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

The water in the puddle bubbled up faster and faster, and it would take only two incense sticks to fill the puddle.

The villagers lined up by the pit with buckets of water, and drew water from the pit one by one.

They waited until dark, and finally all the villagers had their water supplies filled.

After dark and dinner, torches began to light up one after another in the team.

The Zhou family, like other families, used pine and cypress trees cut down from the nearby forest to make their torches. Pine and cypress trees are rich in oil, so the torches burn longer.

The cart rolled forward with a rumbling sound, and the crowd started to move.

There were torches all around the team. Although it couldn't be compared with daytime, at least they were not blinded by the dark and would not fall into a ditch while walking.

The Zhou family did not hold torches. They discussed with the people in front, behind, and around them and decided to take turns one family at a time to save effort and firewood. The whole team did this.

Zhou Guo was short, and could hardly see the road ahead while pushing the cart, so he walked with one foot deep and one foot shallow.

It's summer now, and I don't know if it's because the weather is too dry or for some other reason, but I can't hear any of the frogs or insects that chirp non-stop at night in summer. Not to mention frogs, even mosquitoes are very few. We don't even need mugwort at night now.

Buckets of water were placed on the cart. In order to prevent water from spilling and to ensure that the food was not soaked by water, thick straw mats were stuffed underneath the front, back, left and right sides. Although some water was bound to splash out, it was much better than having no mats at all.

There was no more room in the car, so the two little ones had to walk.

So many things have happened during this period of time, and the children have grown up incredibly fast. The two of them have no complaints and are happily following their family.

Without the scorching sun, people walking at night are indeed much more relaxed. They won’t be sweating profusely, their throats will not be smoking, and they will not feel dizzy and almost faint after walking for a while.

Even though the visibility was poor, the journey was actually faster than during the day because I was not as tired.

They took a break on the way, and when the sun rose and the scorching sun began to show its power, the team found a place to stop, ate, and fell asleep.

After walking for a few days, the only difficulty was that water was becoming increasingly difficult to find.

The villagers asked Zhou Guo to go with them, "That girl is amazing, she has very sharp eyesight, she was able to find the water that so many of us couldn't find. Letting her go with them will give us more hope, right? That girl is blessed."

"Yes, brother, just let Guoguo go out to find water, it's not a hard job. If there is no water, no one in our village can survive."

Zhou Guo was shocked. Did they treat her as a lifeline? If she couldn't find it, would these people put the blame on her? She wasn't a god. She couldn't make water out of nothing.

Old Man Zhou looked at his granddaughter. Seeing her small round eyes staring at him blankly, he felt soft in his heart. "She is so young. She just happened to be lucky to find water last time. How can you take it seriously when a child is just playing around and digging with a hoe?"

Huang said unhappily, "That's right. If it comes to finding water, our Sanlang has gone out with his nephews. Why are you targeting my granddaughter? She is so young, how can she find water? Besides, if she can't find it, will you blame her?"

Li protected her daughter behind her like a chicken, "No, she's not well yet."

Xu squinted and said, "Humph, that's right. So many people can't find water, but she can find water just by pointing at her. How come she is the little prodigy in front of Guanyin Bodhisattva?"

Zhou Guo hid behind her mother, the corners of her mouth slowly rising.

Finally, it was Zhou Dacang who brought the good news with his nephews. They had found a water source in a cave. The water came up from underground and had originally formed a large pool in the cave. However, due to the drought, the pool had shrunk a lot, leaving only a small puddle at the spring, and the water eye was also narrow.

But this is enough, as long as there is water, and besides, isn’t it coming out of the ground?

Everyone in the village carried buckets and basins and went to the cave to line up to fetch water. The Zhou family's buckets and gourds were all full with Zhou Dacang and his friends who were found first, so there was no need to queue.

The family sits together to eat.

The rice is fried noodles, mixed with a little bit of hot water and kneaded into small doughs, just like eating small steamed buns. To be honest, if it weren't for the wheat bran mixed in it, it would taste really good. Salt is also added in it, which makes it fragrant and flavorful. It is very filling.

If he eats as much as he wants, Zhou Guo can eat six bowls at a time. But these days, how can he eat as much as he wants? How can he survive?

She ate two bowls at a time, and her mother and grandmother would give her some. She would eat until she was half full and then drink some water to wash it down. That was enough for her to eat for half a day. It was not like the food she had eaten before, which would make her feel empty soon after eating. So compared to steamed buns, she still preferred fried noodles.

However, compared to fried noodles, she wanted to eat rice more. Since she woke up, she had not seen a grain of rice except porridge.

Her mother, Mrs. Li, said that this year's millet is still in the fields, but last year's millet had been eaten long ago. The porridge she cooked last time was the last bit of rice left in the house, and she didn't know when she would be able to eat rice again.

"Water is becoming increasingly difficult to find. I think we should use the water at hand sparingly. Apart from using it for eating and drinking, we should save it for washing our faces and feet. This way, one bucket of water can last our family at least two days, two buckets of water can last four days, and with the water in the gourd and bamboo tube, we can last five days." Zhou Deli said to his family after finishing his meal.

"Ah? You don't even wash your feet and face? How smelly must they be?" Zhou Tao was a little girl who knew how to be clean. She couldn't stand it when she heard that.

Xu glared at her and said, "You are the only one who likes cleanliness. There is nothing to drink, so what are you going to use to wash?"

Zhou Guo looked down at her clothes, which had lost their original color and had holes here and there. She hadn't taken a shower in so many days, and the sour odor from her body kept drilling into her nose. Her hair itched because she hadn't washed it, and she couldn't help scratching it. When she scratched it, her hair became messy, but her mother would always take time out every day to comb her hair neatly.

There is no mirror here, but looking at the appearance of others, even my eldest cousin Zhou Xing, who usually loves to be clean and beautiful, looks like a little beggar, so I'm afraid she's not much worse.

Thinking about this, she couldn't help scratching her head again. She even suspected that she had lice on her head. Thinking that she wouldn't be able to wash her hair for a long time, she really wanted to shave it all off. It would be so comfortable to have a bald head without lice!

And her feet, after walking for so many days, had a lot of blisters on them. The blisters turned into blood blisters when rubbed. Once the blood blisters broke, they would take several days to heal and it was extremely painful. Her mother would wait until she fell asleep every day and then apply herbal medicine on the wounds, which seemed to help a little.

If the water in the future can only be used for drinking, she couldn't imagine what this group of people would look like. Previously, they could boil some water to wipe their bodies, but now...