Chapter 106: The Sledge, the Ice Cellar, and the Competent Liu Dazhu

Inside the capital city hospital, Director Niu took the letter he had received and went to Director Gao’s office.

“Old Gao, it’s settled! I’ll contact Old Sun right away to send the stuff onto the train!”

Director Gao was also pleased. Now his promotion was practically assured. The materials Ming Dai had provided were not something ordinary people could get their hands on.

He said, “That little girl really is capable!”

The couple discussed and decided to take the afternoon off. They went home, hired a donkey cart, loaded it with goods, and headed to the train station.

The rumbling train carried the couple’s hopes northward.

At Liujiawan, several heavy snowfalls had fallen again. Every household stayed indoors, hibernating through the winter.

Icicles hung thickly from the eaves of the small courtyard outside the space. Under the sunlight, they sparkled brilliantly, exceptionally beautiful.

Ming Dai was admiring them when Zhou Sinian suddenly reached out, plucked one, and put it to his mouth with a crisp snap.

The icy shard made him shiver; he spat it out.

Ming Dai sighed, “Dirty or not, you just ate it anyway!”

Zhou Sinian looked at the sparkling icicle and asked, “Ming Dai, why isn’t this rock sugar sweet?”

Ming Dai pointed to the roof, “That’s frozen melted snowwater, it’s ice, not rock sugar, so of course it’s not sweet.”

Zhou Sinian looked a little disappointed and threw away the melting icicle in his hand.

Looking at the icicles, Ming Dai thought of the ice cellar in the root cellar.

Her space had a refrigerator and plenty of ice, and she could adjust the temperature inside the space at will, making ice in minutes.

But none of that was convenient to use in the summer.

When the busy farming season came in summer, no matter who you were, you had to join the rice planting or harvesting tasks. Being able to drink a cold iced beverage then would be pure bliss.

To legitimately enjoy chilled drinks in summer, Ming Dai planned to take advantage of this time to harvest some ice and store it in the ice cellar.

She cleaned the ice cellar in the root cellar, took along the clingy little dog Zhou Sinian, borrowed a flatbed cart from the team leader’s house, and headed to the Yudai River to harvest ice.

The team leader was surprised when she told him, “We didn’t even know that root cellar had an ice cellar. Building one costs quite a lot!”

Ming Dai nodded, “We discovered it by accident. Since there’s ice now, we thought we’d store some and try it out. It’ll be perfect for cooling off in the summer.”

The team leader nodded, “That’s not bad. Using a flatbed cart is inconvenient. Use a sled and bring a horse along.”

Ming Dai glanced at the horse she had been trying to hide since arriving and nodded, “Alright.”

Liu Dazhu immediately got up and called his sons, “Eldest, second, third! Come out quickly, harness the sled, we’re going ice harvesting!”

Ming Dai thought, Why do you seem so excited?!

“Team leader, are you coming too? We don’t need that much ice!”

Liu Dazhu rubbed his hands, “Well, young educated youth, we’ll harvest extra, and in summer we can share some ice with the village, okay?”

Ming Dai thought the more ice, the better the ice cellar’s effect. She and Zhou Sinian hadn’t done this before, so having help was best, and she agreed.

“Alright!”

The Liu brothers moved a large sled from the backyard, brought out the horse, and tied it to the front.

Curious, Zhou Sinian ran his hands over the sled, while the three brothers and the horse shivered nervously.

Once everything was ready, Aunt Huang came out grumbling, wearing cotton gloves, “You’re all grown up, yet you freeze up when you see ice. What do you think you are, young kids? You all watch your father carefully, finish quickly and come back!”

Liu Dazhu listened with a smile, not angry at all.

Aunt Huang turned to Ming Dai, “The men are going ice harvesting, you don’t need to get involved, got it? You’re a young girl—what if you fall in?”

Ming Dai quickly agreed.

Liu Dazhu sat on the sled. The others climbed on one after another. Zhou Sinian was excited and restless, but Ming Dai held him down.

The horse whipped forward, and the sled glided smoothly.

Liu Dazhu was skilled; the sled turned nimbly.

