Wen Qian was unaware of her neighbors' curiosity about her age.
She herself had no interest in celebrating her own birthday this year, after all, there was nothing special about turning thirty-nine.
Every year, when she got a new calendar, she would straightforwardly know her age.
She had no age comparison or internet access to sources of anxiety, nor would anyone rudely say in front of her that an older woman was worthless.
So Wen Qian had no anxiety about her age, figure, or appearance.
In fact, there was another possibility – it was already a lawless world now, and if someone spoke rudely, the next second, their mouth might literally be sewn shut.
Compared to the keyboard warriors who used to freely spew venom online, people in the real world did not dare to be so bold.
Moreover, this was ten years after the natural disaster. If anyone still used the tone of the internet to attack or mock someone, in Wen Qian's eyes, that person might just be shot down without warning.
In Wen Qian's eyes, her age was not as important as her planting plans for the coming year or her plans to fire pottery kilns.
As for what to do when she grew old with no one to care for her, Wen Qian did not consider that problem.
Whether she died unnoticed, rotted for a long time before being discovered, died with no one to burn paper offerings for her, or died without anyone to carry on her lineage – none of these were issues to her.
After the volcanic eruption, how many people died unnatural deaths? How many were abandoned in the wilderness? How many had their flesh consumed by their own kind?
In the face of disaster, the elderly were abandoned first, followed by children, with most of those left being adults.
These survivors could hardly protect themselves, let alone consider having children.
Most of this generation had received an education, so they understood what proper medical care was and how it had deteriorated after the disaster.
They had no pressing desire to continue their lineage or propagate the human race, naturally unwilling to risk their own lives.
Although some children were born after the disaster, their numbers and survival rates need not be mentioned.
To Wen Qian, every extra day or year she lived was a bonus.
If she died, so be it – whether someone collected her remains or not didn't matter.
Once one came to terms with these realities, life became quite easy.
In the blink of an eye, the new year arrived, and Wen Qian got a new calendar.
For her, the footsteps of spring were drawing nearer.
As for holidays, she did not make any special preparations for food, as the existence of the Space meant she did not need to prepare corresponding ingredients for holidays.
She could take out seasonal delicacies from the Space to eat at any time, so she did not pay much attention to holiday foods.
Originally, she did not care much about holidays or commemorative days. In the past, holidays were just times for businesses to offer discounts and promotions, or for friends and relatives to gather.
In the years following the disaster, although people wanted to celebrate holidays, they abandoned the idea due to the bleakness of their lives.
Now that conditions had improved, people began celebrating holidays again, with great enthusiasm for preparing holiday foods.
The only thing left to celebrate now was food, so each holiday would see the preparation of corresponding dishes.
This was very evident in her neighbors' household – they would always send her some food for each holiday.
Wen Qian only became aware of the holidays' existence because of her neighbors' reminders.
If it weren't for the snow making it inconvenient to travel, they would probably have sent their children to deliver things to her again.
It was precisely because her neighbors always interacted with her so warmly that Wen Qian would reciprocate, whether with seeds or food.
After the new year, Wen Qian added two more plans for herself: one was to dig large traps around the woodland to protect her crops from being destroyed by wild boars and other animals, and the other was to fire kilns to make jars and pots.
The main purpose of digging traps was to protect her crops from being ruined by animals.
As for making jars and pots, it was because she had stored too many things in the Space and needed these containers.
Especially when it came to storing food, she had utilized all of her available containers.
These included various jars and pots she had collected from rural areas along her way.
Now she needed more containers to store things, and since she had also dug up clay that could be used to make ceramics on her travels, she wanted to try making them.
This might not be easy, but she still wanted to try. After several attempts, she might be able to succeed.
Nothing could satisfy Wen Qian more than being able to neatly arrange her food supplies.
Plans were plans, but spring did not arrive in April like last year.
The bitter cold persisted, showing no signs of abating even in March.
This meant April would be colder than the previous year, so her seedling and spring planting times would all be delayed.
Everything had a chain reaction – if winter lasted an extra month, then the other seasons would have one less month.
Whether it was growing crops or hunting for food reserves, everything would be affected.
She had anticipated this situation. Although she didn't have to worry about food and firewood, she still disliked having her plans disrupted.
So in April, she began working at home, where she could still process food.
At home, she made dumplings, jerky, ground beans, and soaked beans, completing time-consuming tasks in April to save time during the next three seasons.
If she had enough space, she would have even started making clay models at home.
After finishing the meat grinding and bean milling, she started cooking meals.
She planned to prepare every day's meals for the next three months, saving time for her future work.
Her neighbors were also worried about the prolonged winter, fearing that even with sufficient food and drink, the abnormal weather might prevent them from successfully planting and hunting.
If it were just a one-month delay in winter, that would be fine, but they were concerned that the following spring, summer, and autumn might also experience irregularities.
Even one instance of hail during that period could lead to crop failure, they worried.
So they planned to plant less wheat this year, and instead grow more sweet potatoes, potatoes, and peanuts, as well as go out hunting to store more meat.
Wen Qian also changed her planting plans. Unlike her neighbors, in terms of crops, Wen Qian planned to grow millet and oats, with the rest being root vegetables like her neighbors.
In addition, she planned to set up a water tub to grow lotus roots and some other aquatic plants when the temperature rose, which she could now find a place to grow.
The river was public property, so if she could grow some edible plants along the riverbank, the neighbors would have an additional food source when the time came.
Since these were plants growing in the water, they would not become curious about her.
In May, spring finally arrived. Wen Qian went to the distant cottage when it was convenient to go out.
She wanted to check if the house had any issues after the long winter and if any areas needed repairs.
