Traveling through the mountains and farming

Lin Wan was walking on the country road and didn't meet a single villager.

Normally, this time period is the peak time for villagers to return home after finishing their farm work, but today it is unusually quiet.

She was now anxious to go to Uncle Li's house in order to find out the result of Luo Dashan and his men's search for a secluded cave in the mountains.

I also want to know whether everyone has hidden food and other supplies.

They had agreed before that each family should promptly report the progress of all matters discussed to Uncle Li's family.

If we encounter problems that cannot be solved, Uncle Li will promptly organize everyone to negotiate and resolve them.

Lin Wan quickened her pace and soon arrived at the gate of Uncle Li's house.

I saw that the gate of Uncle Li's house was closed, so that they could evacuate quickly from the backyard in case of any situation.

She raised her hand and knocked on the door gently, and after a while, the door was opened.

When Uncle Li saw that it was her, he took her to the pavilion and sat her down.

"Great-uncle, have Uncle Dashan and the others returned from the mountains?" Lin Wan asked straight to the point.

Uncle Li shook his head. "Not yet, but it shouldn't be that fast."

Lin Wan then asked, "So how is everyone's food storage going?"

Uncle Li smiled and said, "Everything went smoothly. Everyone found a place as required and hid the food and other supplies. They also reported to me."

After hearing this, Lin Wan felt a little more at ease.

Uncle Li told Lin Wan about the patrol in detail without waiting for her to continue asking questions.

He also told her that Wu Cunzheng had already conveyed the news of compulsory conscription to every household in the village, asking them to make their own preparations.

When Lin Wan heard this, she became anxious and asked hurriedly, "Has this news spread outside the village?"

"It will probably get out today or tomorrow. After all, there are wives who marry into the village from other villages, and there are also girls who marry out of the village. This kind of important news will be passed on to their relatives in some way." Grandpa Li replied.

Lin Wan said solemnly: "Then we have to speed up the progress and transport the food to the secluded place as soon as possible."

She thought that once the news spread, it would definitely attract the attention of higher-ups, and the sooner the grain was transported away, the safer it would be.

So she suggested, "Granduncle, we need to make a detailed plan for transporting grain. And we must tell everyone in the family to keep it a secret and not reveal it to outsiders, not even relatives or friends."

"That makes sense. I'll go door to door tonight to tell them that we should first consider the grain transportation plan and then inform them together."

The two began to seriously discuss the specific implementation plan for transporting grain.

Uncle Li is very clear about the amount of food and the personnel composition of each family.

Lin Wan squatted on the ground and recorded the information with a branch based on the information provided by Grandpa Li. Excluding the four patrolmen, there were still twelve males over the age of sixteen.

The family of Li Chongshan had the least grain, with eleven stones, while the family of Uncle Li had the most, with twenty-four stones.

Lin Wan looked at the data recorded on the ground and thought that transporting so much food would be a big problem.

She looked up and said, "Granduncle, I guess we have to wait for Uncle Dashan to come back. We need to ask about the road conditions before we can make the final arrangements. It would be best if we can use a single-wheeled wooden cart on some sections of the road."

There is no need to consider two-wheeled carts at all.

Lin Wan held her chin and thought, hoping that Luo Dashan and the others would come back with good news soon.

The road was long and deep in the mountains, so Lin Wan waited until about 10 o'clock in the evening. When she heard someone knocking on the gate, she immediately got up to open it.

Seeing Luo Dashan, Li Changyi and Li Chongshan returning from a journey, exhausted, at the door.

Lin Wan smiled and shouted, "Uncle Dashan, Second Uncle, Cousin Chongshan, you are back!"

Uncle Li also hurried over and asked anxiously, "How is it going? How is the secluded place?"

The three of them walked in quickly, and Li Changyi wiped the sweat and dust off his face.

Then, he said excitedly: "Dad, that cave is really good. It is deep in the mountains, far away from the village, and hidden enough. Moreover, the cave is safe and can accommodate seven families of us. There is also a stream running through it."

At this time, Aunt Li and Li Chonghao came over with water and handed it to them one by one.

Li Changyi took the cup of water and drank it all in one breath.

Li Chongshan then went on to introduce the situation of the hermitage: "The surrounding resources are also very good. There is a large piece of flat land inside the cave. We checked and found that the soil is relatively fertile."

After hearing the two people's descriptions, Lin Wan judged that this cave was indeed suitable for them to avoid disaster and live in seclusion.

So he asked, "How is the road from our village?"

Luo Dashan was the most familiar with the road conditions, so he immediately responded: "From the village, the first half of the road is relatively flat and easy to walk on, but the second half is a bit rugged and there are many hills to climb."

Lin Wan then asked, "Uncle Dashan, we should be able to use a one-wheeled cart for the first half of the journey, right?"

After Luo Dashan agreed, they decided to use a one-wheeled cart to transport the food in the first half, and have people carry it to the secluded cave in the second half.

But considering the long distance and the tight time schedule, they planned to use carts to quickly transport the grain to the intermediate transfer point first.

Luo Dashan was responsible for choosing a hidden and safe place for this grain transfer point.

In order to prevent any further complications, after finalizing the grain transportation plan, they decided to go to each household to wake up everyone and start transporting grain.

Seeing Luo Dashan and the others leave, Lin Wan remembered that she forgot to ask about the surrounding safety situation, so she quickly grabbed Li Changyi and asked:

"Is it safe to live in a secluded cave? Are there any potential dangers such as wild animals?"

"We have carefully checked the surroundings and have not found any signs of wild animals. However, we still cannot be careless. We need to keep an eye out when we move in."

After hearing this, Lin Wan prepared to say goodbye and go home.

Before she left, she made an appointment with Li Changli to set out for the city together at noon the next morning.

Li Changli was going to deliver the last batch of dyed linen to the cloth shop.

Lin Wan walked into Aunt Li’s bedroom, woke up the two siblings, and prepared to go home together.

The two little ones had prepared dinner at home and were waiting for Lin Wan to come back to eat, but after waiting for a long time and not seeing her come back, they came over in the dark.

Then, I waited for Luo Dashan and the others, and I felt sleepy while waiting.

Lin Wan asked them to sleep for a while at Aunt Li's place.

The two were reluctant at first, but finally fell asleep on the table and were carried into the house by the adults.

At this time, the three of them were holding torches and walking on the way home. Lin Wan thought that Luo Dashan and the others should have started transporting grain, and hoped that everything would go well.

However, tonight is destined to be a restless night in Quanshui Village.

Except for the seven families including Lin Wan, all the men were mobilized to transport grain, the several families who had sold grain before and could not pay the autumn tax all chose to set out tonight to escape to Jiangbei County.

Fortunately, their grain transportation route is in a different direction from the route to Jiangbei County, so they do not affect each other.