Once past the village, their speed increased.

It was Ming Dai’s first time riding a sled. Watching the rapidly passing scenery, she called out to Liu Dazhu, “Uncle Team Leader, this is much faster than a horse-drawn carriage!”

Liu Dazhu laughed swinging his whip, “Right! With the upcoming weather, carriages won’t run well. From now on, sleds will be the way to travel. Going to the county seat by sled will be a lot quicker!”

Ming Dai nodded; it was certainly more convenient, but much colder. She closed her mouth and said no more.

Zhou Sinian felt the thrill of the rushing wind, his heart surging with excitement. Closing his eyes, he imagined himself racing through the icy wilderness.

Opening his eyes, he said to Ming Dai, “Ming Dai, let’s make a sled too. I’ll pull you!”

Ming Dai smiled and shook her head, “We don’t know how to make one. By the time we finish, the snow season will be over!”

Zhou Sinian frowned, disappointed.

The three Liu brothers exchanged glances.

Finally, Liu Laifu spoke, “Well, we have a small sled at home you can borrow to play with.”

Zhou Sinian’s eyes lit up with desire.

Ming Dai tugged his sleeve, “Liu brother, don’t you guys need it?”

Liu Laifu avoided Zhou Sinian’s gaze, “That’s a dog sled. My grandfather made it when he was alive. We don’t have dogs anymore, so it’s just kept.”

Ming Dai looked at Zhou Sinian, “You heard that. We don’t have a dog either, so no way to pull it.”

Zhou Sinian’s eyes flashed, “We do. I want it!”

Ming Dai’s head ached. Where would they even get a dog? He was getting harder and harder to manage!

Zhou Sinian looked straight at Liu Laifu, “I want that sled!”

Ming Dai thought, What kind of bandit speak is this?

The Liu brothers nodded enthusiastically, “Take it! Take it! It’s all yours!”

Ming Dai: …… Fine, if it makes you happy.

Zhou Sinian grinned happily and adjusted his windblown red scarf.

The Liu brothers breathed a sigh of relief. Ever since Zhou Sinian shaved the tail hair off the horse in front of them, their fear of him only grew!

They had to give him whatever he wanted!

The sled was indeed fast, and soon they arrived at the Yudai River.

The Yudai River branched from the main trunk of the Songjiang River and meandered from the county town of Yudai County toward Mount Daqing, forming a curve in Liujiawan.

This was also where the river was widest.

The ice near the shore had frozen solid, but the center was still unsafe; it wouldn’t be strong enough to support people or vehicles until before the New Year.

Liu Dazhu chose a spot for ice harvesting, parked the sled, and called everyone off.

The tools were brought by Liu Dazhu himself—specialized ice harvesting equipment.

“Little educated youth Ming, don’t mind our poverty now. Back in the day, at this time of year, every household would harvest ice for making ice lanterns. The better the ice lanterns, the more prosperous the family! Now only the fishery still harvests ice in winter.”

Ming Dai smiled, “Then today, Uncle Team Leader, we’ll trouble you!”

Liu Dazhu laughed, “No trouble at all. I’ve been ice harvesting with my father since I was little. With these tools, it’s easy! You need to pick calm water spots for ice. We’ll have to go a bit further.”

He motioned for the Liu brothers to follow him down.

Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian also followed, curious about this manual ice harvesting method.

The ice by the shore was very thick. Walking on it was slippery but otherwise fine.

Liu Dazhu chose a spot and began marking lines, crossing back and forth like a checkerboard.

He and three sons took chisels and chipped along the lines to separate the top layer of ice blocks while the bottom layer remained connected.

After the long chiseling, the ice surface was divided into large squares.

Liu Dazhu rested briefly, then, with his sons, inserted chisels into the lines and together hammered down with hammers.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!”

The hammer strikes echoed on the ice, and the ice beneath their feet cracked. Large blocks separated and floated on the surface.

Zhou Sinian watched for a while, then snatched the hammer from Liu Laifa’s hand.

Liu Laifa grimaced at his father. Liu Dazhu was too engrossed to pay attention.

Ming Dai walked over and watched.

