An orphan girl from a farming family: Everyday farming in the mountains during natural disasters

Considering that she had to bring a lot of things back, Xia Qingyue finally insisted on taking only a bag of refined salt. She told Han Zhibai to come back for more after she finished eating.

The refined salt was placed at the bottom of the large backpack, which was covered with pears weighing more than 60 kilograms. Han Zhibai easily carried the basket and sent Xia Qingyue out of the dense forest.

On the way out, the two agreed on the next time they would meet, which was seven days later.

Before that, Xia Qingyue had to go to the forest near the sinkhole to find more dry firewood, as the firewood at home was almost used up.

In addition to the hot weather, mosquitoes are everywhere. The dried mugwort and mint that I found last year and placed at the entrance of the cave and in the room are no longer useful, so I have to find some medicinal herbs to make mosquito coils and ointment.

Walking out of the dense forest, Han Zhibai, Xia Qingyue, Heihei and Xiaobai bid farewell to each other reluctantly.

On the way back, Xia Qingyue quickened her pace and when she reached the tiankeng, she took out half of the pear and carried it on her back. She didn't take the salt as it was not easy to give it directly. After a while, she would make some mushroom powder, mix the salt into it, and then give it to the Li family.

Yan and the other half of the pear hid in a dark place, and she took Heihei and went straight to the Li family shelter.

I met several groups of people walking together on the road. I relied on the black warning to hide in the dark in time to avoid them.

This situation made her feel confused.

From observation, the leader of those people did not look simple and did not look like a refugee.

Could something have happened on the mountain in the past few months?

Thinking about something, Xia Qingyue rushed to the door of the Li family shelter and knocked a few times according to the secret code.

Tuk-tuk-tuk——

Everyone sitting around the table in the cave, discussing something in a low voice, was startled at the same time.

"Someone is here!"

"Brother Fang, be patient, she is here." Li Benfu held down Fang's father who stood up and raised the machete.

"Who is she?" Fang's mother looked confused.

"Come, go into the wooden house inside and hide for a while. Don't come out until we call you." Chen Yuzhen pushed the Fang family of three into the open-air cave.

After a while, Chen Yuzhen hurried out and nodded to Li Benfu.

Li Weisheng said resolutely: "Dad, Mom, we can't let sister Qingyue be involved in danger!"

Li Weikang and Chen Dawei followed suit and nodded firmly.

"It's suspicious that you haven't opened the door yet. After opening the door, let's chat and talk about daily life as usual. Don't let anything slip later. Qingyue is very smart." After Li Benfu finished speaking, he put away the extra water cups on the table. Seeing that his family members nodded in agreement, he took a deep breath and went to open the door.

Xia Qingyue, who was waiting outside the door, saw the door open, with the dagger in her hand ready to go. When she saw clearly that the person inside was Li Benfu, she lowered the hand holding the dagger a few inches.

"Uncle." She and Heihei slipped in.

“Qingyue!” Chen Yuzhen ran over to hug her, pulled her to look left and right, and said with red eyes and heartache: “You’ve lost weight!”

"It's okay, auntie, I'm fine, nothing serious, how about you?"

Xia Qingyue put the dagger in her hand back into the secret compartment of her sleeve and glanced at the faces of the Li family members one by one. She was shocked to find that each of them had lost a lot of weight and looked haggard. Chen Dawei was in the worst condition. His eye sockets were dark and sunken.

Seeing Xia Qingyue looking at him, Chen Dawei walked over happily, picked up the kettle on the table and poured a glass of water, "Qingyue, come and sit down and drink some water."

Xia Qingyue sat down with the Li family. As usual, the Li family asked her about her well-being and talked about their recent situation.

After that, Chen Yuzhen smiled and said, "Although life is hard, but the whole family is together, which is better than anything else."

Xia Qingyue also evaded the main point and talked about her situation.

During the brisk chat, Xia Qingyue didn't think much about the Li family, but she noticed that Chen Youmao was not there. She looked around, "Where is Brother Youmao?"

Li Benfu remained calm and said, "Youmao, he went out to the toilet and said he had a stomachache. He left right before you came."

"Oh, by the way, I met a few groups of people on the way here, and they looked a little strange."

The Li family members looked at each other, and there was a hint of anxiety on the faces of the Li Weikang brother.

What's worse is that while they were chatting, Heihei had run to the corner at some point, and was peeking towards the open-air cave, sniffing around.

"Hey, Heihei, I haven't seen you for a while. You've lost a lot of weight." Li Weikang walked over quickly and squatted down, blocking the entrance with his body intentionally or unintentionally. He raised his hand to touch Heihei and tease it.

Over there, Li Benfu looked solemn and spoke in a cold voice: "They are people from the mountain village. A few months ago, on the day we hid the Qian family's money and grain, Guan Jianshan led his men to start a riot and occupied the mountain village."

"Qingyue, a few days ago when we were out looking for food, we saw the young master of the Qian family walking with the people from the mountain stronghold. They were a group, running all over the mountain, holding our portraits in their hands, offering a reward for finding us. They came for the money and food!"

"!!!" Xia Qingyue said in shock: "I shot an arrow into the chest of the young master of the Qian family. How did he survive?"

Li Benfu shook his head. He also couldn't figure out what was going on. He turned around and looked at Heihei and said:

"Qingyue, go back quickly later. Let Weikang Weisheng escort you part of the way. Don't come out later if you can. We are lucky enough to be able to disguise ourselves. You have Heihei with you, and a black dog is too conspicuous. People on the mountain are all looking for Heihei and Xiaobai!"

"Yes, Qingyue, the situation is worse now. Don't come out again after you go back. In order to get the tempting bounty, the people in the mountain are barking and biting everywhere like hungry dogs seeing a big bone." Chen Yuzhen also advised.

After hearing this, Xia Qingyue realized that Heihei had run to the side and started playing with Li Weikan.

She waved and called out, "Heihei, come here quickly."

Heihei stood there looking at the inside of the passage. Xia Qingyue called out to him twice again. Heihei wagged his tail, looked back every few steps, and finally walked to her side.

"I see. You should be more careful too. Today, Han Zhibai and I met in the jungle. He gave us some pears. These are for you."

She picked up the backpack that was placed aside and said, "Han Zhibai said that he saw you walking with a group of people in the dense forest some time ago. Did you go there to hunt for food?"

When the Li family heard this, they were all shocked, but they managed to keep their emotions in check and didn't reveal a single word.

Li Benfu smiled and said, "Yes, that group of people are from the same village. They hid together and said they were looking after each other. It was just a coincidence that we met them when we went to the jungle that day.

We didn’t see Zhibai that day, nor did we say hello to him, but he was so thoughtful to send us such a good gift.” Chen Yuzhen said ashamedly.

Xia Qingyue said: "He said that you were far away at that time, so it was okay. We were all acquaintances, so we wouldn't care about it."

After chatting for a while about safety matters, Xia Qingyue suggested going back, and Li Weikang and his brother sent her off.

After they left, they waited for more than two quarters of an hour, and then Chen Yuzhen ran into the open-air cave to call out the Fang family.

Chen Yuzhen explained: "It was Qingyue who came over. She didn't know anything yet."

The Fang family immediately understood.

Father Fang understood the intentions of the Li family. He said sincerely: "The more she knows, the more dangerous it is."