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

Zhou Su looked up at the fruits on the tree and asked with his mouth open, "Sister, will the fruits turn yellow when we come back?"

After saying that, he swallowed his saliva.

Zhou Guo looked at his greedy look and said nothing. He walked up to the tree, picked up a bamboo pole and started hitting the fruits on the tree. He couldn't wait until the fruits turned yellow anyway, so he might as well pick them down and have something to eat on the way home.

The fruits fell down with a crackling sound.

Zhou Su opened his mouth and looked at her neat appearance. Usually, grandma would keep a close eye on this fruit.

She had picked almost half of the fruits on a tree. Looking at the fruits on the ground, she calculated that there were so many people in her family. These apricots probably filled half a bag, enough for the whole family to eat, and they wouldn't last long in this hot weather.

She asked Zhou Su to go back to the house and get a sack. The two of them squatted on the ground and started picking fruits and putting them into the sack.

After finishing all this, everyone ate something casually, and the younger children couldn't hold on any longer and fell asleep.

Zhou Guo looked at Zhou Suli and Zhou Tao sleeping together. This was probably the last good night's sleep they would have for a long time.

The whole family was busy from mid-afternoon until late at night.

At this time Zhou Gu also came back, "Mom, grandma, I'm back!"

Huang and Xu heard the noise and hurried out, "You're back, did you bring the message? How are they, are they leaving or not?"

Zhou Gu panted and said, "I brought it, but they already knew about it. Other villagers had been there in the morning. When I arrived, they were also packing up, so I hurried back."

Several people breathed a sigh of relief, and Huang said, "Okay, it's OK as long as you bring it. You must be hungry, the kitchen is making steamed buns, go and eat."

Thinking that it was inconvenient to stop to light a fire and cook at any time while fleeing on the road, the old lady, together with her two daughters-in-law and eldest granddaughter, worked in the kitchen. They fried all the flour in the house and put it into a sack so that they could eat it when they were hungry. They made steamed buns by mixing the black flour with a large amount of wheat bran and rice husks.

A dozen chickens are the most difficult to deal with. If you kill them all, they will go bad in a few days in this weather. If they are alive, they are difficult to carry. There is not much space in the car. So many chickens will take up half of the car, and you can't carry a lot of things.

In the end, it was Huang who made the final decision. The killed chickens were fried with a lot of salt until they were a little drier, and they could be taken out and eaten when ready.

The basket of eggs that had been saved at home had not yet been taken to the town to exchange for money, so they were all cooked and taken with them to eat on the road.

Zhou Dacang took his nephews to the fields to pick all the beans, fruits and melons from the fields. They put them in baskets and sacks and carried them to the car. They took away all the food that could be taken away. When you are away from home, a bite of food can save your life. Nothing is more important than food.

It was already late at night when all the things were packed and loaded into the car.

At this time, a young man came in at the door in a hurry. As soon as he entered the yard, he shouted to Old Man Zhou, "Uncle, uncle, the head of the village asked me to inform everyone. If you have packed up, go and wait under the big tree at the entrance of the village. When everyone arrives, we will go together. If you have packed up, go ahead. I have to go and inform the next family."

After saying that, he left without looking back.

It's almost done now.

There are too many belongings, and two cars are too small to hold many things.

Huang sighed, looking at these things and thinking about throwing them away, she felt very distressed, "These things are all in good condition, if they are just thrown away like this, I don't know who will benefit from it."

I am very unwilling.

Everyone was silent, feeling uncomfortable.

Li said, "Mom, let's find a place to hide these things. If we come back later, they will still be there. If we keep them at home, they will be given away to others."

Xu also nodded, saying that these things were all bought with money.

Huang was worried, "There's nowhere to hide things at home."

Yes, everyone is worried. In such a small space at home, nothing can be hidden at a glance.

Zhou Dacang waved his hand and said, "Why worry about this? There is no room at home, but there is not much outside. Why not just find a cave to hide in?"

Everyone's eyes lit up. Yes, it can still be hidden outside.

Zhou Guo, however, was not optimistic. He thought hiding in the cave was not a good idea. It wouldn't take long before rats and insects would eat them into pieces.

But then I thought, there is no one at home, and there will be no fewer rats than in a cave, so it doesn't matter where I put it.

Old man Zhou yelled, "Hurry up, everyone in the village has gathered at the entrance of the village. If we delay any longer, everyone will leave. We have to follow the others so that we can have someone to look after us on the way."

After saying that, he bent down to pick up the things on the ground. He couldn't take these things away, and if he left them there would be a high probability that they would be taken by others. He felt very sad when he thought about it, and it would be best if he could find a place to hide them.

Even Zhou Suli followed suit and picked up the trash, putting it into Old Man Zhou's arms.

When Old Man Zhou saw what was in his arms, he immediately blew his beard and glared, "You want to hide this broken thing too?"

A few broken stones and pieces of wood, picked up and then thrown away.

Zhou Su also stared and said, "These are not junk, these are all my treasures. My sister said that we can't take all of these away. You all hide the treasures at home, and I have to hide mine too."

He was extremely anxious, fearing that Old Man Zhou would really lose these things.

Seeing how anxious he was, everyone smiled for once.

Old man Zhou thought the sister he was talking about was Zhou Xing, and didn't care. But seeing that his grandson was so anxious, he had no choice but to stay.

By the time everything was ready, more than half an hour had passed.

We are leaving this place where they have lived for generations. They were born and grew up here, and their footprints can be seen in every place and corner of this village.

The fields full of wild flowers are the most beautiful in spring, the ancient trees at the entrance of the village are the coolest in summer, the mountains with ripe fruits in autumn are the most popular among children, and even in winter... Now that I think about it, the winter in the village is actually quite good.

Once I leave, I don’t know when I will be able to come back.

The older ones had tears in their eyes, and the younger ones looked reluctant. Although they did not escape the famine, it was always more comfortable at home. The younger ones, although still a little ignorant, thought that the full moon tonight and the small courtyard under the moonlight would be engraved in their hearts for a lifetime.

Zhou Guo looked at the family and sighed silently. It has been difficult to leave one's hometown since ancient times. Thinking of her grandfather in the 21st century, he missed his hometown more and more as he got older. He would stand in front of the window and look in the direction of his hometown for a long time. This was in the 21st century when transportation was so developed that he could still find time to go back every two years.

But now, in this world, it would be difficult for them to come back once they leave.

"Let's go!" Old man Zhou took one last look at the yard where he had lived all his life, turned around and immediately told everyone to set off.