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

Compared to the last time I came here, the river has changed a lot.

Xia Qingyue sighed inwardly, thinking that there was still a lot of water in the river and it would not dry up so quickly. Now more people would be stationed or staying by the river.

Things might be more stable after the stream empties out of water.

In this case, how do we solve the problem of water for drinking?

Thinking about these things, her mind was in a mess, but she still followed the group carefully.

Finally, the group came to a place not far from the cave where the Li family lived. The last time Xia Qingyue came here, she also took this route.

Xia Qingyue was lying on the ground at the foot of a slope about a hundred meters away from the group of people. On the slope grew a towering tree that was thicker than an adult man's waist. With the cover of the tree, she poked her head out slightly and observed the front.

The man called Liuzi raised his hand and directed the others, "Quickly, tie the man to the tree, and then we all hide!"

A young man asked in confusion: "Brother Liu, aren't we here to arrest someone? Why are we hiding?"

Liuzi slapped the young man on the back of his head and said, "Wait for the fish to bite the bait, then go catch it!"

"Oh oh oh!" The young man went there as if he understood it or not.

They tied up the man who was on their backs, not knowing whether he was dead or alive, with a rope and hung him on a tree.

After that, they each found a place to hide.

In the dark, Xia Qingyue stared at the man hanging on the tree, her brows furrowed and ice condensed in her eyes.

When she first saw this scene, she remembered the living people used as bait that she had seen in the woods upstream of the stream some time ago. The same method was used to tie people to trees to attract ferocious beasts.

Later, she observed that the clothes of the person hung on the tree today were not blood-stained except for being torn and dirty, and no one had deliberately created a bloody smell. Just as she was wondering, the person woke up and slowly raised his head.

A familiar face came into view!

Xia Qingyue's pupils shrank sharply, and the hand on the ground curled up unconsciously, her fingers dug into the soil, and the newly grown nails were filled with black soil.

She looked at the man in disbelief.

How did Chen Yuzhen become like this and fall into the hands of that group of people?

A gentle, innocent, smiling face emerged in her mind - Tan Xiaozhu.

It’s Tan Xiaozhu!

Something must have happened in the cave and the Li family was in trouble.

And the person that group of people said they wanted to arrest was most likely her!

In a short period of time, Xia Qingyue figured out the general situation based on the clues found.

She guessed what happened in the cave where the Li family lived, and this matter was closely related to Tan Xiaozhu. They captured the Li family and even everyone living in the cave.

At this moment, it is possible that they are from the same group as Tan Xiaozhu. Liuzi and the others tied Chen Yuzhen to the tree in order to release bait to catch her as a fish.

Why go to so much trouble to capture her?

Xia Qingyue was briefly confused, but soon she figured out one of the main reasons why they did this, which was that the Zhu family had previously spread the word that her family lived in a hidden and safe shelter.

Are they coming for the shelter?

But would they believe and act so easily just based on verbal words?

It's a bit weird.

Thinking that this guess was very likely, Xia Qingyue's face darkened.

She looked at the frail Chen Yuzhen not far away, wondering in dilemma: should she save her or not?

Showing up on her own initiative would be like walking into a trap, and she was alone.

Xia Qingyue shook her head and prepared to leave, when suddenly Chen Yuzhen's gentle and sincere words from the past echoed in her ears.

After getting to know her, she felt that Chen Yuzhen was a tough yet gentle person with her own principles. Since they met each other several times in the mountains, she was always worried about her. This friendship was real.

She grabbed a handful of mud and clenched it tightly, her heart in a struggle.

She wanted to save him, but she didn't have the ability to do so.

Just take care of yourself first.

On the way back, Xia Qingyue thought about it and realized that it was no wonder that everyone in the mountain had been talking about finding a cave by the river recently, saying that it was a good place. It turned out that they were trying to lure her there.

If we think more deeply, there may be more reasons than just this. Where did the disappeared Li family members and villagers of Xiushui Village go?

Who spread the idea that the river cave was a good place? What was the purpose?

At the moment, all she could think of was that the person behind the scenes wanted to lure the people in the mountain to the cave by the river, and kill them all in one fell swoop like they did with the Li family and the villagers of Xiushui Village.

It's like cutting leeks, after you cut one crop, a new crop will come.

How terrifying!

It was broad daylight, under the scorching sun, but for no reason she felt a chill that spread from the soles of her feet to every part of her body.

While they were outside, she went to the bamboo forest to find some broken bamboos and some dried bamboo branches to bring back with her.

During this period, she frequently thought of Chen Yuzhen who was hanging on the tree.

She shook her head and forced herself not to think about it.

After returning to the tiankeng, Xia Qingyue drank some water and rested for a few minutes, and uncontrollably thought of Chen Yuzhen again.

"Ah, I'm just too idle so I'm thinking about this and that. Find something to do. Yes, come and make a broom!"

She cut the bamboo branches into small bundles and tied them together with tough and sturdy vines. She made five small bundles and tied them together to make a big broom.

The sponge of the old broom was disassembled and kept for burning, and the handle was inserted into the new broom, holding it firmly in place.

She picked it up and swept it. It was easy to use. The new broom was specially made a little bigger so that it could clean a wider area.

After the broom for external use was made, she also made a broom specifically for cleaning the interior of the cave room, which was slightly smaller.

After making the broom, she picked out several bamboos of different sizes and planned to make a three-layer bamboo rack for storing seasonings.

The bamboo chosen is slightly thicker. Four thick and long ones were cut, six short and thin ones, and six medium-long and thin ones.

The thick and long bamboo was measured with a rope, and marks and holes were made on the inside and outside of it. Holes were drilled one by one with the tip of a knife, for a total of twenty holes.

Drilling holes is a delicate job, so don't be impatient. Put it aside for now.

Use a knife to cut the inside of a medium-long and thin bamboo into a thickness of more than two fingers, remove the bamboo nodes inside, and form a groove.

Then choose a thick bamboo, cut it in half, and use a knife to cut it into bamboo strips of similar thickness.

These bamboo strips are used as the surface of each layer of the bamboo frame, so more bamboo strips need to be cut.

This manual work seemed simple, but it was actually very troublesome. In addition, she was always thinking about Chen Yuzhen, so she made mistakes frequently, and had to start over again after making a mistake.

After a lot of tinkering, it was dark when she had only made ten bamboo strips, but hadn't drilled holes in them yet.

She held her head in her hands in distress and annoyance, "Don't think about it anymore!"

“Focus!”

"Oh, don't be impatient, take your time. It won't be like this without tools. If I had the electrical tools like in my previous life, I could drill it easily."

She could only comfort herself and try to divert her attention. She went to chop some wild grass and mix it with snails to feed the noisy chickens and ducks.

The rabbits were fed with wild grass and sweet potato sprouts.

She was so hungry that her stomach was sticking to her back.