Defeat natural disasters with farming

A few days later, Mrs. Huang took her eldest grandson Ye Zhouyuan to visit in the evening. After drinking a bowl of tea, she told Mrs. Ye that she wanted to go to the county with their family. It is not safe to buy food alone, but it is much better if you have someone to accompany you.

People in the village didn't know that their family had stockpiled food. If they had to say something, maybe the village head guessed a little bit. After all, the old man Ye told him the news. It should be said.

So Mrs. Ye nodded and said: "Let the boss and the third go with your house."

"Then it's settled! My two sons will bring Brother Yuan to my family, and we will meet at the entrance of the village tomorrow." Mrs. Huang said with a smile, "Just let them bring Brother Yuan to see the world."

As the eldest grandson of the eldest son, Ye Zhouyuan was naturally raised by his family.

After Mr. Huang, Mr. Huang and his grandson drank another bowl of tea and left, Ye Yu discussed with the elders, "Why don't you go to the county town and bring me with you tomorrow." He had to go and see for himself how bad the current situation is. degree.

Mother Ye was the first to object. She reacted greatly and shook her head again and again, "Now the county is very unsafe and there are mixed people. You'd better not go there."

Ye Yu frowned slightly, hesitated for a while and said, "I'll just go and have a look, and I won't do anything else."

In the end, Father Ye agreed to this matter, and decided to bring him with him tomorrow.

They set off the next day, and they chose a time when it was not so hot in the early morning. However, even so, the surrounding area was very muggy. Ye Yu had a light-colored cloth wrapped around his head. He slightly raised his head and saw the khaki-colored sky There is not a single cloud in it, which makes people feel depressed and suffocated.

On the way to the county seat, almost no one in the company spoke, and their expressions were very vigilant, because from time to time on the side of the road, you could see numb victims slumped on the ground. Some people stared at the donkey with bright eyes.

Father Ye held Ye Yu in his arms, without showing his face at all, he frowned slightly, "There were not so many victims in the past two days, why did it suddenly become like this?"

Hearing this, Ye Zhouyuan, who often helped the surrounding villages extract oil, explained to him: "Uncle, you may not have heard the news, not only the victims of the disaster in Henan County fled to us, but also the victims of the disaster in the south. Heading north."

"It is said that there has been two or three months of heavy rain over there, and everything has been flooded. There is really no way out."

After he finished speaking, he sighed again, "It would be great if we can neutralize the two places..."

Before he finished speaking, he was interrupted by a sudden cry from the side of the road, and then Ye Yu felt the donkey cart under him pause, and even stopped.

He looked up, and saw a woman in shabby clothes kneeling in front of two donkey carts. Her hair was like withered grass, her face was covered with loess, and she couldn't even make out any of her facial features. See the chapped corners of the mouth.

"Please give my child a bite to eat, please." The woman kowtowed continuously, revealing the frail child in her arms, about two or three years old, with a dry, sallow face and chapped skin. The mouth is abnormally rosy, and the rise and fall of the chest can hardly be seen.

Ye Yu couldn't bear to turn his head away, he reached out his hand to dig in his pocket, and found a white water egg that his milk had stuffed in in the morning, but he was not sure whether to take it out, because the disaster victims next to them were staring at them eagerly.

Father Ye held his hand, shook his head slightly after he looked over, and whispered, "Don't worry."

Ye Yu let go of her hands and buried her face in his father's arms.

"Please, please..."

The woman kowtowed on her knees all the time, blood was gradually oozing from her forehead, it was unbearable to see, but no one spoke anymore.

The two donkey carts bypassed the mother and the son, and continued on their way, but Ye Hai jumped out of the cart on the way, and when he came back, he nodded to his father and Ye Yu, and he secretly sent three pieces of sorghum pancakes and two white water eggs For the mother and child, the amount is not much, but it is enough to last them for a while.

only…

Ye Yu asked suspiciously, "Has the county no longer donated porridge and rice?"

"It has been stopped a long time ago. How can there be so much grain in the granary to cook porridge? If the previous porridge was thick, then there will be more water than rice, like clear water." Boss Ye said with a sigh.

No one spoke along the way until the donkey cart arrived at the gate of the county seat. The city was full of victims. Along with the sweltering weather, there was a stench that made Ye Yu cover his nose with a cloth towel.

He looked at the victims who were lying limp on the ground, and a word suddenly popped up in his mind, "plague". After a catastrophe, there must be a plague. In the current situation of backward medical and sanitary conditions, once a plague occurs, the probability Can only resign to fate.

They paid the entry tax under the watchful eyes of the victims, and they were relieved when they entered the city. Although the smell in the city was also muddy, it was much better than outside the city.

"Let's separate here and meet at the gate of the city at the beginning of the afternoon."

Father Ye jumped out of the donkey cart and said that it was after seven o'clock in the evening at the beginning of Xu Shi, when the sun was setting and the temperature would be lower.