Following Liu Dazhu’s example, Zhou Sinian placed the chisel and hammered down.

“Bang! Bang! Bang!!”

“Crack! Crack! Crack!”

Suddenly, everyone on the ice froze and looked at Zhou Sinian holding the large hammer.

How much strength do you have?!

“Don’t move!”

Ming Dai stopped Zhou Sinian from hammering further and looked at Liu Dazhu. “Team Leader, should we stop?”

Liu Dazhu swallowed and looked down, “It’s fine, no cracks, but we can’t keep hammering like this.”

Ming Dai nodded quickly and told Zhou Sinian to return the hammer to Liu Laifa.

Reluctantly, Zhou Sinian handed it over, baring his teeth at Liu Laifa.

Liu Laifa grabbed the hammer and hurried away, resuming work at a distance.

Ming Dai and Zhou Sinian stood aside watching, listening to Liu Dazhu singing ice harvesting songs, with the Liu brothers responding. It was even more entertaining than the folk performances she had seen before.

After all the blocks were loosened, Liu Dazhu took out several long hooks and gave one to each person.

Zhou Sinian’s strength came in handy. He swung the hook and embedded it in a block’s edge. Liu Dazhu and his sons hooked other corners, and together they lifted the ice blocks.

Once the blocks were on the ice surface, they were easy to push to shore. Ming Dai steadied the wooden plank as they slid the blocks ashore.

They could only carry three blocks at a time.

Liu Dazhu led them back and opened Ming Dai’s root cellar. The ice cellar was cleaned and ready for the ice.

There was a wooden slide inside the cellar, previously unused because they didn’t know its purpose. Now it was perfect.

The ice blocks slid down and were pried into the ice cellar along the wooden board.

Fortunately, this wasn’t the thickest ice season; otherwise, they wouldn’t have managed.

After harvesting a dozen or so blocks, it took them a whole day to get everything into the ice cellar.

The team leader collapsed, sitting in Ming Dai’s courtyard.

Ming Dai brewed ginger tea for warmth.

Liu Dazhu looked at the ice cellar entrance and asked Ming Dai, “Little educated youth Ming, you know medicine. Do you know about snake antivenom serum? Now that our village has an ice cellar, can we apply for some?”

Ming Dai was taken aback, “You mean snake antivenom serum? That’s hard to get. Even big hospitals usually don’t have it.”

Liu Dazhu looked disappointed, “I see.”

Ming Dai was curious how he even knew about it since antivenom wasn’t yet widely available.

Liu Dazhu tapped his pipe, “Last year, two kids in our village were bitten by snakes while playing on the mountain. The snake medicine didn’t work. We rushed them to the county hospital. One kid didn’t make it before arrival; the other got there, but the hospital said they couldn’t treat it—no antivenom, nothing left.

These days, raising a child isn’t easy; losing two hurts us deeply.

There aren’t many venomous snakes in our mountains, maybe one or two occasionally, but kids love to run up there in summer. I thought if we could get just one vial, that would be great.”

Ming Dai looked at Liu Dazhu, smoke swirling around him, and thought the village was lucky to have such a team leader.

“I can’t get you the serum, but I have a good recipe for snake medicine. I’ll prepare some before spring; it should work well.”

Liu Dazhu brightened, looking at Ming Dai, “You really have sharp eyes, picking you out from the educated youth right away.”

Ming Dai smiled, not revealing that the team leader had initially been rather reluctant about her arrival.

That night, Zhou Sinian pried a block of ice from the ice cellar and said to Ming Dai, “Ming Dai, I want to eat rock sugar, ice sugar.”

You really have ideas!

Ming Dai told him to put the ice down, “You’re still on medicine and medicated baths. Don’t take too many cold things like this. Rock sugar isn’t made from ice. When I have time, I’ll make you some candied hawthorn.”

Zhou Sinian immediately put the ice in the sink, eyes shining, following her around.

“Candied hawthorn!? What’s that?! Is it tasty?! When will you have time?! Can’t you make it when you’re busy?! Ming Dai, I want candied hawthorn…”

Ming Dai thought, I really want to silence him!