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The man entered the courtyard, and Qiao Jiaqi led him into the living area and poured him a cup of hot water. “Is your home far from here?”

“Yes, it’s about ten miles away.”

The man was dressed in patched clothes, indicating his less fortunate circumstances.

By this time, Qiao Mai had arrived in the living room. When the man saw her, he was about to stand up, but she quickly said, “Please, have a seat.”

The man hadn’t even taken a sip of water yet; he hurriedly brought the basket in front of him and lifted the lid. Inside were two shivering puppies wrapped in a pile of thick straw.

“They just turned a month old today. Take a look.”

Qiao Mai picked up one with both hands. The puppy smelled her unfamiliar scent and immediately opened its eyes in alertness. Upon seeing a stranger, it bared its teeth at her and started barking wildly.

She couldn’t help but laugh, “This one’s fierce indeed. It’s a good watchdog material.”

The man’s heart eased upon hearing that. He knew the dogs would be staying here. Qiao Mai picked up the other puppy, and its reaction was like the first one.

Judging from their appearance, they seemed to be a crossbreed between local dogs and wolves.

“I’ll keep both of these. How much are you selling them for?”

“You decide. This is the first litter of puppies from my dog. We’ve never sold them before.’

“To be honest, these puppies have wolf bloodline. They’re of good breed. If there are more like them in the future, you shouldn’t sell them cheaply. I’ll pay five taels of silver for one and ten taels for both. How does that sound, Sir?”

“Could I really get ten taels?”

“Yes!”

“All right, ten taels it is. It’s said that Madam Qiao is kind-hearted, which seems to be true. Thank you. There’s no rice in our home. I was hoping to make some money from this litter of puppies.”

Qiao Mai smiled and took a money pouch from her pocket, counted ten taels of silver, and handed it to the man.

He accepted it with both hands, wiped his tears with his sleeve, carefully

placed the money in his pouch, and then into his pocket. “If there’s nothing else, I will take my leave.”

“Alright, it’s snowing heavily outside. Please go home safely.”

Yuan Jiaqi escorted the elder to the door. There was a dog at the entrance, likely the mother. The man patted the dog’s head.

“Don’t worry. This is a good household. They’ll be well taken care of here and better off than staying with us.”

“Woof, woof!”

With his eyes slightly moistened, the man left with the black dog. The dog turned back as it walked away, leaving Yuan Jiaqi touched by the scene.

All things have spirits. A tiger doesn’t eat its cubs; even an animal understands this principle, but humans can do things even worse than animals.

After closing the door and returning to the living room, the three children gathered around the puppies.

“Mother, they’re so small!”

“Yes, go find some straw from the box. I’ll get some old clothes to lay down for them.”

Yuan Jiaqi sat on the side, smiling as he watched. Children all loved small animals, especially dogs, and they were excited. They had long wanted to have a pet dog.

Fengyun fetched a wooden box, and Yunfeng spread out wheat straws. Qiao Mai brought out a piece of coarse cloth. Her clothing was new, and she was reluctant to use them.

After laying everything out and placing the two puppies inside, she watched as the puppies, now awake, searched for milk. The three children immediately ran to the kitchen, where they prepared rice soup for them. Yunfeng even cut some meat into small pieces and added them to the mix.

During this winter, the Qiao family lived contentedly.

Each room was warm. The children were dressed warmly, and Yuan Jiaqi and his son had a better life than ever.

Fengyun and Yunfeng felt an unprecedented warmth. Although not their biological parents, Qiao Mai and Yuan Jiaqi were better than their own.

Qiao Mai taught them martial arts, while their father taught them to read and write. They ate well, dressed warmly, and did what they could each day. Their parents never scolded them and always gave them encouragement and praise, boosting their confidence. There was no better life than this.

Not to mention the twin brothers, even Yuan Jiaqi and his son were fond of this atmosphere.

Qiao Mai looked into the kitchen at them and advised, “Make sure the porridge is cooled before feeding them. They’re different from humans and can’t eat hot food.

“Yes, Mother.”

“They’re still young. Don’t feed them bones, especially chicken bones. That could get stuck in their throats and cause them to choke. Even when they’re older, don’t teed tnem cmcken bones. Understand”‘ “Yes, we understand.”

