Jiapingguan Chronicle

Chapter 2633 Still Vigorous in Old Age 14.0
This heavy snow came very suddenly, and it left just as suddenly.

Originally, everyone thought the snow would last until nightfall, and might even last for two days and one night, but unexpectedly it stopped slowly before dinner.

Although the sky is still overcast and hasn't cleared up, and it might rain again tonight, it's already quite good that we have some free time now so everyone can go out and get some fresh air.

Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian, in particular, were on tenterhooks. If the snow continued into the night or even into the next day, it would truly become a snow disaster. If they were given a little time to shovel snow, they wouldn't be afraid even if it started snowing again.

"Are you relieved now?" Qin Zheng looked at his apprentice, then at Shen Haolin and Xue Ruitian. "You've been preoccupied all afternoon. If we hadn't cracked some jokes to ease your nerves, you would have been worried sick."

"Yes!"

Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian exchanged glances, a wry smile appearing on their faces.

Throughout the afternoon, although they were sitting in the main tent, their hearts were with the entire Jiaping Pass. The Shadows braved the heavy snow to deliver messages back and forth, issuing orders on behalf of the Duke, the General, and the Marquis. Only through the concerted efforts of everyone in the Shen family army was this crisis overcome.

"What's the situation in the city?" Fourth Master Jiang asked, looking at Shen Haolin, Shen Cha, and Xue Ruitian. "There shouldn't be any casualties?"

“There were no casualties.” Shen Cha shook her head gently. “Although it doesn’t snow here at this time of year in previous years, everyone still makes preparations in case something like today happens.”

"Are the preparations adequate?"

“It’s true that some families don’t have enough charcoal, but that’s a minority. We can just share some from the Duke’s mansion; we don’t need to touch the camp’s reserves at all.” Shen Cha sighed. “The only problem is that we don’t know what the situation is like around here, or how far the snow has spread. We haven’t received any accurate information yet.”

"No rush, it should be ready in a few days." Old Master Jiang thought for a moment, "By the way, how are those houses?"

"It's not bad. Although the snow came suddenly and caught us off guard, we reacted quickly and handled it properly. In addition, all the houses in the city have been repaired in the past two years, so there are not many dilapidated courtyards left. Now there are only a few abandoned courtyards in the southwest corner. They do have some problems, but they are not serious. We will have someone take a look after the snow melts. If they can be repaired, we will repair them. If they cannot be repaired, we will demolish and rebuild them."

"Hmm!" Master Jiang nodded. "I've been there. Those courtyards in the southwest corner have indeed been abandoned for too long. It's probably too difficult to repair them. Some of them were completely burned down. It would be more cost-effective to demolish and rebuild them."

"That's true. Several courtyards caught fire a few years ago, leaving only the frames. They definitely need to be rebuilt." Shen Haolin nodded, sighed, and said, "But I'm afraid we can't spare the resources right now. Let's wait until we win this battle!"

"It's alright. We old folks have nothing better to do, so we can go over and take a look, and give you some advice."

"You're the only one with nothing to do. The two of us still have to train; we're busy every day." Yan Bo rolled his eyes, snorted, and listened to the cheers coming from outside. "What's going on now? Has the martial arts competition started?"

"The snow must have stopped, and everyone's come out to play in the snow." Shen Cha threw all the notes into the charcoal brazier, watching them slowly turn to ashes. She looked at everyone and asked, "Shall we go out and take a look?"

"Alright, let's go out and take a look." Half an hour ago, Xue Ruitian had already instructed the guards at the Great Parade Ground to start slowly clearing the snow from the ground. However, the snow was still falling heavily at the time, so the results were not very obvious. Apart from clearing a relatively clean area in front of a few tents, most of the other areas were still a vast expanse of white.

However, this fulfilled the wishes of many people. When the snow first started falling, many people were thinking about having a snowball fight. Now that the snow has finally stopped, almost everyone in the camps ran out and rushed towards the vast expanse of white. Some people even rolled around in the snow several times.

"These kids are really something," Yan Bo said with a helpless smile as he looked at the group of people rolling around in the snow. "Aren't they afraid of catching a cold?"

“They’re all energetic kids, so naturally they’re not afraid of this.” Qin Zheng glanced at the group of people in the snow. “After they drink the ginger soup, they’ll be fine. Weren’t we all the same when we were young?”

"Yes, they are indeed the same."

Eagle Leopard and Falcon were the two frolicking and rolling around in the snow. They were the first to rush out of the camp and pounced on the snow like two big dogs, thrashing and splashing around in the snow.

“It snows in Xijing City even in winter, how come these two act like they’ve never seen it before?” Bai Meng shook her head helplessly. “Look at them, they’re even eating snow, aren’t they afraid of freezing their tongues!”

"It's already very good that they can still have such childlike hearts at their age," Xia Chen chuckled. "However, compared to the snow here, the snow in Xijing City is still far inferior."

“Snow this heavy is rare even at the border. It’s rare to see it once or twice a year, let alone in the capital.” Xue Ruitian pointed to the thickness of the snow. “Normal snow usually only reaches your ankles. Look at today’s snow. If you were to stand over it, it would be at least up to your waist.”

"Not often seen even at the border?" Bai Meng looked at Shen Haolin and Shen Cha, and seeing them nod, she smiled and said, "Then we're really lucky to have such heavy snow."

"Interested in going to have some fun?"

"No, don't talk nonsense!"

"Really? I think people should follow their hearts, right? If you can't help it, then don't try to."

Xue Ruitian and Xia Chen exchanged a glance, then the two of them grabbed Bai Meng from either side, ignoring her struggles, and dragged her off to the snow.

Bai Meng felt as if he had been thrown into a cold but soft place, so comfortable that he didn't want to get up. So this is what it feels like to lie in thick snow.

Seeing Bai Meng, Ying Bao, and Ying Jun enjoying rolling around in the snow, Xue Ruitian and Xia Chen also rushed over.

They originally wanted to drag Shen Haolin along, but when they saw the way Shen Haolin was staring at them, they couldn't help but feel uneasy. To avoid being held accountable later, they wisely gave up the idea.