.

Some careless individuals relied on their own size and strength and feared nothing. They left the unit carrying their grain casually. But just a few steps out, they were robbed by a gang of thieves on motorcycles. They were dragged onto the ice and pulled for tens of meters.

Fortunately, it was slippery because of the ice; if it had been on the concrete road, they would have been dragged to pieces.

“My grain, my grain!” The big and tall man cried like a child, his tears freezing instantly.

Patrolling for public security was truly a matter of risking one’s life.

Of course, there were unexpected gains from the job.

As long as it wasn’t too excessive, the higher-ups would turn a blind eye to it; after all, the danger was there.

Zhang Chao opened his blanket and revealed cigarettes, matches, gold chains, canned food, and several catties of grain.

Lu Yu and Zheng Weili had the same, plus the grain they received, they had quite a fruitful month.

All the unexpected gains came from the criminals.

When committing crimes, if they encountered a public security patrol, they would either run if they couldn’t fight or throw things away to tempt the patrol team to pick them up, giving themselves a chance to escape, or they would be found during a search after being captured.

If there were victims at the scene, the items would be returned to them.

As for unclaimed items, they would be silently divided among the team.

The three of them were inexperienced newcomers at first and honestly handed over the items they found, but later, after being enlightened by their seniors, they understood.

At first, they couldn’t get past the moral hurdle, but later they found that everyone around them was doing the same, so they gradually changed their minds.

There was no way out; this job was just too dangerous, and without some benefits, who would risk their lives?

Survival was like this; cats had their ways, dogs had theirs, there was nothing to criticize.

Jiang Ning asked Zhang Chao, “What happened to your hand?”

“I dodged quickly; otherwise, my tendons would have been cut off.”

With their rapid improvement in physical fitness over the past six months, he managed to react quickly to sudden attacks. If it had been before, he wouldn’t have been able to dodge at all.

Fortunately, he carried medicine with him and was able to stop the bleeding and bandage it in time; otherwise, the few catties of grain he earned wouldn’t even be enough to cover the medical expenses.

Jiang Ning checked his wound; it wasn’t infected and had started to scab. “It’s so dangerous, are you guys still going to continue working?”