“Alright, you guys can play. I’m going to do some work.”

Qiao Mai returned to her room and lay on the bed, contemplating that when the snow stopped, she would bring Ling’er out from the space.

It would be best to do it on the day of the hotpot meal, with more people present as witnesses. She had already registered Ling’er’s household registration before the new year, so they wouldn’t have to go out all winter. She would let Ling’er adapt to the environment and climate here.

She had made several sets of clothes, but they had never been worn. The space was warm, constantly 25 degrees Celsius, and Ling’er always wore light clothing.

Thinking about Linger’s body, Qiao Mai felt a bit worried. She had been in the space all this time. Qiao Mai wondered if Ling’er could adapt to the local temperature after coming out.

The snow outside continued for three days and nights. Yuan Jiaqi was afraid that the house might not withstand the weight of the snow, so he tied a bamboo pole to a broom and climbed up the ladder every day to sweep the snow off the roof.

When the snow stopped, there was no need for anyone to lift a finger; everything was already spotlessly clean.

The two puppies had already grown accustomed to the place. After waking up, the three children let them out to play.

With their well-fed bellies, it only took three days for them to put on some weight. The kids took good care of them.

Even on snowy days, customers continued to knock on Qiao Mai’s door to buy things, umbrellas in hand.

Since the weather was cold, people tended to buy more as they could easily store the items at home and consume them gradually.

Tianhe Town and Tiannan Town also occasionally sent customers her way, driven by their love of good food.

When Qiao Mai got tired of doing embroidery at home, she would make some snacks to relax. She made sugar-coated chestnuts, salt and pepper peanuts, five-spice melon seeds, and sometimes even fruit candies and hawthorn cakes.

After making them in abundance, aside from keeping some for her own children, Qiao Mai also sold them to others. The children felt overjoyed.

Qiao Mai was also delighted. She had thought that without setting up a stall, there would be no business. But unexpectedly, her small business had gained popularity, and people were coming to her house. It was a perfect opportunity for her to take a few days off and wait until the weather improved before reopening the stall.

Thinking about hotpot, she couldn’t help but swallow her saliva.

Since she arrived here, she hadn’t been able to enjoy her favorite foods from her previous life. Now that the snow had stopped, Qiao Mai was determined to have a hearty meal.

So, she put aside her embroidery and rushed out of the house. She saw Yuan Jiaqi teaching the children in the living room. “Brother Yuan, how about we all take a day off today?”

“Is there something going on?”

“Could you please take the children and invite some people over for a meal at our place?”

“Sure, I’ll go right now.”

“Then I’ll go to the kitchen and prepare. Let’s have a hotpot for lunch.”

After saying that, Qiao Mai rushed to the kitchen to get busy. Frozen tofu, wide rice noodles, duck blood, enoki mushrooms, tripe, lamb slices, and other ingredients were all stored in her space. She didn’t need to worry as she had everything on hand.

Setting them out on plates was easy. A large round table had already been set up by the children in the living room.

Whenever Mother went to the kitchen, there was bound to be delicious food.

Qiao Mai took out a copper pot, placed it in a tray of water, and brought it to the table.

Then she placed each dish onto the table one by one, filling it up completely, which left the children astonished.

“Mother, why are these dishes raw? Can we eat raw food?”

“Yes, they’re raw. I’ll tell you how to eat them once everyone arrives. I promise you’ll love it.”

She took out a slightly spicy hotpot base from the space and poured it into the copper pot. She filled the pot with water and placed charcoal underneath. The children blinked as they watched.

“Don’t touch the copper pot. It’s scalding.”

“Okay.”

As the guests arrived, the whole house was filled with a delicious smell. Everyone took off their padded coats and placed them aside before gathering around the table.

“Wow, everything looks amazing. There are even things I’ve never seen before.”

“Everyone, please take a seat. It’s cold outside, so I’m treating everyone to a hotpot.”

“Oh, we’re lucky to enjoy this.”

Twelve people sat around the table, and the aroma had already caused the children to keep swallowing their saliva.

Qiao Mai scooped the well-prepared ingredients into bowls in front of them.

“Let’s start!”