Crossing the famine, I am a poor fish, and my descendants have to work hard

"Mom, you're back."

Zhang Xinnian looked at Zhao Yuanzhen who was leading the horse into the yard, and quickly put down his work and led the horse over.

"Mom, the horse is fine now! Did you find the herb? I think it's in much better spirits."

"Well, we are lucky. We found some herbs to feed it. Go and feed the three animals some grass and some water. It will be easier to pull the cart tomorrow morning."

"Okay, Mom, I'll go right away."

"Hey, wait a minute, take the cow over and give it to your grandfather. Just tell him that you bought an extra horse and he's worried that one cow won't be enough, so give this one to his family."

"Okay, mother, I'll add some fodder to the two horses and then take them to my grandfather."

Zhao Yuanzhen nodded and walked into the house. She saw the eldest daughter-in-law Qian Xiaohui and the second daughter-in-law Li Zhijuan were still making pancakes. They had already made a large stack of them.

"Mom, you're back. My sister-in-law and I baked 50 cookies today. We used up all the food yesterday, so we baked 70 cookies. I think these are enough. If we bake more, we might not be able to finish them and they will go bad."

"Okay, you two can do whatever you want. I believe you can do it. As for my health, your father passed away again. From now on, you can make your own decisions at home and outside."

"Mom, did we do something to make you unhappy? You are the head of this family."

Qian Xiaohui listened to her mother-in-law's words and wondered if she had used too much food and her mother was unhappy. She rubbed the corners of her clothes nervously.

"No, no, I just feel that I am old now and I can't think about some things that much. I am afraid I don't have the energy to take care of everything, so I will start fleeing tomorrow.

You two are both smart and capable of shouldering important responsibilities. I feel relieved to leave the responsibility to you two. You two should work hard. I believe you can do it."

Then he patted them on the shoulders with an expression of great trust.

Then I went to the bedroom and prepared to lie down for a while. I was really tired after walking around all day!

Qian Xiaohui and Li Zhijuan watched their mother-in-law leave like this. They looked at each other in bewilderment. They were a little confused about what was going on.

"What does mother mean?"

"I don't know, but it's a good thing that mother trusts us, so we should do our best to make mother feel at ease.

Sister-in-law, I will go pack up the things in a while. Take away everything that can be taken away. If there is too much to take, I will ask Xin Nian to help me move it to the cellar. "

"Okay, then I'll wrap the cakes in cloth, boil some water, and put them in the water gourd. I'll kill the two chickens later.

I stewed one in a short while, ate half of it at night, and continued to eat it with noodles the next morning. This way I would be warm and full the next morning, and it would be convenient for the journey. I dried the rest and saved it for the journey. "

"Okay, sister-in-law, I'll go clean up too."

. . . .

When Zhao Yuanzhen woke up from a nap, it was time for dinner. When she walked out, she found that dinner was already being prepared and it smelled delicious.

Qian Xiaohui, who was burning firewood in front of the stove, saw her get up and stood up immediately.

"Mom, you're awake. I thought we would leave tomorrow morning, so I killed the two chickens, stewed one, and dried the other to eat on the road."

After saying this, he looked at his mother-in-law anxiously. He thought that his mother-in-law would not blame him for killing the chicken on his own initiative.

"Yeah, good, you did a great job, you were right, I hadn't thought of this problem, it's you young people who are so careful, I said you were smart, and I was right."

They have to guzzle the chicken soup, and the family has to stand on its own two feet. But I just want to have everything I want.

"Okay, Mom, I'll prepare some more pickles later so that we can eat them directly on the way back when it's inconvenient to light a fire."

"Well, that's okay. I think we should cook the eggs as well, otherwise they will be difficult to carry on the road. What do you think, Xiaohui?"

Zhao Yuanzhen really doesn't want to just eat pickled vegetable stems without any meat!

"Okay, mother, I'll boil half of the eggs and give two to each person tomorrow. Fry the rest with pickles and add some oil so they can be kept longer. And mother, we didn't dare to touch the piece of meat you bought. We just left it there."

"Take care of that piece of meat. I'm confident in your cooking skills. You've always been a good cook."

"Mom, don't worry, I can do it well."

