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

She led them to search ditches, explore caves, and dig up grass... They searched every place they could, but found nothing.

There was no good news from others who were looking for water.

Everyone was very disappointed. If they couldn't refill the water, the bucket would be empty. Without water, they would just die of thirst.

Since he couldn't find water, Zhou Guo didn't rush back to the camp. Instead, he took the two children to dig grass roots.

The thatch is yellow and dry, but the roots underneath are white. I clean them and put them in my mouth. They taste sweet when I chew them.

It was just that the weather was dry and many grass roots had dried up. Only those grass roots that grew in fertile and shady places were still edible.

She was digging in the front and throwing the roots and soil behind. Zhou Suli and Zhou Tao followed behind with baskets to pick them up. They had to clean the soil off while picking them up, and ate one from time to time, feeling very satisfied.

Zhou Tao said: "It's good to follow my sister. I can always find food when I go out. I didn't expect that the roots under this grass are sweet."

Zhou Su nodded repeatedly. Of course, he had never eaten it before. No one had ever told him about it. He had missed out on so many delicious foods.

Zhou Guo glanced at the two of them and said, "Hurry up and pick them up. After you're done we can go dig somewhere else."

The two of them quickly quickened their movements. They could eat as much of it as possible, and the more the better.

After they finished digging here, the three of them walked around for a while and dug a little more, totaling half a basket.

Zhou Su and his partner were extremely satisfied. They chewed the grass roots and looked at Zhou Guo expectantly, "Sister, shall we continue digging?"

Seeing how greedy they were, Zhou Guo said helplessly, "We've finished digging. We've already searched everywhere around here. Let's go dig something else."

She just found a wild yam vine at the foot of the mountain. Its leaves were all dry. The veins of the leaves looked somewhat similar, but she was not sure if it was the real thing. She had to dig it up. Yams are good things, and one of them is quite big.

The two were curious, "What else?"

"What's delicious again? Are you going to dig for water again?"

Zhou Guo spat out two words: "Wild vegetables."

When they heard about wild vegetables, they lost interest.

During this period of time, the sister has been digging up all kinds of wild vegetables every day, and they know what they are without having to think about it.

There are wild vines at the foot of the mountain, next to a big tree.

Zhou Guo followed the vine all the way down and found the root of the vine among a bunch of thorns. He used a hoe to clear the area around the vine in just a few strokes.

Zhou Su squatted down and looked at the wild vine in front of him. After a while, he looked up at his sister and said hesitantly, "Can this... also be eaten?"

Zhou Tao looked at the vine with a dreamy look on her face and shook her head. She didn't want to eat it.

"We'll have to dig it out to find out." She replied, and she didn't know whether it was yam or not.

The two of them breathed a sigh of relief when they heard that. That's good, that's good, as long as they don't have to eat everything.

Yams are very difficult to dig up. They are buried deep and have many other tree roots growing nearby. After digging up the surface layer of soil, there is a criss-crossing network of roots underneath. Fortunately, she is strong enough and the roots are not big, so they can be broken after a few hoe strikes. Otherwise, it would not be so easy to dig them up.

Zhou Tao became impatient and went to dig up some thatch roots nearby.

Although Zhou Su didn't want to eat this, seeing how hard her sister was digging, she said, "Sister, let me help you."

Zhou Guo shook his head without saying anything. He dug up the roots and continued digging downwards. After digging about half a meter, he saw a lump as big as a red date.

She squatted down and scraped away the dirt on it, and took a look, it was really yam!

Zhou Su couldn't help but come closer to take a look. When he saw the tree root, he was disappointed. It looked just like any other tree root. "Sister, can I really eat this? Is it delicious?"

Zhou Guo said, "You'll know when the time comes." He picked up a dead leaf from the vine and handed it to him, saying, "Here, take a good look at it. If you come across it somewhere else in the future, you'll know that the roots of this thing are edible. Remember to dig it up."

Zhou Su took it, looked at it carefully, and said nothing.

There was a big tree growing next to the yam, and its roots also grew next to it. She thought the big roots blocked her way. The yam grew horizontally, so she didn't dare to use too much force for fear that it would be damaged by a hoe. She squatted down, held up a small hoe, and dug along the roots bit by bit.

I don't know how many years they have been born here. There are quite a few of them, but they are all very short, with a penis as big as an egg.

It took her almost two incense sticks of time to dig out the yam. There were still a lot of broken parts inside. She just let it go and left some in the soil so that it could continue to grow next year.

Zhou Su, who was standing by, widened his eyes. "Sister, this one can grow really fast. With so many of them, the whole family can have enough to eat." He put the leaf in his hand into his arms like a treasure.

Zhou Guo nodded, "That's right, it would be nice if there were a few more." Unfortunately, this was the only tree she found on this piece of land.

The two called Zhou Tao and returned to the camp. At this time, no one had found any water, which meant there was no water in this area.

She felt that they could not stay here for long, and she didn't know how wide the drought-stricken area was. They had to leave here as soon as possible. Without food, they could still eat tree bark, but without water, there would be no other way.

The family members haven't woken up yet.

Zhou Guo and his two children picked up some dry branches, and the three of them built a fire pit with stones. They dug out the yam and roasted it without washing it. After it was roasted, they could peel it and eat it.

The three of them chewed on the thatch roots while waiting for the yams in the fire pit to cook.

Zhou Su and Zhou Tao looked at it eagerly, "I wonder what this tree root tastes like?"

Zhou Su said: "Hope is sweet, just like grass roots, they are all dug out from the ground."

Zhou Guo thought about it and had no memory of ever eating roasted yam. He had only eaten boiled or fried yam. But he thought it should be similar to sweet potatoes, potatoes, taro, etc.

"What are you burning?" A weak voice suddenly sounded.

A few people turned their heads and saw that it was Huang who got up.

Zhou Su said: "Grandma, we are burning tree roots."

Zhou Tao continued, "It's been cooking for quite a while. We'll be able to eat it soon."

Zhou Guo saw that her eyes were swollen, her face was pale, and she looked listless. Thinking of her grandfather passing away like this, he felt very sad. He was afraid that the old lady was even sadder.

He walked forward and whispered, "Grandma, come and eat something. You didn't eat much last meal."

Huang followed his instructions and sat next to the fire. She looked at the things buried in the fire and then frowned and asked, "What is burning?"

Zhou Su said again: "It's the roots of the tree."

"Tree roots?" Huang looked at Zhou Guo in surprise, thinking about the child's difference and said nothing. As long as it doesn't kill people, it's just tree roots. Some tree roots are edible, but they don't taste very good.

Seeing that she was really listless, Zhou Guo didn't bother her. He picked up a branch on the ground and dug out a piece of yam buried in the fire.