The rest of the people nodded one after another, and soon the group separated.

"Let's go separately. Eldest brother, take Brother Hai to the grain merchant to buy some food, whether it's red dates or brown sugar. If you have time, go buy more official salt and private salt."

"I'll take Brother Bao to the Qin family to see if they need any help, and then I'll go to Huichun Hall to buy some medicinal materials for curing the disease."

Although Ye's father and the others had already sent news to his younger sister's family when they bought food, they didn't know whether the Qin family believed it or not.

Boss Ye responded solemnly when he heard the words, and then drove the donkey cart to take Ye Hai to the place where he bought grain.

Father Ye watched them leave, and after he couldn't see their backs, he led Ye Yu and left as well.

Compared with the bustle before, Heihe County is a little more quiet. There are no small stalls on the roadside, and even the doors of restaurants are locked. The doors of the houses are closed, and almost no one comes out.

As time passed, the sun gradually appeared, and the surrounding temperature rose. Ye Yu's face covered by the straw hat slowly seeped sweat. Seeing this, Father Ye quickly picked him up and hurried to Qin's house.

After knocking on the door, without making them wait, someone asked vigilantly through the door, "Who is it?"

"It's me, Ye Laosan."

As soon as the words came out, the people inside hurriedly opened the door, "Come in, it's such a hot day, why are you here?" Before she finished speaking, she saw Ye Yu in Father Ye's arms again, and immediately said in surprise: " You came here as soon as you came, why did you bring Brother Bao with you?"

Aunt Ye took Ye Yu from his arms, "Look at how hot this little face is."

She turned her head and told Qin Muwen, "Go to the kitchen and bring a pot of cold water to wash your cousin's face."

The whole family stayed at home. When they saw Father Ye coming, Qin Zhengying came out, but they didn't know what to say, or Father Ye asked him after wiping off his sweat, "Do you have food stockpiled?"

It was old man Qin who answered, "Store up, enough for a year."

In Ye Yu's opinion, enough food for a year is a little small, but in the eyes of the Qin family, it is already a lot. After a year, the weather will always return to normal, so there is no need to hoard so much food now.

Father Ye didn't know what to persuade, he was a person with his own opinions, and it wasn't something that could be easily changed by others' persuasion.

He had no choice but to bring up the old story again, "Just in case, there is no harm in stocking up at home."

The old man Qin sighed and said, "Right now, the price of food is skyrocketing, five or six times higher than before. We also spent a lot of money to buy this amount. It's not white rice and white noodles, but corn noodles and sorghum noodles."

There was no other way. Father Ye didn't expect the food shortage in the county to be so severe.

"You don't know, because there are disaster victims on the outskirts of the city, many people don't like to enter the county again, and the business in the city has plummeted. Every day, people talk about the county magistrate and Shen Shanren, alas."

While listening to them, Ye Yu put his reddened arms into the basin. Although the warm water was not cool enough, it could relieve the stinging pain caused by the sun.

At this time, Aunt Ye took a peach and handed it to Ye Yu, and then said to Father Ye: "Don't bring your child to suffer in the hot weather, you can go out to do things by yourself, Brother Bao stay here and I will help you look after you. Just remember to pick him up tonight."

Father Ye pondered for a while, then waved his hands and replied, "I have to take Brother Bao to Huichun Hall to prescribe a new medicine, and hurry up while it's not the hottest moment."

"Then hurry up, don't delay." Aunt Ye said vigorously, "I'll pour a pot of cold water for you, and take a drink when it's hot."

It is said to be cold water, but it is actually warm boiled water.

When the father and son left, there were a few more peaches in the basket.

Father Ye thought Ye Yu was walking slowly, so he picked him up, straightened his straw hat, and strode towards Huichun Hall.

When they arrived, the Hall of Rejuvenation was full of people, and patients were everywhere, making it difficult for people to get down. Yaotong still remembered the father and son. Please wait a moment, please."

"Nothing." Father Ye held Ye Yu's hand, looked around Huichun Hall, and asked, "Who are they?"

"Don't mention it, it's all heatstroke, and the Coptis chinensis in the shop is almost used up." Yaotong wiped his sweat and said, "It's still mild, and some serious ones didn't even save their lives."

Some people who feel uncomfortable due to heat stroke often want to endure it, and this will miss the best time for treatment.

At this time, someone suddenly got up again, and the drug boy hurriedly let them go, and then hurried over.

About a quarter of an hour later, Dr. Wu came back with the medicine box. He took a breath and waved to Father Ye, "Let's go, let's go in."

The spices were burning in the room, and the smell made people feel comfortable. Doctor Wu felt alive after drinking a cup of tea.

"Doctor Chen is still out to check the county magistrate's wife's pulse, and he won't be back for the time being."

After speaking, he stretched out his hand to check Ye Yu's pulse, and soon a smile appeared on his face, "Good boy, you are recovering well, your bones are much stronger, you don't need to take medicine in the future, just eat more warming food, like It's mutton and millet."

