Traveling through troubled times to escape famine and cultivate crops as a grain merchant

After walking around the entire area and finding nothing else of value, she returned to the camp carrying a basket of wild vegetables and fruits.

She could only smell bursts of fragrance coming from the front from afar, and she was suddenly shocked. It was the long-lost smell of meat!

Quicken your pace towards the camp.

As I walked along, I could vaguely hear people talking, "Oh, how lucky is this girl from the Zhou family to have caught such a big snake? Why don't I have such good luck?" "Oh my god, this smell is so tempting!" "Such a big snake, the Zhou family are all children, they definitely can't finish it, right?"

When I returned to the camp, I found that everyone in the family was very quiet. They all stretched their necks and stared at the meat bubbling in the pot with their eyes wide open.

Even the noisiest Zhou Tao and Zhou Su stopped talking.

After Li finished adding firewood, she saw her daughter coming back. She took the basket from her hand and said with a smile, "You must be hungry. Come sit down and rest for a while. You will be able to eat soon."

Zhou Guo nodded, sat down and waited obediently for dinner.

The aroma from the pot was stronger now. The people around looked over here intentionally or unintentionally. The children just squatted beside it and didn't move, staring at the pot on the fire.

Not only the children, but also the shameless adults came over with their hands behind their backs to talk to Old Man Zhou, "Brother, look at where we are now. If we keep walking like this, who knows how long it will take to get there?"

"Oh, Brother Li, your child is really capable. He is so young and yet he is able to bring game home. It's really amazing."

The leader of the kids, who was about the same age as Zhou Dacang, came over to chat with him, and people of all ages surrounded this small place.

Some of them were too shy to leave and wanted to take their children back. The children cried and refused to leave, but were still dragged away.

Some family members called out a few times, but when they realized they couldn't get the child to go back, they gave up. There were so many people there, and it wasn't just their child there. If there was any embarrassment, it would be for everyone.

Mrs. Xu was really annoyed. The family finally had a chance to enjoy a big meal of meat, but so many people came just because they smelled the meat. They couldn’t be driven away. Didn’t they see how ugly her face looked? Why couldn’t these people see it?

"Go away, go away, go away. Why are there so many mosquitoes here? They must be here because of the smell. They want to take a bite, but I'm afraid you can't eat it. If you fall into the water, you'll be scalded to death!" She swatted the mosquitoes and cursed in a sarcastic tone, her face full of unhappiness.

Li didn't say anything.

Although Huang was not too happy, she couldn't speak up after looking at these eager children and thinking that they were all from the same village. The eldest daughter-in-law spoke up, and in order to avoid offending others, she had to make amends, "It's not a big deal, just fumigate it with mugwort after you finish eating."

Xu snorted angrily, and her face turned even more unhappy when she looked at those people waiting for food. She glared at them fiercely. Whose food is enough for so many people at this moment?

Some of the older children realized what was right and wrong, blushed, pulled their younger brothers and sisters and went back.

There were still some left, which were what they couldn't get rid of. Some of them said shamelessly, "Haha, Auntie, I can't walk just by smelling this snake meat. When it's ready, give me a few pieces. I don't want more. One piece for each family member is enough."

"Bah, one piece for each of your family members. How many people are there in your family? More than a dozen! We are not a wealthy family, so how can we let you eat and take everything? This amount is not enough for our family members to eat, so how can we share it with your family members? You are dreaming about it." Xu started to scold without any politeness.

Everyone laughed together, knowing it was a joke.

The man also laughed.

Zhou Guo was infected and couldn't help laughing.

Mrs. Xu had been waiting for the children to leave, but after waiting and waiting, she realized that they were unwilling to go back. If she didn't cool down the fire, the water in the pot would boil dry and the meat would be stewed to pieces.

Huang turned off the heat and Li took out the bowl.

Xu had no choice but to reluctantly lift the lid of the pot. As soon as the lid was lifted, a hot aroma filled the air.

The people around couldn't help but greedily inhale with their eyes closed. Farmers seldom eat meat once a year, and it is rare to smell meat at other times.

Huang took out a few bowls, filled half a bowl with soup, and scooped a spoonful of meat into another bowl. After the meat was put in, the soup was full, and it looked like a big bowl full.

She instructed her children to deliver the bowls of meat to the families of her friends. After thinking for a while, she asked Zhou Dacang to deliver the last bowl to the head of the village, hoping that he would help her family more in the future.

Zhou Deli just kept talking to the two brothers who came over, and he didn't worry about these things at all.

Li started to distribute bowls. The two people who came to talk to the father-in-law were close to the family. After all, they were the elders, so she had to distribute bowls. As for the children who were surrounding them, she didn't distribute any bowls. Besides, there weren't that many bowls.

Each family member had a wild vegetable and grain dumpling, two pieces of meat, and half a bowl of soup. As for the children who were gathered around...

Xu frowned in pain. There were more than a dozen children. Even though the meat was cut into small pieces, it would still be a lot to spend more than a dozen pieces.

Some people may not want to give it to them, but seeing these children staring at the pot with eager eyes, and swallowing their saliva while watching their own children eating meat, who can eat it?

She had no choice but to bear the pain and pick out small pieces of meat from the pot, giving the smallest ones to the older children and the slightly larger ones to the youngest.

When the children saw that it was really given to them, they were extremely happy. They rubbed their hands on their clothes again and again, then carefully took the piece of meat handed to them by Xu, not afraid of the heat, and went back holding it in the hand.

There were more than a dozen children in a circle and each of them got a piece of meat. The others took the meat and left contentedly. Only one little boy, about six or seven years old, was left, staring at Xu with his eyes wide open without moving.

Xu's face fell in an instant, and she said impatiently, "What are you doing? You want more? Come on, come on, it's good enough that I gave you one piece, why are you still eating as much as you want at home? If I let you eat as much as you want, this pot won't be enough for you to make, and we have a big family at home."

The little boy said timidly, "Aunt, I want to ask for another piece for my mother. She will have more strength after eating the meat, and her illness will be cured."

Xu frowned and opened her mouth several times as if she wanted to say something but in the end, she said nothing.

Li picked up a piece directly from the pot and gave it to him. The child thanked her repeatedly with gratitude and left happily.

Zhou Guo became curious and asked Zhou Mai, "Who is he?"

Zhou Mai said while eating dumplings: "Oh, his name is Changsheng. It is said that his father was also arrested and sent to the army this time, just like our father. He, his mother, and a little sister are the only ones left in his family."