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

Mrs. Li looked at the group of children who were eating happily and left with a smile. Since she had nothing to do, she would go around to see if there was anything else that she could give to the children as snacks.

Zhou Guo held a fallen lily petal in his hand and walked around with his hoe, eating as he walked, trying to see if he could find a few more lily plants. It was really hard to find these plants after their flowers had fallen, and it was even harder to find them now that their leaves had dried.

After searching for a long time, she actually found two more plants, but they had been dry for too long, so not only were they small, they also looked wilted and lifeless.

The children got the snacks, which were a bit bitter but still chewy, and they started searching around.

There is strength in numbers, and after searching for a while, we actually found more than a dozen trees, but they were not very big.

Zhou Guo looked at the basket of bulbs and then at the small valley. Although the place was not big, there were many lilies. When spring came, all of them would bloom, and the valley would be fragrant and beautiful.

When the villagers saw that they had dug so much of this, they asked if it was edible and started looking for this. It was so big and heavy, and there was no other wild vegetable that could be more economical than this.

Zhou Guo saw that so many people had stopped digging wild vegetables and started looking for lilies. He turned around and picked up the basket to dig wild vegetables. He had to not miss out on so many wild vegetables.

That night she ate boiled lilies which she had not eaten for a long time.

It's soft and sticky, not bitter at all, and tastes a bit like glutinous rice balls. She said that it didn't taste bitter when she was a child, and it must be a problem with the variety.

Huang chewed the lily in amazement, "I ate this when I was young, and it was extremely bitter then. Now it doesn't taste bitter at all, it's quite delicious."

Zhou Deli said nonchalantly: "You must have remembered it wrongly. I think you remembered something else for this thing."

Huang didn't keep nagging about it.

I made half of a basket of lily petals and a big pot of them along with wild vegetables.

The whole family ate up everything, including the soup and the dry food. Zhou Guo touched his barely full stomach and thought that it was not bad to be able to maintain such a life.

It's a pity that God didn't want it.

In the days that followed, the road gradually became less and less pleasant. Everywhere I looked, the land was desolate, the grass and trees were yellow and withered, and there was no green at all. Sometimes I had to walk for half a day before I could find a little water.

Seeing that the situation was not good, Huang took out the two buckets on the cart.

When there is water, try to collect as much as possible. Two buckets of water can be used economically for two days, which greatly solves the water problem.

But in this case, Zhou Su and Zhou Tao would have to get off the bus and walk, as there was no room for them.

The two little ones didn't complain and followed along all the way. When they couldn't walk anymore, they carried the baby on their backs for a distance.

Two days later, more and more refugees could be seen lying on the roadside. Their expressions were numb, their eyes were lifeless, and some were dying. Some of them could not even be determined whether they were alive or dead.

Zhou Guo became deeply worried. They had not even reached halfway of their journey. Could so many people really reach their destination alive?

The sun is strong and traveling consumes a lot of water. It is better to sleep during the day and travel at night to avoid the sun.

When Zhou Mai heard this, his eyes suddenly lit up, and he pulled his uncle Zhou Dacang to discuss it. Zhou Dacang told his father Zhou Deli about this, "Dad, I think we should discuss this with the head of the village. You see, water has become increasingly difficult to find these days. We don't do anything except cook and drink water, but the two buckets of water are still used up in two days. If we change the water, it should last longer. Besides, we don't have to be so tired. If we continue to be tired, the medicine will be useless and we will have to fall."

Zhou Deli did not dare to delay and walked towards the village head's house with his hands behind his back.

Zhou Guo didn't know how they discussed it, but soon the sons of the head of the village came out and informed everyone that each family should go to the front to discuss important matters.

When the people came back, everyone got the news. The head of the village, for the sake of everyone and to save water and avoid the sun, discussed with everyone to change the journey to night time and use the daytime for rest.

Reactions from those who received the news varied.

"It's dark at night, and I can't even see the road. How can I walk? I might fall into a ditch or a pit by accident, or I'll lose half my life."

"Yeah, you said it's okay if we fall, but it's no small matter if the elderly and children in the family fall, especially the elderly. As they get older, their bones become brittle, and a fall is no joke."

Makes sense.

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"What should we do? Everyone can see what's happening now. It's hot and dry. We can't find any water to drink even after walking for half a day. If we keep walking like this, we will either die of thirst or die of exhaustion. Everyone will die, not even the old or the young."

Makes sense.

Everyone nodded again.

"Hey, there's nothing else on this mountain except firewood. If you can't find any, just light a torch. Can a living person die from holding his urine?"

Yes, everyone suddenly realized and remembered that they could still light torches, and nodded repeatedly.

"What's the use of a torch? It can only illuminate two steps ahead."

That's better than traveling in the dark.

That's how it was settled.

Zhou Guo breathed a sigh of relief. They had been traveling under the scorching sun for so many days. Not only her, but even her mother's face looked a little strange. Everyone in the family, young and old, was exhausted.

At least walking at night is cooler than walking during the day.

After the team stopped at noon that day, they did not move again in the afternoon.

The Zhou family chose a relatively flat place and placed the two carts on the left and right.

Zhou Dacang and a few boys took knives and chopped some branches and cut several large bundles of grass. They put them in the middle of two carts to create a roof. Under the roof, there was a shady place where the whole family could squeeze together and have a rest.

Huang cooked with her daughters-in-law.

Zhou Deli took Zhou Gu to find water.

Zhou Guo held a hoe and a basket and looked at the land. It was a valley surrounded by several mountains. The valley had four openings. The breeze blew over and immediately dispelled the heat from his body, making him feel much better.

Such valleys naturally have small streams, which are hidden at the foot of the mountain.

Everyone looking for water rushed to the mountainside. It was obvious that they knew where the water was better than she did.

It was just that it hadn't rained for a long time at this time of year, and the flow of the long ditch had long dried up. They could only scatter and search around the ditch for any deep ditch still holding water.

She thought that there was still a bucket of water on the cart, and this little water would be enough for tomorrow.

There are still more than a dozen bags of grain on the cart, and there are also many bags of wild vegetables dug recently. The water problem is now bigger than the food problem.

But even if we find a water source, we can only fill two buckets. Even if we fill up the gourds and bamboo tubes we brought, we still can't bring much.

Thinking of this, she couldn't help but sigh. If only she had a treasure bag with space, she could put as much water as she wanted into it. Then she would have nothing to be afraid of.

"Oh!" A sigh was heard from the side.