Traveling through the mountains and farming

Lin Wan returned to the cave safely. When the two siblings saw her return, they took out the food they brought from home and handed it to her.

This is thanks to Li Ke. When she was evacuating from home, she saw the young man go into the kitchen to get a kitchen knife. She picked up the food reserved for Lin Wan nearby, quickly poured it into a large bowl, and ran after the young man while holding it.

Lin Wan looked at the bowl handed to her by Li Ke and was really shocked and angry. In such an emergency situation, this girl actually ran away with the food in her arms.

She took the bowl and chopsticks and reminded them while eating that next time they encountered an emergency, they should put their own safety first and not worry about anything else.

At this time, Li Chongle suddenly asked, "Sister-in-law, did Dad and his family secretly leave the village and go to Jiangbei County the night before last?"

Lin Wan stopped eating and said apologetically:

"Yes, I found out when I went to my uncle's house for a meeting yesterday. Since then, I have been busy with various things and forgot to tell you."

She found that there was still a hint of loneliness in Li Chongle's eyes. After all, their biological father had abandoned them again.

So he comforted her softly: "Don't be sad. The journey to Jiangbei County is full of dangers and unknowns, which may not be a good thing."

At this moment, Li Chongle despised himself in his heart. Didn’t he warn himself not to have any more illusions about his father?

But today, when I heard Li Chongping talk about his father's escape to Jiangbei County, I couldn't help but feel sad.

Li Ke next to him looked at the young man silently, with a hint of sadness and helplessness in his eyes.

She gently pulled the corner of Li Chongle's clothes and whispered, "Brother, since the separation, we have no father."

Then she changed the subject and said to Lin Wan:

"Sister-in-law, Sister Li Tao and Li Chongping came to our house this morning and said they overheard a conversation between my great-uncle and others. They also said they discovered this morning that the people who sold grain in the village had secretly gone to Jiangbei last night."

Li Chongle came back to his senses and added, "It is also said that the food of several families including Uncle Luo was transported away last night, and this morning they started to help transport the food of my great-uncle's family."

Lin Wan thought that perhaps only their family’s food had not been transported away, so she had to ask other people about the current situation outside.

She sighed: "I wonder what happened to the others?"

"We can go find my great-uncle and his family. Li Chongping and I have a secret code for contacting each other. When we were playing outside, we often contacted each other by imitating bird calls."

Li Chongle said, and then lowered his voice to imitate the bird's call a few times.

Lin Wan found it unbelievable. She didn't expect that Li Chongle was actually good at ventriloquism.

These kids can come up with so many tricks just for fun.

"That's great, Xiaole. Let's sneak to the area behind my great-uncle's house and see if we can contact them."

After Lin Wan finished her meal, the three of them came out of the cave and carefully hid the entrance.

Then he carefully groped his way towards the back mountain of his great-uncle's house.

Along the way, every time they walked a certain distance, they would choose a secluded place to squat down, observe the movements around them, and move forward only after making sure it was safe, walking and stopping in this way.

When they were near the area behind Grandpa Li's house, Lin Wan asked Li Chongle to start imitating the specific bird call.

Every time they squatted to explore the surrounding situation, Li Chongle imitated bird calls three times.

In this way, every time he walked a distance, Li Chongle would call out three times, and the crisp bird calls were mixed with the cicada chirping sounds.

After a while, the same three bird calls were heard faintly in the distance.

Li Chongle showed a look of joy, and whispered to Lin Wan and Li Ke, "There is a response."

Lin Wan smiled and nodded, motioning to continue moving forward.

They quickened their pace and headed towards the direction where the bird calls came from.

Soon, Li Changyi and Li Chongping came out of the woods, both of them with joy on their faces.

Li Changyi said anxiously: "Finally I found you. It's a mess outside now. The officers seem to have noticed something and are searching everywhere."

"They must have noticed something unusual. At least half of our village has escaped. Is everyone safe?"

"We have all escaped safely. I will take you to where we are hiding and I will explain in detail later."

Then Lin Wan and the others followed Li Changyi to their hiding place.

Along the way, everyone was careful and tried not to make any noise.

When she arrived at the hiding place, Lin Wan discovered that it was a natural semi-open cave hidden behind a dense forest.

On the way, I heard Li Changyi say that this was the place chosen by Uncle Li to store grain.

As soon as they approached the cave entrance, they were discovered by Li Chonghao who was on guard.

Afterwards, Li Chonghao hurried over and led them into the cave.

After Lin Wan followed them into the cave, she saw that everyone had solemn and nervous expressions on their faces.

In addition to Grandpa Li's family, there were also grain transport personnel such as Li Chongshan and Li Chonghai in the cave. They were gathered together and talking in low voices, as if they were discussing ways to deal with the current predicament.

Seeing them return safely, Aunt Li and her cousins ​​hurried over to show their concern and ask about their relationship.

The two siblings were pulled over by Li Chongan and Li Chongping to talk in private.

When Uncle Li saw Lin Wan and the others coming in, he hurriedly stood up and walked over, asking her why she didn't come back with Li Changli.

Only after Lin Wan explained that Li Changli was on his way back and had left him a message did Uncle Li breathe a sigh of relief.

Afterwards, Uncle Li invited Lin Wan to come over to discuss what to do next.

It turned out that the grain transport team had just finished transporting the last batch of grain from Uncle Li's house. When they turned back and were about to go to Lin Wan's house, they found that the police had entered the village, so they all hid at Uncle Li's place temporarily.

Just now they were discussing secretly returning to the places where each family hid their food to check if their families were safe.

After Lin Wan understood these circumstances, she suggested:

"It may not be safe for us to hide near the village. We don't know if the police will go into the mountains to search on a large scale. So we have to set off as soon as possible to the cave deep in the mountains."

She paused and continued, "But if everyone moves together, we will be too conspicuous and unsafe. I suggest that each household go to the cave deep in the mountains separately and gather at the food transfer location first. Uncle Dashan will still be needed to lead the way on the rest of the way."

"Yeah, I also think this is safer." Li Chonghao responded.

"Then we will go back to find our families later and then set off, but what about Lin Wan's family's food?" Li Chongshan asked puzzledly.

He still remembered that only Lin Wan's family's food had not been transported away.

Uncle Li thought for a moment and said, "First, each of you go back and find the people and take them to the grain transfer location. After you meet up with Luo Dashan, send ten more people back to carry Lin Wan's grain all at once."

"I think this will work. The three of us will wait for you in the valley, using three bird calls as a signal," Lin Wan added.

Everyone thought this arrangement was reasonable, and then began to discuss the specific details of the action.

Such as how to avoid possible dangers and how to ensure that they can communicate with each other smoothly.

After the discussion, everyone was ready to act according to the plan and went out to look for their families.

At this moment, only Lin Wan and three others and Grandpa Li's family were left in the cave.

Uncle Li and his friends planned to wait for Li Changli to come back, and then set out together to the grain transport point to meet up with other families.