Started as a mute girl? I prospered in the lean years

The wolf bones of the two wolves were stewed into two large pots of soup. At Jiang Huaixu's suggestion, the wolf meat was pickled and planned to be smoked into dried meat with pine and cypress branches the next day, which was easy to carry and could be stored for a long time.

The whole village drank bone soup together. Each family shared some bones and meat, not much, but everyone had a smile on their face.

Two days passed, and the camp was no longer attacked by wild beasts, and the water level still did not drop. The villagers gradually began to become anxious.

"Why do you feel like the floods haven't receded?"

"The water's edge has been marked, but it hasn't dropped at all. How long will it take?"

"We are hiding here and have no idea what is going on outside. The bamboo rafts just happened to be ready. How about we just choose two people to go out and have a look?"

The village chief came up from behind them and said, "There is no need to choose. Let the second uncle take A Liang out to see the situation. When they come back, we will decide whether to leave or stay."

Naturally, everyone had no objections.

No one wants to camp out in the mountains all day long, but whether to stay or go has to have a plan, and you can't just decide it when your forehead gets hot.

Standing by the water, watching the second grandfather and Boss Jiang paddling away on bamboo rafts, it wasn't that Jiang Huaixu didn't want to go with them, but Qian Xiuzhu and Boss Jiang were worried about the danger and wouldn't let them go.

There should be news in the evening, so let's wait for now. Jiang Huaixu thought.

Unexpectedly, even after waiting until dusk, the two of them could not be brought back.

No matter how calm Qian Xiuzhu was, seeing that it was getting dark, she couldn't help but become worried and looked into the distance from time to time.

"Don't worry, Mom. Dad said he went to the town to inquire. In the worst case, I will take a detour and go to the town to find them." Jiang Dalang comforted in a low voice.

"There's nothing we can do about it. It's dangerous to walk on the mountain road at night. If we wait a little longer, maybe your father will come back."

Qian Xiuzhu said this as if she was comforting her children and herself.

After waiting for another half an hour, when the Jiang family was completely exhausted, they suddenly heard someone shouting: "Second Grandpa and Brother A Liang are back!!"

Everyone was in an uproar and went to see it.

Boss Jiang was carrying a lot of things in his hands, and the second grandfather was also walking steadily.

When everyone sat around, the second grandfather took a sip of the water handed over by Jiang Dalang, and then said: "Two things. The first is that the flood outside has receded. Our Shili Village is originally surrounded by mountains on three sides, and the village entrance is That road leads outside, but now that road is blocked by rocks, the water will not be able to retreat."

"what?!"

"Then we won't be able to return to the village?"

"How to do this?"

Everyone was stunned by the news, and some old people even shed tears silently.

The second grandfather also let out a long sigh, "Who would have thought that something like this would happen? I have never heard of this old man in all my years of living, but there is another important thing right now. Someone in the town said that the imperial court has ordered the recruitment of soldiers. , our Huai'an Prefecture is arresting young men, I heard there is quite a commotion."

There was dead silence all around.

"Let's not talk about how many people died in the flood. This winter alone, if there is no food, many people will die. If we catch the young men, we really have no way to survive." Boss Jiang told the cruel reality that everyone did not want to face in a few words. come out.

Seeing no one responded, the village chief had no choice but to stand up and say: "We are still on the mountain. We can't find anyone except walking in a big circle into the mountain. We haven't reached that point yet."

After these words were spoken, the heavy atmosphere became lighter.

"A-Liang, are you hungry? Why don't you and your second cousin take a rest first, and then we can discuss what to do next after you finish eating?"

When Boss Jiang went out, Qian Xiuzhu stuffed him with a lot of food. Both of them had some left over, so they were not hungry.

"Brother Zhengmao, let's discuss what to do next."

Boss Jiang is not very interested. He has always wanted to return to Shili Village. Even though he has suffered a lot here because of his stepmother, he has lived in this land for more than thirty years and it is hard to leave his homeland.

