Chapter 63: Winter Charcoal

Since arriving here, this was the first time Wen Nuan Nuan didn’t have to rely on her own two legs to get around.

A truly historic advancement!

She had officially joined the ranks of vehicle owners.

Well, correction—horseback riders.

Carriages simply couldn’t navigate the mountain paths.

Grabbing a square cotton cloth, Nuan Nuan draped it over her head, tied it under her chin, and dashed out the courtyard gate.

The weather was bitterly cold, the wind stinging her scalp. If not for worrying about looking ridiculous, she would have gladly covered her face with another cloth, leaving only her eyes exposed.

The howling northern wind felt no different from knives slicing across her face—sharp and painful.

Even walking uphill on normal days left her cheeks stinging from the wind, let alone sitting atop a horse today.

Bursting with excitement, she ran outside the courtyard gate, only to be dumbfounded at the sight of the carriage.

“Aren’t we riding horses?”

Outside the courtyard gate, the carriage had long been hitched and ready. Leng Xiao stood tall and straight, holding the reins with his hands hanging loosely at his sides. His deep, calm eyes quietly met hers.

“You wanted to ride a horse?”

Wen Nuan Nuan quickly waved her hands. “No, no. Isn’t the charcoal-burning spot at the back mountain? Can the carriage make it up there?”

Charcoal burning required wood—shouldn’t they follow the principle of proximity?

She had assumed they’d pick a wider, flatter area on the back mountain, dig a pit, burn the wood, and cover it with soil. That was how she’d seen it done once as a child in the countryside.

But some wood burned too fiercely, turning mostly to ash, while other pieces didn’t burn thoroughly, remaining wood inside. When used for heating, they’d finally catch fire but produce thick smoke. Opening doors and windows let in the cold, but keeping them closed made the smoke unbearably suffocating.

Later, the villagers preferred to buy charcoal rather than make it themselves—mainly because poorly made charcoal was common, and buying it wasn’t expensive either.

Yet in their small mountain village, every household made their own.

“The back mountain is far from water sources and has too much dry grass, making it prone to fires. There’s a yellow-earth hill across the river where the kiln holes are set up. Everyone in the village burns charcoal there,” Leng Xiao explained, extending his broad, scar-covered hand to help Nuan Nuan into the carriage.

Without a second thought, Wen Nuan Nuan refused outright. “No need, I’ll climb in myself!”

Leng Xiao’s back wounds had only just begun to show signs of improvement. The herbs the white tiger had brought were truly effective at stopping bleeding and promoting healing. If he strained himself helping her and his wounds reopened, where would they find such effective herbs again? Not to mention the pain it would cause him.

And with only a limited supply of those herbs, Leng Xiao had even said to use them sparingly, saving some for the journey next year.

Wen Nuan Nuan knew she couldn’t be of much help, but she still had enough sense to avoid causing trouble.

The carriage frame was rather high—no wonder young ladies from wealthy families needed footstools. Climbing up was indeed undignified.

But Wen Nuan Nuan didn’t care. In this remote mountain village, there were no outsiders around, so there was no need to worry about her image.

As for Leng Xiao—did she even have an image left in front of him? That had been lost from their very first meeting. Since she couldn’t play the part of a gentle and virtuous lady, she might as well abandon all pretense.

Leng Xiao lowered his gaze, staring at his own rough hand. She’d rather climb in by herself than take his hand.

Was it disdain or avoidance?

Whichever it was, a heavy, suffocating feeling settled in his chest.

“Can your hand hold the reins? If not, why don’t you teach me? I’ll do it,” Wen Nuan Nuan, already inside the carriage, still felt uneasy and poked her little head out from behind the curtain, watching Leng Xiao, who hadn’t moved for a while.

Leng Xiao snapped back to attention. Hearing the concern in her voice and seeing her bright, lively face before him, the suffocating feeling vanished. The corners of his thin lips lifted slightly. “No need. The horse is well-behaved. It won’t strain my wounds.”

“Oh.” Wen Nuannuan withdrew her head and sat cross-legged in the empty carriage.