Qian Xiaohui thought secretly in her heart, my mother-in-law trusted me so much that she entrusted 20 kilograms of meat to me. I must do a good job in this matter and live up to her expectations.

"Then you do it, mom will go out and take a look"

"Mom, you're awake. This is the silver grandpa gave me. Grandpa said that all the money in the family was used to buy food, and there is not much left. He can only give you this much first, and he will give us more later when there is more."

Xin Bai handed her 10 taels of silver.

Zhao Yuanzhen took the silver. This old man was indeed a good person. He was sensible and not greedy for cheap things.

And that little old lady is also nice. She always has a sharp tongue but a soft heart. She will help with anything at home, and I will be able to take care of her more in the future.

I looked around the yard but didn't see the third brother.

"Where's Xin Shu? Mother has something to ask him."

"Mom, I'll go call him for you. He and your second brother are sorting things in the cellar." As he said this, he put down the wooden board in his hand and ran to the cellar.

"Mom, are you looking for me?"

"Well, I have a map here. Can you help me draw a simpler version based on it? Send it to your grandfather after you finish drawing it, and then you can find an excuse for yourself."

When fleeing from famine, it is safer to have a map. What if the village chief runs off the track? And I can't tell.

"...Okay, mom."

Zhang Xinshu originally wanted to ask where the map came from, but he was choked by the following words and held back. After all, my mother has a secret, and I must ask her sooner or later.

The stewed chicken we had in the evening tasted very good, but the stir-fried wild vegetables were a bit bland. Then I remembered that there was not much seasoning at home except salt.

He stood up, walked into the house, and took out small portions of various seasonings that he had looted from the county magistrate.

After thinking about it, I bought some dried chilies from the system, 1 kilograms for 20 point.

To be honest, if converted according to the purchasing power of silver, it would be about 50 yuan per pound.

But there is no way. Cross-border items are much more expensive than the original ones!

Who made us cross the border?

She took out some peppers and other seasonings and gave them to Qian Xiaohui. She decided that Qian would be the royal chef from now on.

"Xiaohui, this is the seasoning that Mom bought yesterday. Keep it and use it when you cook in the future."

"Okay, Mom. I got it."

Qian Xiaohui nodded excitedly. It seemed that her mother-in-law really recognized her.

Seeing his second daughter-in-law Li Zhijuan looking at him expectantly, he raised his butt just as he was about to sit down.

I took out the double-layer gauze I bought today and handed it to her.

"Zhijuan, use this gauze to make a few masks. It's a piece of cloth that covers the mouth and nose, and then has two strings hanging on the ears. See how many you can make. Make all of this piece of cloth, and also make some for Zijin. Make a few more."

Zhao Yuanzhen showed her how to put on the mask so that she could see it more clearly.

"Okay, Mom, I understand. I'll make it after I finish my meal. I'll make one for you to see."

Li Zhijuan was also very excited. Her mother indeed agreed with her.

Sure enough, not long after the meal, Li Zhijuan showed her a sample. It was well made, with a small pattern embroidered in the corner of the mask.

"Mom, is this what you think? Also, since there are so many of us, I was afraid that we would get them mixed up, so I thought of marking each mask so that everyone has their own pattern, so that we don't have to worry about using them incorrectly."

"Okay, that's good. Your idea is very good and it's innovative. Keep working hard. I'm rooting for you."

Watching her happily taking the samples away, I thought, young people are really easy to be fooled. No, how can an educated person be said to be a fool?

Young people, this is really inspiring.

When I woke up the next day, my son and daughter-in-law were already up.

"Mom, you're up. I'll set the table right away."

When Qian Xiaohui saw him get up, she immediately served the meal, which was chicken soup with noodles, an egg for each person, and a small plate of pickles in the middle, which was fried eggs with pickled vegetables.

After Zhao Yuanzhen finished washing up, she sat down and started to eat. The noodles were not made of pure white flour, but mixed with corn flour. The taste was OK, and they were hand-rolled, so they were very chewy.

"The noodles are good and chewy. Xiaohui cooked well." Please drink this bowl of chicken soup, my royal chef.

Qian Xiaohui blushed and smiled. Her mother-in-law has been so nice lately. She has received more compliments than she has received in all the years since she got married. She must work harder to do things well.

