I was divorced because I got pregnant during the lean years, so I went back to my parents’ home and

Lin carried the bucket, Xiaoju held up the clay pot from home, and Xiaohua carried her own small bucket, and they all ran to the river.

As soon as I ran out of the alley, I saw Shitou running towards me with sweat all over his forehead.

With a trembling voice, he said, "Mom, the water in the river is too yellow, and it's full of sand..."

"Let's go and take a look..." Lin staggered, and Shitou took the bucket from her hand and ran towards the river.

On the way, I met many people running towards that direction with buckets of water...

Ji Li was walking back and forth anxiously by the river with his hands behind his back. What should he do?

There was a drought a few years ago, and some villages were looking for people to dig wells.

The people of Jijiawan were not united, so the well was not dug. Last year, there was a lot of rain, and the water in the creek overflowed, flooding the village again. The issue of digging a well was never mentioned again.

Unexpectedly, at the beginning of this spring, a yellow wind blew, bringing with it so much yellow sand that the water in the creek turned yellow.

Ji Xiaobei followed the people to the river. The clear river before had now turned into a stream of yellow water flowing from a distance.

It's not that the yellow sand brought by the strong wind has polluted the water, but that the water from upstream has entered the yellow sand and flowed here.

"Uncle Village Head, don't be too anxious. Wait a while. Maybe after a few days, the yellow sand will pass and the water in the creek will become clear," said Ji Xiaobei.

"These days, water is a problem for the villagers. Many families don't have the habit of storing water." Ji Lizheng said with a frown.

"Yes, we didn't even have half a bucket of water left at home. We were supposed to fetch water today, but who knew the water was not drinkable."

There are also people who, after scooping up a bucket of water and letting it settle for a while, the water is still muddy and yellow.

There is nothing anyone can do about natural disasters.

Finally, Ji Lizheng said, whoever has more water should share some with everyone, and maybe everything will be fine after these few days.

Hearing this, a light of hope flashed in the eyes of Wu Shui at home.

If there is water at home, just turn your face away and pretend you didn’t see it.

Ji Lizheng had no choice. He did draw two jars of water yesterday, but with so many people in the village, there was not enough to share.

He didn't say anything. He went home and discussed it with his wife before making a decision.

In the face of a major disaster, there is nothing wrong with just taking care of your own life first.

The wooden barrel in Lin's hand fell to the ground with a bang.

She regretted so much that she didn't let Shitou fetch water yesterday.

Everyone stayed far away and didn't even look at the Ji family.

Ji Lizheng quietly pulled Ji Xiaobei's sleeve, turned around and went home.

Ji Xiaobei followed Ji Lizheng quietly until they reached a place where there was no one.

Ji Lizheng lowered his voice and said awkwardly: "Bei, I don't have much at home, but I can give you half a bucket!"

"Thank you, sir. I'll ask Shi Tou to go and fetch it when it gets dark." Ji Xiaobei said gratefully.

Ji Lizheng glanced at Ji Xiaobei, hesitated for a moment and said, "I heard that a distant relative came to your house. These days, I'm not trying to sow discord between your relatives. Your mother is too generous. She can't even get enough food to eat, so why would she help a distant relative?"

Ji Xiaobei knew that Li Zheng had good intentions, so he smiled and said, "Yes, Mom has her own ideas, I'll find a chance to talk to her about it."

Strictly speaking, Ji Xiaobei is a married girl and is considered an outsider of the Ji family.

Ji Xiaobei told Ji Lizheng about the people in the county hoarding grain.

He was stunned at first, then he sighed and left.

Ji Xiaobei didn't know what he meant, but the letter had been delivered, and he couldn't force people to buy grain.

Lin and Shitou also came back dejectedly.

"Hmph, I asked several families and they all said they had no water. If you want to take advantage of us in the future, that's impossible." Shi Tou sat down in the yard angrily.

"You, don't be angry. If you have water at home, can you take it out?" Ji Xiaobei said coldly.

Shi Tou choked and swallowed the words in his mouth.

Yes, if you can’t even protect your own life, how can you take care of others?

Malacca, who was reading a book in the house, had already started to pack his bedding silently.

The three taels of silver are still warm, and I have to return it to the owner.

He was so frustrated. Why couldn't he stay in a job for long no matter where he worked? He would always face the fate of being fired in the end.

He felt that his life was so miserable.

After packing up, he put the silver on the table, picked up his bedding and walked out of the room.

Ji Xiaobei looked up and was shocked. What was he doing? He had just been taught clearly, why was he leaving?

Ji Xiaobei glanced over the heads of the three people, and their scalps began to feel numb.

Shitou, Xiaoju and Xiaohua all lowered their heads. They were just being stubborn. It wasn't like they really wouldn't do their homework. The day wasn't over yet.

"Malacca, the children are a little difficult to teach, but you can't just quit your job..."

"I didn't, I didn't quit my job. Your family's life..." Malacca said with a blushing face.

"What's wrong with our family? If your aunt has something to eat, you will have something to eat too. Go back..." Ji Xiaobei shouted.

Lin's body trembled. Yes, she was the aunt from Malacca.

Lin forced out an ugly smile and said, "Yes, your cousin is right. How can I chase you away? Stay here!"

After Lin finished speaking, she wanted to slap herself to death. This was not what she really thought in her heart, but she couldn't make the decision as the eldest daughter.

Malacca was so happy that he almost cried. He ran back to the house with his bedding roll, grabbed the silver on the table and hid it in his bedding.

Ji Xiaobei pulled Lin over and whispered something in her ear.

Lin nodded, and her brows relaxed a little.

"You three, if Mr. Ma is pissed off by you again, I will teach you a lesson." Ji Xiaobei said with a gloomy face.

Xiaohua stuck out her tongue. It seemed like she couldn't escape today's homework no matter what.

As it was getting dark, Shitou brought back half a bucket of water from Ji Lizheng's house.

Of course, Ji Xiaobei didn't let him go empty-handed. He asked him to bring four corn buns for Tiedan and Tieqiu.

The headman's wife pulled Shitou and asked, how much grain do you have stored at home?

Shitou said without blinking, "Granny, I only have one bag saved. My family doesn't have any extra money to buy more."

After saying this, he turned and ran away, fearing that the headman's wife would ask him any other questions.

The children of the Ji family all grew up in hunger, so they couldn't talk nonsense about how much food there was at home. If there was half a bag of food at home, they would go out and say there was only a gourd of food.

This time, Ji Xiaobei specifically instructed that if others asked, he should say that he had a bag of grain stored at home.

This is actually not called hoarding food. It just means that there is no shortage of food at home at the moment.

With just that bag of food, and so many mouths to feed in the Ji family, it wouldn't even be enough for a month.

The headman's wife put away the cornmeal buns and thought to herself: I don't know what's going on. Lin used to be a good person, but why is she so generous now?

If they eat like this, then who would starve?