Their two horses were indeed exceptionally well-behaved.

They worked hard, ran especially fast, and weren’t picky about food—eating all kinds of weeds and dry grass. Occasionally, when given a meal of corn, they would happily neigh, almost nuzzling their mouths against you in delight.

Wen Nuannuan had always considered herself highly adaptable, but after seeing these two horses’ adaptability, she realized there was always someone better and skies beyond skies. She felt she couldn’t compare.

The spacious carriage swayed and jolted along the rugged dirt road. Apart from the built-in front curtain, the carriage had no installed seating benches or window curtains.

They had all agreed not to install benches. Since there would be many people at departure, they would place a few reed-woven cushions to sit on. For the windows on both sides, they planned to attach the Cicada Wing Gauze removed from their home windows—light, thin, soft, dense, breathable, and translucent.

This would ensure both lighting and privacy.

Leng Tian, who was carrying firewood, saw a carriage approaching from afar. He put down the firewood in his arms and ran over with long strides.

“Eldest Brother, Sister-in-law!”

His hearty, bold voice arrived before he did.

Seeing Leng Tian running toward them, the two horses instinctively slowed their pace.

Leng Xiao threw the reins to Leng Tian, letting him lead the horses to the kiln openings.

After getting off the carriage, Wen Nuannuan looked left and right, then circled the bare loess hill.

There were five kiln openings.

So professional-looking!

Completely different from the temporary charcoal-burning methods she had seen as a child!

This loess hill and its surroundings were bare, likely due to frequent firing, making it difficult for trees and weeds to survive. Even if they managed to grow, they would be cut down during charcoal burning and thrown into the kiln openings.

The five kiln openings were distributed around the hill. Each opening was vertical and shaped like a large half-circle, hollowed out from the loess soil and stones inside. They seemed about two or three square meters in size and over a meter tall, with one or two holes slightly below the top, likely serving as chimneys.

They were much larger than Wen Nuannuan had imagined.

“Eldest Brother, is it just our family today?”

“Yeah, some other families have already finished burning, and others will come later. But even if others come, it’s fine. Eldest Brother said we only need to burn three kiln openings. The other two can be used by others when they arrive,” Leng Tian replied with a grin.

After speaking, he bent down to arrange the firewood.

Wen Nuannuan had previously heard “three kiln openings” and thought it was just one hole—how big could it be? Now, after seeing them, she realized it was quite a lot. She turned to Leng Xiao and asked, “We’re burning this much?”

“By the time we reach Jingcheng next year, it will already be winter. In an unfamiliar place, it won’t be easy to buy things right away, so we’re making enough for next year as well.”

Wen Nuannuan nodded in understanding. Since her trip to the city, where she nearly wore out her legs running around to buy things, she had deeply realized that this wasn’t a place where you could just make a phone call and have goods delivered to your doorstep.

Here, if you could make something yourself, you absolutely shouldn’t spend money on it, because time, labor, and raw materials were cheap, while money was hard to earn.

Even things you could buy with money weren’t always readily available. Items like charcoal had fixed locations and seasons for purchase.

“Anyway, there’s not much difference between burning one kiln opening and three. The effort is about the same. I say we should burn seven or eight openings, so we won’t have to buy charcoal for the next few years. Wouldn’t that save money too?” Leng Tian was all for making as much as possible to take along.

As long as they could carry it, he’d be happy to make enough for the next ten or even several decades.

In Jingcheng, unlike here, everything requires spending silver to purchase. Although they had earned some silver from this trip into the mountains and had thought about how to earn more, saving silver did not hinder earning it. Moreover, with many people, there would be numerous places requiring silver, so being able to save more to bring to Jingcheng would bring peace of mind.

Watching Leng Tian carry bundles of trimmed logs—stripped of branches and leaves, each as tall as a person and as thick as a bowl’s mouth—into the kiln and stack them neatly, Wen Nuan Nuan felt exhausted just looking at it, let alone having to fire seven or eight kilns!

“Isn’t this too exhausting?”