Li Zhijuan watched her sister-in-law being praised, then got up and went to her room, took out all the masks she had made last night and handed them to Zhao Yuanzhen.

"It's good. The stitches are fine and smooth, and the embroidery is unique and creative. It looks good, much better than I expected."

Drink it too, my little daughter-in-law.

"Mom, I'll embroider a few more pairs of shoes for you when I have time. I learned embroidery when I was at my mother's house.

But later on I was busy and never had time... Oh, no, I didn't say I was busy after I married into our family. It's because our family is well-off and has a lot of land, unlike my parents' family, which has little land, so I learned embroidery."

Speaking of her mother's family, both of them had already sent a message to her mother's family in the next village yesterday, asking them to flee as well.

Li Zhijuan felt that the more she spoke, the more wrong she was making. She wondered if she would make her mother-in-law angry.

Zhao Yuanzhen waved her hand nonchalantly, saying it was no big deal.

"It's okay. I don't think there's anything wrong with what you said. It's a good thing that you can embroider. I'll find some for you later and you can show it off."

"Yeah, okay mom."

Seeing her mother-in-law blaming her, she finally felt relieved. Her mother-in-law had a really good temper, and she must not let her mother-in-law down by being ungrateful.

After dinner, I went out to see that the two carriages were already full.

The cart, which was originally an ox-drawn cart, was loaded with all the food and a large water jar. The jar was filled with water, tied with oilcloth and covered with a lid.

Other pots, pans, buckets, luggage and other miscellaneous items were placed on top of the grain to cover the grain bags, and the entire vehicle was covered with oilcloth.

Another carriage was also loaded, with a mattress considerately placed on the couch, and the small cabinet filled with their clothes and small items they needed on a daily basis.

The small drawer was also filled with spices and other daily necessities. Then the eldest brother went to bring the luggage from her room and put it in the cabinet.

Zhao Yuanzhen thought of her small backpack, and hurried back to get it. She also handed the clothes and other bags she had packed last night to the eldest brother.

Zhao Yuanzhen took out a small iron pot and a small clay stove from the small backpack, as well as some charcoal, and handed them to Qian Xiaohui who was beside the carriage. After thinking for a while, she took out two strips of bacon and some snacks from the backpack and handed them over.

Qian Xiaohui looked at the many things her mother-in-law took out and quickly took them. She put the bacon in the barrel of the carriage and also put the charcoal in that carriage.

"Mom, should this clay stove be placed in the carriage?"

"Well, put it in the carriage. Xin Bai, go get the kang table from my room and put it in the carriage. Then Xiaohui, put the clay stove on the kang table and the small iron pot on it as well. Put the snacks in the drawer."

"Oh, okay, mom."

After collecting everything, Xin Bai came over and asked

"Mom, shall we go?"

"Go, go."

Then they got on the carriage. She sat in the carriage with her two daughters-in-law and her little grandson, while her second son Xinnian and third son sat outside driving the carriage.

After Zhang Xinbai locked the door, he reluctantly looked at the yard where he had lived since he was a child, fearing that he would never have the chance to return. Then he drove the carriage to the village gathering point.

When we arrived, most people had already arrived. Only a dozen families had ox carts, and the rest had flatbed carts.

Although Zhang Sandao's family also had two ox carts, they had more people, and Zhang Qingshan had two sons.

The eldest son, Zhang Xinsheng, married Zheng Shuang'er and had a son, Zhang Zihu, who is eight years old this year, and a second daughter, Zhang Zimei, who is five years old this year.

The second son, Zhang Xinyu, married Zhou Hong and had only one little girl, Zhang Zixue, who is three years old this year.

Only these three little kids were sitting on the ox cart; the others were walking, including the little old lady.

Zhao Yuanzhen was secretly shocked. Fortunately, they split up the family, otherwise she wouldn't be able to sit in the carriage with peace of mind!

The old village chief counted the number of people, made sure they were all there, looked back at the village, gritted his teeth, struck the gong, and set off.

More than 50 people from 500 households in the village started their escape journey. A long team slowly moved forward along the winding village road.

Zhao Yuanzhen's house was in the middle of the team, not far from the old house, and was a few houses behind them.

When they joined the team, they let the carriage driven by Zhang Xinbai go in front. The carriage was full of food, and it looked safer to put it in front of them.