Chapter 261: Extreme Cold 7

When she wasn’t working, Evelyn Ford would lie in her small room, reading and sleeping. The weather was so cold that it made a person increasingly tired and lazy.

Wyatt Vaughn’s sprained back and ankle had almost completely healed. The others were warming themselves by the fire in the kitchen, chatting. After some discussion, they decided to build an oven.

An oven could be used to bake bread, roast meat, and make naan. They still had plenty of the gray bricks they’d found in the village last time. By digging up some earth from the house’s floor, the oven quickly began to take shape.

"Evelyn Ford, come quick! Something terrible has happened!"

"One of the ewes is giving birth!"

Everyone was in the sheep pen, gathered around the ewe. Evelyn went in to check and saw that it was, indeed, about to give birth.

"Add more firewood to the kang to heat it up, and bring a bucket of warm water."

The sheep pen was relatively warm, but some cold drafts still snuck in.

Back in the safe zone, everyone had raised sheep before, so assisting with a birth wasn’t entirely unfamiliar. But the weather was just too cold now. The ewe was taking a long time to deliver her lambs and was bleating constantly from the cold, which made everyone a little frantic.

"She isn’t having complications, is she?"

Evelyn Ford shook her head. "No. Everyone out. Wyatt Vaughn, you stay and help me. With all of you crowded around, the ewe is scared, which will only make it harder for her to give birth."

The others went back to the kitchen to continue working on the oven, while Evelyn Ford and Wyatt Vaughn stayed behind to deliver the lambs.

After drinking some water, the ewe stopped bleating as much. It paced back and forth, extremely agitated.

Evelyn Ford continuously soothed it. ’If it can’t give birth within half an hour, I’ll have to manually pull the lambs out.’ Fortunately, the ewe pulled through. As its body temperature rose, it immediately delivered the first lamb.

"It’s finally happening! Her belly is still huge; there must be several more." Wyatt Vaughn’s hands were trembling with nervousness.

Evelyn Ford stroked the ewe’s back. The temperature in the pen was high, and the thick smell of blood filled Evelyn’s nostrils. The other sheep huddled to one side. The mother ewe sniffed her newborn lamb, confirming it was alive, then began pacing again.

Soon, the second lamb was born, and Evelyn Ford let out a sigh of relief.

In the end, the ewe successfully gave birth to three lambs. Every half hour, Evelyn Ford would go to the pen to check on them. Thankfully, the other sheep were docile and hadn’t trampled the newborns. The three little lambs could already stand up and nurse, and the mother ewe seemed to be in decent spirits.

In the afternoon, just as Evelyn Ford was about to take a short rest, another ewe went into labor. She and Wyatt Vaughn were busy for two hours and successfully delivered four more lambs.

Sheep reproduced quickly, able to give birth twice a year. The group began to worry the pen wasn’t big enough and discussed whether they should build another one in the blueberry garden.

These argali sheep were huge, about the size of a medium-sized cow. Once their numbers increased, the pen would definitely become too small.

Besides, four more ewes were due to give birth, and some others were probably already pregnant.

If they were to build another sheep pen, they would have to enclose an area with wood and build another kang.

By their estimates, it was a significant project that would take several days.

But the pen had to be built. After all, the only industry they could develop right now was animal husbandry.

They still had plenty of meat in the cellar, so there was no need to slaughter the argali. Hardship was nothing; what was truly terrifying was having nothing to look forward to.

Evelyn Ford dug up all the blueberry bushes; the fruit trees had to be saved for later planting. The group spent another two days in the mountains chopping wood and branches, then worked nonstop to build the sheep pen and construct the kang. A week later, the pen in the blueberry grove was finished.

Evelyn Ford had Ronan Kendrick make several wooden planter boxes. She planned to dig up some soil, mix it with wood ash, and see if she could get the vegetable seeds she had brought back from Westeria to grow.

A diet of only meat and no vegetables wasn’t sustainable. However, the weather was so cold that Evelyn Ford was afraid the vegetables wouldn’t survive.

When Wyatt Vaughn learned that Evelyn Ford was going to plant vegetables, he was ecstatic. "Don’t we still have a roll of tarpaulin? We could probably build a greenhouse with it, right? It’s been so long since I’ve had fresh greens. Sometimes, when I see the animals eating leaves, I want to take a bite myself."

Wyatt Vaughn looked at the others. "We’re eating meat every day, and everyone’s putting on weight. Evelyn is especially good at growing vegetables; she definitely won’t fail. Let’s all help build the greenhouse. We don’t know how long we’ll be here. If we stay for a few years, are we just not going to eat any vegetables?"

Wyatt Vaughn’s words struck a chord with everyone. After eating so much meat, they all craved vegetables. It wasn’t just Wyatt who wanted to gnaw on leaves; everyone was tempted to dig up tree roots to boil and eat.

The roots of some plants were edible, like Chinese yam and *jicigen*.

"Let’s build a greenhouse. Since Evelyn has seeds, we have to give it a try, whether they grow or not. We can put two kangs inside to keep the temperature stable; they should be able to grow then. The wooden boxes Ronan made are better for planting. Sowing directly in the ground definitely won’t work. We should all make a few more boxes. What vegetables are easiest to grow in winter?"

"Bok choy, radishes, spinach, celery, chives, and garlic sprouts should all work." The seeds Evelyn Ford had brought back from Westeria were exactly these.

Since they had time on their hands anyway, Taylor Vance once again organized everyone to work on building the greenhouse. The vegetable greenhouse would be Evelyn Ford’s responsibility. From now on, she wouldn’t need to shovel snow or feed the animals; she could just focus on growing vegetables.

Evelyn Ford also took out a packet of kale seeds from her dimensional space. Kale with roasted meat—it was a perfect match. She decided to plant a lot of it.

The greenhouse was finished quickly. The expansion outside the small courtyard grew larger and larger. Now, in addition to animal husbandry, they had also developed agriculture. At last, they didn’t have to worry about food and drink.

After adding wood ash, sheep manure, horse manure, and Mammoth dung, the clay soil became nutritious. It was left to dry in the greenhouse for a week before Evelyn Ford sowed the seeds.

Evelyn Ford also scattered a couple of handfuls of corn seeds. Although she wasn’t sure they would survive, she still wanted to try.

Ten days later, the garlic sprouted. The other seeds also began to poke through the soil one after another. Evelyn Ford hadn’t failed after all.

The other four ewes also gave birth, adding more than ten new argali sheep to their flock.

Wendy’s female Snow Rabbit was also showing signs of giving birth, so everyone made a special nest for it next to the kitchen hearth.

That night, after a long day of work, everyone went back to their rooms to sleep.

But a group of people had arrived in Flatwood Village. They searched the village but couldn’t find any house fit for shelter. Cold and hungry, they began to complain to one another. Just then, they heard the bleating of sheep.

"I didn’t mishear that, did I? That was a sheep."

"You didn’t. I heard it too. Let’s go. We’ll follow the sound and check it out."

「In the dead of night」

Ronan Kendrick’s eyes snapped open. He got out of bed and woke everyone else up. They all thought it was morning, but when Taylor Vance checked his worn-out watch, it was only two-thirty.

"Someone is heading toward the courtyard."

Hearing this, everyone’s sleepiness vanished instantly. Ronan Kendrick distributed guns to the others, and the men quietly slipped out of the courtyard.

Meanwhile, the other group had reached the sheep pen in the blueberry grove. When they saw not only a pen but also a vegetable greenhouse, their eyes lit up with excitement.

"There are actually people living here! Let’s go take a look. We’re staying here tonight."

"So many sheep. Let’s grab one and slaughter it for a meal first."