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

She slurped a bowl of oatmeal porridge, making smacking sounds from time to time. To be honest, she felt that it was actually better, and it was more fragrant, but a little unpleasant. However, she couldn't hear it, and everyone else felt the same way.

I ate the meal with my stomach filled and only ate until I was about 60% full. During the meal, I also accepted gifts from my family.

However, being able to eat until 60% full is already a rare achievement. Some families in the team have suffered heavy losses and only have a few days' worth of food left. What should they do after finishing these meals?

Each family in the duty team sends one person to take turns to keep watch day and night. They don't have much food in their stomachs to begin with, so they get hungry even faster. Anyway, since my uncle joined the duty team, he eats more at every meal. He used to be able to eat half full with the same amount of food, but now he can only eat one-third full.

This is because they have enough food. What should those families who don’t have much food do? They can’t work on an empty stomach. If they can’t stand the hunger, who would be willing to do this job?

This knot seems a bit troublesome, how should I tie it?

As she was thinking, she couldn't help but lie down, right in the shadow of her mother and her grandmother. There was a breeze blowing, and before she could figure out what was going on, she closed her eyes and began to snore.

When Li heard the noise, she turned around and saw that her daughter had fallen asleep. She involuntarily straightened her body to make the shadow longer so that she could sleep more comfortably.

Huang looked at her granddaughter and said in a low voice, "She's snoring. I'm afraid she must be exhausted. It's hard for her. She knows how to protect her family at such a young age. She works so hard and spares no effort. She has to push the cart, dig wild vegetables, find food and water. For the livelihood of the family, she has no rest all day long. The little girl is busy like a top and she doesn't even have enough to eat. Look, she has become so thin. I am sorry for her."

Her eyes became red as she spoke. Ever since the old man passed away, she had been crying more and more. She didn't cry so many tears before.

Li was distressed, but seeing her mother-in-law like this, she had to comfort her and said, "Mom, don't take it to heart. What's the right or wrong of a family to live together? She's a child with a lot of energy. If you don't let her do these things, what else will she do? Children, aren't they just running around? Besides, who can eat to their heart's content now? Not to mention that we are fleeing now, even when we were at home, we didn't have many days to eat our fill over the years. Every household is like this. Don't take it to heart, ah!"

Having said that, Huang still felt distressed. This child had such great abilities, and was born into a family like theirs. It was probably a blessing for them. As for where this girl's blessing came from, it was probably her fate to be busy and wandering.

After the hottest day passed, the team started on the road again.

When the other refugees saw them starting to hurry on their way, they looked at them in surprise and turned their heads away. In this day and age, those who could carry so many belongings were considered wealthy, and the difference between them and them was like heaven and earth.

There were many disaster victims on the road, and seeing those eyes coming over and staring at them, everyone's heart was lifted up. No one could resist experiencing this again at this time.

In order to avoid these people and to get out of this dry land as soon as possible, the team began to march day and night. If they could not find a hidden and advantageous place to rest, they would rest for two hours. However, it was not easy to find a cave like the one they had before.

Walking at such a high intensity would be difficult for even the elderly and children to bear, let alone a strong laborer.

Zhou Guo was still young and had to help push the cart on the road. His legs were not strong enough and the blisters on his feet kept breaking and rotting. Now his feet are in a terrible state.

Whenever she was told to stop at a place, she would just walk on the ground, without being picky about the place, no matter if it was mud or a ditch, and no matter whether the ground was dirty or not. She had walked all the way here in this dress, and calling her a beggar was a compliment to her, as the ground might even be cleaner than she was.

Once she lay down, she didn't want to move at all, let alone go out to find water. She just wanted to close her eyes and sleep. Sometimes she didn't even want to eat. She had experienced it firsthand. The only thing more painful than being hungry was wanting to sleep but not being able to.

If a prisoner was to be tortured, she thought it would be a good idea to deprive him of sleep.

She just lay down and passed out the next second. She fell asleep faster than anything else and completely cured her insomnia problem in her previous life. As expected, the reason why she can't sleep is because she has nothing to do. Why not try working herself to death?

It wasn't just her, most people were like this. They were lying all over the floor in a mess. At first glance, you would have thought there were dead people lying on the floor.

In the Zhou family, only a few women named Li and Zhou Dacang and Zhou Gu were still in good spirits.

Whenever this happened, the Li family members would discuss and decide to leave only one person to guard the place while the others took a rest and took turns. Otherwise, by then no one would be in the mood and who would cook and take care of the children?

The rest of the team who felt they still had enough energy went looking for water sources everywhere.

Zhou Gu from the Zhou family either brought Zhou rice or Zhou wheat and searched all over the mountain. Even if he couldn't find water, he would at least dig up some edible grass roots and bring them back.

The chicken leg roots that Zhou Guo and Zhou Su dug last time were loved by the whole family. This thing can not only be eaten raw, but also cooked.

Now everyone in the team knows this grass root. As long as the children have energy, they will carry baskets and look for it everywhere. When they are on the road, they always pay attention to the roadside under their feet, for fear of missing it.

After walking for another two days, some people in the team started to get upset.

"I'm not going to move anymore. I have nothing to eat or drink and I have to endure this torture. I don't want to move a step further."

"Yes, head of the village, we have run out of food. Please think of a way. I am the head of the family and I have to keep watch at night. How can I bear it without food? Otherwise, we will not be on duty anymore."

With so many people listening, the crowd became lively.

This situation is not only faced by them, but also by many families. Every family has no food and still has to keep watch at night. A grown man with such a big stature cannot bear it.

Zhou Guo's eyes opened quickly and she stood up from the ground. She said that if this contradiction was not resolved, problems would arise sooner or later.

The head of the village came out and said a few words, but the problem was not solved and everyone was dissatisfied.

The team of more than 200 people was noisy, like a vegetable market.

The quarrel lasted for half an hour without a break, so the whole team of more than 200 people had no choice but to discuss the matter on the spot.

"We only have enough food for one meal. How can we make it to the North?"

"That's right. We don't have many people left. Village chief, you have to find a way for us."

After all, everyone has only one demand: food.

This time, the crowd went wild.

Those who had stored grain refused to do so.