Li Long drove to the Wooden Cabin first. After getting out with his gun on his back, he opened the door, carried in the things he had brought in the Jeep, then shut the door, propped his gun against the wall, and began cleaning out the stove.
After removing the ashes, cleaning the firebox, and layering kindling, wood, and coal to start a fire, Li Long realized there was not much coal left under the shed.
Although there was an Open-Pit Coal Mine in the mountains, snow now covered the road leading there. Going out to dig coal in snow this deep was hardly worth the effort.
The remaining coal should last these few days, and there were some chunks of wood for emergencies. If he came again while it was still winter, he would bring another sack or two of coal. Or, if he finished hunting this time and did not return for the winter, he could wait until spring and haul coal straight from the Open-Pit Coal Mine.
Once the stove was burning, Li Long set a pot on top, fetched a bucket of water from the spring, and put some on to boil for later.
The thermos and teapot in the Wooden Cabin had not been used for a long time and were coated in dust. He poured the bucket of water into the pot, then took the thermos and teapot outside, scrubbed their surfaces clean with snow, and went to the spring to fill them with some water and rinse them out.
By the time he carried them back, the water in the pot had warmed up a little. Li Long used a ladle to scoop some warm water into the thermos, swirled it around, then poured it back into the pot.
He took half a