BXBX NOVEL Chapter 102 - 102: Family
Jiang Xia was teaching Jiang Gu to set up the tent, and things were going quite well. Jiang Gu was a fast learner, she quickly picked up what Jiang Xia did after seeing it once.
They started by connecting the tent poles, sorting the inner tent, and then fixing the tent pegs. Both of them performed these tasks skillfully. When they came to fix the pegs into the ground, they only hammered them in a bit, intending to drive them in deeper when their mother returned.
Next, the two of them covered the outer tent. The last thing left was to secure the wind ropes to the outer tent and ground, which they decided to wait for their mother to do.
As soon as the tent was up, Jiang Xia couldn’t wait to crawl inside with Jiang Gu. Jiang Gu’s round eyes scanned the surroundings of the tent. As only the two kids had entered, the tent felt quite spacious. Jiang Xia started dragging the items Jiang Chuan had earlier placed down into the tent.
These items included a waterproof cloth, sleeping bags, a first-aid kit, and a box full of various objects. Jiang Xia arranged each item neatly before unrolling the sleeping bags.
They had brought four sleeping bags for the camping trip, one was for backup, which was unexpectedly coming in handy now. Jiang Xia gestured for Jiang Gu to crawl inside and try it, but Jiang Gu looked at the long, worm-like thing in front of her with a troubled expression.
“Sister, what is this? It looks a bit uncomfortable,” she questioned.
Jiang Gu’s reaction amused Jiang Xia, who laughed and directly unzipped and crawled into the sleeping bag.
“This is a sleeping bag. We can sleep inside it at night.”
Their sleeping bags were specifically chosen to be thicker than regular ones. Sleeping on them was much softer, but it was a bit too hot in the current weather.
Jiang Xia wriggled out of the sleeping bag, flattened both layers under her, and laid down on the soft and comfortable bag, feeling sleepy. Jiang Gu followed Jiang Xia’s example, crawling in. As soon as she got in, she was surprised at how warm the sleeping bag was. It was so warm that she started sweating immediately and quickly rolled out, just like Jiang Xia, pressing the whole sleeping bag under her.
“Sister, this thing is so warm. If we sleep in it during winter, we wouldn’t feel cold, right?” Jiang Gu excitedly shared her thoughts with Jiang Xia.
While Jiang Xia agreed, the reality of their situation didn’t permit such luxury. The sleeping bags were filled with down or synthetic fibers, and given the current industrial standards, it was impossible to make something similar. They wouldn’t be able to take these items back after they descended the mountain.
Not wanting to dampen Jiang Gu’s spirits, Jiang Xia didn’t continue the topic. She lay on the soft sleeping bag, picking up the various items from the box. These included mosquito repellent, power banks, small lamps, and more – all modern items.
Their previous life, where they enjoyed air conditioning while playing on their phones and watching videos, felt very distant…
In a daze, Jiang Xia felt as if she was back in their modern home, in their two-story villa. Their family of three was watching TV, and she seemed to hear their mother, who was sitting in front of the TV, ask, “I wonder how Xiao Qing and Xiao Gu are doing now…”
When Jiang Chuan and Zhou Lan returned, they saw the tent had been set up, but they didn’t see their daughters. Zhou Lan instinctively wanted to call out to them, but Jiang Chuan gestured for her not to.
Jiang Chuan brought Zhou Lan to the blue-gray tent and opened the curtain. They saw their two daughters sleeping soundly in their sleeping bags.
Zhou Lan retrieved a thin blanket from a cloth bag nearby, gently draping it over the girls. She then tiptoed out of the tent.
The orange glow of sunset filtered through the gaps in the foliage, marking the arrival of evening.
Jiang Chuan fetched a pot and some seasonings from the car. Zhou Lan stoked a fire and began preparing a pot of chicken and wild vegetable soup. Their main meal was bread and soup, just the right balance.
Jiang Chuan took out a handkerchief and wiped the beads of sweat from Zhou Lan’s forehead as she cooked. Observing his wife’s flushed face from the heat, he couldn’t help but express his concern, “You’re working too hard.”
Zhou Lan had evidently done more woodcutting work that day. Even though their daughters contributed, Jiang Chuan couldn’t help but feel sympathy for his hardworking wife.
It pained him to see his wife work so hard when both he and their daughters had the ability to do more.
Zhou Lan paused her stirring to grasp Jiang Chuan’s hand, “This isn’t hard work.. If I didn’t have something to do, I’d feel restless with all this energy!”