Chapter 370 - 273: Swaying Wind and Snow, Fluttering Red Dress

Chapter 370: Chapter 273: Swaying Wind and Snow, Fluttering Red Dress

Tangtang popped a zongzi candy into her mouth, making her right cheek immediately puff out.

"Forget it." Tang Wen produced two more boxes from his Void Stone and, as Tangtang watched with delighted surprise, found a dark green zongzi and handed it to her.

Inside the Void Stone, objects floated, untouched by the passage of time.

The zongzi was still steaming faintly.

Tangtang took it carefully, poised to take a bite.

Tang Wen quickly stopped her. "Peel it first."

A few seconds later, the zongzi was in her mouth, and her eyes shot wide open!

Like a little animal tasting a delicious fruit for the first time.

"Whoa! This... How can it taste like this?"

Tangtang didn’t know how to describe the sensation.

Footsteps sounded from outside the door.

Tangtang hastily swallowed the last of the zongzi. She didn’t have time to gulp it all down, leaving both her cheeks puffed out as she waved her hands frantically. "Quick, hide it! Hide it!"

Tang Wen was about to do just that.

But then she changed her mind. "Wait, no! Sister Bing hasn’t had these candies either."

"What haven’t I had?"

A pair of long, straight legs strode into the bedroom. Upon seeing Tang Wen, the owner’s almond-shaped eyes suddenly lit up.

Zhou Bing walked in, bringing a gust of wind and snow with her.

The temperature in the room dropped slightly.

"Is it snowing again?" Tangtang hadn’t been paying attention to the weather outside.

"Yes, a little heavier than last time." Zhou Bing took off her greatcoat, revealing a cropped top underneath that reached her waist, accentuating her slender figure and long legs.

She sat down next to Tang Wen.

Tang Wen took her cold hand while Tangtang offered her a milk candy.

A few seconds later, Zhou Bing’s eyes also curved into a happy squint.

’Sweetness was such a rare delicacy.’

Outside, the heavy snow began to fall a little faster.

It rustled against the doors and windows.

Inside, the lamplight flickered. The coal in the stove glowed red-hot, making the room as warm as a spring day.

Tang Wen ate his meat, watching his sister and his "husband killer" widowed girlfriend happily eating candy and chatting.

CRASH!

The door was thrown open with savage force.

Both women jumped, startled. Only Tang Wen remained unfazed.

"Who—" Before the word was even out, Zhou Bing’s clenched fist relaxed.

"Well, well, well! So this is what you do? Sneaking snacks behind my back!" A figure in red stood brazenly in the doorway.

Her jet-black hair was dotted with glittering snowflakes, and she carried a gourd in one hand.

The Queen in red—Xia Qingge!

With a wave of her red sleeve, the door slammed shut.

Xia Qingge sat down next to Zhou Bing and, making herself right at home, picked up a white milk candy. "Mmm! Not bad."

CRUNCH, CRUNCH...

"So this is milk candy, is it?"

One piece after another, and in the blink of an eye, half the milk candies had disappeared.

Tang Wen glanced at Tangtang.

As expected, his sister’s brow was deeply furrowed, her cheeks puffed out in displeasure as she glared at the Queen gorging herself on the candy.

SWISH!

Zhou Bing wrapped the milk candies back up in the Kraft Paper.

"Tsk! So stingy."

The Queen eyed the zongzi. With a pulse of Spiritual Power, the leaves on the dumplings peeled away, and the zongzi themselves flew toward her as if competing in a race.

Zhou Bing snatched the zongzi away.

Fruit candies, preserved plums...

The battle to defend the candy had begun.

To avoid getting caught in the crossfire, Tang Wen produced a jar of bamboo leaf liquor.

POP!

He broke the wax seal, and the rich aroma of liquor filled the air.

As if drawn by an invisible force, Xia Qingge’s head snapped around before she even had time to swallow the food in her mouth.

"What kind of liquor is that?"

"A ten-year-aged brew," Tang Wen said, pouring himself a cup.

Xia Qingge’s phoenix eyes gleamed. With a swift motion, she snatched Tang Wen’s cup, brought it to her nose, and took a deep sniff. "You can’t handle this. I’ll test it first, see if it’s the real deal."

Tang Wen’s mouth twitched.

’If you want to drink it, just say so,’ Tang Wen thought. ’What "real deal" are you going to taste?’

’Our camp is dirt poor. You’ve been drinking cheap sweet potato liquor all this time, and now you’re suddenly a connoisseur?’

Her long, slender neck tilted back as she drained the cup in one go.

"Good stuff!"

SLAM. She set the cup down and impatiently grabbed the whole jar, pouring herself a full measure.

Xia Qingge looked at Tang Wen. "Is there any more of this?"

He just shook his head.

So, when Zhou Bing reached for a drink, Xia Qingge blocked her.

"Strong liquor isn’t for kids! Look, you have yellow wine, don’t you? Drink up before it gets cold."

Zhou Bing wasn’t one to indulge this "aunt" of hers, who wasn’t even a blood relative. "Heh, weren’t you the one complaining just two days ago that the rough spirits were tasteless and you were dying for some aged yellow wine? How long has it been, a few days?"

She picked up Xia Qingge’s liquor gourd, gave it a sniff, and said irritably, "And this smells like that sweet potato liquor! It’s not even as good as the yellow wine!"

Xia Qingge acted as if she hadn’t heard a thing. She raised the jar and took a long swig. When she set it down, a faint mist seemed to cloud her beautiful eyes.

A rosy flush bloomed on her fair, pretty face.

Like a cereus flower blooming in the night.

"Is this liquor from Ganshan City?"

Xia Qingge had a very bold and frank personality.

She never really acted like a high and mighty, unapproachably noble Queen.

She was more like a beautiful gang leader, fiercely loyal and looking out for her crew.

Tang Wen nodded. "Yes. Ganshan City has dedicated fertile fields for growing brewing grains, like sorghum and rice. They even have a special mountain spring they use for the brewing process."

Xia Qingge hugged the jar protectively, propped her chin on her hand, and asked with narrowed eyes, "Sounds like Ganshan City produces a lot of grain."

"The major powers in the Inner City and Outer City have plenty of grain, of course. But the various subordinate camps? They’re lucky if people aren’t starving to death."

She asked again, "And no one rebels?"

"No matter how many rabbits you have, they can’t kill a pack of wolves," Tang Wen said, his expression serene.

"So, that’s why you don’t want our camp to join Ganshan City?"

"Exactly. It wouldn’t be ’joining.’ It would be subjugation, selling ourselves into servitude. It’s the same as knocking on their door and volunteering to be their pack mules."

Xia Qingge narrowed her phoenix eyes and clicked her tongue.

Tangtang and Zhou Bing listened in silence, not interjecting.

These days, Zhou Bing could hold her own, and Tangtang was also starting to learn about management.

Only after taking on responsibilities and getting things done did they understand how difficult it all was.

Take grain, for example. You couldn’t just let the camp’s ordinary farmers starve.