After fleeing famine, I have thousands of acres of fertile land

The riverbed has been exposed, and some fish are directly exposed outside. In the evening, when the weather is a little cooler, the children in the house are also released to go to the river to pick up fish.

Now that the water is not deep, adults can let their children run around and have fun without worry. They simply cannot stay at home all day.

Another half a month passed, and it was the time when wheat was flowering and filling with grain, but there was still no rain. Occasionally, a few black clouds gathered in the sky, but they were blown away before everyone had time to be happy.

Originally, only Old Man Ye and his son and grandson were fetching water in the Ye family. Now, anyone who can carry a bucket is busy fetching water from the river.

Even Ye Qing was running between the river and the land with the small wooden bucket that her second uncle had made for her.

The sun was getting hotter every day, the water in the river was getting less and less, and the water level in the village's wells began to drop.

The entire Kaoshan Village carries water to irrigate the fields during the day, and starts digging water cellars at home at night. The water cellar is shaped like a vase with a small mouth and a big belly. This is to store more water and reduce evaporation.

The Ye family had a large family, so they dug three water cellars in the corners of the backyard. At night, the three Ye brothers and the two older boys would fetch water one trip at a time.

There were so many people carrying water that only the bottom of the well water was left. It took a quarter of an hour to wait for a bucket of water to slowly rise.

To fill up a water cellar like this, one has to work until midnight.

As the sun burned hotter and the river water decreased, everyone turned their attention to the mountains.

As long as people see wild vegetables, fruits and tree barks that are edible, they will be peeled off, which can also save some food at home.

Nowadays, people in the village only eat two meals a day, and each meal is thin porridge with only a few grains of rice. If they can find some tender sprouts and wild vegetables, the porridge will be thicker.

Ye Qing woke up hungry in the middle of the night, his stomach twitching with hunger, and he tossed and turned, unable to fall asleep. He had no choice but to get up and drink some water to relieve his stomachache.

Ye Qing knew that there was food at home, but he didn't know how long the drought would last. If he ate less now, he would increase his chances of survival in the future.

As the water level in the river decreased, Ye Qing and her sisters were no longer allowed to fetch water. Ye Qing could only go up the mountain to find food, and bring home as much as she could.

Ye Qing studied agronomy and knew exactly where in the mountains were suitable for growing wild vegetables. He would bring back more than others every day.

At night, Ye Qing lay in bed, listening to the breathing of his sisters, feeling anxious and uneasy.

She had never encountered such a situation. In modern times, when encountering drought, people can dig wells hundreds of meters deep, or transfer water from the south to the north. If all else fails, they can buy bottled water to drink.

She didn't know what the future would be like, but she knew that in ancient times, if the imperial court did nothing about this kind of drought, the only option left was to flee from the famine.

The first thing everyone does every morning is to check the weather. What is disappointing is that the sky is covered with dark clouds, and even the occasional black clouds that were seen at first are no longer visible.

More and more people asked the village head whether the government had any news about disaster relief. The village head could no longer sit still, so he asked his son to drive a ox cart to take him to the city early in the morning.

He planned to go to the county government office to inquire whether there was any relief food to be distributed.

The head of the village had a nephew who worked as a constable in the county government. He planned to go to his nephew to ask first, but as soon as he arrived at the city gate, he met his nephew patrolling the city gate.

Nephew Ye Sheng asked anxiously, "Uncle, why did you come to the city today? Is there something going on at home?"

"Don't worry, Shengzi. There's nothing wrong at home. I came here today to ask what the county's rules are. If it doesn't rain, there will be no harvest for the crops in the fields."

Ye Sheng also had a miserable look on his face. "Who said it wasn't true? The price of food in the city has tripled. Now I can't afford it at all. Fortunately, I listened to my uncle and bought some with the villagers. Otherwise, my family would be out of food now."

The head of the village also sighed, and paused as he fanned himself with a palm-leaf fan. "Oh, it's so difficult. What did the county magistrate say? Will he issue relief grain? The people can't bear it any longer."

Ye Sheng looked around and whispered to the village head, "My uncle has already written a letter to the court, but there is no reply yet. The village still needs to make plans early. Many wealthy families in the city have already left."

"It's hard to leave your hometown. The villagers have built their fortunes over generations. We won't let go until the very end." The village head's eyes flashed with sadness. "Shengzi, I'm going back first. If you have any news, please send a message to the village."

"Okay uncle, I'll talk to you in person when I get back. You go back first. It will be hot when the sun rises." Ye Sheng waved reluctantly at the figure that was getting farther and farther away.

When the head of the village came back, he told the villagers about the situation in the city. Everyone felt upset after hearing it and still hoped that the government would respond.

Ye Qing was secretly thinking in his heart that the government was a little unreliable. He probably had to rely on himself and prepare for the worst.

The river has dried up completely, and the wheat farther away from the river has also dried up. The wheat ears are no longer plump, and when you rub them open you find that the few grains that are left are still shriveled.

Old Man Ye was very angry, but he could only ask his family to go and harvest the crops, as much as possible.

Wheat straw is also something that people don’t want to waste. It can be used to start a fire or to replace the grass on the roof. To farmers, these are treasures.

Ye Qing pestered his elder brother to teach him martial arts. His elder brother had studied with his grandfather for two years, and with so many years of going up and down the mountains and working in the fields, he became stronger and stronger.

Ye Qing pulled his two sisters and several brothers to learn from him. If they really started to flee the famine, children and women would be in the most danger. Even if they couldn't help the family, they could hold on for a while when in danger and wait for someone to rescue them.

In the early morning before dawn, the sound of martial arts practice could be heard from the Ye family. Ye Qing, the shortest one, stood at the front and looked very serious.

Ye Qing had learned boxing in the club for a period of time before. Usually, he would sit all day to do research, so Ye Qing treated the boxing he learned as a sport and practiced it several times a day. Later, he looked quite intimidating.

At the beginning, only the children of the old Ye family followed Ye Chenchuan to practice, and gradually, children from several nearby families joined in just for fun.

The elderly in several families have had many experiences with this. Some children are unwilling to get up early after two days of novelty, and the elderly at home will not indulge them. They will just slap them on the buttocks twice, and the children will obediently follow them to practice.

The weather was getting hotter and hotter, and the sun was getting bigger and bigger. The wheat by the river was about to be destroyed. The atmosphere in the village was getting more and more solemn, and the children no longer had the energy to run around and play.

In the end, the wheat didn't last for a few days. Old Ye Tou and his children and grandchildren took half a day to harvest it. After drying it and weighing it, they found that they only harvested about 20% of the harvest in previous years.

Apart from practicing martial arts in the morning, Ye Qing would not go out at other times because the sun was too strong and people would lose a layer of skin if they went out.

That night, everyone was awakened by a loud thunder just as they fell asleep.

Ye Qing rubbed his ears, thinking he was dreaming, but when he heard everyone cheering, he realized it was real. Ye Qing quickly got up and went out to see if it had started to rain.