But in a blink of an eye, the village was flooded, his father was buried forever under the water, and his only sister was still missing. Now he only hopes to find her as soon as possible and settle down with his family.

Everyone is concerned about their future whereabouts, and Jiang Huaixu is no exception. After listening to a few simple words, she knew that he seemed to be running away.

She wasn't surprised by the result.

Originally, she thought that even if the village was gone, she could stay in the mountains for a while, but as soon as the news of the conscription came out, this road was blocked.

Although it is not clear who they are fighting with, Nanxia Langzi's ambition is certain. Now that the chaos has arisen, it is not safe to hide in the mountains if they take advantage of the situation.

After some discussion, the village chief finally decided to flee to the north. Normally, there are floods in the south and drought in the north. Now we have only heard of floods in the south, and it is not yet known whether there is drought in the north. Since there is no news of wind, there may be a glimmer of hope in going north.

The most important thing is that the land in the south is fertile and there are few uncultivated fields. If they escape there but cannot get the land and are punished, it will be in vain. It's different in the north. It's cold in the north, but there's a lot of wasteland. These people always have fields to make a living. If they don't have land, they can't even be considered common people.

The people in the village naturally had no objections to the village chief's decision, but the incident happened suddenly, and many people seemed to have not yet realized what they were about to face in the future.

"Why are you in such a daze? We agreed to escape, so we have to leave immediately. We can stay here for another day at most. The longer we stay in the mountains, the less we will eat, and the less we can survive on the escape route!" the village chief said angrily.

Boss Jiang added loudly: "Since we are running away from famine, we will all be grasshoppers on the same rope from now on. We must explain everything clearly first. First of all, we must not send out kind thoughts randomly. When we are short of food and food, we must show kindness. Waiting to be robbed; secondly, keeping everything we own is the same as not exposing our wealth; finally, we are all from the same village, we know the basics, and we must unite together. Only in this way will others try to rob us. There will be some scruples.”

The second grandfather then shouted: "A Liang is right. Men all have their own kitchen knives and axes in their hands. Women take care of their food rations and babies. Don't look around at people you meet on the road, and don't follow others casually." When people talk to each other, people's hearts are separated from each other. When the world is in chaos, there will be more ghosts. Do you all know that?"

The three people said this one after another, and the people who were originally immersed in sadness couldn't help but cheer up and listen carefully. They were all about life or death in the future, so they couldn't help but pay attention.

After everything that needed to be explained was clearly stated, everyone except the night watchers fell asleep one after another.

Qian Xiuzhu looked through the things that Boss Jiang brought back from outside and found that they were all moldy corn.

"Master, where did this come from?"

"I passed by a grain store today. The owner of the grain store was in a hurry to leave, so he sold these moldy corns at a low price. It only cost eight cents. Let's split it half with Uncle Er Tang's family." Mr. Jiang said, "Washing. It can be eaten even if it is clean. We adults can just eat it. Children with weak stomachs should eat well."

"Hey, I understand."

Boss Jiang squatted on the ground and scratched his head. The furrow between his brows seemed to have never widened: "Daughter-in-law, I have asked about all the shops in this town. Our brother-in-law's shop was closed before the flood. They all said they left Huai'an." I want to go to Jinzhao Mansion to join my relatives. The more I think about it, the more wrong I am. If A Tao left, why wouldn't he tell us?"

Qian Xiuzhu had a bad premonition, but she couldn't say it directly. She composed herself and said: "Maybe there is some news about my brother-in-law's family. It's not necessary to go to avoid the limelight first. Let's ask more about Jin Zhao's house on the way. Don't do it." It’s too much to worry about.”

As of now, this is all that can be done, and Boss Jiang has no good solution. Taking a deep breath, she cheered up and said to Qian Xiuzhu: "Daughter-in-law, please call the elder man over. I will tell him something about his father-in-law."