Love letters are not allowed in the exorcism notebook!-Chapter 697 - 120: Winter is for Getting on the Kang and Eating Hot Pot

An old saying goes that a woman should be charming and filial.

Li Mumu, wrapped up in a mink coat like a furry ball, nearly dazzled Wang Yunxiao.

To be frank, Li Mumu’s fashion choices were never poor; she simply chose a subtly luxurious style, elegant and noble, which made her somewhat unapproachable.

No one denied that she was the most beautiful girl in school, but what’s the use when you’re too intimidated to even look her in the eye?

Now, this shivering and quivering figure of hers suddenly seemed much more approachable and lovable.

Most men have a protective instinct and favor women who appear weaker than themselves.

Wang Yunxiao was no exception.

To occasionally spar with Eldest Miss Li could be considered a kind of pleasure.

But if it’s contention all the time, no one could withstand that.

The cute look of Eldest Miss Li now invariably reminded him of that long thing he saw the other night.

But every time he thought of it, Wang Yunxiao felt awkward.

He had always thought it was White Hair’s weasel.

It wasn’t until he saw Eldest Miss Li in that mink coat today that he realized the extent of his ignorance.

A weasel is called so precisely because it’s yellow; since when did they have white fur!

That was a mink!

Now thinking back, the fur of that mink seemed quite nice; if he got a chance to see it again, he might skin it and cure the hide to make a new set of clothes for Eldest Miss Li.

Li Mumu felt like having hotpot.

That’s not an issue.

People of the North...to be precise, wealthy people of the North, have a tradition of feasting on meat for various reasons during the end of the year. On the Dragon Heads-raising Day, spring rolls with pork head meat are eaten. At the start of autumn, soy sauce-braised pork hock is enjoyed to put on weight for autumn, and when the first snow of winter falls, lamb hotpot is consumed to ward off the cold.

This snowfall was heavy, continuing from morning until noon without stopping.

The temperature plummeted over ten degrees; part of the snow on the ground melted and then quickly turned to ice.

The whole world seemed to quiet down instantly.

As the saying goes, it’s not the falling snow but the thawing that’s cold.

It wasn’t even the coldest time yet, but the classroom was notably lacking any heating facilities.

One could only say that this year’s climate was somewhat strange. According to Youtiao, Tianmen City seldom gets snow in winter over the past years and if it does snow, it usually melts away quickly.

Li Mumu’s face was already turning blue from the cold.

Wang Yunxiao didn’t really mind; his martial arts training had made him impervious to the changing seasons. Seeing Li Mumu curled up in a ball brought a smile to his face, but also stirred feelings of compassion.

He snuck up to Li Mumu during the break and whispered in her ear, "Let me take you home."

"No!"

Li Ya’s embrace was even colder than this winter.

Li Mumu would rather sit here and freeze than go back home to their mutual loathing.

"How about staying at a hotel then? The conditions there must be better than the school dormitory."

"I’ll have my dad install heating in the teaching building!"

"The new campus area has already started installing heating. These old buildings can’t be retrofitted."

In truth, they could be retrofitted, but the risk was too high.

Wang Yunxiao would supervise the construction site on weekends; having seen the design for the heating system, he knew it was very primitive and simple.

Whether it’s boilers, pressure valves, or heating pipes, in this era they are all high-tech military-grade products, not yet available on the consumer market.

Why is it called heating rather than hot water?

Because the original heating system was indeed gaseous—it was like a large gas lamp, similar in principle to street lamps.

Not adding heating, at most the students will just feel cold; it’s not like anyone would die.

Laying gas pipelines and installing heating lamps in an already dilapidated old school building—once there’s an explosion, the consequences are self-evident.

At noon, Li Mumu gladly had her wish fulfilled and ate hot pot.

Dumpling directly went to a restaurant outside and brought back a copper pot with charcoal fire.

They moved the hot pot directly into the classroom and set it up on a bench to start cooking for Li Mumu.

Li Mumu mustered her energy to take a couple of bites before putting down her chopsticks and not eating anymore.

Seeing her sickly appearance, Youtiao pulled Wang Yunxiao aside and whispered, "Eldest Miss Li isn’t—could it be that time of the month for her?"

Wang Yunxiao almost didn’t catch on, but after thinking about it, he also felt that Youtiao’s guess made sense.

Everything about Li Mumu’s secrets was his conjecture, with little evidence. What if... she really was just a delicate and pampered young lady?

"Let Chen Yan ask."

Wang Yunxiao thought about it and still wasn’t at ease, so he instructed Dumpling to buy some brown sugar.

Chen Yan returned quickly, shaking her head, "It’s nothing, she’s just sleepy and wants to rest. I touched her forehead and it’s not hot."

"People like Eldest Miss Li can’t be compared with us; who knows, she might faint all of a sudden."

Wang Yunxiao and Youtiao discussed, "Should we send her to a hotel instead?"

"Big brother, where’s a hotel near here? There’s the big car inn, but... are you comfortable letting her stay alone outside?"

Distance is not an issue.

For the wealthy, chartering a car to and from school is no big deal.

But to let Li Mumu stay outside alone, Wang Yunxiao really couldn’t be at ease.

In these days, public security isn’t that great.

Whether she can protect herself or not, it’s not possible. There are always thieves, but no one can be vigilant against thieves every single day.

At this juncture, Chen Yan suddenly said, "It’s quite warm in the air-raid shelter; how about letting Li Mumu move there?"

What the hell are you talking about...

Wang Yunxiao was about to retort, but suddenly paused.

The basement is relatively cold, that’s relative.

Air-raid shelters are originally built for temporary residence and the temperature in them during winter is actually higher than outside.

This is a piece of counter-intuitive common knowledge.

It’s surely better than the dormitory; those glass windows in the dorm don’t provide any insulation, and the winds seep through from everywhere.

Northerners like to dig cellars to store vegetables, the main reason being that vegetables won’t freeze in the cellars.

But the problem is that it can only keep warmth, not generate heat.

You surely can’t light a stove for her in the underground air-raid shelter; are you hoping that the air will be rich in carbon monoxide?

"Let’s build her a kang!"

Youtiao suggested.

Building a kang is a Northern colloquialism, meaning to construct a fire kang. A fire kang is a common heating installation in Northern peasant homes, where the inside is a bed referred to as a kang. The stove is outside, connected to the fire kang. Burning firewood outside, the heat is transferred to the fire kang through the stove.

This thing has much more vitality than gas lamps, even a hundred years later when gas lamps have already been phased out, fire kangs are still an essential feature in homes in the Northern Region.

But the problem is, it’s already snowing, how do you build a kang? Once built, it needs to be air-dried.

"There are bricks at the nearby construction site, and we brothers have learned seven or eight out of ten skills from those bricklayers. Building a kang for her would be quick."

This made Wang Yunxiao very tempted.

"Shall we give it a try?"

"Let’s give it a shot!"