Father Ye thanked him after hearing the words: "Thank you, Doctor Wu, for your trouble."

"That's not necessary," Dr. Wu waved his hand, paused and said, "In the future, you'd better not come to the county town again. The victims outside the city are not clean, and they may bring disease."

"Then what will you and Dr. Chen do?" Father Ye asked worriedly.

"We're fine." Dr. Wu sighed indistinctly, the doctor is benevolent, how can he not treat the patient because of fear.

Father Ye also followed him and sighed, "I also want to buy some anti-pestilence pills and insect-repelling incense. Burning them at home every day will always help."

These two kinds of pills have the effect of preventing the infection of epidemic diseases.

"It's a good idea, but there is not much stock in Huichun Hall, so I can only sell you some." Doctor Wu wrote two strokes on the paper, and said to Father Ye: "Take it and go to the medicine cabinet to get the medicine."

Ye Yu was left in the room. He touched his itchy arm, thinking that he must have been sunburned.

Dr. Wu saw his movements sharply, and immediately beckoned him to come over, looked carefully at his arm, and then took out a jar of ointment from the cabinet and applied it on him.

While applying it, he introduced: "This is an ointment made from centella asiatica, which is very effective in treating sunburn."

There is a little green in the transparency, and it smells like mint. Ye Yu sniffled, feeling very refreshing.

"Hey, I'll see you off. Remember to apply it in the morning and evening when you get home." Doctor Wu closed the lid and handed it to Ye Yu.

Before he could refuse, he said, "I still have a few cans here, which are not lacking, and the ointment is not expensive. If you think it is easy to use, bring me some frozen persimmons made by your family when you come back to pay New Year's greetings. My grandson I like to eat."

Ye Yu thought about it, but it was really hard to refuse, so she nodded and put away the ointment.

When Father Ye paid the money and came back with the medicine package, the father and son left the Huichun Hall. It was already noon, and the weather was at its hottest, so it was not good to stay outside, so the two turned around and went to a Tea shop, ready to kill time.

As soon as he entered the tea shop, there was a burst of coolness, Ye Yu was stunned for a moment, and looked at the place where the coolness came, and saw an ice mirror placed there, square and square, made of bronze.

Xiao Er bent down and led them to a side seat on the first floor, and said with a smile: "Our tea shop has a kind of dessert called Bing Cheese that is especially popular now, do you want to serve a bowl for this young man?"

Ye Yu heard the words and asked, "You still have ice?"

"That's not it," Xiao Er said proudly, "Our shopkeeper has the largest ice cellar in the city, and we can provide some ice every day."

The father and son looked at each other, and Father Ye continued to ask, "May I ask how much the ice cream is worth?"

"One tael of silver for a bowl." Xiao Er replied.

Ye Yu couldn't help but gasped, the price was really too expensive.

He was just about to wave his hand to say no, when he heard Father Ye say, "A bowl of ice cream, and a pot of sour plum soup."

"Come on, let's try what this ice cream is."

After Father Ye finished speaking, he looked around the tea shop. The people sitting in the tea shop were almost all rich and noble families, all of them had leisurely faces, chatting with friends from time to time, and it was completely impossible to see what was going on outside.

He sighed, why not eat minced meat.

When Xiaoer brought up the ice cream, Father Ye asked seemingly unintentionally: "I don't know if your shopkeeper sells ice cream."

Xiaoer put the white scarf on his shoulders, shook his head and said, "We don't have enough ice in our house, so how can we sell any extra."

Then bowed respectfully, "Please take it slowly."

Father Ye looked at the ice cream, and whispered to Ye Yu, "Our family can also find a way to dig an ice cellar to store ice."

The ice cellar only needs to be dug ten meters below the ground, and then cover the ice with weeds to reduce the amount of ice melting.

Ye Yu held the spoon and thought for a while, perhaps he could also use saltpeter to make ice.

He thought for a while before focusing on Bing Cheese.

The so-called ice cream is a bit like a modern smoothie, and it looks very good. The small white porcelain bowl contains the crystal clear smoothie, covered with a layer of red beans, which looks even more attractive.

Ye Yu dug a mouthful with a spoon and put it in his mouth, his body immediately cooled down from the inside out, and the taste was also very good, the red bean taste was hard but very sweet, the finely crushed smoothie was topped with honey jam, sweet but not greasy .

After taking two bites, he pushed the bowl in front of his father, asking him to have a taste too.

Father Ye took a bite, nodded and said, "It's really good."

The small bowl of ice cream was shared by the father and son, and the remaining pot of sour plum soup was no exception. Each of them poured a cup and drank slowly. Ye Yu felt that the sour plum soup might have been put in too much licorice, and it was a bit bitter. delicious.

In addition to these two items on the table, there are two complimentary plates of snacks, which are sugar cakes and bean cakes.

In the tea shop, the father and son got the news through chatting with the guests at the table next to them.