In years past during this time period, the grasslands in the north would start to get cooler, and the herdsmen there would harvest hay as food for their livestock during the winter.
In the Northern Forest, winter came slightly later. At that time, people would start checking the kang stoves and doors and windows of their houses, and also prepare the firewood needed for winter.
After the volcanic winter, the winters here became longer. Even though temperatures were gradually rising, it was Wen Qian's first time coming here, so she would be more well-prepared.
During this period, after building her house, Wen Qian began venturing further away to chop wood.
She needed to cut down the relatively dense mountain forests to make them a bit more sparse.
With her home at the center, she would expand outward, and the area her footsteps could cover would become her main activity zone in the future.
So she had to ensure her own safety and not constantly encounter large ferocious beasts in her territory. How could she live properly then?
Reducing the density meant there would be fewer creatures hiding within. Large ferocious beasts needed enough wild animals in their territory as food.
They wouldn't stay in places with little food.
In August, she noticed that the blueberries here had ripened, so she picked quite a few.
Afterwards, she also searched around and found wild blueberry bushes, picking many with her homemade tools.
She didn't dare venture deeper, so she only went nearby.
Then she remembered she still had many blueberry branches left over, and planned to take them out and plant them all by cutting.
At the same time, she didn't forget to set up small hunting traps in various parts of the mountain forest and rivers.
During August, which should have been the hottest time of the year, wild animals would go out to forage and occasionally step into Wen Qian's traps.
Wen Qian even caught a wild rabbit, which was still alive but had an injured leg.
She originally wanted to raise it, but at that time she was busy building her house and didn't have much time to take care of it, so she thought she would reconsider next year.
So this year, whether she caught wild chickens or rabbits, she killed them first and then put them into her spatial storage.
Wen Qian's main activity area at home was a kitchen and a bedroom.
The front door opened to a window beside it, with a large wooden table in front of the window where she would chop vegetables and knead dough.
Next to the wall was a door leading to the bedroom.
Opposite the wooden table was a stove, with two large iron pots. Further in was the area for the kang stove and fire wall.
Along the corner of the wall, some firewood was piled up, quite far from the stove so the wood near the stove entrance wouldn't fall out and cause a fire hazard.
The house was made of brick and tile, the only way she could burn the kang stove without worry.
A pure wooden house wouldn't allow such freedom, so fire prevention was very important.
The floor was paved with tiles pried from the plaza, so the entire home appeared very clean and tidy.
In the bedroom, she divided it into two levels with wood, creating a semi-enclosed loft area.
Wen Qian laid wooden boards on top where she could put things or sleep, whichever she preferred.
On the sunny side of the bedroom, she also opened a window with a windowsill housing potted mint and green onions.
The nice glass bottles were ones she had picked up herself.
Next to the window, she also placed a large wooden table where she read and wrote.
The lighting in the house used oil lamps like before, which she had purchased online initially.
When there was no electricity before, people used these lamps that could adjust the brightness.
Wen Qian thought it would be dim lighting at first, but when she took them out and used them, she found they were quite bright.
She had solar power, but it disappeared after the volcanic winter, with few sunny days. So she didn't use electric lights anymore.
When she passed by large solar photovoltaic power stations and later wind farms, they were basically useless after the disaster.
One reason was the lack of sunlight, and the other was that those large wind turbines stopped working due to lack of maintenance.
In the bedroom, she had a wardrobe, and even brought out her old sewing machine from her previous home, placing it next to the wardrobe against the wall. After changing the belt, it could continue being used.
Hunting rifles and axes were also hung on the wall, and Wen Qian hung axes and iron rods by the door as well.
In short, weapons could be reached anywhere in the house.
This new home now looked a bit like her old home in An Province, except it had an extra surrounding wall and a small kang stove inside.
As for the stove she used to cherish, it wasn't put away, but placed next to the wooden reading table instead.
It occupied a corner of the bedroom, with the chimney extending through the wall outside.
The large round stainless steel table top was removed, so the stove itself didn't take up much space.
It could also emit heat, and putting a kettle on top would prevent the indoor air from becoming too dry.
If the kang stove could keep the indoor temperature warm enough, then this stove wouldn't be used.
But if it got too cold away from the kang stove, then burning this stove would solve the problem.
After all, Wen Qian didn't like lying or sitting on the kang all day.
In winter, if she wanted to do something at the wooden table, burning this stove would keep her from getting cold.
There was also another issue - in the north where she lived, houses were built differently from the south, with much thicker walls to prevent the harsh winter cold.
Southern walls were thinner, emphasizing ventilation more, because otherwise everything would get moldy from dampness.
But the north was very dry, so insulation was more important.
When Wen Qian built her house, she made the brick walls quite thick too. However, she hadn't spent a winter here or used the kang stove before, so she worried the indoor temperature wouldn't be warm enough.
In the past, northern rural folks could attach plastic greenhouses to doors and windows for insulation.
Now plastic was hard to find. Wen Qian had some but only covered the windows with it.
Enclosing all the outer walls with a greenhouse frame would be too troublesome, and she wouldn't have enough plastic for even a few years. So she didn't bother.
No need to go down steps - going left along the entrance corridor led to the storage room.
Besides the hung smoked chickens and rabbits, there were also smoked fish and pork. The other three walls were stacked high with neatly arranged firewood.
This was prepared for the year, forming the main supply to be burned.
The courtyard enclosed by the wall was very large. Wen Qian could grow things in it or lay bricks to make a space specifically for sun-drying goods later on.
There were quite a few trees outside the wall, which could block some of the wind while not having to worry about blocking the sunlight in the future.
Wen Qian was very satisfied with where she was now, and she even thought about living here for the rest of her life.
Of course, this was contingent on the climate returning to its previous conditions.
In the Northern Forest, they mostly didn't need to go out during the winter.
As the temperature gradually dropped in September, once the first frost arrived, the leaves outside would start to turn yellow.
With each successive frost, the evergreen forest would begin to display a kaleidoscope of colors.
Shades of red, yellow, and green in varying depths would make everything in sight incredibly vibrant and colorful.
