Chapter 248: Everyone Froze to Death in Her Dream
Chapter 248: Chapter 248: Everyone Froze to Death in Her Dream
Wolf Three yelped, offering his opinion.
He said that Little White Wolf had been nesting recently.
He’d been taking old cotton clothes and quilts that Grandma Qin no longer used and piling them up in a corner.
Shen Ningning was surprised. "Little White Wolf... could he be pregnant?"
She had heard Grandma Qin say before that some animals start nesting before they give birth to their young.
Like swallows or bears.
The Black Wolf King shook his head. He let Shen Ningning climb onto his back and carried her forward, explaining the reason to the little girl along the way.
It turned out that Little White Wolf was the most sensitive to the cold in the entire pack.
A recent heavy snowfall had made him feel that this winter would be very cold.
He also saw Shen Ningning constantly bringing cold-proofing supplies into the house, so he started preparing as well.
After they returned to the house, Grandma Qin came out of the kitchen, wiping her hands.
"Ningning, you’re finally back! Grandma was just thinking you might not get home until tomorrow."
Grandma Qin chuckled and patted the little girl’s head. "Go get some rest. Grandma has made you some pork rib and lotus root soup. It’ll be ready soon."
Shen Ningning sniffed, her eyes sparkling.
"It smells so good! It really is best to be back home." She hopped with joy.
Then she went to find Little White Wolf.
Sure enough, she saw the white figure in a corner of her room, having piled two quilts into a small nest.
At that moment, Little White Wolf was still laying down dry grass around it.
Hearing Shen Ningning’s voice, he turned his head. "Awoo~"
Unlike the tones of the Black Wolf King and the others, Little White Wolf’s call was almost a whine as he came to Shen Ningning’s side.
He nuzzled his head against Shen Ningning’s little hand, complaining about how cold this winter was.
The little girl thought for a moment, then pulled a handful of Spirit Grass from the Immortal Realm.
She placed it on a low stool. "This is Spirit Grass. One stalk at a time will keep you warm."
"Xiao Bai, don’t be scared. As long as I’m here, you definitely won’t freeze this winter."
Little White Wolf nodded trustingly, then eagerly lapped up a stalk of Spirit Grass.
「At night.」
Shen Ningning was taking a bath in heated Spiritual Spring Water.
The little girl rested her arms on the edge of the wooden tub, her chubby cheeks flushed red from the steam.
She squinted her eyes in comfort, listening to the pitter-patter of sleet against the window.
Inside the room, the firewood in the hearth let out a sharp CRACK as it split.
Outside the door, Grandma Qin was measuring each wolf’s neck, wanting to embroider collars for them.
After all, a wolf’s most vulnerable spot is its neck.
Wearing a collar would not only protect them but also allow Grandma Qin to tell which wolf was which at a glance.
Listening to Grandma Qin’s laughter from outside as she coaxed the wolves like they were children, Shen Ningning, soaking in the water, felt a lazy drowsiness wash over her.
At some point, she fell asleep and dreamed she had returned to Xiangyun Village.
The scene was a vast expanse of ice and snow, the silence around her unnervingly unearthly.
"Grandpa Village Chief? Brother Chen? mad scholar?" The little girl called out as she walked from the village entrance, cupping her hands around her mouth.
However, no one answered.
She walked forward curiously. Suddenly, Shen Ningning froze.
Her dark eyes widened in terror as she stared ahead.
The familiar faces of Xiangyun Village had all turned into frozen corpses.
The old Village Chief, Chen Ye, Sister-in-law Liu, and the others lay lifelessly on the ground, each with dull, gray eyes, long dead!
Shen Ningning let out a sharp cry and shot awake.
At the door, the Black Wolf King was pawing at the wooden frame, and Grandma Qin’s worried voice drifted in.
"Ningning, you’ve been soaking for a whole hour. Why aren’t you out yet? The water is getting cold."
Shen Ningning touched the water with her small hand. Just as she’d suspected, it had already turned ice-cold.
She quickly stood up. "Grandma, I accidentally fell asleep! I’m coming out now."
Afraid she would get sick, she quickly ate a stalk of Spirit Grass as a precaution.
However, Shen Ningning didn’t sleep well the entire night.
She tossed and turned in bed, her mind filled with the dead faces of the familiar villagers.
’Everyone... they all froze to death in my dream.’
At the crack of dawn, Shen Ningning got up and headed into Xiangyun Village with the Black Wolf King.
The little girl gravely asked the village chief to gather the villagers at his house for a meeting.
"I have something important to discuss with the uncles and aunties," Shen Ningning said with a solemn expression. The old village chief didn’t dare to delay.
He immediately had his son, Uncle Deng, run through the village to notify every household.
While he was gone, Shen Ningning asked the old village chief about the current situation in Xiangyun Village.
"Our village, including the newcomers from this year, now has about one hundred and thirty households."
Shen Ningning’s fair little face was lost in thought. "Grandpa Village Chief, if I were to say a cold disaster is coming, how many people in our village would cooperate with me?"
The old village chief was taken aback. "This... I can’t guarantee that, Ningning. Is what you’re saying really true?"
Just then, Uncle Deng returned with a large crowd of villagers.
Having heard the old village chief was calling a meeting, everyone had sent a decision-maker from their family.
As they entered, they glimpsed a dimly lit oil lamp on the table.
On either side of the large square table sat Shen Ningning and the old village chief.
Shen Ningning was dressed in an orange-yellow blouse and skirt, with a small silver-weasel fur vest with auspicious patterns worn over it.
The two buns on her head were tied with rabbit fur, making her face look even more delicate and cute.
Her porcelain-doll-like appearance made the villagers’ expressions turn tense.
’What on earth is going on? The old village chief even called the Commandery Princess back for this.’
"Ningning, everyone’s here. If you have something on your mind, go ahead and say it," said the old village chief.
Shen Ningning nodded and then looked at the crowd.
"Uncles and Aunties, this winter, it is very likely we will have a snow disaster."
The moment she said this, it was like a drop of hot oil hitting water, instantly causing an uproar of astonished gasps from the crowd.
Everyone started chattering at once—
"How do you know?"
"Oh no, we’re doomed! The drought just ended, how can there be a snow disaster now?"
"Heavens above, are you trying to kill us all? We just had a few good days, WAHH..."
The old village chief frowned and struck the ground heavily with his cane. "What’s all this noise! Let Ningning finish."
Shen Ningning pursed her pink lips and said honestly, "I have dreamt more than once of a great snow burying the land, where nothing grows, and everyone suffers terrible casualties."
"Therefore, we must start preparing in advance."
The crowd was startled, but not a single person refuted or doubted Shen Ningning.
After all, they had all witnessed the little girl’s abilities with their own eyes.
If Shen Ningning hadn’t single-handedly summoned the great rain that ended Cangyun Country’s years-long drought, they would still be living a life worse than death!
Granny Chen was the first to speak up. "Alright, Ningning. You tell us what to do, and we’ll listen to you."
Shen Ningning’s first instruction was: "Everyone, calculate how much silver you have at home and use it all to buy necessary cold-proofing supplies."
The crowd was in an uproar. After a brief silence, Sister-in-law Liu couldn’t help but ask, "Ningning... th-that’s... how much do we have to buy?"
"Buy enough for your own family. Based on your usual winter standards, purchase three times that amount."
If it were just about preparing for a natural disaster, the crowd would certainly cooperate. But to ask them to take out their already meager savings and spend it all on cold-proofing supplies, many more people began to hesitate.
Someone asked quietly, "If we spend it all, what will we eat? What will we drink? How are we supposed to live?"